“Let
these words be the colors, I’m just painting my heart.”
-Jermaine
Cole
In
paragraph 2563, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The heart is the
dwelling place where I am, where I live…the heart is the place ‘to which I
withdraw’…The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason, and
of others…The heart is the place of decision, deeper that our psychic
drives. It is the place of truth, where
we choose life or death. It is the place
of encounter…it is the place of covenant.”
In my own words, the heart is the place where God speaks. As the Catechism says, it is the place of
encounter, especially our encounter with God.
My heart, my place of encounter, is what I am trying to paint for you
with these words. That is the object of this
blog, and why I open up with one of my favorite quotes: “Let these words be the
colors, I’m just painting my heart.”
My
name is Hayden Charles and I am a Roman Catholic seminarian studying for the
Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. I am
currently in my first year at Conception Seminary College, but I am classified
as a sophomore. My purpose, as I said
earlier, is to share my encounter with God, and hopefully extend the joy of the
Gospel to others. That, I have decided,
is what I am going to call this little endeavor – “The Joy of the Gospel”. I chose this name because in my encounter
with Jesus Christ, especially this year, I have found great joy at the heart of
the Gospel. As Jesus tells the Apostles
in the Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 11, “I have told you this so that my
joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
In
my heart throughout my journey of discipleship I have found joy…joy of an
encounter, joy in being forgiven, joy in being called, joy in a relationship,
joy in the hope of an eternity spent with God, joy in being led to my heavenly
home. In short, I have discovered the
joy of being loved, and loved infinitely, to the point of death, by my
God.
This
joy, the joy of the Gospel, is not just part of my life, not just a little
piece of who I am. The joy of the Gospel
gives meaning to my life. It isn’t
something I can set aside and forget about in the midst of everyday struggles. This joy of an encounter with Jesus Christ is
a defining characteristic for me. In the
words of soon to be Saint John Paul II, Jesus has shown me that He alone can
fill my heart. And now I feel called to
share this joy with you.
I
look forward to seeing what God has in store with this little project, and I
hope that you do too. Please know that I
am very excited to share my heart and paint my encounter with God for you. You will be in my prayers, and I encourage
you to pray for me as something I have been praying about for a long time
finally gets off the ground. Thank you
for reading, and please come again!
Mary,
Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
In
Jesus’ love, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Hayden
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