30th June 2019 - Fr. Donal Neary S.J. - The Sacred Heart of Jesus

On this week's programme our team is joined by Fr. Donal Neary S.J., Editor of The Sacred Heart Messenger, who speaks to us about the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and about The Sacred Heart Messenger. We also have our usual reflection on the Sunday Gospel.

You can listen to the podcast of this week's full programme HERE.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus 
Fr Donal reflects on the devotion to the Sacred Heart which goes back to the scene at Calvary when a sword pierced the Heart of Jesus. From the 17th Century the devotion to the Sacred Heart became more widespread after Sr Margaret Mary Alacoque had visions where Jesus showed her is heart that beats for everyone and loves everyone of us. The devotion to the Sacred Heart was very much part of people’s lives when they were unable to attend Mass. Fr Donal speaks of the Sacred Heart as that of a friend. Both the 1st Friday devotion & the ‘Holy Hour’ came about as a result of devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Fr Donal also spoke to us about the Sacred Heart Messenger of which he is editor. In 1858 Fr James Cullen started an ‘Apostleship of prayer’ magazine and from this beginning the Sacred Heart Messenger came about. With a monthly circulation of 45,000 copies, 80% of which sold through promoters, the magazine contains inspirational articles which support readers on their faith journey. As the cover of the magazine quotes – A modern message in a much-loved tradition. 

Copies of the Messenger are available at some shops and Church book stalls and can be sourced HERE or by writing to: 
37 Lr Leeson Street, Dublin, D02 W938, Ireland. Tel: 01 6767491. Email: sales@messenger.ie 

Icon of the Sacred Heart in Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, written by David Clayton

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart

(This  version of the novena prayer would be one of the best known as it was used by Padre Pio and was promoted during the promotion of the cause of St Pio. It is a prayer that can be used throughout the year and not just in the lead up to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Indeed, St. Pio prayed this prayer every day.)

I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request)

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request) 

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request) 

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Hail, Holy Queen...
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. 

You can listen to a podcast of this reflection excerpted from the programme HERE.

Gospel - Luke 9:51-62

As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’

Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Reflections on this week's gospel: 

Word on Fire
English Dominicans *
Centre for Liturgy
Sunday Reflections *

* In England & Wales the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul is celebrated instead of the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter Week 1

Saints of the Week
July 1st - St. Oliver Plunkett
July 2nd - St. Bernardino Realino
July 3rd - St. Thomas, Apostle
July 4th - St. Elizabeth of Portugal
July 5th - St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria
July 6th - St. Maria Goretti

Heart speaks to Heart- Cor ad cor loquitur!

Crosspost from Pilgrims Progress:

It's fitting that on the vigil of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, the Consistory for the canonisation for Blessed Cardinal John Newman has been set for the 1st of July 2019.  Heart speaks to Heart- Cor ad cor loquitur! This motto of  Cardinal Newman is what comes to my mind and heart for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Usually this is followed the next day by the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary but this year the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul takes precedence. Nowadays it seems that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been archived back to the time of our grandparents or our parents. I remember in school learning to sing 'Sweet heart of Jesus' with great fervour as taught to us by the Sisters of Mercy. Even now when I hear it, I am still somewhat nostalgic. I doubt somehow that these are the songs which my nieces learnt for their school choir for Mass. I also remember how often we prayed the short prayers to the Sacred Heart in class, in assembly, when we were in trouble or anxious: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you" or "Sweet heart of Jesus, make me love you more and more". In primary school, some of us used to deliver the Sacred Heart Magazine (also known as the Messenger, a Jesuit Publication) to elderly people in our town. My Nana was subscribed to it and part of my childhood summer holidays was spent reading the collection of magazines from the year. Is it any wonder I ended up in the convent!?

Fr. William Byrne reminds us that the "devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a human heart that is inflamed with divine love, is a powerful meditation and an important theological bridge that helps us understand who Jesus is and how much he loves us."

