CCTD001a Our Heart’s Desire
What is your heart’s desire? How do you know? What difference does it make in the way you are living your life, now and forever?
Our heart’s desire is something that people who were welcomed recently at the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Holladay, Utah, sense in themselves or have seen it in others and want to know more about it. The conversation they shared inspired this podcast: Welcome Session 1A: Our Heart’s Desire. In it, we explore with discussion, music, prayer and suggested spiritual exercises, how we see ourselves and the world, and then, most importantly, the inborn hunger of our heart’s desire.
It seems we long for the infinite, for the divine; that there is some element of human existence which draws us beyond ourselves to a happiness which words cannot fully say. We call it “(the) seed of eternity we bear in ourselves.” [GS 18,1; cf. 14,2) Acknowledge this longing, this desire of our heart, is a way of starting to acknowledge the Creator, of beginning a relationship which will grow in intimacy until it is true friendship.
The journey of those interested in Catholicism is a conscious cultivation of this seed of eternity, a planting and nurturing where we come to certain knowledge of God. Catholics call this journey, the Catechumenate. During the Catechumenate, we get to know more about God, and hence about who we truly are; as we all learn more about ourselves, we learn more about God.
In order to develop a relationship with God, we have to get to know who God is. Leaning about God, doesn’t exhaust the mystery of God. Yet, the church teaches that God can be known because of the created world and by human reason. Thus, not only do humans have the seed of eternity as their heart’s desire, but, also we have the capacity to comprehend God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
This conversation invites people who are interested in Catholicism, to do what everyone who responds “yes” to God’s invitation does “open our hearts to God so we can see with our heart’s desire, hear with our heart’s desire, and be touched by our heart’s desire. Our heart’s desire is God-given to every human being that each and all may live the fullness of life - this is our faith!
4 Responses to 'CCTD001a Our Heart’s Desire'
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on November 1st, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Great show. I am in the RCIA program at http://www.st-teresa.com/ . Your show has been a great aid in my journey and discovery of Catholicism.
David
on November 4th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Thank you! We have several hundred subcribed listeners and very few leave us comments so we appreciate you letting us know and we hope that you and others will continue to benefit from the sessions ahead. I hope you will also take time to look us up on iTunes and leave us a comment there.
I looked at your parish web site and I really like it. I also noticed that, based on your RCIA schedule, you have significant involvement in RCIA from your parish clergy. That is not always the case and you are fortunate to have clergy with the time to support the program.
David, please come back often and share with us the things you like about your RCIA program. We are trying to imrove ourse continuously.
May God bless you!
on November 14th, 2006 at 8:03 am
All we really want is to love and be loved: that is happiness. And God is Love, with a capital L. Therefore our heart’s desire is God. “Acknowledge this longing, this desire of our heart, is a way of starting to acknowledge the Creator, of beginning a relationship which will grow in intimacy until it is true friendship.â€
This podcast came just when I needed it. My personal path to live in Christ is made by what our Living God would define small steps, that of course look just like giant leaps to me. Our Heart’s Desire didn’t really tell me anything I did not know, and it also didn’t tell it in a new way: this is catholic initiation and I’ve been catholic all of my life. But getting back to the basics and exploring my own heart desires really made me think, and suddenly I realized that I was not seeking God in all aspects of my life.
My deepest heart desire “to live by faith in the Son of God†(Galatians 2, 20
) is “hindered†by quite a few barriers (desires, doubts, fears), that eventually make me do many things “separated from Godâ€, preventing to abandon me to His will. To be aware of those barriers and remove them one by one is the path to let “Christ live in meâ€. This path is my own personal one to get to a new life in the Holy Spirit… Which one can call a “true friendship†with God.
on February 2nd, 2007 at 12:12 am
Amen!
I know, not much of a response, but that’s just what came to mind when I finished reading this. I enjoy our sessions greatly and now have more of an appreciation for this particular podcast.
Thank you guys!
~Deserae