Having heart is a matter of courage

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today complement some reflection on “having heart”. The person who has heart is the one who is approached when we need compassion and empathy. These qualities are attributed to the Divine by Jeremiah and the author of Psalm 51. The Gospel from Matthew shows that Peter’s heart was moved by the resonance of his indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of God to proclaim that Jesus is “the Messiah,* the Son of the living God”. As the episode continues Peter’s ‘heart’ for Jesus causes him to protest the death which Jesus foretells for himself in Jerusalem. The understanding which had not yet come to Peter was the primacy of the will of God in the direction for the life of humanity. The archbishop of the Halifax diocese spoke yesterday to commemorate the conclusion of the “year of the priest”. He built his message on the prayer of the Holy Father for courage in the lives of the North American clergy. The root of the word for “courage” and the French word for heart (Coeur) point to the deep linkage between compassion, empathy and moving with courage according to the will of God