June 23, 2017: Solemnity of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 23, 2017: Solemnity of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Christians struggled for many years under the power of an Almighty God, fearful of this Law-giver and of the punishments they would receive if they did not obey him, and hopeful of the rewards if they did. Then the pendulum swung. Fear of authority was replaced by a negation of authority. Jesus became Emmanuel, God-with-us, the gentle and kind friend, who blesses everything and who makes few demands. It was a positive swing but something was lost in the transition: Jesus lost his divinity, his sacredness, the flame of love that purifies, hurts and burns in order to lead us into something totally new: the ecstasy of love and a peace that surpasses all human understanding. It is important to come back to the true face of God, the God of love, a love that burns and purifies and leads to the Wedding Feast.
We need to fear and fight against a cheap god, a god of the imagination and of human dreams, a god who was an idol rather than a reality, a god who blesses our mediocrity and weaknesses rather than calling us to growth. We need to seek the real God, the flame of love that burns and quenches the deepest yearnings of our wounded hearts.
The true God is not a God to be feared: God is a Lover. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is a gentle and demanding Bridegroom: we are the bride. God seeks us like the Hound of Heaven, to bring us poor mortals into the friendship and ecstasy of love. The beauty, the power, the humility and the vulnerability of this wondrous God of Love is looking for space in our hearts: ‘Open up the door of your hearts. Let this Lover, this Tremendous Lover, into your being.’
Opening up can, however, be painful. It means becoming vulnerable, leaving and losing things that give security. The way to open up is through faith. It is through belief and trust in the promises of Jesus, in the person of Jesus, calling us through the pain to a union of love. And we should not seek the marvelous, the extraordinary, or even the charismatic, but rather the presence of God who burns us, who gives and reveals divine love, the life of the Trinity, through faith, hope and through all our gestures of love towards our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest. ( By Jean Vanier)
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages. — (St. Faustina Kowalska, Diary,72)
We need to fear and fight against a cheap god, a god of the imagination and of human dreams, a god who was an idol rather than a reality, a god who blesses our mediocrity and weaknesses rather than calling us to growth. We need to seek the real God, the flame of love that burns and quenches the deepest yearnings of our wounded hearts.
The true God is not a God to be feared: God is a Lover. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is a gentle and demanding Bridegroom: we are the bride. God seeks us like the Hound of Heaven, to bring us poor mortals into the friendship and ecstasy of love. The beauty, the power, the humility and the vulnerability of this wondrous God of Love is looking for space in our hearts: ‘Open up the door of your hearts. Let this Lover, this Tremendous Lover, into your being.’
Opening up can, however, be painful. It means becoming vulnerable, leaving and losing things that give security. The way to open up is through faith. It is through belief and trust in the promises of Jesus, in the person of Jesus, calling us through the pain to a union of love. And we should not seek the marvelous, the extraordinary, or even the charismatic, but rather the presence of God who burns us, who gives and reveals divine love, the life of the Trinity, through faith, hope and through all our gestures of love towards our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest. ( By Jean Vanier)
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages. — (St. Faustina Kowalska, Diary,72)
