We ask you, urgently: don't scroll past this
Dear readers, Catholic Online was de-platformed by Shopify for our pro-life beliefs. They shut down our Catholic Online, Catholic Online School, Prayer Candles, and Catholic Online Learning Resources essential faith tools serving over 1.4 million students and millions of families worldwide. Our founders, now in their 70's, just gave their entire life savings to protect this mission. But fewer than 2% of readers donate. If everyone gave just $5, the cost of a coffee, we could rebuild stronger and keep Catholic education free for all. Stand with us in faith. Thank you.Help Now >
His blood mends the broken chalice of the heart
FREE Catholic Classes
By Mary Regina Morrell
©Catholic Online 2005
"The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it." Henri J. M. Nouwen
It is not easy to live with a broken heart.
The pain of it can fill our thoughts, day after day, and weary our bodies to the point of exhaustion I often wonder what took the greatest toll on Jesus - his broken body or his broken heart.
I was reflecting on just that thought recently while spending time at a retreat center. During a period of silent meditation I closed my eyes and saw an image of a chalice, cracked on one side from the rim to the foot. Blood oozed from the crack but did not drip to the ground. I had no insight as to what the image meant for me and so continued to pray about it during the next day, and the next week. I was fairly certain though, as I am usually hard on myself, that I must have had something to do with either cracking the chalice or allowing the blood to be wasted.
But as I am always wary of relying on my own understand of such things, I shared the image with a very wise and deeply spiritual woman who has been an invaluable mentor to me. She asked me to bring the image to mind once again, to look inside the chalice and see what was there. I did as she suggested and relayed to her that there was wine in the chalice, translucent gold in color.
It was then that she suggested an insight concerning the image that had completely escaped me.
"Did you ever consider that the blood has sealed the crack in the chalice so that the wine does not leak out?" she asked.
I sat quietly for a few moments and then acknowledged that I had never thought of such a thing. Then she asked me to describe my understanding of the relationship between Jesus and the chalice and me, as a human being. I shared my thoughts that Jesus filled the chalice as Jesus fills the human heart. She smiled and suddenly I began to understand what had been so clear to her already.
The blood of Christ, shed out of an incredible love for us, can mend the broken heart as it mended the chalice I had imaged during prayer. I felt tears welling up and an immense sense of gratitude - for her, for the experience, and even for the pain of a broken heart because through it I am continually brought again to a deeper awareness of Christ's amazing love. The reality of God's love for us is something that often slips away as we struggle through life and become filled up with fears, doubts and our own brokenness.
Often it is the pain that brings us home to God.
Since then I have had another thought about the chalice -- it remained filled with wine in spite of its imperfection because God has a special use for broken things.
And so I would share this poem with you, sent to me by a reader and written years ago by an anonymous prisoner.
Broken Things
"If the hopes and dreams you cherished
All have crumbled in the dust,
And there is not kin or comrade
You will confidently trust,
If your life seems void of purpose
As a harp with severed strings,
There is One who has a very
Special use for broken things.
When our hearts are bruised and humbled
And our spirit crushed and lame,
And our burdened soul in anguish
From the depths cries out His Name
He will then in tender mercy
Gather us beneath His wings,
For He also has a very
Special love for broken things."
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Educationp, 732 562.1990
mreginam@aol.com
Keywords
broken, chalice, heart, mend
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol
Come Grow With Us
Sign up and walk the Catholic journey with millions around the world.
Receive inspiring emails on saints, daily readings, and free faith-building resources—no cost, ever.
Sister Sara Has One Message for Every Catholic Family This June
- Easter / Lent
- 5 Lenten Prayers
- Ash Wednesday
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary
Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2026 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.