The Centrality of the Heart

The Heart has been largely unanalyzed throughout the history of western philosophy. Aristotle regarded the heart as something we share with animals, while the intellect and will are the two powers proper to rational creatures. Though many of these sentiments have sadly been pervasive in the west, there are some in the tradition who have rightly noted the importance and even primacy of the heart. In the Confessions, Saint Augustine was the first to really examine the role the affective sphere has in man's life. Saints Bernard and Bonaventure would come along in the Middle Ages with their own analyses. However, it is only within the last century or so with the rise of the phenomenological movement that the heart has risen to prominence as a philosophical concept. Unlocking the secrets of the heart will ultimately unlock the secrets of man's existence. Using Scipture, the writings of the saints, and the insights that phenomenology provides, let us briefly examine the nature, role, and centrality of the heart in human life and more specifically in the Christian life.

Perhaps the main reason the heart is not properly dealt with is because of a misunderstanding of its nature. It is often seen as an irrational part of man that must be tamed and even forgotten. While it is true that a poorly formed heart can lead to disastrous consequences, a well formed heart makes one fully alive—it makes one able to truly experience the joy and beauty of existence, and is thus vital for living life as it should be lived. It is also true that a poorly formed intellect or will can also have bad consequences, but it does not follow from that that the intellect or will are evil. The totality of the human person—intellect, will, and heart— must be well formed if a human person is to be what he is called to be.

To most clearly see the nature of the heart, one need not look any further than the saints. It is there that we see what a person can be if his heart is shaped by Christ. In the saints, we do not see people unaffected; we see people in touch with themselves, with others, and with God. Can the contrition of Saint Peter over his denial of Jesus be a bad thing? How about the immense joy of Francis of Assisi? What should we make of Francis Xavier's love for Ignatius of Loyola? Clearly, these experiences are not irrational. Rather, it is in those moments of extreme vulnerability that grace becomes efficacious and love is able to take root in us and make a homestead. It is in these moments that we realize what it means to be a Christian; one called, one seen, one known, and one loved. What can be more rational than that? It then follows that if one's heart is not properly shaped, if it has been closed due to brokenness, that it cannot possess the fullness of joy for which it was created.

It is important to mention that though emotional responses follow from the activity of the heart, that they are not the proper object of the heart's affection. These responses should not arise out of a vacuum, but out of love. There is nothing virtuous about "being in love", and all of the subsequent emotions which follow are meaningless if one does not choose to love. We must be careful not to fall into sentimentalism—where we express emotions not out of love, but because they make us feel a certain way. This is not to say that emotions are bad, but that to be true they must arise out of a genuine love of a proper object (a thing, person, or God). Love is inherently directed at something as it's end.

Many hearts are broken due to various reasons, and the temptation here is to lock one's heart away from the world and from others. One can choose to do this and, surely enough, he will not have to worry about loss, pain, or heartbreak. Locked away in the chest of one's own selfish pride and egotism, it will not get broken because it will become unbreakable. To love at all is to be vulnerable; to extend one's heart in one's hand and allow it to be beaten by raging tempests, but simultaneously allowing it to be cultivated by beams of eternal light, and by the outpouring of divine goodness. One must be confident that in the end the heart will never be beaten beyond repair; that there exists no human heart outside of the reach of Christ's love. That neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is because of this confidence that we can can rest assured that with Him we are safe—that we have an solid foundation upon which our restless hearts can be firmly planted.

It is though prayer, frequenting the Sacraments (especially Eucharist and Reconciliation), almsgiving, fasting, and other spiritual exercises that one's heart must be formed according to the likeness of Christ's.

Let us end by looking at the centrality of the heart. Though equal to the intellect and will, the heart is the means through which God speaks and though which we love. True affective experiences can even make it easier for the intellect to know and the will to choose the good. The heart then influences the other two spheres of rational life and even enhances them. It is for this reason that the heart can be seen as the true self. When we long for a return of our love it is the other's heart that we desire. In the Gospels, Christ discloses the depths and secrets of His heart and by doing so reveals who He is. There is not devotion to the Sacred Intellect or Sacred Will of Jesus. However, there is one to the Sacred Heart. It is in understanding His Sacred Heart that we can better know and love Him, and also better know ourselves. Forming one's heart is not easy; it takes time. However, it is worth it. Patience and perseverance are both vital in this undertaking. To be made into the likeness of Christ there will be suffering. We will have to go through the furnace, but take heart for I have overcome the world.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us