Spiritual Heart Health

February has been proclaimed as National Heart Month.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), while heart disease and stroke kill one in every 3.7 men, one in 2.4 women lose their lives to heart disease and stroke – the no. 1 and no. 3 killers of women. By way of comparison, breast cancer kills one in 29 women.

During the month I see and read many wonderful tips and suggestions in maintaining a healthy heart.

• Cholesterol below 200
• Blood pressure below 120/80
• Blood glucose below 100 mg/dL of blood
• Body Mass Index (BMI) below 25
• Sodium 1500 mg daily
• No more than 450 calories worth of sugar-sweetened beverages/week
• Exercise – (moderate) 150 mins/week (vigorously) 75 mins/week

These are all minimum guidelines  which address the physical end but many times very little attention is given to  spiritual health.

 Today I read an article written Fr. Miles Sheehan, S.J., where he asks the following questions;

 How might your heart and my heart sound if we were to be examined by the Divine Physician, and our hearts compared to the ideal: the perfect Sacred Heart of Jesus?

Does your heart beat strongly or regularly out of love for God and others? Or is our spiritual pulse weak and irregular and chaotic?

Does the love of God flow cleanly through our hearts, refreshed by the Spirit, and sent out to strengthen us to do God’s work? Maybe there are problems, spiritual heart murmurs that need repair. We receive God’s love but it might be our heart is weak, a valve leaks, or it has become narrow and clogged.

In order to bring our hearts closer to perfection of the Sacred Heart of Jesus he offers the following prayer:

Divine Physician, fix my heart to be like your Sacred Heart:

Fill it with your love, give it the oxygen of your Spirit, 
let its beat be strong and in step with the rhythm of your heart.

Make my heart like yours: loving, free, and open.