Word to the Wise
Friday, June 28, 2019 - 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. [Romans]
When I was growing up in the Catholic culture of the 1950's, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was quite prominent. There was a movement that called for the "enthronement" of the Sacred Heart in family homes to symbolize the love and protection of Christ in the home and the devotion of the family to Jesus. I still see the framed image in some homes, but the devotion does not appear to be as prominent as before. One wonders if there has been a shift from the "love" of Christ in the Sacred Heart devotion to the "mercy" of Christ in the Divine Mercy devotion which Pope St. John Paul II fostered. This would be an oversimplication, but the latter devotion is quite popular right now, whereas the former devotion seems to have disappeared.
The scriptures assigned for the liturgical celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart from Ezekiel and the Gospel According to Luke emphasize the heart of a shepherd in caring for the flock. The second scripture, from Romans, emphasizes God's love manifested in Jesus' giving his life for us. One might use the word "care" to describe the whole meaning of the feast. I have met many people in the course of my itinerant ministry and in campus ministry who seriously doubted that God cared for them one way or the other. The crucifix should remind anyone of that care, but I find the responsorial psalm for the feast one of the best reminders - Psalm 23, "the Lord is my shepherd" - and a greater comfort.
The feast of the Sacred Heart emphasizes the affective side of spirituality and touches on a great need - the need that so people have to know that God cares! AMEN