Listen more deeply for a heart formed by God
May 11, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
The morning news disturbs me.
I know what I’m going to see and, yet, I am regularly overwhelmed at the capacity of human beings to hurt each other, not just in small ways, which are damaging enough, but with viciousness and a total disregard for the life of another person. I am often reminded of my father’s prediction when there was a steady stream of bad news: “The world is going to hell in a hand basket,” and it seems we have arrived.
It seems our ability to be self-indulgent at the expense of others is not just gaining ground, it is snowballing out of control. If we were really to examine even our own lives honestly we might be surprised at the depths of our ability to be selfish, to rationalize our need to put ourselves first – our wants, our needs, our political ideologies, our race, our ethnic group, our religion.
We do not truly look at or listen to those who are different, often meaning those who don’t agree with us. We simply destroy, by word or by deed.
The morning news scares me, but in those moments, I have to turn to God, because if I put my faith only in my own understanding and emotions, then I become less … less capable of being a part of the goodness in the world. Bad news propels me to turn again to God’s command, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely.”
All of the news we are likely to hear throughout the day reminds me that we are the ones who make life more difficult and more painful for ourselves and for others because we allow our lives to be ruled by our emotions.
I was reminded of this during Mass when the pastor preached on the story of Abram and Lot who found it necessary to separate their flocks.
Abram put Lot first and allowed him to choose the land he wanted. Lot chose what he thought was the choicest land for himself, “all the valley of the Jordon,” near the city of Sodom, without consideration of what would happen to Abram, who was left with the dust of the land on which he stood. But Lot’s happiness and prosperity would be short lived. Moses reminds us that, “This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah” (Genesis 13:10).
Lot would lose everything, but God blessed Abram for his faithfulness, and promised to give him all the lands for as far as his eyes could see, including the valley of the Jordon.
Reflecting on the choices of two very different men, the pastor stressed that we are also “called to go beyond what we feel and make choices from our hearts.”
This may seem like a contradiction, since in our society we treat the heart as the center of all feeling. But in Scripture, the heart has much more depth and purpose. As the organ of life, it is the seat of will, the center of both emotional and intellectual life. It reflects our nature and our true character.
When we allow the heart to be formed by God, it will lead us to do good rather than cause harm. The heart molded after the heart of God can transform the bad news of the world, of our communities, our workplaces, our parishes, schools and families, into good news. And who couldn’t use some Good News.
The challenging news is that the choice is up to us. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Pope Francis, just a month before his hospitalization, recorded a video for teens and young adults, stressing that “one of the most important things in life is to listen – to learn how to listen. … When someone speaks to you, wait for them to finish so you can really understand, and then, if you feel like it, respond. … Look closely at people – people don’t listen. Halfway through an explanation, they’ll answer and that doesn’t help peace. Listen – listen a lot.”
“It doesn’t help peace.” Pope Francis always had the ability to say a lot with just a few words.
Mary Morrell is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, the Metuchen Diocesan newspaper.
Related Stories
Monday, June 23, 2025
E-Editions
Events
The morning news disturbs me.
I know what I’m going to see and, yet, I am regularly overwhelmed at the capacity of human beings to hurt each other, not just in small ways, which are damaging enough, but with viciousness and a total disregard for the life of another person. I am often reminded of my father’s prediction when there was a steady stream of bad news: “The world is going to hell in a hand basket,” and it seems we have arrived.
It seems our ability to be self-indulgent at the expense of others is not just gaining ground, it is snowballing out of control. If we were really to examine even our own lives honestly we might be surprised at the depths of our ability to be selfish, to rationalize our need to put ourselves first – our wants, our needs, our political ideologies, our race, our ethnic group, our religion.
We do not truly look at or listen to those who are different, often meaning those who don’t agree with us. We simply destroy, by word or by deed.
The morning news scares me, but in those moments, I have to turn to God, because if I put my faith only in my own understanding and emotions, then I become less … less capable of being a part of the goodness in the world. Bad news propels me to turn again to God’s command, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely.”
All of the news we are likely to hear throughout the day reminds me that we are the ones who make life more difficult and more painful for ourselves and for others because we allow our lives to be ruled by our emotions.
I was reminded of this during Mass when the pastor preached on the story of Abram and Lot who found it necessary to separate their flocks.
Abram put Lot first and allowed him to choose the land he wanted. Lot chose what he thought was the choicest land for himself, “all the valley of the Jordon,” near the city of Sodom, without consideration of what would happen to Abram, who was left with the dust of the land on which he stood. But Lot’s happiness and prosperity would be short lived. Moses reminds us that, “This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah” (Genesis 13:10).
Lot would lose everything, but God blessed Abram for his faithfulness, and promised to give him all the lands for as far as his eyes could see, including the valley of the Jordon.
Reflecting on the choices of two very different men, the pastor stressed that we are also “called to go beyond what we feel and make choices from our hearts.”
This may seem like a contradiction, since in our society we treat the heart as the center of all feeling. But in Scripture, the heart has much more depth and purpose. As the organ of life, it is the seat of will, the center of both emotional and intellectual life. It reflects our nature and our true character.
When we allow the heart to be formed by God, it will lead us to do good rather than cause harm. The heart molded after the heart of God can transform the bad news of the world, of our communities, our workplaces, our parishes, schools and families, into good news. And who couldn’t use some Good News.
The challenging news is that the choice is up to us. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Pope Francis, just a month before his hospitalization, recorded a video for teens and young adults, stressing that “one of the most important things in life is to listen – to learn how to listen. … When someone speaks to you, wait for them to finish so you can really understand, and then, if you feel like it, respond. … Look closely at people – people don’t listen. Halfway through an explanation, they’ll answer and that doesn’t help peace. Listen – listen a lot.”
“It doesn’t help peace.” Pope Francis always had the ability to say a lot with just a few words.
Mary Morrell is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, the Metuchen Diocesan newspaper.