Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today we celebrate The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotional with long and historic provenance within Christianity, and in modern times has been established as a Solemnity for the universal Church.
The Solemnity was first celebrated in France. The liturgy was approved by the local bishop at the behest of St. John Eudes, who celebrated the Mass on August 31, 1670. The celebration was quickly adopted in other places in France. In 1856, Pope Pius IX established the Feast of the Sacred Heart as obligatory for the whole Church. The feast of the Sacred Heart is scheduled to be celebrated on the Friday after the octave (eighth day) of the feast of Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is traditionally the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. However, in the United States, Corpus Christi is instead celebrated on the following Sunday. Despite this, the feast of the Sacred Heart still takes place 19 days after Pentecost.
HEART OF JESUS , DELIGHTS OF ALL THE SAINTS
The Heart of Jesus is our promised land to which we are heading. It is a garden of paradise, a delight of the human heart. It is the longing and goal of the human soul, create in the image and likeness of God. There is no treasure greater than the Lord's Heart, in which there is the fullness of love, the fullness of holiness. The heart of Jesus is hope and delight for us sinners who strive for perfect love. The fire of God's love burns up all that is unholy in us. This heart is constantly offered for us on the altars of the world for the forgiveness of our sins, freeing us from it burdens, opening us to the fullness of grace, that is, the fullness of happiness in God.
Nobody and nothing but the Heart of Jesus will satisfy the deepest desires that are hidden in you. In It you will experience solace in your earthly journey. This Heart still wants to open to you new springs of its graces. In It there is always freshness, youth, joy and life. The Heart of Jesus is able to fill your every hunger, emptiness, loneliness, turning them into fullness, abundance. You are born of God, therefore only in Him can you experience full bliss. Everything earthly will pass away. Only what is eternal, coming from the Creator, will not pass away. The Holy Spirit wants to inflame in you a desire for holiness, a desire for God that you would be satisfied in Him, intoxicated with love.
Look for Jesus. Get to know him. Become one with the Lord on your way of life - with Him experiencing joys and inevitable situations of life. With the help of grace, discover that you are always and everywhere surrounded by the love and mercy of the Savior's Heart. Let this Heart be your greatest desire, your shelter, and your home. In Him and through Him you will become holy. Jesus present in the sacraments pours out a fountain of living water from his heart, filling you with his goodness. Wash yourself in the blood that flows from the wound of the Lamb's Heart, allowing yourself to be purified. Taste how good the Lord is by feeding in His Word and Body. Enjoy the sweetness of His love - gentle, patient, merciful. Maintain an uninterrupted dialogue of the heart with your Master so that you may experience His tender presence.
You need Jesus. And Jesus needs you to love you. And you are the delight of His Heart. He delighted to be in your heart full of faith and pure love. The Lord still humbles himself before you, knocking for you to open the door to Him, accepting everything that He Himself wishes to give you from His Fullness.
Holy Spirit, come and open me to the love of Jesus' Heart. Let me desire my Lord from the bottom of my soul. Help me to place all my hope in Him. Open me to find in Him the fulfillment of my deepest longings and desires. Lead me so that, in getting to know Him, I may relish the love of His Heart forever
Until Tomorrow
fr. george