Every single soul in Heaven – INCLUDING GOD’S OWN SOUL – is broken hearted…
The other morning, I reflected a little on all the minor heartbreaks of my life and I became so incredibly sad about them…
Now I am a very lucky person who lives a life blessed with grace and plenty, and yet – like all of us since the fall of humankind – I am no stranger to heartbreak…
My heart has been broken by little things and bigger ones too. There were minor disappointments and misunderstandings by loved ones and friends, and then there are the worse things – death and illness and spiritual dryness…
And whether the cause was big or small, one thing is certain, which is that I – like all humans – have a broken heart – caused by some grief at some stage in my life…
In fact – during my meditation that day, I realised something very profound…
Every soul that is ever redeemed had been heartbroken in some way – that is the message of the Cross...
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’” (Matthew 16:24-26).
While we adults bear heartbreak from failed relationships, and loss of loved ones, children carry the grief of witnessing their parents’ grief or of dream unfulfilled.
Even Our Blessed Mother is heartbroken from the suffering of her Son. And even before She witnessed such suffering, She Herself knew sorrow as her Heart was pierced by seven swords and in fact the Prophesy of Simeon foretold of Her GREAT suffering... “As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” (Luke 2:35). You see, Our Lady Herself – though She probably did not suffer labour pains to bring Christ into the world – did suffer great pains to give birth to the Church. For she gave birth to the Holy Church at the Foot of Her Son’s Cross…
In fact, Our Blessed Mother’s heart was broken by Her great love for God and Her great love of souls – mine, and yours too…
The Blessed Mystic, Sister Lucia of Fatima explained it beautifully when she said, “When lovers are together, they spend hours and hours repeating the same thing, ‘I love you!’ What is missing in the people who think the rosary monotonous is Love; and everything that is not done for love is worthless.”
And in thinking of LOVE, my mind turns to the PERFECT love of God… God – what heartbreak God bears – heartbreak for all eternity! Any parent of a single rebellious child will tell you that they suffer terrible grief for the sins of their child. And their suffering is not the suffering of judgement, it is the suffering of LOVE. For no parent wishes to see their child suffer, and when their child rebels against what they believe to be good, it causes a parent excruciating pain because they are acting against their own best interests…
Now imagine God – the ETERNAL parent… He suffers through the Fall of the angels, when the evil ones rejected Him and were cast into Hell. And He suffered at the Fall of humankind when all of humanity was lost. And He suffered when God the Son was Incarnated, lived and died for us. And He continues to suffer through out neglect and disrespect.
God’s heartbreak is eternal. When we are giving GLORY to Him in Heaven for all eternity His broken heart will eternally lament the souls He created in HIS HOLY IMAGE out of LOVE for them, which were cast – of their own volition – into Hell…
And I have been reflecting on the amount of time it takes to recover from a heartbreak. And I have come to realise that there really is no time to dwell on such things... This is not to say that heartbreak is not real or that the pain is not debilitating. It is. Of course it is…
This is to say, this heartbreak can secure our place in Heaven if we use it well… Saint Therese of Lisieux said, “We only have short moments of this life to work for God’s glory. The devil knows this and that is why he tries to make us waste time in useless things.”
You see, God Himself is broken hearted for love of us… And when I realise this, I embrace my little heartbreak, because it is just another sign that I am the daughter of the King!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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