I am reposting his five reasons to adore the Sacred Heart as I think they are very insightful: 
1. A Sacred Sonogram - Imagine if sonograms had existed at the time of Jesus. Just a little more than a week after the Annunciation when Mary says yes to being the mother of God, we would have seen something amazing on that screen, a little beating heart. That tiny pulse, undetectable to the human ear but resounding in heaven, meant that our God has a heart.

2. What John didn't hear, but the angels did. - At the Last Supper, John the beloved laid his head on Jesus' chest. Jesus knew that Judas, one of his chosen Apostles, was going to betray him. What John did not hear but what echoed in heaven was the sound of a breaking heart. The Sacred Heart is as human as yours and mine, it is a sign of the true humanity of Jesus. Its beat quickened when Jesus laughed with a loved one, and it ached with sorrow when he experienced betrayal. Think how truly his heart feels your joys and sorrows.

3. Blessing not bitterness. - "But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out." (John 19: 33-34) The Sacred Heart of Jesus was wounded and from that wound came blood and water. From his suffering, blessings flowed - the water of Baptism and the blood of the Eucharist. From our pains and hurts, what flows? Grudges, blame and anger or mercy, compassion and forgiveness? Don't wait for suffering to come to turn to Christ on the cross, but begin to pray now that when we are put to the test, blessings and not bitterness will flow from our wounded side.

4. Certain wounds never heal. - When the soldier thrust the lance into Jesus' side, he was already dead. As Thomas learned, those wounds never healed. He was able to feel the marks of the crucifixion and put his hand into Jesus' side. The water and blood, Baptism and Eucharist, have never ceased to flow from the Heart of Christ. His mercy is without end. After you receive Communion at Mass, stay after a few minutes and recall his overwhelming, never-ending generosity. Pray that just as his love flows from the cross into you and me that they may flow from you and me into the world.

5. Like unto Thine. - The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a human heart, opened the gates of heaven for each of us. In Jesus, humanity entered into union with God that could only happen when God became a man. As he took a human heart, he invites us into his divinity.

"To Jesus through Mary" has been an often repeated phrase of devotional writers and preachers. St Louis Marie De Montfort has formulated perhaps the most clear devotion and adoration of Jesus Christ, that is, to love him and gift ourselves to him through Mary, with her spirit, with her Immaculate Heart. In his book, True Devotion to Mary, he shows that proper devotion to the Mother of God only makes one more Christ centred. She always leads us to her Son so we can discover the immensity of His love. St. Augustine also reminds us that to “fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” The heart of Jesus is not a mushy rom-com story but a romance where He was willing to go to Calvary and beyond out of love, pure love.

When I am feeling miserable or having a bad day, there is nothing like having a heart-to-heart conversation with someone who just listens, understands and is able to be with you in that moment. Words don't necessarily have to follow. It is simply a feeling of presence. This is the promise of Jesus to us, He is always waiting to welcome us, to listen, to let us rest our head on His heart. A heart is like a mirror, it reflects who you are but it is to be handled with care! The one person you can give your heart to without the fear of being broken is God. So on this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus- may you hear his heart beat for you and nay you find the still voice in  you which repeats that simple and short prayer: "Sweet Heart of Jesus, make me love you more and more."

Reflecting on the Sacred Heart

From PrayTell:

Cosmic Christ by Sr. Annett Hanrahan
(Source - with explanatory note)

If you desire proof of the power of Christ’s blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy Eucharist.…

From these two sacraments the church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy Eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the church.

(from the Catecheses of Saint John Chrysostom)

Heart speaks to heart

Crosspost from Pilgrims Progress

Heart speaks to Heart- Cor ad cor loquitur!

This motto of Blessed Cardinal John Newman is what comes to my mind and heart for the feast day today.


