The old Baltimore Catechism taught that God created us “to know, love and serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him in the next.” In just a few words, this captured the essence of who we are and our purpose for being. God created us out of love and has always wanted us for Himself; we belong to God. But because of humans’ inclination to rebel, the history of salvation has been filled with God’s attempts to win us back. The patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were all sent to guide the people back to the Lord. But they had limited success; so God took definitive action, as we read in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” That love of God, given to us in the person of Jesus, is symbolized in the Heart of Jesus.
Jesus knew and experienced the many emotions that happen in the human heart. The Gospels tell us that His heart was moved with pity for the crowds, the sick, the hungry, the blind, the outcast and the lost. He grieved with his friends Martha and Mary and cried at the death of their brother, Lazarus, causing the onlookers to say, “See how He loved him” (John 11:35). He was moved by righteous anger when He cleansed the temple, driving out the money-changers (John 2:13-22). He expressed frustration at those who refused to believe in Him, asking, “How long will I endure you?” (Matthew 17:17) He was filled with sorrow and anguish in the garden of Gethsemane as He prayed about his impending crucifixion (Mark 14:32-42). His heart was both the heart of God and the heart of man.
The celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus models for us the virtues and sentiments of the heart. We are called to imitate His loving and generous Heart. He invites us to come to Him when we labor and are burdened. He gives us rest when we learn from Him who is meek and humble of heart (Matthew 11:28-30). From Him we learn genuine compassion, righteous anger, generosity in forgiving, frustration, grief and sorrow, and love for dear friends. Because the Heart of Jesus connects with us on so many different levels, the only true response is to love Him in return and to accept that we belong to God. Lastly, when “we have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16), we are compelled to share with others that same experience of love. Joining all the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on this feast we pray: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere!
Fr. Ray Diesbourg, MSC