Journey of the Heart / Jennifer Burger

Is your heart ready for the joy that God and life offer?

The month of March has loomed large on my calendar for months. I knew there would be a lot going on with a full schedule of Lenten programs here at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis through Holy Thursday—and my daughter’s wedding right before Holy Week on March 23!

What was really looming over me, however, was all that I had to do rather than the season of Lent that I love so much and, of course, the blessing and joy of celebrating a wedding. My goal was to be super organized and laser-focused with all the details mapped out accordingly. I wasn’t quite sure how it would all unfold, but I had a plan!

Naturally, God had a plan for me too, and it was revealed in a providential encounter just before Lent began.

I ran into a friend who was going to be leaving for a monthlong trip out of the country. I eagerly asked him, “Are you getting excited for your trip?” He gave me a somewhat puzzled look and kindly explained that “excited” was not a word in his vocabulary, but rather he was “ready.”

That response resonated with me and has stayed with me since—and now I am being asked the same question about the wedding: “Are you getting excited?”

I find myself pausing before answering that question. I don’t intend to remove the word “excited” from my vocabulary, but I’ve given more thought to what that really means and how “being ready” relates to it.

When I say I am excited, it implies that I’m looking forward to something that I hope to enjoy and celebrate. But “excited” can also refer to a heightened energy that causes anxiety and agitation.

When this happens, our excitement has been displaced. It is not a feeling that brings joy but rather becomes a distraction.

The story of Mary and Martha comes to mind (Luke 10:38-42). Martha seems to be putting all her energy into getting ready. I imagine her having her own list of things to do to make everything perfect for their guest Jesus, but in doing so she ends up missing the opportunity to savor and enjoy his arrival, the “better part” that Mary chose.

I’ve been operating from to-do lists and spreadsheets to keep everything in my head organized on paper so I can stay on task and everything can go according to plan. But I keep returning to that notion of being ready. … Is my heart ready?

There is a readiness or preparedness that makes the occasion of excitement all the more enjoyable and meaningful when we finally reach it. I desire this kind of readiness for my daughter’s wedding, for Holy Week and for Easter. I still have my lists, but I’ve been surrendering their importance for the sake of the “better part,” and what I’m finding is the gift of journeying with others through this Lenten season.

Each act of prayer, sacrifice and giving to and for others has been a moment of grace that has filled my heart with the same kind of readiness as the five wise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 who had enough oil in their lamps, which allowed them to attend the wedding feast when the bridegroom arrived.

It is a readiness of being fully present—a posture of the heart that is not only able to receive but to give. It is a readiness that surpasses anything looming in our lives and that brings us in full communion with the divine.

Now that is something about which we can truly be excited! It is what we will celebrate with great joy this Easter! Are you ready?

(Jennifer Burger is program manager at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. She is also a spiritual director.) †