Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber
Thursday, June 24th is the celebration known as the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We have all seen this Sacred Heart. Jesus’ heart is a symbol of God revealed within the boundaries of our mortality; the spiritual made material. The heart is crucial to human existence and a healthy heart is essential for our thriving. With the Sacred Heart, we are reminded that our physical and spiritual hearts need to be strong and healthy, and like any muscle, need exercise and care.
The Catechism calls the heart the place of truth…of encounter…of covenant (CCC 2563). It is the core of a person. In the Sacred Heart, God enters a relationship with us, revealing His inner nature, allowing us not just to know “about” Him, but to actually know Him. His heart is aflame, which is representative of God’s active and saving love. As Jesus said, I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already (Luke 12: 49). Christ wants to set our hearts on fire, and the eternal fuel for His burning love is his everlasting Heart.
His heart is wounded, first by the Roman spear, but also by the crown of thorns which wraps its way around. When pierced, blood and water gushed forth, often seen to take significance in the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. This self-sacrificing love promises that our Lord will serve and protect us – to fight and not to head the wounds. These wounds also remind us that God, whenever He interacts with us, makes Himself vulnerable. He does this willingly, as a God who cares and wants to be close to us. The thorns tighten whenever we reject Him. Yet, he teaches us that no matter how much we are rejected, betrayed or scorned, we must always turn ourselves back towards love and forgiveness. You can also, however, loosen His thorns and bring such joy, light and love. This is the Cross which crowns the Heart.
Whilst the Cross does remind us of His passion and death for our sins, it also offers to renew His invitation, If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me (Luke 9:23). God invites us into communion with Him, and this is an offer we cannot refuse. Jesus became human to die for us – a selfless love for a selfish people, and He too places those most needing love in our path so that we can practise this selfless love. As he said to St Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673 as he revealed his Sacred Heart to her, enflamed with divine love, “My heart is so full of love for men that it can no longer contain the flames of its burning love.” It is time for us to change our heart of stone for hearts of flesh and to start to love as Jesus loved. To love those who Jesus loved. For in the Sacred Heart, as Pope Pius XII said, is the “symbolic image of His love and a witness of our redemption.”
Dr Nathan Leber
