SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE WORD OF GOD
Last time we finished our meeting with the Heart of Jesus, gentle and humble. Today, we continue with the Sacred Heart and the Word; In particular the origin of the Sacred Heart, we will finish our meeting with the pierced Heart of Jesus.
Saint John:
You know the apostle John in the Bible. He is in love, drunk with Jesus. During the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) he leaned over the Heart of Jesus. He listened to the beating of the Heart of Jesus. He knew the pain and the joy of Jesus. He is the intermediary between Peter and Jesus. When Jesus says: “one of you will betray me” 1 . Peter tells John to ask Jesus “who is it?” 2 .
The tradition of the Sacred Heart originates with the apostle John who rested his head on the Heart of Jesus during the Last Supper, Heart pierced during the passion3 . As a result, many Saints have spoken of the Heart of Jesus. Such as Catherine of Siena, Gertrude of Helfa, Francis de Sales, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque […] and many others.
Finally, here is the secret of the Heart of Jesus: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” 4 . It was there that love could not hold back, it burst forth before everyone’s eyes. “They will look at him whom they pierced” Those who believed, seeing the One who was pierced, beat their breasts. To be Christian is to be silent before the Lord. As Zechariah 5 tells us “Let all flesh be silent before the Lord, for he is awakening and coming out of his holy dwelling place” →
Silence to listen to this loving Heart.
To listen to the Word of the one who has disturbed himself, the one who has left his throne, his happiness, his rest, who has pierced the heavens and he has come down, so that no one may perish. Being Christians is to have our eyes turned towards the Cross of our Redeemer “Towards him whom they have pierced” 6 : Before the coming of Jesus, in the O.T. Zechariah speaks of the pierced Heart, saying: “… They will look towards me on him whom they have pierced…” 7 . In the N.T. Jesus was pierced the Gospel of John tells us: “They will lift up their eyes to him whom they have pierced” 8 ; and the Gospel of Luke tells us: “the whole crowd of people who had gathered for this spectacle, observing what was happening, returned beating their breasts” 9 . They saw and believed that Jesus is the Savior, by looking at Jesus and beating their breasts. They thus express their faith. And the apostle Thomas who saw, believed.
You remember the Last Supper when Jesus said to Thomas: “put your hand here, and be a believer. At that moment, Thomas professed his faith his love with these words: “My Lord and my God!” 10. and Jesus answers him happy is he who believes without having seen. From the Heart of Jesus flowed water, blood and the Spirit. the birth of the Church. the sacraments, life, Through the coming of Jesus, we have had the grace to enter into the new covenant; the door of Paradise is open. The Acts of the Apostles tell us: “Jesus purchased the Church with his own blood” 11 . If you have noticed, the apostle John does not speak of the heart but of the side. It is thought that the wound had been made at the height of the heart. The wound was deep. The lance pierced the side, reaching the heart.
1 Mt 26,21 2 Jn 13,25 3 Jn 19,34-37 4 Jn 19,34 5 Zec 2,17 6 Jn 19,37; Zec 12:10 7 Zec 12:10 8 Jn 19:37 9 Lk 23:48 10 Jn 20:28 11 Ac 20:28
Joseph RATZINGER says in his book “GOD is close to us” 12→ “For the side of Jesus that will be opened, John used exactly the term that is found in the story of the creation of Eve where, usually, we translate it as “rib” of Adam. John highlights, in this way, that Jesus is the New Adam who descends into the night of the sleep of death and who inaugurates in it the beginning of a new humanity. From this open side, in a loving offering, a source springs forth that fertilizes all history. From the offering of Jesus’ death flow blood and water, the Eucharist and Baptism as the source of a new community. The open side is the place of origin from which the Church comes out, from which the sacraments that build the Church come out. Through water one can drown (like the chariots of Pharaoh). At the same time, it is for our good; it makes us live, it is useful for cleanliness… With water one can bury our sins (our lusts, prides, self-love, our selves…) Noah opens a door in the side of the ark, in order to let in living beings, who were not to perish in the flood: they were the prefiguration of the Church. For Augustine, the Church was born with the water and the blood gushing from the crucified. Like Noah’s Ark, it gathers within itself humanity saved from death thanks to the wood of the Cross. In the Bible water and blood are the symbol of life. A.T.: We notice in Exodus that being marked with the blood of the Passover Lamb allows one to escape death.
I quote “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over; you will not be affected by the plague with which I will strike the land of Egypt” 13 . Likewise in Exodus; The people of Israel in the desert were thirsty; on God’s orders, Moses struck the rock from which water flowed and the people of Israel drank14 .
Joseph RATZINGER says in his book “GOD is close to us” →
“They will look at the one they have pierced. » This could be precisely the inner description of our Christian life: learning to look at him more and more truly, to keep the eyes of our heart fixed on him, to remain humble in looking at him, and to recognize our sin, to recognize how we have struck our brothers and him through them, to look at him and at the same time to begin to hope, since the wounded one is the one who loves us; learning to look at him and to receive from him the path of life. “They will look at him whom they have pierced”: to look at Jesus; Peter 15: he walks on the water. But, when he doubted, he looked at himself. he almost drowned in the water. As soon as he looked at Christ, he was saved. Peter’s denial; Peter looks at Jesus. Jesus warns Peter and Peter warns Jesus. In these looks Peter remembers and regrets what his mouth has spoken. His love for Jesus has pushed him to follow Jesus. Jesus helps him to enter himself, and Peter regrets.
The Serpent lifted up in the desert→
“The Lord said to Moses: “Make yourself a fiery serpent, and set it on the top of a mast: all those who have been bitten, let them look at it, then they will live!” 16. (in biblical language, “to look at” means “to worship”). Know that the one who heals you is the Lord, not the serpent. When you look at the serpent, let your worship be addressed to the God of the Covenant. Jesus takes up this example on his own account: “as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Just as in the desert it was enough to raise one’s eyes with faith to the God of the Covenant to be physically healed, so it is enough to raise one’s eyes with faith to Christ on the Cross to obtain inner healing.
17 12 Pages 41-42 13 Ex 12.13 14 Ex 17.6 15 Mt 14.29-30 16 Num 21.8 17 The understanding of the Scriptures « Marie Noëlle THABUT
Source: S.Coeur-16-aout-2024-suite.pdf (visitation-tarascon.com)