Beatitudes of Hope - Blessed Are the Clean of Heart, They Shall See God

Lately, tears have been close to the surface as mole hills morph into mountains.

• Unexpected tears of frustration well during choir as I stare uncomprehendingly at a piece of 16th century polyphony that our director selected for a special mass.
• I sob to my dad on the phone after discovering that the stem adapter on my cold water tap in the bathroom is stripped.
• I lament a persistent fatigue that echoes a period of prolonged recovery after a life-threatening illness 30 years ago. I’m finding an unusual need to lay down once or sometimes twice a day to rest.

When we reflect on life and memories that surface during prayer, Ignatian wisdom invites us to be curious about emotions that arise along with them. In trying to listen and respect what my mind and body need, I’ve been trying to listen to the tale my tears are telling, too. A good cry can be a gift, offering me the opportunity to clarify their source and suggest what my heart needs now.

I try to honestly name the emotions in prayer and ask God’s help to see where they are coming from. Are the tears a sign of regret for ‘something I have done, or failed to do’, or rising from righteous anger? Or is my heart full of grief or compassion? Maybe I welcome the tears as a sign of delight or joy?

Where then does understanding the source of tears lead me? Am I moved inward nursing my wounds or outward? Can I see the situation in a new light, better able to offer an apology? Or does gratitude inspire sharing a word of thanks?

After a good and sometimes ugly cry, once my breathing slows, and I blow my nose and dry my eyes, one of the gifts of tears is that my heart feels cleaner, softer. I see more clearly.

• I acknowledge my limited bandwidth for complexity in this present moment and appreciate our choir director’s sincere desire to offer a soothing, mystical experience for our community gathered in the pews.
• I hear my dad listening with his big heart, offering gentle suggestions to use channel locks or pliers to turn the cold water on and off until I can get around to fixing the tap.
• I receive my sister’s encouragement to embrace the naps, taking to heart that they are not mind-numbing avoidance, but an offering of prayer, for the sake of my soul and the sake of our struggling world.

After receiving the blessing of a heart-cleansing cry, I see God.

Going Deeper:

• For help clarifying and naming emotions, review Stephanie Clouatre Davis’ post from pandemic times, Be Real, and her suggestions for praying with Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions.

  • When tears lead to a recognition that one has not loved as well as one might have, reflect with Pope Francis about compunction, “not a feeling of guilt that makes us discouraged or obsessed with our unworthiness, but a beneficial ‘piercing’ that purifies and heals the heart.” (Dilexit Nos, #158-159, 2023). You may also wish to find an opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

• If copious tears are not in your nature, consider St. Ignatius’ encouragement in a letter written in 1553 by his secretary, Juan Alfonso de Polanco, responding to a Jesuit’s concern about his lack of tears:

“… I have brought the matter before Our Father Master Ignatius … Dear father, “it

will go badly in the end for a hard heart;” but a heart like your own, full of longing to help souls and serve God, cannot be called hard…[For those God grants] to melt into tears, this still does not mean that they have greater charity or accomplish more than other persons who are without tears but have [no less a strong] and efficacious willing (which is the proper act of charity) of God’s service and the good of souls …”

• And sometimes while still in the middle of dark and stormy times, listening to a hope-filled song like I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash, 1973) can ease our hearts, reminding us of God’s fidelity and promise of a better tomorrow.

Photo by: Mayank Dhanawade on Unsplash

Thank you!

We hope you enjoy our Into The Deep Blog! This blog is a free offering to live our mission of accompaniment. If someone forwarded this to you, please be sure to sign up at the bottom of this website page so that you receive an email each week with the new blog. If you appreciate us walking with you in this way, please consider a donation here. $10 a month goes a long way! Learn more and donate here.

Jenene Francis

Jenéne Francis is an aspiring contemplative in action who finds writing creative non-fiction and short fiction a fruitful spiritual practice. She also enjoys adapting and offering the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius for days of reflection and retreats. Jenéne recently retired from the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus after many years supporting Jesuits and colleagues who serve retreat houses, spirituality programs, parishes, and as hospital chaplains and other pastoral ministers. Having spent her first career at the Procter and Gamble Company in product development and manufacturing, followed by more than 20 years in Jesuit ministry, Jenéne gets great satisfaction offering her engineer’s head and poet’s heart for “the greater glory of God.”