Today and tomorrow we will celebrate the hearts of Jesus and of Mary. Today, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart -one of my favourites and tomorrow the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Nowadays it seems that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been archived back to the time of our grandparents or our parents. I remember in school learning to sing 'Sweet heart of Jesus' with great fervour as taught to us by the Sisters of Mercy. Even now when I hear it, I am still somewhat nostalgic. I doubt somehow that these are the songs which my nieces learnt for their school choir for Mass. also remembered how often we prayed the short prayers to the Sacred Heart in class, in assembly, when we were in trouble or anxious: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you" or "Sweet heart of Jesus, make me love you more and more". In primary school, some of us used to deliver the Sacred Heart Magazine (also known as the Messenger, a Jesuit Publication) to elderly people in our town. My Nana was subscribed to it and part of my childhood summer holidays was spent reading the collection of magazines from the year. Is it any wonder I ended up in the convent!

Pioneer Pin

Later on, after taking the Pledge, a promise not to drink alcohol until eighteen, we were given a pin of the Sacred Heart of Jesus after becoming a 'pioneer'. Roman Catholic children in Ireland who make their Confirmation (typically at age eleven or twelve) are encouraged to promise, or "take the pledge", not to drink alcohol until they are at least 18 (the legal drinking age in Ireland).The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (or PTAA) is an Irish organisation for Roman Catholic teetotallers who also choose not to drink alcohol for their entire lives. While the PTAA does not advocate prohibition, it does require complete abstinence from alcoholic drink from its members. It also encourages devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as an aid to resisting the temptation of alcohol. Pioneers wear a lapel pin called a Pioneer pin with an image of the Sacred Heart, both to advertise the organisation and to alert others not to offer them alcohol. It is a little sacrifice which we can offer to the Lord by not drinking alcohol or making some other sacrifice, big or small.

Fr. William Byrne reminds us that the "devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a human heart that is inflamed with divine love, is a powerful meditation and an important theological bridge that helps us understand who Jesus is and how much he loves us." 

I am reposting his five reasons to adore the Sacred Heart as I think they are very insightful: 


1. A Sacred Sonogram - Imagine if sonograms had existed at the time of Jesus. Just a little more than a week after the Annunciation when Mary says yes to being the mother of God, we would have seen something amazing on that screen, a little beating heart. That tiny pulse, undetectable to the human ear but resounding in heaven, meant that our God has a heart.


2. What John didn't hear, but the angels did. - At the Last Supper, John the beloved laid his head on Jesus' chest. Jesus knew that Judas, one of his chosen Apostles, was going to betray him. What John did not hear but what echoed in heaven was the sound of a breaking heart. The Sacred Heart is as human as yours and mine, it is a sign of the true humanity of Jesus. Its beat quickened when Jesus laughed with a loved one, and it ached with sorrow when he experienced betrayal. Think how truly his heart feels your joys and sorrows.


3. Blessing not bitterness. - "But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out." (John 19: 33-34) The Sacred Heart of Jesus was wounded and from that wound came blood and water. From his suffering, blessings flowed - the water of Baptism and the blood of the Eucharist. From our pains and hurts, what flows? Grudges, blame and anger or mercy, compassion and forgiveness? Don't wait for suffering to come to turn to Christ on the cross, but begin to pray now that when we are put to the test, blessings and not bitterness will flow from our wounded side.


4. Certain wounds never heal. - When the soldier thrust the lance into Jesus' side, he was already dead. As Thomas learned, those wounds never healed. He was able to feel the marks of the crucifixion and put his hand into Jesus' side. The water and blood, Baptism and Eucharist, have never ceased to flow from the Heart of Christ. His mercy is without end. After you receive Communion at Mass, stay after a few minutes and recall his overwhelming, never-ending generosity. Pray that just as his love flows from the cross into you and me that they may flow from you and me into the world.


5. Like unto Thine. - The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a human heart, opened the gates of heaven for each of us. In Jesus, humanity entered into union with God that could only happen when God became a man. As he took a human heart, he invites us into his divinity.

