Sacred Heart of Jesus

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

In 1675, Jesus told St. Margaret Mary that He wanted the Feast of the Sacred Heart to be celebrated on the Friday after the Corpus Christi octave. In 1856, Pope Pius IX established the Feast of the Sacred Heart as a universal feast. St. John Paul II, a great devotee of the Sacred Heart, said, “This feast reminds us of the mystery of the love of God for the people of all times.”

In essence, this is like another valentine celebration where we could celebrate by giving out paper hearts or little heart candies to one another. And our first two readings today speak about love, God’s love. In our first reading Moses tells the people that God chose them out of love, that he set his heart on them. In our second reading we are reminded that God sent his only Son out of love as expiation for our sins.

That been said, it should not be a mystery to us as to why Jesus asked that this feast follow the feast of Corpus Christi. If we read about the authenticated Eucharistic Miracles, we would come to know that whenever the flesh from these miracles is tested, the results indicate it comes from heart tissue. The heart is often used as a symbol of love; that our love pours out from our hearts. Also, the heart is what pumps our life sustaining blood throughout our bodies. So, if we think about it, Jesus is literally giving us his heart as a sign of his love poured out for us to sustain our lives. Out of love he feeds us and nourishes us in the Eucharist with his Sacred Heart! Let that sink in for a bit.