Feast Of The Most Sacred Heart Of Jesus

[cappie]

When we say "Heart of Jesus Christ", we address ourselves in faith to the whole mystery of the God-Man.
These are the words of the Apostle Paul in his Letter to the Colossians:
"Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God / and the firstborn of all creation, / for in him were created / all things in heaven and on earth: / everything visible and everything invisible, / Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers" ([i]Col[/i]. 15-16).

These last words refer precisely to the "invisible" beings: the creatures that have a purely spiritual nature. "All things were created through him and for him. / Before anything was created, he existed, / and he holds all things in unity" ([i]Ibid[/i]. 1, 16-17).

These verses from Saint Paul’s Letter come together with what is proclaimed to us in the Prologue of Saint John’s Gospel:
"In the beginning was the Word: / the Word was with God / and the Word was God. / He was with God in the beginning. / Through him all things came to be, / not one thing had its being but through him. / And the world was made through him" ([i]Io[/i]. 1, 1-3. 10).

Both in the text of John and in the text of Paul is contained the revealed doctrine on the Son - the Word of God - who is of the same divine substance as the Father. This is the faith we profess as we say the Creed - that profession of faith which comes from the two most ancient Councils of the universal Church, at Nicea and Constantinople:
I believe in one God, / the Father, the Almighty, / maker of heaven and earth, / of all things visible and invisible . / I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, / the only begotton Son of God, / born of the Father before all ages, / God from God, Light from Light, / true God from true God, / begotten, not made, / consubstantial with the Father. / Through him all things were made".

The Son is one in substance with the Father. He is God from God.

At the same time, everything that is created has its divine beginning in him, as the Eternal Word. In him all things were made and in him they have their existence.

This is our faith. This is the teaching of the Church about the Divinity of the Son. This Eternal Son, true God, the Word of the Father, became man. These are the words of the Gospel: "The Word was made flesh, he lived among us" ([i]Ibid[/i]. 1, 14).

In the Creed we profess: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: and by the Holy Spirit he was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man".

Here we more directly touch upon the reality of the Heart of Jesus. For the heart is a human organ, belonging to the body, belonging to the whole structure, to the spiritual and physical makeup of man: "And the Word was made flesh".

In this make-up the heart has its place as an organ. At the same time it has a meaning as the symbolic centre of the inner self, and this inner self is, by nature, spiritual. The Heart of Jesus was conceived beneath the heart of the Virgin Mother, and its earthly life ceased at the moment Jesus died on the Cross. This is testified to by the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance.

During the whole of Jesus’ earthly life, this Heart was the centre in which was manifested, in a human way, the love of God: the love of God the Son, and, through the Son, the love of God the Father.

What constitutes the greatest fruit of this love in creation?

We read it in the Gospel: "He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God . . ." ([i]Io[/i]. 1, 11-12).

Here is the most magnificent, the most profound gift of the Heart of Jesus that we find in creation: man born of God, man adopted as a son in the Eternal Son, humanity given the power to become children of God.
And therefore our human heart "transformed" in this way can say and does say to the Divine Heart what we hear in today’s liturgy:

"My soul, give thanks to the Lord, / and never forget all his blessings. / It is he who forgives all your guilt, / who heals every one of your ills, / who redeems your life from the grave, / who crowns you with love and compassion. / The Lord is compassion and love, / slow to anger and rich in mercy" ([i]Ps[/i]. 103 102), 2-4. 8).

These are the words of the Psalm in which the Old Testament speaks of the mystery of God’s love. How much more do the Gospels tell us of the divine Heart of the Son - and indirectly of the Heart of the Father:

Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love!

Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful!

Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness!

Finally we can repeat with Isaiah that those who hope in the divine Heart "renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire" ([i]Is[/i]. 40, 31).

[BarbTherese]

Thank you for the reminder although I am a bit late. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Solemnity in Australia, followed on the 16th. by The Immaculate Heart of Mary. And of course, the physical Heart of Jesus was flesh of Mary's flesh, and The Second Person of The Blessed Trinity incarnated in Mary's virginal flesh by the Power of The Holy Spirit.

Edited June 17, 2012 by BarbaraTherese