"To Jesus through Mary" has been an often repeated phrase of devotional writers and preachers. St Louis Marie De Montfort has formulated perhaps the most clear devotion and adoration of Jesus Christ, that is, to love him and gift ourselves to him through Mary, with her spirit, with her Immaculate Heart. In his book, True Devotion to Mary, he shows that proper devotion to the Mother of God only makes one more Christ centred. She always leads us to her Son so we can discover the immensity of His love. St. Augustine also reminds us that to “fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.”

When I am feeling miserable or having a bad day, there is nothing like having a heart-to-heart conversation with someone who just listens, understands and is able to be with you in that moment. Words don't necessarily have to follow. It is simply a feeling of presence. This is the promise of Jesus to us, He is always waiting to welcome us, to listen, to let us rest our head on His heart. A heart is like a mirror, it reflects who you are, it's to be handled with care! The one person you can give your heart to without the fear of being broken is God. May you keep seeking the greatest romance ever written!

June the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June is by tradition, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Due to the way Easter fell this year, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is falling on June 8th 2018.

Reflecting again on the devotion to the Sacred Heart we pause and look again at a devotion, a prayer cycle, a belief which is seen as "traditional" or "antiquated" by many. Something associated with a culture seen as oppressive and burdensome in Ireland? How do we rediscover the essentials again of what is the point of this devotion to the Heart of Jesus? What does it teach and remind us of?

Mercy and Love!

The keys to finding a way into this little side chapel in the many devotions in the universal church are Mercy and Love! How appropriate that we reflect on the mercy and love of God expressed in the human heart of Jesus which was united to the Divine! But even using that language can be a block for people with so much of it wrapped up around the issue of the imagery used.

As mentioned previously here on the blog a couple of years back, a friend of mine commented on Facebook that he was going to post a funky, Facebook-friendly version of the Sacred Heart image in honour of the feast, but then he remembered that the old-fashioned painting was the image through which he came to know Jesus as a child. It hung in the kitchen, and communicated at once Jesus' solemnity and his mercy. On the back, his mother had written the childhood sicknesses of her six children, entrusting fears, tears, and little agonies to the loving heart of Our Lord, like countless mothers all over the world. How blessed we are to know that we are loved, no matter how we suffer or fall. 'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His love has no end' (Psalm 135)

Many Irish homes had a triptych of the Sacred Heart, the Pope and John Fitzgerald Kennedy probably over hanging the statue of the Child of Prague or Our Lady of Lourdes. Probably as the feast generally falls in June and coincides with the national state examinations, there are few people who may not have had a candle lit for them in front of the image of the Sacred Heart. One memorable quote which I came across was "Good luck to all my fellow 6th years.. I'll be grand, Nana's lightin a candle for me".

The Sacred Heart represents Christ's love for all mankind, and our devotion to it is an expression of our faith in His mercy.The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity.

The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism (read more here).

On June 1, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics everywhere to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart during the month of June.

In June 2013 Pope Francis noted how closeness and tenderness are the pillars of God's relationship with us, because He knows us all by name. The Pope said God draws near out of love, He walks with His people, and this walk comes to an unimaginable turning point. We could never have imagined that the same Lord would become one of us and walk with us, be present with us, present in His Church, present in the Eucharist, present in His Word, present in the poor. This said Pope Francis is the closeness of a shepherd to his sheep, whom he knows, one by one. Pope Francis noted that it's harder to open our hearts and let God love us, than for us to love God. [Full report from Vatican Radio including audio HERE.]

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is very much his human heart. It is not so much that we worship the flesh and blood of his physical heart in itself, but rather what it symbolizes. In general use, we refer to the heart as the centre of our feeling and emotion, our inmost core, the place where we encounter God, and from which springs what love we can show to Him and to others........Thus, in a sense, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is a bold and audacious one. In adoring Jesus’ Sacred Heart we are adoring his humanity. Or to put it less disturbingly, we are adoring his Incarnation

Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term "Sacred Heart of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The "Sacred Heart" is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers. 

