Sacred Sappiness

I didn’t use to be a sap. Or, rather, I should say I didn’t use to be as much of a sap. I’m not a chick flick kind of girl, I tend to find grand romantic gestures cheesy, and I prefer practicality to sentimentality (God help the man He chooses for me). But although I might not cry when Prince Charming sweeps the princess into his arms or when the blissful couple skips off into the sunset of their happily-ever-after, I am likely to cry at the sunset itself.  My heart stirs at hints of beauty, at human suffering, at traces of my Beloved in the world He has created and in the people He so desperately loves. I am finding that the closer I draw to the Sorrowful Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the more vulnerable my heart becomes to these arrows of love.

As women, our hearts are particularly open to this brokenness, to the arrows of the cherubim that pierce us to the core. These may appear as a common sunset, reminding us of the wonder at God’s design. It may be a cardboard sign held up by a homeless man on the streets of Pittsburgh. It might be the uplifted hands of a priest during the Mass, or it might be the sight of a pregnant teen sitting alone on the subway. These everyday moments and surprises shape our thoughts and our actions. They wound our hearts again and again, allowing us to hear the whispers of God.

To be a woman is to be uniquely open to these arrows of love. The Blessed Mother, as in all things, demonstrates this most fully. Her Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart was pierced seven times by the deepest of all sufferings, those of her Son. Bearing His sorrows and contemplating the mysteries of His life in the depths of her soul, the Virgin embraced her vocation at every moment to be daughter, mother, and bride: obedient Daughter of the Father, sorrowful Mother of the Son, and joyful Bride of the Holy Spirit. Because God is love, He enters by means of love. Those wounds that pierced her most deeply were the very avenues by which she was most profoundly transformed. So it is with us. As we come to recognize those arrows sent to us in particular, we discover much about who we are and how God would have us bring glory to His name.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said, “Break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in,” and St. Gianna Molla said, “Our body is a cenacle, a monstrance; through its crystal the world should see God.” Both women recognized that we are to shine forth Christ to the world in giving Him our hearts to do with as He wills. To be a woman means to seek and recognize the divine arrows of God. To be a woman is to be a sap, wounded by Christ so as to make Him known. Then will our hearts beat in time with His, and our prayer at every moment will truly be, “Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like Your Heart.” May it be done unto us according to His will.

Calysta Kohlrust recently completed her Masters in Theology at Franciscan University, where she served as a part of the Women’s Ministry team. She currently writes bible studies and catechetical materials for FOCUS: Fellowship of Catholic University Students. She also strives to heed her particular arrows by participating in ecumenical activities and writing so as to bring God’s light to those who might not see it otherwise.