“When I find myself with an open heart, I want to give everything to it and through it bestow gifts on other people” (Inner Word).
Our Father can make use of a heart that is open to Him. In fact, not only does God love each person with a unique love and shower them with His grace, but He always has the whole human family under His loving gaze. Thus, we can see that when we sincerely strive to walk the path of holiness and respond to our Father’s love, He includes us in His plan of salvation.
Every little sacrifice, every small self-denial, every patient endurance of a situation can become a source of grace that not only transforms us, but can also serve as a door and comfort to others.
But how can we achieve such an open heart so that the Father can fill it with His gifts? Often our heart remains closed and we find it difficult to truly love.
When we find ourselves trapped in the narrowness of our heart, we should, on the one hand, think of our Father and imagine how much He rejoices when we open ourselves to Him with a simple prayer, even if it is only a very weak act: “Thou hast given me room when I was in distress, thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (cf. Ps 4,1; 31:5).
On the other hand, we can think of our neighbor: What a blessing it would be for him if our Father could love him through us and if he could encounter God through our love! Perhaps he does not yet have direct access to God, but he is sensitive to true love. Then we could become a bridge for him to meet the love of our Father.
Let us not be afraid if we sometimes perceive in ourselves a resistance to take steps towards a greater love. Let us simply present our imperfect heart to the Lord and ask Him for a new heart.