Word to the Wise
Friday, June 11, 2021 - Sacred Heart - B
[Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9; Eph 3:8-12, 14-19; John 19:31-37]When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them inmy arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks....[Hosea] For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [Ephesians]
One could easily get the impression that the celebration of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a liturgical form of Valentine's Day! The word "heart" has so many uses and meanings, both religious and secular, that picking one or two leaves out a lot! The liturgical history of the various devotions is expressed in the framed "Sacred Heart" in a Catholic home, symbolizing the "enthronement" of Jesus' heart in the home. And the nine First Fridays devotion is still practiced by many. (You can get a good idea of it from the Wikepedia article!). I want to focus simply on the relational aspect.
A dear student friend of mine, speaking of a friend of hers, once said, "I have adopted her in my heart!" The first scripture from Hosea today seems to say the same thing - a father who sdopts and cares for a child as God did for Israel. St. Paul speaks of our becoming "adopted children of God." [Romans 8:15] The scripture from Ephesians for today speaks of "knowing the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge." It is that love that the "sacred heart" image seeks to convey. We have been "adopted in the heart" of Christ.
St. Thomas Aquinas notes that the best analogy for a human relationship with God is human friendship. It is very difficult to speak of God's love if we have not experienced human love. If we experience "adoption in the heart" of another person or adopting another person in our own heart, we can know what St. Paul means in Romans 8:39: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not present things, nor future tings, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus becomes less sentimental and much more real when we can relate it to our own efforts to love as Christ has loved us. AMEN .
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