Word to the Wise
Friday, June 16, 2023 - Sacred Heart - B
[Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 1 John 4:7-`16; Matthew 11:25-30]Beloved, let us love another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love......No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. [1 John]
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2023 SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Devotion to the heart of Jesus has a long history, but its modern version has its origins in the 17th century in the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun and mystic. A principal feature of her visions is the promise that those who receive communion on nine consecutive "first Fridays" will not die without the grace of final penitence. This devotion continues for many Catholics today. One form of it can be found in a picture of Jesus, baring his heart, on the wall of Catholic family homes, a devotion entitled "the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart."
The second scripture for today's celebration really sums up the matter of devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is a matter of God's love for us and the responsibility we have to love one another as a result. Singular personal devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus without love of neighbor is a contradiction of all that Jesus taught. Fulfilling the nine First Fridays with the promise of final repentance before death is not a license to live any way we want!!!
The love we receive from God, which we by our baptism are committed to share, needs our efforts to put skin on it. One can only hope that this love will overcome the strident political and social turmoil that our nation currently experiences. At each baptism that I celebrate, I urge the parents and Godparents to do one principal thing. Teach the child how to give and receive love. If we all do our part, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will achieve its purpose. AMEN