Are Men to Be Heartless?

From a recently posted essay on Homiletic & Pastoral Review, written by Fr. Stanley Smolenski, SPMA:

A seminary professor, when analyzing the episode of Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35), said that one of the two disciples was most likely a woman.  Our teacher based that judgment on the question, “Did not our hearts burn when he explained the scriptures to us?”, as though the heart were only a feminine concern. Are men, then, to be heartless?  Blessed John Paul II refutes that idea. In his youth, he frequently visited the great Shrine of Holy Calvary near his town. When he made a pilgrimage there as Pope, he said, “Here, the Mother of God nourished my heart.”  John Paul was a man not only of the head but equally of the heart. His heart was not undernourished.

The validity of that last statement can be seen in what Pope Benedict said to a Marian group from Bavaria on May 28, 2011. Speaking of his seminary days, he pointed out: “When we were studying after the war—and I believe that today not very much has changed, I do not think the situation is much improved—the Mariology taught at the German universities was somewhat austere and dull.” It lacks inspiration. Only the head is being taken care of. This brings to mind what St. Therese of Lisieux said about her reading some theological books: they gave her a headache. She emphasized that they did nothing for her heart.  Was she a mere sentimentalist? The recognized Dominican scripture scholar, founder of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, Fr. Marie-Joseph Lagrange, is reported to have said this about her: “Therese has saved me from becoming a dry old bookworm.”

The remedy for this imbalance could very well be the “way of experience” which is becoming more acceptable as a theological source. The Pontifical International Marian Academy, described this in their publication The Mother of the Lord—Memory, Presence, Hope: “It should be noted that ‘the way of experience’ puts forth a knowledge from divine revelation acquired, not through speculation, but through a personal encounter of believers with that which they have welcomed in a deeply personal way into their lives” (p. 26).

Read the entire essay at www.HPRweb.com.