First Homily

Here is the text of my first homily ever! Just thought it would be cool to share...

Two days ago in England Pope Benedict XVI raised to the honor of blessed John Henry Newman, a 19th century English convert to the Catholic faith whose personal motto was a beautiful latin phrase: Cor ad Cor Loquitur which in English translates into “Heart speaking to Heart”. This motto of the Church’s newest blessed gets to the core of this passage from the 10th chapter of Luke Gospel- the better part which Mary chose- the life of prayer, the interior life, the life of friendship with Jesus Christ.

“Heart Speaking to Heart”, Cor ad Cor Loquitur- is really one of the best definitions of prayer I have ever come across. First of all we have the heart. The heart is the core of a person’s being. When we put our hearts into something- our work, a sports team, a friendship, a project around the house, whatever it may be- it means we put our entire personal being- body, soul, intellect, emotions, and will- at the service of this task. And it is the same with prayer. We are called to make a total gift of ourselves, we are invited to have our prayer effect ever corner and aspect of our persons. It is not just something we do on Sundays, but it really becomes habit, a virtue, that pervades our whole lives. So that is first part of this definition of prayer- it is our hearts, our whole selves that are involved.

Next we have that word “speaking.” More often than not our first prayers were the spoken words of the Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be, which our parents or families taught us. And they are the foundation, we never grow out of them! But the invitation to prayer, the better part of Mary, is not just about the recitation of empty formulas. It is about a relationship. It is about speaking to a friend, indeed, Jesus told us explicitly at the Last Supper- “I have called you friends!” (Jn 15:15) He wants to speak with us- not like a defendant before a judge, or a servant before a queen, but one friend to another- all our joys, sorrows, successes and failures. This is the heart of prayer! It is entering into that dialogue with God who loves us and wants to be a part of our lives- not to condemn, but again as Jesus said, “That you may have life, and have it more abundantly!” (Jn 10:10)

And that brings us to the final part of our phrase- again, Cor ad Cor Loquitur, “Heart Speaking to Heart.” It is about giving our whole hearts to this relationship with the God who is love. It is our hearts speaking to his Heart. The love of God which, in Jesus Christ, took on a human form and it is his Sacred Heart, that meek and humble heart, that heart which was pierced with a spear on Calvary for our redemption, it is this heart which passionately yearns to enter into friendship with us! Heart speaking to Heart. God’s heart calling to ours, asking us, inviting us, to be his friends, to enter into relationship with him. In our lives we are so often like Martha, anxious of many things- work, school, a sick relative, bills to pay, so many things- but today the Word of God is reminding us, that it is our life of prayer, our relationship of speaking heart to heart each and every day with God, which, in the end, is the one thing necessary.