The devotion to the Sacred Heart

Sr. Lini Sheeja MSC, Chief Editor, Prison Voice Magazine

The heart of Christ cannot be closed; Because it is too full of Love and too full of Compassion faith focus

t was on the Cross, when the soldier pierced His side Iwith a spear, gushed forth blood and water. Jesus, the Son of God willed to be crucified and to be pierced His side. For the Redeemer knew that the redemption is from
His heart where blood and water flowed. The humanity was cleansed by this single act of the Son of God. And even today, the blood and water continues to flow for the humanity, for His heart cannot be closed. The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of Jesus’ humanity and the significance of his sacrifice. He suffered, he felt pain, He literally laid down His life and set His heart upon us. “The Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy; but it is not an imaginary symbol, it is a real symbol which
represents the centre, the source from which salvation for all humanity gushed forth”, Pope Francis.

Jesus’ Heart pines after us as a shepherd for lost sheep. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them is gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine, and go into the mountains, and seek the one that is gone astray? And if he should find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep, than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray”, (Mt 18:12-13). Our saviour shows particular interest in one lost soul.“The Son of man is come to save those who were lost”, (Lk 19:20) Before all worlds, he dwelt in the bosom of the Father. He was born of the Virgin, and by birth inherited the innocent infirmities of our nature, and bore the sufferings incidental to those infirmities. Then he also took upon himself our sin and its penalty, and therefore died upon the
cross. He was in all points made like his brethren.

God so desires this intimate relationship that He willed to humble Himself and enter the human drama. From womb to tomb, He chose to be one among us. His birth was in a manger and death was on the Cross. All because He loved us, His heart moved for us the sinners. He chose not just to admire the sheep from afar, but to dwell in their midst, to smell as they smell and devote His entire life and livelihood to their care. In this way, the Incarnation and passion is the ultimate seal of God’s desire to be close; the ultimate sign that God’s love reaches out to us, invites us and draws us—personally. Incarnation and passion both depicted in His Sacred Heart. The heart depicted is a human heart, a fleshly
heart, a living heart; but it is also a pierced heart, a bleeding heart, encircled with a crown of thorns and punctured by the blade of a spear. Jesus’ heart reaches out for us, it goes out in search of us. Each of us is the lost sheep, thirsting for the blood and water flowed from His side from the Cross. Jesus was happy to shed this blood and water because he
knew that could save the humanity, that could take back the lost sheep to God our Heavenly Father, for which He said, “I have not lost one of those you have given me”, (John 18:9)

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of Jesus’ humanity and the significance of His sacrifice

Jesus during His earthly ministry went around in proclaiming the message of God’s love and compassion by His very deeds through healing the sick, loving the rejected, accompanying the chosen ones, seeking the lost, being obedient to the Father in all walks of life, eating with tax collectors and sinners, giving life to the dead. Jesus believed in true love begins in suffering, just because He loved us and He embraced the poverty and sufferings. Every sheep were counted for our shepherd. In spite of all the rejection that He faced in
His life time He went around doing good to the people, for His Heart is sacred and full of
love. No rejection and opposition matters for Him, when it came to doing good to the humanity and reaching out in service to the needy brethren. His Divine Heart
with unconditional love continues to be present among all our brethren till today. Me, being the member of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, it’s great blessing to live our motto which says “May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere”. “For this Heart you are in the midst of the world”, said our beloved
founder Fr. Hubert Linckens.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart (also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacratissimum Cor Iesu in Latin) is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking the heart of the resurrected Body as the representation of the love by Jesus Christ God, which is “His heart, pierced on the Cross”, and “in the texts of the New Testament is revealed to us as God’s boundless and passionate love
for mankind”. The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. It falls 19 days after Pentecost, on a Friday.

Festal wishes of the Most sacred Heart of Jesus. In all your walks of life say to yourself,
“Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee”

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