Thoughts to Live by | Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

by Cardinal Orlando Beltran Quevedo, O.M.I, Archbishop-Emeritus of Cotabato

Today's Thoughts to Live by, June 27, Fri, 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Some Notes on the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

1. One of the popular images of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus depicts a wounded heart, with a flame and a cross atop it. The heart is encircled by a crown of thorns and is radiating brilliant light.

2. Medieval mystics wrote of the Heart of Jesus as a symbol of his love for humanity. In biblical language, the heart is not only the center of affections, emotions, and sentiments. It indicates the entire person, his or her affections, emotions, sentiments, knowledge, freedom. It indicates our inner reality as persons, the center where choices are made. Thus, the heart of Jesus is the person of Jesus himself. He is on fire with love for us.

3. Meaning of the symbols:

• The flame symbolizes the intensity of Christ's love. It is a transformative and purifying love that calls us to repentance and renewal.

• The visible wound in the heart, the crown of thorns and the Cross above the flame represent the trials, humiliation, suffering, and sacrifice of Jesus in his Passion and Death. They likewise remind us of his humble obedience to the Father even unto death.

• The blood and water from the heart symbolize the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism, the outpouring of grace and life that flows from Christ to us.

4. The historical roots of the devotion to the Sacred Heart can be traced back to the early centuries of Christianity. The devotion can be found in the writings of early Church Fathers, who emphasized the love of Christ as central to the Christian faith. St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom spoke about the heart of Jesus as a symbol of divine love and mercy.

5. Such writings led to a more formalized devotion that would emerge in the Middle Ages. During the 12th century, the devotion began to gain prominence through the works of mystics and saints. One of the most prominent was St. Bernard of Clairvaux who wrote extensively about the love of Christ. St. Francis de Sales and St. John Eudes promoted the devotion. In 1672, St. John Eudes celebrated the feast for the 1st time.

6. The devotion was further solidified by a series of visionary experiences of Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial in 1673. Her revelations from Christ emphasized the heart as a symbol of divine love and the call for reparation for the sins of humanity. In one of her visions, Christ asked her to have a Mass dedicated to his Sacred Heart on the 1st Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi in order to make reparation for the indignities suffered by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

7. Many were skeptical of Sr. Margaret's claims. But her confessor, the then-Jesuit, Fr. Claude La Colombiere (now a Saint) believed her.

8. Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque died in 1690 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1920. In 1856, Pope Pius IX extended the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the whole Church. With the liturgical changes in 1969, the feast was assigned to highest rank of Solemnity. In 1995, St. John Paul II instituted the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests on this same day, so that "the priesthood might be protected in the hands of Jesus, rather in his heart, so that it could be open to everyone," be meek and humble, afire with love for others, and ready to sacrifice one's own life, so that others may have eternal life.

Please pray for our Priests.

9. Collect for the Mass of the Sacred Heart -- Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we who glory in the Heart of your beloved Son and recall the wonders of his love for us, may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gifts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Prayers, best wishes, God bless!