Listen To The Heartbeat Of God

As we enter the Lenten season there are so many great readings from scripture, the saints, from current day writers and theologians. I’m finding every article I read wonderful and helpful. It’s like walking thru a delicious buffet filled with all my favorite foods; I’d like to take some of everything, but it’s too much. I have to be selective. It’s not the worst problem to have, but we still need some discernment. 

Lent is clearly a great opportunity to review how our life is going and to make some important changes in light of eternity. We’re first reminded that our life on earth is fleeting…. “you sweep men away like a dream, like grass that springs up in the morning…by evening it withers and fades… our life is over like a sigh…70 or 80 years if we’re strong, it passes swiftly and then we are gone…. we’re exhorted to know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Ps. 90:1-13)

Once we realize that we have this Lenten opportunity, and that “now is a very acceptable time; that now is the day of salvation”(2Cor.6:2), then what should we do …. how should we look to respond?  Let me propose a strategy that I’m pretty sure you won’t find anywhere else. It’s called “Getting Holy During Lent Using The Dave’s BLOG Learning How To Play Golf Approach”. It goes like this. When learning to play golf, it’s good to study the techniques of the grip and stance, and swing , but it’s really important to watch a good player hit the ball…. closely watch the master… stay close to the master.  You may be wondering what my golf handicap is and how I’m qualified to speak about any of this; well I’ll simply ask the question, was Bill Belichik, the great football coach, a great football player….. no he wasn’t….. so case closed.

Okay, please listen up. In a nutshell, it’s a two pronged approach. First, follow the directive of the Lord to pray, fast, and give alms.( Mt. 6:1-18). “Let go of anything that stands between us and God, between us and our brothers and sisters, between us and the life of the Spirit…. let things drop that hinder you from drawing closer to the Lord.” (Catherine Doherty, “Seasons of Mercy”; Magnificat, 2-22-23)

Secondly, we need to draw close to the heart of God. “Lent is you and I, like St. John the well beloved, putting our head on the bosom of Christ and hearing the heartbeats of God (John 13:21-25)…. When you hear the heartbeats of God, you change….try to listen well to these heartbeats during Lent…repenting, making peace with God, forgiving all who have hurt us….allow him to wash us clean and fill us with a hunger for him and a thirst.” (Ibid) That is a beautiful picture.

If you find this BLOG somewhat discombobulated, please don’t blame Catherine Doherty. The good spiritual ideas are from her writings, the rest is from me. Nevertheless, let’s work on the “nuts and bolts” of getting holy (pray, fast, give alms, etc.), but most importantly, let’s put our head on the bosom of Christ and listen to the heartbeats of God. If we stay close to the Lord the “nuts & bolts” will take care of themselves. And that would be very good news.