The "Heart" of Christian Action

I would like to comment on Lewis' (Screwtape's) reference to the Heart in Chapter 6.

After talking about how to think of humans as "concentric circles" consisting of fantasy (at the outermost), then intellect, then will (at the center), he says he wants "things that smell of the Enemy" to be pushed out to the periphery (into fantasy), and "all the desirable qualities" inward into the Will.

Screwtape then says: "It is only in so far as they reach the will and are there embodied in habits that the virtues are really fatal to us. (I don't of course mean what the patient mistakes for his will, the conscious fume and fret of resolutions and clenched teeth, but the real centre, what the Enemy calls the Heart.)" (emphasis added)

This week I read the following about the Heart: "The Judeo-Christian tradition brought a new element - heart - into the science of virtues: 'When Holy Scripture refers to the heart,' says Escriva, 'it does not refer to some fleeting sentiment of joy or tears. By heart it means the personality which directs its whole being, body and soul, to what it considers its good, as Jesus Himself indicated: 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'. . .When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person.' The heart is 'the summary and source, expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth.'" Virtuous Leadership, Alexandre Havard, p. 122-23, quoting J. Escriva, Christ is Passing By, no. 164.

It seems Lewis has it just right in his reference to the Heart.

What is the work of the Heart? With Valentine's Day's "hearts," our school kids' effort to "Open Our Hearts to Lagunita" (the Guatemala school it supports at this time of the year), and Fr. Don's touching homily last Sunday in connection with the gospels of healing we have been reading these weeks, I wondered how we should understand the work of the Heart in Christian life.

In reference to Jesus' healing, and Mother Teresa's work, the word "hospitality" came to mind as describing a primary activity of the heart, charity's going out to invite in. The word "hospital" hides (not too deliberately) in this word. So, our Heart, it seems, could be thought of as a hospital, wherein we offer accommodation to those who are in need of healing. A touch of friendship expressed in a child's valentine, a note of condolence to a grieving friend, a word of encouragement, a moment of listening -- in each the Heart is at its work of hospitality, of healing. Isn't this the "heart" of our work as practicing Christians?