Hôm nay chúng ta mừng
kính trọng thể Trái Tim cực Thánh (Thánh Tâm) Chúa Giêsu. Trong Đại lễ mừng
kính Trái Tim (Thánh Tâm) cực Thánh Chúa Giêsu, chúng ta cử hành việc kính nhớ
đến thân xác con người của Đấng Cứu Rỗi của chúng ta. Trái tim thật xứng đáng
là một biểu tượng của toàn thể thân xác con người. Đó là trung tâm của cơ thể,
và nhịp tim là bằng chứng về sự sống của thân xác con người. Trong lễ Thánh
Tâm, chúng ta thờ kính những bộ phận thực tế trong thân xác của Đấng Cứu Rỗi
chúng ta, Con Tim đã đập ngay từ lúc thân xác được hình thành trong cung lòng của
Đức Maria, Trái tim luôm đập đều đạn trong khi ngài đã rao giảng về sự tha thứ
và chữa lành những người đau bệnh, Trái tim dừng đập ngay trên Thập giá, Trái
Tim đã bị đạm xuyên qua bởi lưỡi đơơòng của tên lính dữ, và Trái Tim ấy lại bắt
đầu đập lại một lần nữa ngaỳ lúc Ngài Phục Sinh, và vẫn còn đập đến hôm nay, đập
trong thân xác đang ngự ngay bên hữu Đức Chúa Cha. Hơn nữa, lòng sùng kính
Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu là sự tận tâm với tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu, tình yêu gấp
đôi của Chúa Giêsu: tình yêu Thiên Chúa và tình yêu con người của Ngài. Thánh
Tâm Chúa Giêsu là sự tượng trưng cho tình yêu của Thiên Chúa vì Ngài đã tác tạo
ra thế giới và cứu chuộc một thế giới con người sa ngã, nhưng Trái Tim này cũng
thể hiện tình yêu thương trọn vẹn mà Chúa Giêsu đã dành cho con người, sự đau
khổ, Ngài dành cho các môn đệ, đặc biệt cho người " môn đệ Chúa Giêsu yêu.
"Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu yêu không chỉ với tình yêu của Thiên Chúa, nhưng
cũng là trái tim của một con người hoàn hảo, biết yêu trong mối quan hệ tình cảm
như mọi người.
If we think that we know
anything or have a certain amount of wisdom, but we have not yet learned about
love, we are mistaken. Today we celebrate the preeminent devotion, the greatest
devotion of Christianity: the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Sacred Heart we
celebrate the human body of our Savior. The heart deservedly stands as a symbol
of the whole body. It is at the center of the body, and the heartbeat is
evidence of the life of the body. In the Sacred Heart, we worship the actual
organ in the body of our Savior, beating from the time of its formation in the
womb of the Blessed Mother, beating while he preached forgiveness and healed
the sick, stopped by the Cross, pierced by the lance, begun again at the
Resurrection, and still, today, beating in the body seated at the right hand of
the Father.
Further,
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is devotion to the love of Jesus, the
twofold love of Jesus: the divine love and his human love. The Sacred Heart is
truly symbolic of the love of God which created the world and which redeemed a
fallen world, but it also expresses the fully human love which Jesus had for
the crowds, for the suffering, for his disciples, particularly for the
“disciple whom Jesus loved.” The Sacred Heart loved not only with the love of
God, but also was the perfect human heart, loving in right relationship all
things.
We are convicted by the
Sacred Heart for our lack of love. If it were only a symbol of divine love, the
love which created us, so stunning in its infinity, an infinity which is for
all but no less infinitely for each, we are by definition incapable of such
love, but, since it is also a symbol of Jesus’ human love, we are indicted when
we see how much love a human heart is capable of. Consider how, in comparison,
we love so little. How small is our love for our families, our friends, and our
enemies! How little compassion do we have for the sick, the poor and the
suffering!
When
we celebrate those Sacraments today, it is easy to see them as mere symbols of
what we partake in. But in our Christian Tradition, the Sacraments are so much
more. The symbol is also the reality. It is the instrument of what it
symbolizes. Therefore, every time we witness a Baptism or partake in the Holy
Eucharist, we are mystically present with Longinus, receiving the grace and
mercy of our redemption, pouring forth from Jesus’ wounded side, so as to heal
us and make us whole.
