February 15, 2026: Let Your Heart Show Up

Let your Heart Show Up

A young man was standing in a card store right before Valentine’s Day, staring very seriously at a rack of cards. A clerk came over and asked if she could help. “I’m looking for your most beautiful Valentine card,” he said. “Something that perfectly expresses my deepest feelings.” The clerk picked out a card that was beautifully decorated—lace on the edges, fancy lettering, very impressive. [I show a card] She read the message inside: “To my one true love, the light of my life, the song that fills my heart with joy. I love you more than I can say.” The young man beamed. “That’s perfect!” he said. “I’ll take five.”

Now, that’s goofy. The humor of the story, of course, is that the words are beautiful—but impersonal. They say all the right things, but they cost very little. Five cards, same message, no real investment of the heart.

Maybe that story can help you understand the gospel, which comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel (which we have hearing over the last couple of weeks). It sounds like Jesus is making things harder, not easier. He has a catch phrase, “You have heard it said… but I say to you.” What Jesus is doing is moving us from “just following rules” to paying attention to what’s going on inside us.

Many of us are very good at following the rules technically. You kids understand this. “Did you hit your sister?” “No… I just shoved her.” Jesus says it’s not enough to say, “Well, I didn’t hurt anyone.” What about the anger you’re holding onto? The mean thoughts? The eye-rolling? The name-calling online? The silent treatment at home? It’s not enough to say, “I didn’t lie.” What about exaggerating, making excuses, or leaving out just enough of the truth so you don’t get in trouble?

Jesus knows how skilled we are at obeying the letter of the law while avoiding its spirit. We look for loopholes. We justify ourselves. We convince ourselves that as long as we haven’t technically broken a rule, we are doing just fine. But Jesus calls us deeper. He asks us to examine not just what we do, but why we do it—our intentions, our motivations, the hidden places of the heart.

So he says it’s not enough to avoid murder if we harbor anger or contempt that slowly kills relationships. It’s not enough to claim fidelity if our hearts and minds wander in ways that objectify others. It’s not enough to say we are honest if we manipulate words, bend the truth, or speak in ways that mislead. The real battleground, Jesus says, is within.

Jesus isn’t trying to make us feel bad. He’s trying to help us grow up spiritually. He wants our hearts to match our words—just like he wants our actions to match our faith.

Saint Paul helps us understand this in the second reading to the Corinthians, he says that the wisdom of God says that what we think and feel usually informs what we say and do. How we think of others (and of ourselves) has real-life impact, which we should neither ignore nor deny. Our hearts always leak out. If we’re full of kindness, it shows. If we’re full of resentment, that shows too.

Monday is Presidents’ Day, when we honor leaders like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, in particular, understood what it meant to wrestle not just with public decisions, but with the condition of his own heart. During one of the most painful seasons of his leadership, the nation was torn apart by war. Lives were being lost. Every decision carried enormous weight, and he knew that whatever he chose, many would criticize him.

Feeling the limits of his own wisdom, Lincoln turned to prayer. He later said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”

So think back to the Valentine card story. Jesus doesn’t want five identical cards with beautiful words but no real heart behind them. He doesn’t want something copied and pasted. He wants something real. He wants you — your actual heart, your real effort, your willingness to grow.

So here’s a challenge for us this week, especially as we get ready for Lent on Wednesday: take some time to pray and ask yourself, Where am I just saying the right things? Where am I trying to look good on the outside? And then ask God to help you in one concrete area where He can begin changing you from the inside out.

Because real love — and real faith — always starts in the heart.