Hardness of the Heart
General Message of the Lecture
The lecture addresses the danger of hardness of the heart in priestly and pastoral service, and how it can gradually enter the heart of the servant or priest due to pressures of service, repeated mistakes of people, or misuse of authority, causing the service to lose its evangelical spirit based on love and compassion.
Lecture Summary
First: Sources of Hardness of the Heart
Hardness of the heart may sometimes begin through serving the poor, when the servant is exposed to deception or manipulation, leading to generalization and loss of compassion toward those who are truly in need. It also arises from frequent clashes with people’s mistakes or from shifting from spirituality to dry administration.
Second: Authority and Its Misuse
Excessive use of authority, especially through random or continuous punishments and excommunications, leads to hardness of the heart. People do not love those who use authority harshly, but rather those who deal with gentleness and kindness.
Third: Hardness in Punishment and Confession
Excessive punishment is a sign of hardness of heart, because God Himself does not punish every sin. Likewise, the hardness of a father confessor appears when he demands from the confessor more than he can bear, interferes in personal matters that do not concern him, or forces guidance without conviction.
Fourth: The Difference Between Firmness and Hardness
Firmness may be an educational method when needed, but hardness is a condition of the heart. A person may sometimes act firmly while his heart is full of love, but continuous hardness wounds souls and causes the service to lose its spiritual impact.
Fifth: The Divine Example
God is described by kindness and long-suffering, and His kindness leads to repentance. Even when He uses firmness, it is motivated by love and not by hardness of heart. Therefore, the servant must balance firmness and compassion, imitating God and not himself.
Sixth: The Spiritual Warning
Hardness of the heart exhausts the soul, reduces spiritual idealism in the eyes of people, and turns service into a routine without inner feeling. A servant who cannot tolerate hardness from his superiors should not act with hardness toward others.
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