Novena Prayer

(there are a number of novena prayers used for this novena but this would be one of the best known as it was used by Padre Pio)

I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request) Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.


III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

********* 

Some other links for the month of the Sacred Heart:


CatholicCulture.org provides a number of links and prayers associated with the devotion including a short scriptural support for the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Theology of Benedict XVI

Fountain of Life, Fire of Love: A Pastoral Letter on the Heart of Christ 

Pope Pius IX encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Caritate Christi Compulsi

Pope Pius XII encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Haurietis Aquas

Homily of Pope John Paul II on his apostolic journey to Canada at Mass dedicated to the Heart of Christ (18th September 1984)

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (2017)

God has loved us with an everlasting love; therefore, when he was raised up from the earth he showed us his mercy and drew us to love his Sacred Heart

- (Antiphon - Evening Prayer 1)

Romans 8:28-39

We know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory. 

After saying this, what can we add? With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us. 

Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. As scripture promised: For your sake we are being massacred daily, and reckoned as sheep for the slaughter. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us. 

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

************************

Reconnecting with the Feast of the Tenderness of Jesus

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Glenstal Abbey

Fr Martin Browne OSB

3rd June 2016

Time was when pretty much every Catholic home in Ireland had an image of the Sacred Heart in a place of honour, normally with a red lamp burning perpetually before it. All that has changed. The place of honour in a home is more likely to be occupied by a plasma screen these days….

Religious faith and religious practice are obviously on the decline in Ireland. But even for those who still believe and practice, devotion to the Sacred Heart has largely gone out of fashion. Some of the language traditionally associated with the devotion, such as reparation and consecration doesn’t resonate with people as much as it did in days gone by. The idea of focusing on a specific part of Jesus in prayer can seem odd to some. Traditional hymns such as To Jesus’ Heart All Burning and accounts of the promises made to St Margaret Mary, can jar in modern ears. When it comes to the image of the Sacred Heart, Jesus displaying his burning, bloodied heart, surmounted with a Cross and thorns is vivid and literal in a way that isn’t appealing to many people nowadays. Frankly, pictures and statues of the Sacred Heart are often sentimental or a bit ghoulish – or both! I don’t think you’ll find many paintings or sculptures of the Sacred Heart in the great art galleries of the world…

Maybe this Jubilee Year of Mercy is an opportunity to look beyond the tacky kitsch imagery and re-connect with the beautiful reality which they attempt to present to us – the wonders of the love which God’s beloved Son has for us. The feast of the Sacred Heart is always celebrated on a Friday, the day when we recall the Cross. When we consider the Cross, sometimes we emphasise Christ’s sufferings… sometimes we emphasise his self-offering… sometimes we emphasise his victory… But on the feast of the Sacred Heart, we focus in a particular way on his love. 

It is the Feast day of the Tenderness of Jesus towards us, his brothers and sisters. And that tenderness can never go out of fashion! Reflecting on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is especially appropriate in this Holy Year of Mercy. The Latin word for ‘mercy’ – misericordia – combines the words ‘misery’ and ‘heart’. For mercy is what happens when the heart reaches out and meets and touches the misery, weakness and need of another. The Latin word for ‘have mercy’ – miserere – combines the words ‘misery’ and ‘burn’. For mercy is what happens when the heart reaches out and the misery, weakness and need of another are destroyed, as if overcome by fire.

Mercy as a movement of the heart is presented to us very beautifully in today’s readings. The Lord himself is our shepherd, whose loving heart wants to reach out to us in our weakness and transform it with his burning love, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, strengthening the weak and feeding us with justice. God’s merciful love is not vague or general, it is personal and individual, extending to every single one of us. It is the love of a shepherd who when even one of his hundred sheep has strayed will leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it. 

