MOVEMENTS OF THE HEART

 I shall find a path to enlightenment when I become aware of the possession in my heart, liberating myself from the constraints. In Santiago's words “They wanted me to be a priest, but I decided to become a shepherd instead so that I might journey and discover treasure” (the Alchemist, page 17). Or my parents intended me to be a farmer, but I preferred to be a lawyer and ended up studying psychology and deciding to live a consecrated life. What then is the enlightenment of possession?

 

Everyone has what I refer to as a "possession world." The life of the book enthusiast is submerged in the words, which are both still and in tune. In Santiago's perspective, finding hidden affluence at the Pyramids is worth spending years tendering sheep over the plains. A flow of questions flows through the universe of philosophers. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere, now and forever is the world's motto of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), the guiding principle that taught me that "God is always looking for a way into the heart of man" (Direct quote: Constitutions and Statues, MSC-no 5. My heart was altered as if an arrow had been shot by a compassionate hunter, and my heart became joyful, fell on a sense, and led me to a transformation. 

The wound of sin changes and seizes the human heart.  God gives itself permission, but he also allows for the possibility of discovering a way to influence how people's hearts are changed. The encounter is the starting point, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus is God's way to encounter people. They have seen the newborn (Mt 2:11), I have seen the Lord (John 20:18), and I have seen him break bread (Lk 24:13–35); brilliant faces, apparently enlightened since nothing is intact and nothing is left in its original state when God's encounter occurs. After encountering the love that serves as our source of motivation and inspiration, encountering the Sacred Heart of Jesus served as a role model for me in how to live my life with a burning desire. As my heart enters the encounter with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I gain a new possession. 

As MSC marks its 20th year in Vietnam, I seize this chance to pause and ponder the times when God was present in my life. He came across to the cities (Lk 19:1), He came into the boat and put out slightly from shore (Lk 5:3), or He walked in the sea to get closer (Mt 14:25–27), went to every heart and the MSC, and illuminated the hearts of many. The Sacred Heart becomes a driving force, a belief for me to share with everyone: the gratuitous love in the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the path to enlightenment for dark wounds and an immortal diamond for humanity.  

 

            When God brings us into our lives and possesses us with His love, it is not the end but the beginning: "Our hearts begin to seek with great urgency." seeking a way of life - living in the heart of God, who loves forever.

 

December 24, 2022 .Joseph Nguyễn Lê Thế Vương, MSC.