19 June 2020
Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Devotion to Sacred Heart has been present among the Jesuits starting with the first companions: St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Faber, and early Jesuits such as St. Peter Canisius and St. Francis Borgia. The Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius, adopted the devotion as part of its own patrimony, finding in it a great source of renewal during the many trials in the early days of the Society. The early devotion to the Sacred Heard by the Society of Jesus focused on the devotion to the heroic heart of Christ. The early companions lived in the era when they were called to heroism to defend the Church and work for the greater glory of God. The corporate adoption of the devotion to the Sacred Heart was not until it was promoted by Saint Claude de la Colombiere, confessor to St. Margaret Marie Alacoque, (1647–1690), a nun to whom Christ in appeared during the years 1673 to 1675.
When I was about to the enter the Jesuit Novitiate in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the year of 2009 the year of priests. Pope Benedict XVI highlighted some essential aspects of priestly ministry by making reference to the example and teaching of St. John Vianney, known as the Curé of Ars, the model and protector of all priests. The Pope emeritus wrote, “on this feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the day of prayer for the sanctification of priests, this invitation resounds all the more powerfully for us priests. It does so in a special way this evening, at the solemn inauguration of the Year for Priests which I have proclaimed to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Curé of Ars. A lovely and touching saying of his, quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, comes immediately to mind: “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus” (n. 1589).”
One of the ordination gifts that I received is a book titled The Priest’s Way to God. My dear friend Kristine gave the book to me hoping that it helps me to grow in holiness as a priest. Interestingly, one of the chapters in the book is On the Sacred Heart. The author wrote that the priestly life, since it arises from Christ, should always and in everything be directed towards Him. One of the best ways to build a personal union with Christ is through the devotion of the Sacred Heart. “The nature of the personal relationship our Lord expects of us is very clearly brought out in the devotion to the Sacred Heart, as explained in the writing of St. Margaret Mary, and especially explained by Pope Pius XI in the Encyclical Misserentissimus Deus of 1928…The devotion to the Sacred Heart, in any case, rests of course on the solidest of theological foundations, and is independent of the genuineness or otherwise of those revelations” (Boylan, The Priest’s Way to God, 210-211).
As I just celebrated my first anniversary of ordination, I am aware that I need to grow more in my devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please pray for me and pray for all priests, especially Jesuits, that we may recover our devotion to the Sacred Heart to the depth that our ancestors had in their devotion to the heroic heart of Jesus.