The heart of a priest, the heart of a father (Podcast)
In unique ways, my conversation partners on the Heart of the Ark podcast have opened their hearts to our listeners and spoken about the ways in which they listen to the heartbeat of Jesus Christ in their vocation. The four episodes I have been privileged to present for your consideration this month of the Sacred Heart have gone even deeper into this reality. If you missed these episodes, you missed the viewpoints of a lay mother and author, Emily Jaminet; a young woman making her first profession to a life of contemplation by Sister Marie Paul of the Holy Spirit; and my conversation with Father John Gordon about the incarnational aspect of Christ’s heart in the Eucharist.
Episode 24, which went live on June 20 is a conversation about the heart of a priest, the heart of a father, and the ways Very Rev. Charles Pinyan draws a model of his heart from the Sacred Heart of Jesus especially while preaching or in the confessional. Father Charlie reminds us that even amid preaching, a priest is not only speaking from a desire to deepen the relationship of his congregation to Jesus, but also aiming to deepen his own relationship with our Lord. Father Charlie reminds us “When we speak to each other in friendship, or in Evangelization, we speak to each other from the heart.”
Episode 24 with Father Charlie
Heart of the Ark podcast is aimed to teach missionary discipleship through dialogue, questioning, and conversation. Using the podcast not only as a vessel for the message, but a means to it by modeling conversation, intimacy, wisdom, community, and nourishment. These are the very gifts Christ gives us at the communion banquet. The “Heart of the Ark” speaks to the three natures of the human being: heart, mind, and soul, while addressing the three transcendent aspects of being: Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
Father Charlie and I spoke about the importance of having a prayer life as people of faith but particularly in the liturgical prayer of the church. Drawing from the Divine office as well as the prayers offered at mass, our priests unite their hearts to the Lord through daily prayer focused on Sacred Scripture. In a unique way, priests also pray both as recipients of and ministers of the sacraments, and seeing themselves as both celebrant of and recipient of grace in these moments holds particular importance in their lives. But in Father Charlie’s estimation, the most important thing in prayer is that it is offered from the heart and meant to change the heart.
What a gift we are given at every mass, whether we understand the language of the mass we can be in communion participating in the language of the heart. Our God wants our heartbeats to join to the Lord Jesus Christ in rhythm and harmony, to be ever-patterned after His Divine heart.
Coming up In July, I have a couple of conversations lined up with musicians, composers, and artists so we may consider how we use true beauty to evangelize. Recently, Pope Francis addressed artists asking them to consider the role of art, “Neither art nor faith can leave things simply as they are: they change, transform, move and convert them.” (Pope Francis to Artists June 23, 2023) From his recent Desiderio Desideravi, to his speech last week to artists Pope Francis recognizes that “Beauty makes us sense that life is directed towards fullness, fulfillment. In true beauty, we begin to experience the desire for God. Many today hope that art can return more and more to the cultivation of beauty. “
I hope that as we conclude the Month of the Sacred Heart, and we look forward to the Month of the Most Precious Blood, you can take some moments to contemplate the beauty of the world around us, and then go to mass and thank God for the gifts he bestows.
Featured image: Father Charles Pinyan with Jennifer Behnke during the podcast.
