Solemnity of the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
JESUS OPENS UP HIS HEART FOR US
by Frank D.B. Savadera, SJ
We cannot totally
know God! God is a being that is completely MORE THAN what can be thought. Tayo nga ... we cannot completely know
ourselves ... hindi ba? God however, graces us with the capacity for WISDOM ... to
know him ... to experience his very being and reality. This feast and solemnity of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, we are asked to contemplate:
WHAT TRULY IS IN THE HEART OF JESUS?
Would you like to know? We have
the capacity to know because the LORD OPENS UP HIS HEART TO US!!! What truly is in the heart of Jesus!??
HEART is a great
symbol that we use in many literature.
What is the HEART of the matter?
What is the CORE? What makes it
ALIVE? The heart is such a delicate
organ of the body ... it distributes BLOOD to all other organs of the body ...
and so WE NEED TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF OUR HEART.
It has become so crucial and important to OUR LIVING that we say: PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH MY HEART!!! (Take good care of your heart ... it’s the
only one you’ve got ... if you lose your heart I lose you love). ARE WE WILLING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE HEART
OF JESUS who opens up his heart to us!
The
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been observed in the Church for
centuries. It is none other than OUR
DEVOTION TO THE HEART OF JESUS (Isn’t it true that we have a lot of
devotions?) I want to know how that
HEART reaches out to me ... how that HEART opens itself to me ... how do I feel
BEING LOVED by that heart ... how I feel BEING FORGIVEN by that heart.
One
of the saints who promoted the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the
French nun Mary Margaret Alacoque. The
Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred
Heart:
1. I
will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I
will establish peace in their families.
3. I
will console them in all their troubles.
4. They
shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour
of their death.
5. I
will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners
shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid
souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent
souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I
will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I
will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those
who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never
to be effaced.
12. The
all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive
Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final
repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving
their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.
"Look
at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me
in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on
earth."
Another
revelation: Saint Faustina Kowalska (Poland) ... from whom we derive the DEVOTION
TO THE DIVINE MERCRY ... wrote in her Diary, now world famous, these words of
Jesus: “I have opened my Heart as a living source of Mercy, from it all souls
draw life, all approach with deep confidence this sea of Mercy. Sinners will
obtain justification and the just will be strengthened in goodness. I will fill
the souls of those who put their trust in My Mercy with My divine peace at the
hour of their death.
This is the reason why the IMAGE OF A SHEPHERD is
significant in our understanding the SACRED HEART OF JESUS and his DIVINE
MERCY.
From EZEKIEL we read:
“I myself will look
after and tend my sheep. I will rescue
them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and
dark. I myself will pasture my sheep; I
myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
From St. Paul to the ROMANS: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. God proves his love for us in that while we
were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now
justified by his blood, will we be saved ...”
HOW MUCH IS GOD
PROVING HIS LOVE FOR YOU AND ME? Can we have a sense of that? Can we feel that? Can we contemplate the HEART OF JESUS to
recognize how the Lord wishes us to be his SHEEP and himself our SHEPHERD. He cares for us ... he loves us and pastures
us ... such that nothing can harm us.
