“The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us.” John Henry Newman

When the heart is so reached, an old fashioned, theological word that applies is “revelation” — something is being made known to us that slips into us, turns us on, enables us to go forward, fills us with hope and determination.

A more acceptable terminology for today, perhaps, is to “feel the spirit.” To so feel the spirit when our imagination is excited and our emotions surge is to feel the Spirit, I would say. The Spirit is a lot more available than many hierarchs, especially in my RC church, realize or admit. Revelation abounds.