The
human heart is, physically speaking, a bodily organ responsible for pumping
blood throughout. But from a spiritual perspective, given that we are both body
and soul, the human heart is also the source of our life. Without it, we
physically and spiritually die. So it is with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was
not only a physical heart that was physically pierced by the lance long ago. It
is now also the source of our ongoing spiritual life, and, without Jesus’
Sacred Heart of Mercy, we will die in our sins.
Reflect,
today, upon the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. See His Heart as the ongoing source
of your new life in grace. Understand that His Heart is more than a symbol of
His grace and mercy, it is the spiritual source and the font of that mercy.
Prayerfully place yourself before His Cross, this day, and allow the blood and
water, flowing from His wounded side, to cover you so that you, too, may
believe.
Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus, You poured out upon the world the love and mercy of Your
transforming grace through the instrument of the blood and water pouring forth
from Your wounded side. Help me to gaze upon this font of mercy and to be
covered with it through the gift of the Sacraments. May I always be open to all
that You wish to bestow upon me by these precious and transforming instruments
of Your love. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord
God, you began to dwell in my heart when I was baptized. What an awesome and
wonderful gift! Remain in my heart, abide there, and make it yours. I offer
myself to you today and only want to enjoy your love forever.
Encountering the Word of
God
1. The Sacred Heart of
Jesus: When we contemplate the three members of the
Holy Family, we can see how they had hearts that were sacred, immaculate, and
chaste. The Heart of Jesus is called “sacred,” and means that it is holy,
consecrated, and set apart. The Hebrew word for holy in the Bible is kadosh,
which means set apart. In the Genesis story of creation, God hallowed the
seventh day (the Sabbath) and set it apart for himself. This
teaches us that “God shared his holiness with his creation, and with it came
peace, fruitfulness, and integrity” (Hahn, Holy is His Name, 26).
In Exodus, God revealed his name and his holiness – his transcendence, his
otherness, and his power – to Moses and the People of Israel. “In Exodus God
takes up residence among his people – not as one of them (not yet) but
permanently with them in the holy place. … Holiness is now an earthly reality,
visible as fire and audible as thunder but also visible by association in pots
and pans, slaughtered animals, and tent cloth” (Hahn, Holiness is His
Name, 39). At Mt. Sinai, Israel was set apart from all other nations and
called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Under
David and Solomon, the people occupied the holy land and built a holy temple in
a holy city. In the New Testament, God’s holiness is made incarnate in Jesus:
“The child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus
is the Holy One of God. God became man to save us from sin so that we could be
holy and share in his holiness. When we contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
we contemplate God’s merciful love and the invitation made to us to share in
God’s holiness through the Son and in the Spirit.
2. The Immaculate Heart
of Mary: Yesterday, we celebrated the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and contemplated the manifestation of God's merciful love in Jesus
Christ. Today, we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary and contemplate the
great things that God accomplished in Mary and that he wants to accomplish in
us. Unlike Mary’s pure and immaculate heart, our hearts are marked by sin; we
are wounded and tend toward evil. The fruit of the tree tempts us with false
delight. Like Paul, we end up committing the evil things we don’t want to do
and not doing the good things that we should do. When we see our heart and find
that it is attached to sin, we should not get discouraged. That is what the
devil wants. Our misery is not the end; it is only the beginning. Just as God
brought his people out of the misery of Egyptian slavery, so also he brings us
out of the slavery of sin. He patiently awaits our response to his call. He
wants to transform the misery of our heart through his merciful love into
purity of heart so that we can see him: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for
they shall see God.” While the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
celebrates especially how her heart and soul were preserved from any stain of
original sin, today’s memorial celebrates how she kept her heart without stain.
When we look at Mary, who intercedes for us now before God, we contemplate in
her the Church that has already reached perfection. In Mary, the Church exists
without spot or wrinkle. In her, the Church is already the all-holy (CCC,
829). She is the image and beginning of the perfected Church, and she shines
forth on earth as a sign of hope and comfort to us, the pilgrim People of God (CCC,
972).
