27 June 2025 Friday after Trinity Sunday

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Ezekiel 34:11-16; Psalm 23 (22); Romans 5:5-11; Luke 15:3-7

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Officially part of the liturgical calendar since 1856, though with much earlier roots, it is one of the greatest devotions of Christianity.

Do you know that the great devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has Cistercian initial roots? In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, in the fervent atmosphere of the Cistercian monastic reform, there were first clear signs of devotion to the Sacred Heart. But it was not until 1670 that the idea of a formal Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was promoted publicly by St John Eudes (1602-1680). Later in the 17th century, this gained great impetus through the visions granted to Margaret Mary Alacoque in the convent of Paray-le-Monial in Burgundy, France, whose intense devotion to the Heart of Jesus urged her to “diffuse the treasures of His goodness,” convinced that He had chosen her especially for this work.

Today, since the papacy of Pope Francis, the Church enjoins us to pray to the Heart of Jesus during the month of June, and especially on this great feast of the Sacred Heart, which is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, as instituted by John Paul II.

The Biblical meaning of the heart is the whole interior life of the person: one’s sentiments, memories, thoughts, reasoning, planning, and the expression of his will .

The Sacred Heart represents the very real life of Jesus, our Savior. His is a heart which was formed in Mary’s womb; a human-and-divine heart which beats as he preached the Good News and healed the sick; a heart that finally burst open on the cross. It is also the heart that beats once more at the Resurrection and continues to do so for us today.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is truly a powerful reminder of the merciful love of Christ poured out for us all. It represents both His divine love and His human love. In the Sacred Heart, we encounter the love of God that created the heavens and the earth; a love that created humankind and then mercifully redeemed us in our fallen nature. But the Sacred Heart is also one of fully human love; one which expressed itself in the love of Jesus for His Mother; the love of Jesus for His disciples, and the love which He showed for all He preached to and cared for. It was the compassionate love for sinners that drew them to repentance. It was a merciful love that was able to forgive those who nailed Him to a cross. On t his Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church contemplates the mystery of the Heart of God.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Good Shepherd’s heart that only beats with longing for the good of every sheep in his care, in obedience to the Will of the Father who sent Him into the world. In our Gospel Reading today, Jesus illustrates the dutiful rescue of a lost sheep by the shepherd who left the other 99. The successful rescue erupts into joy!

The Sacred Heart reminds us of all that the human heart is capable of. Sorrow turning into joy! Jesus then likens the recovered lost sheep to repentant sinners who cause joy even in heaven.

Christ is not just any shepherd but one who loves his sheep, as we are reminded in the text from the Prophet Ezekiel and the Letter to the Romans. Because of the love Christ has as a shepherd, he is willing to do more for us than any ordinary mortal shepherd, even to the point of laying down his life for us out of his great love for us. We know that Christ did this on the cross and that in that action, he has redeemed us and brought us back into the sheepfold, which is the kingdom of God. All we are asked to do is to have faith and to believe in Him and His Teachings, and to love as He loves.

We may reject the love of God and have done so throughout our human history. But the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus does not and cannot cease even by our rejection; it loves all the more. When the soldier pierced Christ’s side, His heart let flow out the blood and water of our redemption. Devotion to the Sacred Heart proclaims the great mystery of the merciful love of Christ for us, and His invitation to share in it and to love in return. We are called to live in this merciful love of Him who gave His life for us.