How Do You Fix a Broken Heart?

​A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, February 4th, 2024:
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 147

R. Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted. or R. Alleluia!

How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 

R. Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted. or R. Alleluia!

The Lord heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 

R. Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted. or R. Alleluia!

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is be-yond measure. The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground. 

R. Sing praises to the Lord who heals the broken-hearted. or R. Alleluia!

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

French fries. Ice cream. Cookies. Cake! When I am broken-hearted, these are the things I reach for. Whether it be heartbreak caused by an ex-boyfriend, a lost friendship, an estranged family member, or witnessing the hurtful actions of one person (or group of persons) toward another, heartbreak sucks. Heartbreak can literally feel like there is a hole in your heart. And personally, I want to fill that hole left in my heart with something, anything that will make the emptiness and hurt go away. And the easiest filler for me is something tangibly comforting… and delicious. But that really doesn’t fix my heartbreak. 

Like many people, I want to fix things when they are broken! However, fixing broken things is one thing. Fixing broken people? That’s a whole different thing altogether. Human heartbreak is ultimately the loss of a relationship. Romantic or platonic, it doesn’t matter. And if I have learned anything it is: 

1. We were made for relationship!
2. We are in relationship with every part of God’s creation. 

It blows my mind every time I think that God didn’t need to create me – He wanted to. He wanted a relationship with me. Even when I do heart-breaking things! He can fix that. He can fix me. The writer of Psalm 147 is very clear about God’s power to heal the brokenhearted. True healing comes from the One whose heart broke first.  The One who created us. As humanity chose over and over again not to love God as He loved them, His heart broke. Yet He continued to reach out to us to offer healing for the brokenness we felt and oftentimes caused. 

God did not leave His creation alone; just as He does not leave me alone. He doesn’t do the turning away in our relationship, I do. I make the choice to let Him fix me, heal me, love me…or not. God gave me that freedom trusting that I will come back to Him always. Broken heart and all. What greater gift is there than that?  

Okay, there is one thing greater. To show how much He wants to do this for me, He sent His only Son – who literally broke! – in order to reconcile our relationship.  
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Through Christ’s sacrifice, Christ’s love, I am reconciled to God. And it’s not just me! It’s all of humanity. God created all to know and witness that love. Broken as we are, God loves us unconditionally. Always. And if we are all given this gift of healing love, then let us constantly remind one another of that important fact!  Being capable of love and receiving love are important. But knowing we are loved makes all the difference. When I know I am loved, the brokenness falls away. When I know that I am loved, I know how to love another. And when we love others so they know they are loved, broken hearts can be fixed. 




Aurea Sadi

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