Word to the Wise
Friday, June 3, 2016 - Sacred Heart - C
[Ezek 34:11-16; Rom 5:5b-11; Luke 15:3-7]The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. [Romans]
The scriptures are full of instances in which one part of a body is used to mean the whole. The psalms often speak of the "arm of God" as a way of meaning all of God. The literary word for this process is "synecdoche." We see it at work in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The "heart" of Jesus in today's feast is not the physical organ, even if popular Catholic devotional art occasionally gets overripe in its depiction of Jesus' heart! Rather, the meaning is tied in with assurance and care of a loving shepherd, as shown in today's other scriptures from Ezekiel and Luke.
The flowering of this devotion, especially in the 17th century through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was phenomenal and a movement which spoke of the "enthronement" of the Sacred Heart in a Catholic home spread widely. It was meant to focus religious faith on the person of Jesus and his suffering and care forus. St. Paul's words from Romans (2nd scripture for today) go straight to the point. God has shown ultimate care for us by becoming flesh and dying for us. We associate this kind of care with the heart in popular symbolism. The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of this care. AMEN