Today’s Opening Prayer said that ‘we glory in the Heart’ of Jesus. And so we do. But the burning love of the Heart of Jesus is not just a kind of comfort blanket or a teddy bear. St Paul reminds us that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. And if love has been poured in, love must be poured out. The Holy Spirit challenges us, in our turn, to have merciful hearts. Or as the motto for this Holy Year puts it: to be Merciful like the Father.

SS102fm blog posts on the Sacred Heart
S+L - The Living Heart of Jesus: The Incarnate Love of God
Reflections by Pope Benedict XVI on the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Love only love

June - the month of the Sacred Heart

June is by tradition, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Due to the way Easter fell this year, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is falling on June 23rd 2017.

The Sacred Heart represents Christ's love for all mankind, and our devotion to it is an expression of our faith in His mercy.The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity.

The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism (read more here).

On June 1, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics everywhere to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart during the month of June.

Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term "Sacred Heart of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The "Sacred Heart" is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers. 

Novena Prayer

(there are a number of novena prayers used for this novena but this would be one of the best known as it was used by Padre Pio)

I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request) Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.


III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

********* 

Some other links for the month of the Sacred Heart:


We have blogged a number of times on the Sacred Heart which can be found HERE.

CatholicCulture.org provides a number of links and prayers associated with the devotion including a short scriptural support for the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Theology of Benedict XVI

Fountain of Life, Fire of Love: A Pastoral Letter on the Heart of Christ 

Pope Pius IX encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Caritate Christi Compulsi

Pope Pius XII encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Haurietis Aquas

Homily of Pope John Paul II on his apostolic journey to Canada at Mass dedicated to the Heart of Christ (18th September 1984)

Reconnecting with the Feast of the Tenderness of Jesus - Fr Martin Browne OSB

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

 

Glenstal Abbey

Fr Martin Browne OSB

3rd June 2016

Time was when pretty much every Catholic home in Ireland had an image of the Sacred Heart in a place of honour, normally with a red lamp burning perpetually before it. All that has changed. The place of honour in a home is more likely to be occupied by a plasma screen these days….
 
Religious faith and religious practice are obviously on the decline in Ireland. But even for those who still believe and practice, devotion to the Sacred Heart has largely gone out of fashion. Some of the language traditionally associated with the devotion, such as reparation and consecration doesn’t resonate with people as much as it did in days gone by. The idea of focusing on a specific part of Jesus in prayer can seem odd to some. Traditional hymns such as To Jesus’ Heart All Burning and accounts of the promises made to St Margaret Mary, can jar in modern ears. When it comes to the image of the Sacred Heart, Jesus displaying his burning, bloodied heart, surmounted with a Cross and thorns is vivid and literal in a way that isn’t appealing to many people nowadays. Frankly, pictures and statues of the Sacred Heart are often sentimental or a bit ghoulish – or both! I don’t think you’ll find many paintings or sculptures of the Sacred Heart in the great art galleries of the world…

Maybe this Jubilee Year of Mercy is an opportunity to look beyond the tacky kitsch imagery and re-connect with the beautiful reality which they attempt to present to us – the wonders of the love which God’s beloved Son has for us. The feast of the Sacred Heart is always celebrated on a Friday, the day when we recall the Cross. When we consider the Cross, sometimes we emphasise Christ’s sufferings… sometimes we emphasise his self-offering… sometimes we emphasise his victory… But on the feast of the Sacred Heart, we focus in a particular way on his love.
 
It is the Feast day of the Tenderness of Jesus towards us, his brothers and sisters. And that tenderness can never go out of fashion! Reflecting on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is especially appropriate in this Holy Year of Mercy. The Latin word for ‘mercy’ – misericordia – combines the words ‘misery’ and ‘heart’. For mercy is what happens when the heart reaches out and meets and touches the misery, weakness and need of another. The Latin word for ‘have mercy’ – miserere – combines the words ‘misery’ and ‘burn’. For mercy is what happens when the heart reaches out and the misery, weakness and need of another are destroyed, as if overcome by fire.
 