The Chaste Heart of
Joseph: Jesus’ heart is called “sacred,” Mary’s heart is
called “immaculate,” and Joseph’s heart is called “chaste.” Chastity differs
from celibacy. Not everyone is called to be celibate, but all are called to be
chaste. The virtue of chastity opposes the vice of lust. While lust is a
disordered desire for sexual pleasure, chastity is the successful integration
of sexuality within the person (CCC, 2337). The heart is of utmost
importance. It is the place of our decision-making: we can choose to commit
adultery in our heart or we can choose to love God with all our heart. “The
heart is the dwelling-place where I am; where I live; according to the Semitic
or Biblical expression, the heart is the place ‘to which I withdraw.’ The heart
is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the
Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the
place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth,
where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image
of God we live in relation; it is the place of covenant.” Joseph’s heart is
truly a model for us of fatherly protective love and spousal chaste love.
Conversing with Christ: Lord
Jesus, sanctify my heart so that I may love you with an undivided love, cleanse
my heart so that I may have a worthy dwelling for you, purify my heart so that
I may love my brothers and sisters as I should.
Friday
12th Ordinary Time 2025
- Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Opening Prayer: Lord God, search for me when I stray, find me
when I am lost, heal me when I am sick, bring me home when I have abandoned
you. Help me rejoice when my brothers and sisters are brought back and enjoy
communion with you once again.
Encountering the Word of
God
1. The Promise of a
Shepherd in Ezekiel: When we
meditate on today’s First Reading, we should recall that Ezekiel was called in
the sixth century B.C. to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. The
reference to shepherds is likely a reference to the kings and other leaders of
Israel and Judah. They were not caring for the flock in their
charge. The crucial point of Ezekiel’s prophecy and also of
Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 23:3) is that the Lord is taking the initiative:
“he will come and act to save his people because they are his sheep and are in
great need. The truth is that God has determined to act, and he solemnly
promises that he will restore his people to their land, where they will
experience both peace and abundance. The intense heart of the Lord for his
people is revealed in this ardent declaration that he will come and deliver
them. We can only imagine the comfort and consolation these words brought to a
defeated people living hundreds of miles from home and suffering a seemingly
irreversible misfortune” (Keating, Ezekiel, 238).
2. The Good Shepherd who
Loves Us: Turning to the
Gospel, it is good to remember that when Jesus tells a parable,
there is usually a twist that is out of the ordinary. The sower in Matthew and
Mark, for example, is careless as they sow seed on the path, among thorns, and
on rocky ground. The householder in Luke is overly generous with the laborers
who only worked an hour. The vineyard owner in Matthew foolishly sends his son
after the tenants just killed some of his servants. In today’s Gospel, in the
parable of the lost sheep, we can ask: “Would a sensible shepherd leave the
other ninety-nine sheep in the desert to go and find the lost one?” We could
understand leaving the sheep in a protected area, but it seems foolish to leave
the ninety-nine for the sake of the one. A sensible shepherd would say to
themselves, “Well, too bad. I lost one. At least I have ninety-nine more.” But
that is not how God thinks about us. We are created in God’s image and
likeness. We are loved individually by name. And the Son of God loves us with a
divine and human sacred heart. What could seem foolish to us is actually a deep
revelation about the generosity, abandon, and self-sacrificing nature of God’s
love.
3. Reconciled to God and
Saved by the Shepherd: The
First Reading promises that God will shepherd his people. The Gospel sees the
fulfillment of that promise in Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, who seeks us
out when we stray. The Second Reading, from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, speaks
about the love of God that has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit. God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ
died for us, justifying us by shedding his blood, reconciling us to the Father
through his death, and saving us by his life. Paul promises that we will be
saved through Christ “from the wrath,” which means the day of final judgment.
This is “when the Lord will reveal the full measure of his justice. To be saved
from this is to be rescued from final condemnation. By saying that believers
will be saved by his life, Paul specifies that salvation is a participation in
the risen life of the Messiah” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 79)
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, sanctify my heart so that I may
love you with an undivided love, cleanse my heart so that I may have a worthy
dwelling for you, purify my heart so that I may love my brothers and sisters as
I should.
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