“What happens when people open their hearts?"..."They get better.”

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” - C.S. Lewis

(Gospel Text: Jn 3:16-21)

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

We’ve been told that God will rescue us our entire lives, however, God will not interfere with our free will. He will not interfere with whatever is bugging us deep inside unless we let him “in” to help us.  For instance, in the first reading today at Mass (Acts 5:17-26), the apostles were arrested and placed in jail for preaching the gospel. They weren’t sitting on their couches twiddling their thumbs thinking, “Oh gosh…I hope God comes to rescue me soon!” No, God does not rescue you from yourself until you invite him into your life. The first step belongs to you alone!

Well, what does this mean for me?

It means that you have to find ways to take risks in your life, knowing that you might fail, but knowing that it’ll be okay. God can deal with failure. He can fix failure, but he will not fix inactivity. I’m not telling you to go skydiving or anything like that, but I am saying you that you have to find some kind of risk in your life. Maybe that means breaking out of your comfort zone and talking with someone you’ve never talked to before. Maybe it means volunteering somewhere you’ve never been. Maybe it means going to confession for the first time in 20 years. Maybe it means apologizing to someone you’ve hurt. Maybe it means asking that girl you’ve always wanted to ask out on a date. Maybe it means quitting your job and following a call to enter religious life.

Through prayer find courage to take risks. God will be there for you if you fail! He can make crooked lines straight, but he will not draw lines while you stand still. He won’t break down walls in your heart that you’ve been building for years unless you remove the first brick.

If you really want to find God, take risks!