Mercy as a movement of the heart is presented to us very beautifully in today’s readings. The Lord himself is our shepherd, whose loving heart wants to reach out to us in our weakness and transform it with his burning love, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, strengthening the weak and feeding us with justice. God’s merciful love is not vague or general, it is personal and individual, extending to every single one of us. It is the love of a shepherd who when even one of his hundred sheep has strayed will leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it.
 
Today’s Opening Prayer said that ‘we glory in the Heart’ of Jesus. And so we do. But the burning love of the Heart of Jesus is not just a kind of comfort blanket or a teddy bear. St Paul reminds us that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. And if love has been poured in, love must be poured out. The Holy Spirit challenges us, in our turn, to have merciful hearts. Or as the motto for this Holy Year puts it: to be Merciful like the Father.

Reflections on Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

Word on Fire - The Glowing Heart of Mercy


No matter how big your problem, you can find comfort in the Sacred Heart of Jesus


Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy: Two devotions, one message 


Vatican Radio - Sacred Heart: 'an ocean of mercy for those in distress'

June as the month of the Sacred Heart and the Novena to the Sacred Heart

Sometimes when it comes to posting a blog on SS102fm, the creative juices seem to be dry and barren or it can be a case of re-using what we have used before on the blog (which makes sense if you think about it as we follow the liturgical calendar which repeats itself again and again). The devotion to the Sacred Heart is a case in point, how do you look again at a devotion, a prayer cycle, a belief which is seen as "traditional" or "antiquated". Something associated with a culture seen as oppressive and burdensome in Ireland? How do we rediscover the essentials again of what is the point of this devotion to the Heart of Jesus? What does it teach and remind us of?

Mercy and Love!

The keys to finding a way into this little side chapel in the many devotions in the universal church are Marcy and Love! How appropriate that we reflect on the mercy and love of God expressed in the human heart of Jesus which was united to the Divine! But even using that language can be a block for people with so much of it wrapped up around the issue of the imagery used.
 

A couple of years back, a friend of mine commented on Facebook that he was going to post a funky, Facebook-friendly version of the Sacred Heart image in honour of the feast, but then he remembered that the old-fashioned painting was the image through which he came to know Jesus as a child.

It hung in the kitchen, and communicated at once Jesus' solemnity and his mercy. On the back, his mother had written the childhood sicknesses of her six children, entrusting fears, tears, and little agonies to the loving heart of Our Lord, like countless mothers all over the world. How blessed we are to know that we are loved, no matter how we suffer or fall. 'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His love has no end' (Psalm 135)

Many Irish homes had a triptych of the Sacred Heart, the Pope and John Fitzgerald Kennedy probably over hanging the statue of the Child of Prague or Our Lady of Lourdes. Probably as the feast generally falls in June and coincides with the national state examinations, there are few people who may not have had a candle lit for them in front of the image of the Sacred Heart. One memorable quote which I came across was "Good luck to all my fellow 6th years.. I'll be grand, Nana's lightin a candle for me".

June is by tradition, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is falling on June 3rd 2016 (as it is dependent when Easter falls).

The Sacred Heart represents Christ's love for all humanity, and our devotion to it is an expression of our faith in His mercy and His love which seems particularly relevant in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. Think about that for a minute.........think about what it means for You!

In June 2013 Pope Francis noted how closeness and tenderness are the pillars of God's relationship with us, because He knows us all by name. The Pope said God draws near out of love, He walks with His people, and this walk comes to an unimaginable turning point. We could never have imagined that the same Lord would become one of us and walk with us, be present with us, present in His Church, present in the Eucharist, present in His Word, present in the poor. This said Pope Francis is the closeness of a shepherd to his sheep, whom he knows, one by one. Pope Francis noted that it's harder to open our hearts and let God love us, than for us to love God. [Full report from Vatican Radio including audio HERE.]

