These are short interventions
on the Sacred Heart.
And I thought the best
would really be for us
to contemplate this mystery.
To draw from the Scriptures,
to see how the mystery of the Sacred Heart
can be illuminated by different
passages from both Old
and New Testament scriptures .
We start immediately
without delay with what I will call
the great portico which still opens for us (distantly)
on the mystery of the Sacred Heart
with this very famous prayer,
one of the best known of all the Old Testament
that you will find in the chapter 6 of the book of Deuteronomy
and that one calls the shema Israel,
chapter 6 of the book of Deuteronomy,
the shema Israel, it is
“Hear Israel, the Lord, our God is the only Lord .
love the Lord your
God with all your heart,
all your soul, with all your might.
and these words which
I command you today
shall be upon your heart.
you shall teach them to your son?
Thou shalt say to them both
sitting in your house
as walking on the road.
Lying down as well as standing.
You will tie them to your hand
as a sign on your forehead,
like a headband.
You will write them on
the posts of your house,
and on your doors.
This prayer is a little bit
the heart of Jewish prayer.
Still today,
and of course already in the time of Jesus.
As important for them
as for us,
for example the “Our Father”.
So what we see there first,
is really at the heart of the command
that God gives to his people.
You will love the Lord
your God with all your heart.
Then, He gives him the means
not to forget his words
which remain in the heart of the believer
that he repeats them to his children
and especially that he
is tied to his hands on his forehead
and then on the posts
and on the doors.
So see, it has to be
the children of Israel of the chosen people.
Either as constantly surrounded
by this blessing
from God, this prayer.
So you remember
that our Lord Jesus himself quoted
this passage from Shema Israel.
When he addressed
one or the other.
For example, in response to scribes
asking him what to do
or what is the greatest commandment?
Well he always quotes that.
But what I would like to
meditate on now today.
It is that not only did he have them,
he quoted his words.
But he lived them to
a point that no one else
could.
Certainly there were righteous,
very fervent men.
Very, very devout souls in Israel,
who have tried to apply this word
as best they can.
But ultimately,
no one was able
to do it like him.
He alone loved the Lord
his God with all his heart, even
to the piercing of the heart
with all his soul, with all his power.
He alone tied them to his hands.
As a sign.
He tied them by the nails
0
that nailed him to the cross.
On his forehead, like a headband.
By the crown of thorns.
On the posts of the house
and on the doors, bathing the uprights
of the cross in his blood.
He alone has loved until then.
Brothers and sisters,
I invite you to take up again
This word from the book of Deuteronomy,
you will easily find in chapter 6.
And read it again
while contemplating Jesus
and his pierced heart
and simply asking,
Lord, give me
the grace to live this love.
Source: https://www.sacrecoeur-paray.org/enseignements/1er-juin-mois-du-sacre-coeur/