Catholic Outlook Magazine Ordinary Time Winter Edition 2022

Looking Deeper
has been captured in a range of beautiful metaphors.
The Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins speaks
of the divine imprint as “the immortal diamond”.
The Vatican II Document, Gaudium et spes (1965)
describes it as the “God-like seed”.
Daniel O’Leary speaks of our humanity as the
“womb of the divine.”
He assures us that already we carry within us
unknowingly, the fresh wells we thirst for and
beckoning horizons for which we long. In recent
years Richard Rohr talked about each of us
receiving the “kiss of the divine then.” It is therefore
more accurate to honour our divine origins by
understanding ourselves as first and foremost
spiritual beings who are becoming human.
apostles which conquered fear. Such a deep infusion
of the power of the Holy Spirit gifted each one
with an intuitive grasp of the whole, gracing them
with a heart understanding of Christ’s death and
Resurrection. This deep perception opened the eyes
of their hearts as they became aware of the profound
meaning of a self-emptying God incarnated in Jesus.
It was this “heart seeing” which empowered them
with the courage to spread the Good News.
As people of faith we desire to live life with an
openness to the transcendent – that which is beyond
us. We express this way of being in mission which
Pope Francis reminds us is about bringing “light,
blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing”
(Evangelii Gaudium). Our spiritual unfolding is
increased through taking formal opportunities for the
awakening of the heart.
This divine imprint is spoken of as residing in the
heart, which we know is not in essence physical.
Hence it cannot be located in a particular place
within the body. When we speak about matters of the
heart, we are referring to that which is at the hidden
centre of our being, beyond the grasp of reason. Our
tradition teaches us that only the spirit of God can
fathom the heart and know it fully.
Everyone’s unique life journey is about many things
as it unfolds with surprising twists and turns. Along
the way, we can observe and measure physical
growth and enjoy acquiring new skills and knowledge
as we allow our potential to unfold and develop. In
our growth to human wholeness, we also need to
nurture the ‘God-seed’ planted within each of us.
Like all our human possibilities, unless the capacity
of our heart is awakened and nurtured, it will remain
asleep within us.
Sr Patty Andrew osu is an Ursuline Sister in the Diocese of Parramatta.
As well as teaching on faith and spirituality matters, she is a chaplain
with Kairos Outside for Women, a support organisation for women with
incarcerated relatives.
Sr Patty Andrew osu
Image: Supplied.
As it is with every aspect of our human development,
we cannot do this alone. The infant child acquires
the complexity of language and the ability to walk,
always through the belief and encouragement of
others. Likewise with the awakening of our spiritual
potential. This is birthed in a faith community
grounded in a deep sense of the sacred.
At Pentecost we recall a time in the missionary
outreach of our Catholic tradition when collectively
the heart of the early Christian community was
deeply awakened. As we read the account of this
historic event, from the Acts of the Apostles, it is
evident that something was released within the
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