A faceless heart

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

It is a classic to dwell on the important characters of the past year, on the faces of those who had the limelight and became famous, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. But how many others have done excellent things without advertising? How well was it done without the spotlight on it? January has many anniversaries and days dedicated to significant themes. There is the World Day of Peace at the beginning of the new year; there is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January); there is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January).

For each one there are men and women who have invested energy, resources, dreams and hard work. It is not only important who receives the Nobel Prize or who is counted among the righteous of humanity. There are those who build peace every day with tenacity in the simplicity of their families, in the anonymity of the city in which they live, in the daily life of the office in which they work. There are those who seek and encourage dialogue by bringing the parties in dispute closer together. There are those who save human lives in a humanitarian mission or in a makeshift hospital.

They are heroes without medals who put their hands and heart into what they do. But their faces do not appear in the newspapers. That’s what they are: a faceless heart. Good is done by hearts that for the most part have no face. It is done by people who want to remain anonymous, because when you show off the gratuitousness of the gesture it loses clarity. One can always create the doubt that behind such goodness there is pride, interest, a hint of vainglory. The work behind the scenes is much more genuine! Even in our Association with receive anonymous donations.

You do not know who to thank. Maybe someone who won the lottery or wants to repair a wrong. Most of those who periodically support the works of charity do not have a face, at most a name. But they certainly have a heart. A heart that beats with compassion, solidarity and altruism. We are grateful to all of them because they believe in the good without seeking applause. They follow Jesus in that exhortation now out of fashion: «But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you» (Matt 6:3-4). If there is an applause to be expected, we reserve it for the One who can only judge.

We are certain of this, because God sees in the depths of our soul. Do you remember the episode of the stingy man whose heart Saint Anthony found in a chest? That heart attached to money made the rich “lose face”, it unmasked his selfishness in the face of all. The heart does not lie, says a popular proverb, because it reveals what has value for us, what interests us. The heart, that is, the passion we put into acting, reveals our true face.

A face that we will never find printed on a glossy magazine paper, but that makes us equally proud of ourselves. We can walk with our heads held high because our hearts do not reproach us for anything. The year which has just commenced asks everyone to cooperate for good, in solidarity, without fear of losing face if we go against the tide, provided that this world of ours can take a step forward on the path of justice, love and peace.