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is very much his human heart. It is not so much that we worship the flesh and blood of his physical heart in itself, but rather what it symbolizes. In general use, we refer to the heart as the centre of our feeling and emotion, our inmost core, the place where we encounter God, and from which springs what love we can show to Him and to others........Thus, in a sense, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is a bold and audacious one. In adoring Jesus’ Sacred Heart we are adoring his humanity. Or to put it less disturbingly, we are adoring his Incarnation

Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term "Sacred Heart of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being (a reminder to us of his humanity and his divinity), and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The "Sacred Heart" is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers and sisters.
 
One of our favourite blogs on SS102fm is Blue Eyed Ennis and while it is no longer active, Phil has left the blog online and we take great delight in dipping into its archives from time to time. Two lovely and thoughtful reflections on the Sacred Heart from Phil are here and here.
 
Offering of my Heart: A prayer before the image of the Sacred Heart

 

Litany of the Sacred Heart

 

No childish devotion - Fr Hugh Somerville-Knapman OSB

 

Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ (former General of the Jesuits) reflects on The lasting greatness of devotion to the Sacred Heart
 

The Novena to the Sacred Heart (May 26th - June 3rd 2016)

The origin of the idea of praying for a special intention for nine days is very attractive and worth thinking about - it comes from the alleged length of time that Mary and the eleven remaining disciples spent praying together in the upper room, waiting for the Spirit to come upon them at Pentecost. In our imitation of them in these nine days we'll surely be in good company, especially with Mary, the one who shows us what our attitude in prayer should be: she always trusted, despite confusion; she continued to hope, despite the seeming darkness. The disciples were a small community of fragile yet hopeful trust, of confusion yet deep desire within their hearts. In short, they were probably very much like ourselves at the beginning of this novena. On each day of the novena, try to have a few quiet moments with yourself or with others to reflect on the scripture passage. Then, in your own time, move on to the reflection and think about what it might say to you today. Then pass on to the short prayer and make it your own. Always end with the Novena Prayer and include in it any intention you would like to make. 

Brendan Comerford, SJ

The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism (read more here).

On June 1, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics everywhere to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart during the month of June.

Over at the Irish Jesuits website Sacredspace.ie they have daily meditations for the novena.

The UK Jesuits also have online daily meditations and reflections
 
Some other links for the month of the Sacred Heart:


CatholicCulture.org provides a number of links and prayers associated with the devotion including a short scriptural support for the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Theology of Benedict XVI

Fountain of Life, Fire of Love: A Pastoral Letter on the Heart of Christ 

Pope Pius IX encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Caritate Christi Compulsi

Pope Pius XII encyclical on Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Haurietis Aquas

Homily of Pope John Paul II on his apostolic journey to Canada at Mass dedicated to the Heart of Christ (18th September 1984)

Salt + Light - Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has suffered cardiac arrest

Fisheaters - Reflections and prayers on the devotion to the Sacred Heart

There are a number of versions of the novena prayer of which we give two below:

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart (1)

Lord Jesus, the needs of your people open your heart in love to each of us. You care for us when we are lost, sympathise with us in loneliness and comfort us in mourning; you are closest to us when we are weakest. You love us most when we love ourselves least; you forgive us most when we forgive ourselves least; you call us to spread your love in whatever way we can. 

Lord Jesus, your heart is moved with compassion when we are suffering, when we need your help and when we pray for each other. I ask you to listen to my prayer during this novena, and grant what I ask (make your request silently). If what I ask is not for my own good and the good of others, grant me always what is best for me, that I may build up your kingdom of love in our world. Amen.

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart (2) 

(this  version of the novena prayer would be one of the best known as it was used by Padre Pio and was promoted during the promotion of the cause of St Pio)

I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request)
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request) 
Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. 

III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request) 
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. 

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. 

-- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque