Suy
Niệm Tin Mừng lễ Kính Thánh Tâm cực Thánh Chúa Giêsu,
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.
Với tình yêu, trong bản tính con người và thiên chúa, biểu tượng Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu là một tình yêu vô biên, cho không, Tình yêu cho di mà không được đáp lại. Qua lịch sử loài người, Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương con người với một tình yêu vĩnh cửu, nhưng con người đã vô ơn, không màng để ý tới mà còn xúc phạm đến tình yêu này. Điển hình là những phản ứng đáp trả lại của con người chúng ta đối với tình yêu của Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu la những ngọn đòng, những con dao nhọn đâm xuyên qua trái Tin Ngài bằng những bạo lực, những vđàn áp những người yếu thế cô đơn. Như chúng ta đã không đáp trả lại tính yêu của Thiên Chúa cho được xứng đáng mà còn cố gắng để tiêu diệt tình yêu của Thiên Chúa. Tuy nhiên, thay vì ngọn đòng đã hủy Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu, thì Trái Tim Chúa Giêsu lại được mở rộng to hơn nữa, và tuôn trào ra máu và nước trong những biểu tượng cuối cùng của món quà hoàn chỉnh.
Hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta hãy cố học hỏi nơi Ngài, vì Ngài hiền lành và khiêm nhường trong lòng. Chúng ta hãy từ tốn đón nhận lời mời gọi quảng đại này. Nếu chúng ta nghĩ rằng chúng ta biết tất cả mọi thứ hoặc chúng ta có đủ kiến thức và sự khôn ngoan , nhưng chúng ta chưa biết và hiểu được rõ về tình yêu của Chúa Kitô, thí chính chúng ta đang nhầm lẫn. Chúng ta sẽ thực sự khôn ngoan khi chúng ta làm chủ tình yêu: tình yêu Thiên Chúa dành cho chúng ta, tình yêu chúng ta dành cho Chúa trở lại, tình yêu Thiên Chúa dành cho tất cả mọi người khác, tình yêu chúng ta dành cho tất cả những người mà Thiên Chúa yêu thương. Tất cả tình yêu này là một tình yêu. "Nơi điều này mà thực là lòng mến:là không phải vì ta đã yêu mến Thiên Chúa, nhưng là chính Người đã yêu mến ta, và sai Con của Người đến làm hi sinh đền tạ tội lỗi ta." (1Jm 4:10) Chúng ta sẽ không làm chủ được tình yêu cho đến khi nào nhịp đập của trái tim của chúng ta hoà nhập một cách hoàn hảo với nhịp đập của Thánh Tâm Chúa. Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Chúa đã hiền lành và khiêm nhường trong lòng, Xin làm cho trái tim của chúng con được trở nên giống như Thánh Tâm của Chúa
The Solemnity of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, (Friday after Copus Christi Sunday)
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!
The love, both human and divine, symbolized by the Sacred Heart is an unrequited love. Through all human history, God has loved humans with an everlasting love, but humans have ignored and insulted this love. There is no greater symbol of the human response to God’s love than the Sacred Heart pierced by a lance. Humans respond with violence against the very symbol of God’s love, as if, unable to repay the love, and refusing to be in debt, they try to destroy the love of God. Yet the lance, rather than destroy the Sacred Heart, only opens it further, pouring forth blood and water in the final symbol of the complete gift.
Jesus invites us today to learn from him, for he is meek and humble of heart. Let us take him up on this generous invitation. 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. We will be truly wise when we are masters of love: the love God has for us, the love we return to God, the love God has for everyone else, the love we have for those whom God loves. All this love is one Love. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” We will not be masters of love until the beating of our hearts is in perfect sync with the Sacred Heart. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours.
The Solemnity of the Feast of the Sacred Heart,
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. John 19:33–34
John’s Gospel is filled with deep spiritual imagery and symbolism. It is clear that this imagery and symbolism was divinely inspired so as to give us spiritual food for reflection and meditation. One such image is given to us today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
As Jesus and the two criminals on either side of Him hung upon their crosses, the soldiers came to hasten their deaths by breaking their legs to cause them to more quickly suffocate. But when they came to Jesus, He had already died. So one of the soldiers, traditionally known as Longinus, thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, and blood and water flowed forth. Some traditions identify Longinus with the centurion who cried out after Jesus’ death, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (See Matthew 27:54.) Other traditions state that he converted at that moment, making him the first convert to Christianity. And still other traditions state that Longinus could not see well, and the blood and water from Jesus’ side poured upon his eyes, healing him. Regardless of whether these traditions are true, we know that Jesus’ side was pierced and blood and water flowed forth.
The symbolism of this act was more than a mere human symbol. It was an instrument of the profound spiritual reality that was taking place at that moment. As Jesus’ Sacred Heart was pierced, the blood and water that poured forth was the new sacramental life of the Church. The Blood was the Most Holy Eucharist and the Water was the gift of Baptism. And when Jesus had previously “breathed His last” and “handed over His Spirit,” the Sacrament of Confirmation was bestowed.
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.
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 2024
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.
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.
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I contemplate today the wounded and Sacred Heart of your beloved Son. As I recall the wonders of his love for me, I ask you for your grace, mercy, and the treasures of your love. May I offer worthy reparation for my sins as I honor your Son’s Sacred Heart.
1. The Heresy of Jansenism: Historically, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus gained popularity as a response to the heresy of Jansenism. Jansenism was a theological school of thought developed by a Dutch bishop in early 17th century France (modern-day Belgium) named Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638). Followers of Jansen’s teaching emphasized that Christ did not die for all people, but only those whom God predestined and chose to save. They held that, due to humanity’s sinful nature, some of God’s commandments were impossible for even good and just people to follow. Jansenism was fundamentally a denial of our free will and of how we can cooperate with God’s grace to attain holiness. Jansenism also required extraordinary penance of the Christian faithful. For example, only after long penance and purification could someone approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. One of the disciples of Jansen, Antoine Arnauld, published a book in 1643 called, Frequent Communion. The book was extremely popular and discouraged its readers from receiving communion if they were not perfectly united to God and perfectly irreproachable. As a result, people stopped receiving communion even during Easter, and some Jansenist priests stopped celebrating mass.
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.
Với tình yêu, trong bản tính con người và thiên chúa, biểu tượng Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu là một tình yêu vô biên, cho không, Tình yêu cho di mà không được đáp lại. Qua lịch sử loài người, Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương con người với một tình yêu vĩnh cửu, nhưng con người đã vô ơn, không màng để ý tới mà còn xúc phạm đến tình yêu này. Điển hình là những phản ứng đáp trả lại của con người chúng ta đối với tình yêu của Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu la những ngọn đòng, những con dao nhọn đâm xuyên qua trái Tin Ngài bằng những bạo lực, những vđàn áp những người yếu thế cô đơn. Như chúng ta đã không đáp trả lại tính yêu của Thiên Chúa cho được xứng đáng mà còn cố gắng để tiêu diệt tình yêu của Thiên Chúa. Tuy nhiên, thay vì ngọn đòng đã hủy Thánh Tâm Chúa Giêsu, thì Trái Tim Chúa Giêsu lại được mở rộng to hơn nữa, và tuôn trào ra máu và nước trong những biểu tượng cuối cùng của món quà hoàn chỉnh.
Hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta hãy cố học hỏi nơi Ngài, vì Ngài hiền lành và khiêm nhường trong lòng. Chúng ta hãy từ tốn đón nhận lời mời gọi quảng đại này. Nếu chúng ta nghĩ rằng chúng ta biết tất cả mọi thứ hoặc chúng ta có đủ kiến thức và sự khôn ngoan , nhưng chúng ta chưa biết và hiểu được rõ về tình yêu của Chúa Kitô, thí chính chúng ta đang nhầm lẫn. Chúng ta sẽ thực sự khôn ngoan khi chúng ta làm chủ tình yêu: tình yêu Thiên Chúa dành cho chúng ta, tình yêu chúng ta dành cho Chúa trở lại, tình yêu Thiên Chúa dành cho tất cả mọi người khác, tình yêu chúng ta dành cho tất cả những người mà Thiên Chúa yêu thương. Tất cả tình yêu này là một tình yêu. "Nơi điều này mà thực là lòng mến:là không phải vì ta đã yêu mến Thiên Chúa, nhưng là chính Người đã yêu mến ta, và sai Con của Người đến làm hi sinh đền tạ tội lỗi ta." (1Jm 4:10) Chúng ta sẽ không làm chủ được tình yêu cho đến khi nào nhịp đập của trái tim của chúng ta hoà nhập một cách hoàn hảo với nhịp đập của Thánh Tâm Chúa. Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Chúa đã hiền lành và khiêm nhường trong lòng, Xin làm cho trái tim của chúng con được trở nên giống như Thánh Tâm của Chúa
The Solemnity of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, (Friday after Copus Christi Sunday)
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!
The love, both human and divine, symbolized by the Sacred Heart is an unrequited love. Through all human history, God has loved humans with an everlasting love, but humans have ignored and insulted this love. There is no greater symbol of the human response to God’s love than the Sacred Heart pierced by a lance. Humans respond with violence against the very symbol of God’s love, as if, unable to repay the love, and refusing to be in debt, they try to destroy the love of God. Yet the lance, rather than destroy the Sacred Heart, only opens it further, pouring forth blood and water in the final symbol of the complete gift.
Jesus invites us today to learn from him, for he is meek and humble of heart. Let us take him up on this generous invitation. 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. We will be truly wise when we are masters of love: the love God has for us, the love we return to God, the love God has for everyone else, the love we have for those whom God loves. All this love is one Love. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” We will not be masters of love until the beating of our hearts is in perfect sync with the Sacred Heart. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours.
The Solemnity of the Feast of the Sacred Heart,
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. John 19:33–34
John’s Gospel is filled with deep spiritual imagery and symbolism. It is clear that this imagery and symbolism was divinely inspired so as to give us spiritual food for reflection and meditation. One such image is given to us today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
As Jesus and the two criminals on either side of Him hung upon their crosses, the soldiers came to hasten their deaths by breaking their legs to cause them to more quickly suffocate. But when they came to Jesus, He had already died. So one of the soldiers, traditionally known as Longinus, thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, and blood and water flowed forth. Some traditions identify Longinus with the centurion who cried out after Jesus’ death, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (See Matthew 27:54.) Other traditions state that he converted at that moment, making him the first convert to Christianity. And still other traditions state that Longinus could not see well, and the blood and water from Jesus’ side poured upon his eyes, healing him. Regardless of whether these traditions are true, we know that Jesus’ side was pierced and blood and water flowed forth.
The symbolism of this act was more than a mere human symbol. It was an instrument of the profound spiritual reality that was taking place at that moment. As Jesus’ Sacred Heart was pierced, the blood and water that poured forth was the new sacramental life of the Church. The Blood was the Most Holy Eucharist and the Water was the gift of Baptism. And when Jesus had previously “breathed His last” and “handed over His Spirit,” the Sacrament of Confirmation was bestowed.
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.
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 2024
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.
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.
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I contemplate today the wounded and Sacred Heart of your beloved Son. As I recall the wonders of his love for me, I ask you for your grace, mercy, and the treasures of your love. May I offer worthy reparation for my sins as I honor your Son’s Sacred Heart.
1. The Heresy of Jansenism: Historically, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus gained popularity as a response to the heresy of Jansenism. Jansenism was a theological school of thought developed by a Dutch bishop in early 17th century France (modern-day Belgium) named Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638). Followers of Jansen’s teaching emphasized that Christ did not die for all people, but only those whom God predestined and chose to save. They held that, due to humanity’s sinful nature, some of God’s commandments were impossible for even good and just people to follow. Jansenism was fundamentally a denial of our free will and of how we can cooperate with God’s grace to attain holiness. Jansenism also required extraordinary penance of the Christian faithful. For example, only after long penance and purification could someone approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. One of the disciples of Jansen, Antoine Arnauld, published a book in 1643 called, Frequent Communion. The book was extremely popular and discouraged its readers from receiving communion if they were not perfectly united to God and perfectly irreproachable. As a result, people stopped receiving communion even during Easter, and some Jansenist priests stopped celebrating mass.
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