Sacred Heart of Jesus-Solemnity
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most sacred Heart of Jesus, a feast that invites us to contemplate the heart of Jesus and to discover in there the heart of the Eternal Father. Devotion to the sacred Heart probably goes way back to the time before Medieval period. But this feast isn’t simply a devotion that a Christian could say, it is not for me. The mystery of the most sacred heart of Jesus, is the mystery of the revelation of the heart of the eternal Father, who is full of love, compassion and tenderness. It is a revelation that tells us that the human heart, as deceitful and weak as it is, could, by the grace of the incarnation be a delight and pleasing to the Father’s heart. Being conformed to Christ, our hearts therefore should reveal and be a channel to others of something about the love of the Eternal Father. Through the heart of Jesus, the Holy Spirit grants us access to gaze into the mysterious depth of the Father’s loving heart. Thus, through the piercing of Jesus sacred side on the cross and the gushing forth of water and blood, our eyes are washed opened again to know God’s heart which is the expression of his will. The very core of Christianity is expressed in the heart of Jesus.
To talk about the heart of Jesus is to talk about the core of the Person of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church p 2563, describes the heart as “a place of truth, the dwelling-place where I am, a hidden centre beyond the grasp of our reason and of others. It is a place of encounter”. I love the part that says that the heart is a place of encounter, because to have access to a person’s heart is to encounter the real person, their true self. To contemplate the heart of Jesus therefore is to contemplate who Jesus truly is especially in the light of his total submission to the Father’s will. So, today, we liturgically focus on the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as a place of encounter with the Father.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI says that In biblical language, “heart” indicates the centre of the person where his sentiments and intentions dwell. In the Heart of the Redeemer we adore God’s love for humanity, his will for universal salvation, his infinite mercy. Practising devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ therefore means adoring that Heart which, after having loved us to the end, was pierced by a spear and from high on the Cross poured out blood and water, an inexhaustible source of new life.[1]
The man Jesus intentionally chose his fathers will and was completely one with the Father in his heart. In love, Philippians 2 shows us that he emptied himself of everything he was in such a way that all he had was the Father’s. Thus, Jesus speaks of the father and said, in Jn 17:10-11, all I have is yours and all you have is mine. It is within this unity of heart that we could talk about God dying in Jesus for the redemption of humanity.
In the Heart of Jesus, humanity rediscovers a concrete experience and knowledge of God’s heart before whom we stand to be judged due to our sins. But then in a mysterious way, we encountered him, as mercy and forgiveness. The contemplation of the heart of Jesus leads us to the contemplation of the Father’s loving heart, who does not lose heart nor relent in the face of our ingratitude and rejection of him but rather, as it were burns in love for us. The Book of Hoses 11 captures very well the essence of what I am saying. If you read from verse one of Hosea 11, you would notice that God’s people had sinned and in justice were now awaiting a retribution for their sins. But precisely at that point when all that awaited God’s people was simply a divine punishment, the love of the Father burns. Then we heard, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me”. Now, Instead of abandoning us at this point, God’s heart burns with compassion. Thus, the Lord says “my heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender”. This is similar to what we heard in today’s first reading from Ezekiel 34 where God speaks about his heart using the image of a shepherd whose heart is filled with love for the sheep especially the lost, the wounded and the weak. The shepherds of Israel had lost their way and as a consequence the flock had wondered away from the Lord from their safety. But even then, God’s hearts burns with compassion and he says, I myself will look after them and rescue them. I shall bring back the lost and the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. This loving Pastoral heart of God is then picked up in today’s Gospel from Luke 15:3-7,. Jesus uses the parable of the lost sheep to speak of the Father’s heart towards each and every one of us. There we see a shepherd who risks everything to find one sheep that got missing. And when he found it, he rejoices and celebrates with neighbours. Jesus ended this parable by saying, “even so the heaven rejoices over a repentant sinner. In a rather shocking way Jesus tries here to reveal to us the heart of the father who risks the life of 99 for one showing that his love one equals his love for many and his love for the many equals his love for each of us. This is a mystery. But all this remained shrouded in an inaccessible mystery until it shines brightly through the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
When humanity had reached its peak of infidelity and awaited divine punishment, an ocean of mercy was unveiled through the pierced Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is the mystery St Paul tries to capture in today’s second reading from Romans 5. He says, while we were still sinners and enemies Christ died for us and reconciled us. Through Jesus’ death and the piercing of his sacred side, the opening of the wellspring of love and mercy, he revealed to us the fount of all mercies and love from whom the Holy Spirit has filled our hearts with his love. Thus, St Paul says, The Love of God has been poured into our hearts.
St Bonaventure calls Jesus’ heart, “Indescribable beauty of God most high, Pure radiance of everlasting light, life that gives life and eternal water.
With all this in mind, Let us therefore, contemplate the sacred Heart of Jesus, a place of encounter with God’s Heart full of love, compassion and relentless mercies. Let us contemplate the piercing of his sacred side and the mystery of God’s love that issued from there. As we contemplate this, may our hearts that are often wounded and needing care, be healed by the tenderness of Jesus’ Sacred Heart. As we are healed by the love being poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, like Jesus, may our heart be filled with the Father’s love and thus show forth to the world the loving heart of the Father. With grateful heart to the most sacred heart of Jesus, the fount of the river which makes glad the city of God, let us therefore Adore the Sweet Heart of Jesus.
Let us pray,
Eternal Father, having been won over to the open heart of the saviour whose side was pierced on the cross, may we all draw water joyfully from that spring of salvation so that through the Holy Spirit, our heart may be conformed to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus our Lord.
The Lord be with you
May the almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God in peace, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus- have mercy on us
[1] POPE BENEDICT XVI ON THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. - Catholics Striving For Holiness