Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion given to the Church through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a heart of mercy and passionate love – it is a heart that, through our devotion to it, we seek to conform our own hearts to. As we grow in our love for Christ, it makes sense that we begin to desire a heart like his.
But the Sacred Heart is also a heart that is wounded: it has been pierced by a lance, crowned with thorns, put under the cross, and set ablaze. These are painful images – Christ’s heart has endured much for us. And yet endurance of suffering for the beloved is exactly what love often demands. If we have a heart like Christ’s, then we can expect the cross that comes with it; but we can also expect the gift of divine love that allows us to bear the cross. Today, let us pray for a heart like Christ’s, a heart that loves passionately even in the midst of suffering.