Word to the Wise
Friday, June 27, 2025 - Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost: The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - A
[Ezek 34:11-16; Rom 5:5b-11; Luke 15:3-7]But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. [Romans]
FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2025 SACRED HEART OF JESUS - C
[Ezekiel 34: 11-16; Romans 5:5b-11; Luke 15:3-7]
But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. [Romans]
Devotion around the heart of Jesus as a symbol of divine love for humanity dates back to the Middle Ages. It became more universal in the church after the 17th century, particularly through the spread of the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in which Jesus promises to anyone who receives Holy Communion on nine straight first Fridays that they will not die without the final rites of the Church. Many Catholics can remember the movement of the "enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home," signified by a picture of the Sacred Heart on the wall of the house. Pope Francis recently emphasized the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart in an encyclical, Dilexit nos, (He loved us.) Anyone interested in the long history of the devotion can find it at Wikipedia online.
The words of St. Paul, quoted above from the second scripture for the feast, are powerful. They are "reinforced" by Jesus' words in the Last Supper Discourse in the Gospel According to John: This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. [John 15:12-13]. I once heard a speaker say, "When you know you are loved, it makes all the difference in the world." Jesus' words make it clear that his love for us, manifested in his death for us, is to be shared. To love him in return without loving our neighbor empties his commandment of its meaning. The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more than a Catholic Valentine's Day. It is a challenge to live up to and share the love we receive from God. AMEN