A Heart Full of Love!

Friday, June 7, 2024

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Hos 11:1,3-4,8-9; Eph 3:8-12,14-19; Jn 19:31-37

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

When we recall the image of the heart, we understand that it is the seat of affections, emotions, and sentiments. 

In the biblical language, the heart indicates the entire person in his/her awareness, intelligence, and freedom. 

With reference to the interiority of a person, the heart becomes the center of moral life as it refers to thoughts, choices, and actions. 

If all these are true of the human heart, how much more special is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which poured God’s love into human hearts?

The flowing of blood and water from the side of Jesus, as mentioned in today’s Gospel, helps us reflect on the love of Jesus. 

In John’s Gospel, we find Jesus talking of water in the context of the gifts of baptism and the Holy Spirit given to believers (Jn 7:37-39). 

The gift of Jesus’ blood symbolizes the Eucharist. Jesus says, ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life’ (Jn 6:54).  

If the heart of Jesus symbolizes his love for us, our response to such love occurs in three ways. 

The Movement: Jesus’ love moved from his heart to the cross where he visibly manifested it to the world. Jesus proclaimed from the cross that a heart is that which beats for others. Jesus’ example shows that love enables the movement of thought into action. Our thoughts on love, charity, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, etc. should find expression in action. If our goodwill lacks the movement to bloom into action, then we should look up to the cross to learn from Jesus. 

The Response: Jesus’ love demands that we respond to his love. A proper response to the love of Jesus begins with the healing of the self of indifference and ingratitude. It amounts to a betrayal when we become incapable of recognizing the love of Jesus so as to be able to respond to it. Jesus’ example is not to be left untouched. Rather, it is an invitation to live it out so that everyone knows that we are the disciples of Jesus. It is true that evil can be explained by an inadequate response to the selfless love of Jesus. 

The Sharing: Jesus’ love makes a moral claim on the recipients. As such, those who receive it are invited to share it. Just as the Lord’s love cannot be contained within His Heart and therefore, bursts forth, those who receive it can only honor him by sharing it with others. Jesus was filled with love despite the betrayal, rejection, humiliation, and enmity that surrounded him. As such, Jesus has shown that a beautiful heart is not one that remains intact but is crowned with thorns. Our imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is true only when our hearts make themselves useful to others in love, sacrifice, and service. 

There goes a story. 

In a village, a certain young man had an undamaged, beautiful heart – a heart without holes and stitches. He grew so proud of its intactness that one day he appeared in public, challenging the people, ‘Who has a heart that is more beautiful than mine?’ To his surprise, when all others hesitated, an elderly man came forward, claiming that his heart would meet his challenge. The old man went on to make his heart visible, but only to be frowned upon by his fellow bystanders gathered about because it was with much dirt, stitches, and holes, in total contrast to that of the young man. However, the old man was not discouraged but rather began to explain himself.  ‘The dirt on my heart symbolizes the disrespect that my love has accumulated over the years. Similarly, the stitches mean that the love I lavished upon others was hardly returned in the same measure. Not finding the returns adequate, I had to stitch my heart to make it whole. Sadly, the holes you find are signs of unrequited love. They were so willing to cherish my love but never cared to pay it back. With nothing left to make them up, they remain as holes.’ Listening to the explanation of the elderly man, the youngster was moved to tears and came to the realization that a beautiful heart is one that suffers for others. 

The heart of Jesus, crowned with thorns, has shown us that one’s capacity for love is measured against one’s capacity to sacrifice and suffer for others. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar