Today the Church and the Society of Jesus celebrate the feast of St. Claude La Colombière, the spiritual guide who recognized in St. Margaret Mary Alacoque the Heart of Jesus. He served in faith, hope and love, attempting to help Margaret know and see God through her prayer experience. Claude’s humility and listening heart gave him the insight to know grace in his midst.My friends, listening can be hard to do in our culture; listening with heart can be even harder. The listening heart requires a selfless setting aside in order to hear Jesus at the heart of the matter. Our Ignatian tradition richly calls us to that composition of place necessary to hear Christ in others and around us. I encourage you today to imitate St. Claude; place yourself into the Heart of Jesus; hear, see, feel, and know His all-encompassing immense love that offers us the window into the Divine. Then in awe, act on behalf of that blazing heart in the world around you.
