Riza Fortuna

There is a hole in each of our hearts that can only be filled by God. I believe it is part of God’s design. How do we sense this hole? We feel empty. Even when there is so much going on in our lives, there is something lacking. A sense of emptiness haunts us. In my experience, the hole was filled when I entered into a personal relationship with God.

However, as time goes by, there are moments when another bout of emptiness occurs. Sometimes it is what we call spiritual dryness where we don’t feel the presence of God and thus we feel there’s a lack of something essential.

As I try to think about it, I am led to believe that the hole in our heart "increases" as our capacity to love God grows. As we grow in our relationship with God and continue our Christian journey, we also grow in our need for Him. Thus, we need to get a "greater" filling of God so we can meet the demand of that ever-growing hole.

How do we get a greater filling of God? We can spend more time in prayer, scripture study or reflection, visit God in the Blessed Sacrament, receive more frequently the sacraments especially the Eucharist, read spiritual books that help us grow in faith, or listen to enriching talks. These are but a few examples. The key is to do our part which is to feed more our soul, to keep up with our growth as Christians.

Do we despair when we feel empty or sense an increasing hole in our heart? We should not. Instead, we take it as a positive sign that we are growing in our relationship with God and have not been left stagnant in our faith.

I came across this saying by Fr. Pio and I quote:

"In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with a boat which always must go ahead. If it stands still the wind blows it back. Fix the time, the length of your meditation, and do not rise from your place until you have finished even at the cost of being crucified." (Padre Pio)

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 7:48 am and is filed under Spiritual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.