COLLECT: “GRANT, WE PRAY, ALMIGHTY GOD, THAT WE, WHO GLORY IN THE HEART OF YOUR BELOVED SON AND RECALL THE WONDERS OF HIS LOVE FOR US, MAY BE MADE WORTHY TO RECEIVE IN OVERFLOWING MEASURE OF GRACE FROM THAT FOUNT OF HEAVENLY GIFTS. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Deut 7:6-11; Ps 102:1-4,6-8,10; 1Jn 4:7-16; Mt 11:25-30.
The message of the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we celebrate today, helps us to come to know and to believe in the love that God has for us. This Feast represents not simply the physical or human heart of Jesus, but the love that Jesus has for sinful or fallen humanity. Out of love for us, Jesus obeys his Father to become one like us, suffers and dies on the cross for our salvation. Jesus himself states this and describes it in the Gospel of John as the greatest of all love: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
On the Cross, Jesus’ side was pierced with a lance and a mixture of blood and water flowed out from his heart, symbolising the Sacraments. The Sacraments, the real presence of Jesus, are also a great sign of his love for us, because these are physical signs, instituted by our Lord Jesus, to bring us his graces and blessings. This is beautifully and reflectively described in the Preface for the Solemnity: “For raised high on the cross, he gave himself up for us with a wonderful love and poured out blood and water from his pierced side, the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments, so that won over to the open heart of the Saviour, all might draw water joyfully from the spring of salvation” (Cf. Preface of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus).
The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” defines the Sacraments as “powers that come forth from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in His Body, the Church. They are the masterworks of God in the new and everlasting covenant” (Cf. CCC, “The Sacraments of Christ”, 1116).
All three readings for the feast echo the sort of love God the Father and His Son have for us. The words by John in his First Letter that we are meditating on summarise how we have come to know the love God has for us: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” (Cf. 1Jn 4:7-16). Truly, out of his profound love for us, the Father sent his Son to the world, who constantly invites us to “Come to me, all who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Cf. Mt 11:28-30). Only those who genuinely love are willing to share in the burdens of others. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Let us believe and entrust ourselves to the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. May the merciful blood of Christ, sanctify us, purify us, wash us clean and forgive us. May we carefully observe the Commandments of God, his statutes and his decrees, which his word enjoins on us. Amen. We also pray to radiate and show the love we received from God to fellow human beings, especially those we live with, work with and everyone we meet. Stay blessed, good day and Happy Feast of Love to you. Love genuinely and truly as the Lord. Happy weekend.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, FRIDAY, ON THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN, THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, THE CROWNING WITH THORNS, THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION’ (WE PRAY FOR SORROW FOR SIN, PURITY, COURAGE, PATIENCE, AND PERSEVERANCE) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “MAY THIS SACRAMENT OF CHARITY, O LORD, MAKE US FERVENT WITH THE FIRE OF HOLY LOVE, SO THAT, DRAWN ALWAYS TO YOUR SON, WE MAY LEARN TO SEE HIM IN OUR NEIGHBOUR. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN.”
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.
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