Hardness of Heart
In this week’s Gospel Mark 3: 5, St Mark tells us that ‘Jesus was grieved at their hardness of heart…’ Hardness of heart is a common theme in spirituality. Many theologians and spiritual writers have linked it to a lack of receptiveness to divine grace, an unwillingness to repent, or a resistance to the transformative power of God's love.
Teresa of Ávila, a mystic and Doctor of the Church, wrote extensively about the interior life and the journey towards union with God. She described hardness of heart as a significant obstacle to spiritual progress. In "The Interior Castle," she explains:
“The soul that remains hard and obdurate, refusing to yield to the gentle calls of God, remains outside the innermost chamber where Christ dwells. The key to enter is a humble and contrite heart.”
Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Love), reflected on the hardness of heart in the context of divine love and human freedom:
"The ‘hardness of heart’ is a metaphor to describe the spiritual state of a person who is closed to God's love. It is a refusal to let oneself be loved by God, to open oneself to the source of all love, and to share that love with others."
In this week’s Gospel the Pharisees are closed to the love of Jesus and His mercy and compassion to their fellow men. They exhibit a hardness of heart by focusing rigidly on the letter of the law rather than its spirit, missing the deeper meaning of Jesus' teachings. This spiritual blindness leads them to criticize and oppose Jesus' acts of healing and mercy, as they prioritize ritual purity and legalistic observance over the transformative power of love and compassion.
Their refusal to recognize the miracles and acts of kindness performed by Jesus highlights their resistance to God's grace. Instead of rejoicing in the restoration and healing of individuals, the Pharisees remain entrenched in their self-righteousness and judgment, demonstrating a profound lack of empathy and understanding. Jesus continually calls them out for their hypocrisy, emphasizing that true adherence to God's will involves mercy, love, and a humble heart.
Through their example, we are reminded of the dangers of a hardened heart—how it can blind us to the presence of God in our midst and hinder us from fully embracing and extending His love to others. It serves as a powerful call to examine our own hearts, to seek softness and openness to God's transformative love, and to practice compassion and mercy in our daily lives.
St. Augustine in his "Confessions," explains this wonderfully, describing how God's grace softened his own heart:
“You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. You were with me, but I was not with you. The beautiful things of this world kept me far from you, and yet if they had not been in you, they would not have existed at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.”
Often it is through our daily sufferings that God breaks our hardness of heart to give us softer hearts. John of the Cross, another mystic and Doctor of the Church, in "Dark Night of the Soul," speaks about the purification process where God works to soften the hardness of heart:
“God leads into the dark night those whom He desires to purify from all these imperfections so that He may bring them further onward.”
Let us open our hearts to God's grace, allowing His love to penetrate and transform us. By softening our hearts, we create space for God's healing and guidance, enabling us to become instruments of His grace and love in the world. Let us pray for the strength to overcome our hardness of heart and to be ever receptive to the divine presence in our lives.