The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Book of the Prophet Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9, Psalm Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6,
Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19, & John 19:31-37
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus comes to us as an invitation to look more deeply into the mystery of the humanity of Christ. The Lord Jesus, who out of His great love, laid down His life for us and poured out that love by opening His heart on the cross, as His body poured out His precious blood and living water. That is the blood of the living lamb and the water of the Spirit of baptism and Eucharist. Today, we are reminded to drink deeply from this spring of eternal life.
I once read that as we celebrate today's feast day, as we look lovingly at Jesus' wounded heart, we become so moved that our hearts are wounded by the fire of His love. This provoking wound heals our defective hearts, a wounded heart that is thirsting for the blood of the lamb who takes away the sins of the whole world. Through the mystery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are invited to penetrate the mystery of God's human heart. We are called to thirst for Him and are wounded so that the more we love, the more we desire to love, the more our hearts suffer and are injured, the more we find the healing power of our Savior. Essentially, what was hidden and unseen by our mortal eyes, is now made visible in the open heart of Christ; what was inaccessible is now a fountain of eternal life.
Dear friends, at the moment of Jesus' death, the earth shook, the rocks were split open and the world became dark. The Sacred Heart of Jesus enables our "stony" hearts to become flesh and beat along with the heart of Christ. It lets us drink deeply from the living water that wells up to eternal life. If our wounded world is to become holy, it needs the prayers and works of the saints who live in the heart of Christ. Jesus' Sacred Heart invites us to such holiness.
Question of the Day: Will you drink deeply from the spring of eternal life?
Prayer: "Thus says the Lord: Let whoever is thirsty come to me and drink. Streams of living water will flow from within the one who believes in me." (John 7:37-38)
Prosit