SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE WORD OF GOD
When I hear the word Cross, the word “heart” what comes to mind? looking at the Heart of Jesus is looking at the Cross: The Cross is the Cross of Salvation The Heart is the Heart of Salvation God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that no one would perish.
What happened, so that God would come to the aid of man? From the fall of Adam, God seeks to save man. Thus, man has not been abandoned by God. On the contrary, God’s love is always searching for man. God calls him {and says to him: “where are you? » 1 .} and mysteriously announces to him the victory over evil and the recovery from his fall {« I will put hostility between you and the woman, between your descendant and her descendant; it will bruise your head, and you will bruise its heel » 2 }.
This passage from Genesis has been called « Protevangelium », being the first announcement of the redeeming Messiah, that of a fight between the serpent and the woman and the final victory of a descendant of her3 . The descendant of her is Christ Jesus announced by the prophets, who will be crucified and it is he who will reveal to us the love of God, through the Cross.
The Cross; let us listen to what Jesus says on the Cross? What do we find? Jesus says to John: « Here is your mother » to his mother (The Virgin Mary): « Here is your son ». (Jesus entrusts us to his mother). Jesus said to the Father: “forgive them, they know not what they do.” addressing the Father he said: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” The disciple is called to follow in the footsteps of his master. Stephen, while he was being stoned, prayed thus: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 Then, kneeling down, he cried out in a loud voice: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And, after saying this, he fallen asleep in death4 . :
Saint Stephen drew his strength from this heart from which life springs. (and through this heart the door of heaven opened). Jesus said: “I thirst.” Jesus thirsts for souls, do I thirst for God? I thirst to listen to his Word, and to announce the Good News? I thirst to dialogue with Him and to follow Him. Like the Samaritan woman? 5 .
The Heart
In truth, we cannot love someone without knowing them and having contact with them. This requires us to move, to take time. The heart cannot remain at rest for a minute. It is always in motion. Let us look at the heart of Jesus at work throughout the Gospel: He is always in a dynamic of love. Jesus and his father are always working. They are looking for the lost sheep. When we love someone we think of them often… We like to stay with them. We know their joys and their sorrows, their sadness… therefore, the heart is sad or joyful; like the father when the prodigal son returns; the heart can also be fearful, courageous, moved, filled with desires, passion, anger… finally the heart is the seat of the will, the inner place of the encounter between God and man.
The heart is also the place of doubt and faith, of understanding, of memory; it can be hardened like that of Pharaoh, of the bad thief on the Cross… or touched deep inside itself like Jesus weeping over the death of his friend Lazarus, or like Zacchaeus, welcoming Jesus into his home with joy. in the Bible, the “heart” is a symbol of love: it is the heart that thinks, that decides, that listens. It evokes intelligence, memory and will, affectivity and emotion: “Mary meditated in her heart” 6 and “the just man has a heart that inspires him with good words” 7 it is the symbolic place of residence of faith8 . the heart is the seat of the soul, where God speaks to Him, heart to heart. In the Gospel Jesus says of Himself: “…. I am gentle and humble of heart” 9 .
1 Gn 3,9 2 Gn 3,15 3 Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 410 4 Ac 7,59-60 5 Jn 14 6 Lc 2,19 7 Lc 6,45 8 Eph 3,17 9 Mt 11,28-30
Meekness is a gift of the Spirit: It is by the power of the Spirit that the children of God can bear fruit.10: “The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, helpfulness, kindness, trust in others, gentleness, self-control” 11 . In the Old Testament, we find the idea that the meek opposes the wicked. The wicked becomes angry with God, the meek remains peaceful, he waits patiently. He does not let himself be put down by the Adversary. The meek is not weak, on the contrary, he is a believer who has great strength of soul. It is important to read and reread the Bible. The beatitudes find their foundation in the O.T. The third beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” 12 is presented as the almost literal repetition of a verse from Psalm 13: “the meek will inherit the earth and will enjoy abundant peace”. the O.T. The book of Proverbs tells us: “… the gentleness of words helps to learn” 14 .
Jesus, by his gentleness, allowed the disciples to understand the demands of love. St. Peter in his letter 15 , invites us to gentleness and respect. And St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians16 tells us: “Have great humility, gentleness and patience, bear with one another with love”. Where there is gentleness, God is present; the people of Israel are thirsty, the water was bitter. On God’s command “Moses threw the piece of wood into the water and the water became sweet” 17 . With the virtue of gentleness is joined humility. The Virgin Mary in her Magnificat sings: “He has looked down on his humble servant. The Lord has done wonders for me, holy is his name. » Humility in God’s word is gratefully acknowledging our dependence on the Lord, understanding that we are in constant need of His support. Humility is the recognition that our talents and abilities are a gift from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear, it is an indication that we know the source of our true strength. David was filled with humility, having just defeated Goliath, and become the hero who saved Israel from the hands of the Philistines… He was promised to marry a king’s daughter. With humility he said: “Who am I, what is my life and what is my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become a king’s son-in-law?” 18. He humbly acknowledges that it was the Lord who had allowed his elevation. David was filled19 with humility. We understand why the Eternal appreciated him so much. God gives grace to the humble, and resists the proud. Jesus Christ is our greatest example of humility. During his mortal ministry, he always recognized that his strength came from the fact that he depended on his Father. He said: “I can do nothing of myself… I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me” 20 . Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and St. Peter tells us: “… take humility as your attire” 21 . And St. James22 took up the words of the proverb23: “… to the humble he grants his grace”.
Prayer of the heart
Lord, give us to look at you and find true life there! Jesus, when we ask you: where do you live? We seek you from dawn, our soul thirsts for you. You answer us: Come and see. Let him who is thirsty come to me and drink, let him who believes in me! “From my Heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jn 7:37-38) Come eat and drink without money and without paying anything (Is 55:1). My love is free.
10 C.E.C N° 736 11 Ga 5,22-23 12 Mt 5,5 13 Ps 36,11 14 Pr 16,21 15 1P 3,16 16 Eph 4,2 17 Ex 15,25 18 1S18,18 19 2S 2,17 20 Jn 5,30 21 1P 5,5-6 22 Jc 4,6 23 Pr 3,3
Source: Visitation Monastery, Tarascon website, translated SC-de-Jesus-.pdf (visitation-tarascon.com)