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June 6, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 11Oakland,
CA
In
His Light
Discipleship means belonging to the Heart of Christ
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
This year the first Friday of June is the day appointed for the celebration
of the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Such an important day
in the Church’s liturgical year seems a fitting topic for my reflections
this week.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had a long history of development
in the Church; it is rooted in the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures
themselves and in the exposition of these texts by the Church Fathers.
The Heart of Christ became a prominent theme in the writings of theologians
and mystics in the Middle Ages, and the devotion received a strong new
impetus through the preaching of the Jesuit Fathers and especially through
the witness of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). In 1856 Blessed
Pius IX extended the feast to the whole Church.
Profound exposition
Anyone interested in a profound and fully reliable exposition of the history
and meaning of the Sacred Heart devotion can do no better than the Pius
XII’s Encyclical “Haurietis aquas: On devotion to the Sacred
Heart” (May 15, 1956). [The text is readily available on the Vatican
web site: www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals.] A key point
the Holy Father made there which I want to share with you is this:
“[That] the Heart of the Incarnate Word is deservedly and rightly
considered the chief sign and symbol of that threefold love with which
the divine Redeemer unceasingly loves His eternal Father and all mankind.
“It is a symbol of that divine love which He shares with the Father
and the Holy Spirit but which He, the Word made flesh, alone manifests
through a weak and perishable body, since ‘in Him dwells the fullness
of the Godhead bodily’ (Col 2:9).
It is, besides, the symbol of that burning love which, infused into His
soul, enriches the human will of Christ and enlightens and governs its
acts by the most perfect knowledge derived both from the beatific vision
and that which is directly infused (S.T., III, q. 9, aa. 1-3).
And finally - and this in a more natural and direct way - it is the symbol
also of sensible love, since the body of Jesus Christ, formed by the Holy
Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, possesses full powers of feelings
and perception, in fact, more so than any other human body” (S.T.,
III, q. 33, a. 2, ad 3). (“Haurietis aquas,” 54-57).
As Pius XII so succinctly puts it: The Lord Jesus’ Heart is “the
chief sign and symbol” of his love. Celebrations which honor the
Sacred Heart, especially on the First Fridays, and above all on the Friday
after Corpus Christi, are excellent ways for the whole People of God to
give witness to the infinite love we have received in Christ Jesus.
In my own Christian formation, devotion to our Lord’s Sacred Heart
was very important. During my grade school years the first Friday of every
month, particularly dedicated as it was to the Sacred Heart, was always
a special occasion.
Powerful memories
The day before, we all went over to the parish church to make our monthly
confession in order to be well prepared for Holy Communion the next day.
That First Friday Mass was always something I looked forward to. It concluded
with Solemn Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, at which we recited
the Litany of the Sacred Heart. These are some of my most powerful memories
from my childhood experience of the faith.
I cannot think about those mornings without recalling this one particular
title of address: “Heart of Jesus, Burning Furnace of Charity,”
to which we all answered “Have mercy on us.” That title captured
my imagination because it so powerfully and poetically expressed the ardor
and constancy of Christ’s love for us.
When I went off to minor seminary, it was to a school named “Sacred
Heart.” The faculty members responsible for our formation built
on the catechesis we had received at home. They especially held up to
us Jesus’ Sacred Heart as the model according to which we should
strive to let the Holy Spirit shape our hearts. We used to begin and end
most days with this short prayer: “Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Model
of the Priestly Heart, have mercy on us.”
From countless repetitions of this prayer and the time spent in reflecting
on its meaning, God taught me that a priest’s ministry must be rooted
in his heart, in a heart made unconditionally generous after the example
of the heartfelt generosity Christ manifests in the Holy Eucharist. And
for bringing about this change to my heart there was and is no better
means than receiving the Lord’s love in Holy Communion.
These first experiences of priestly formation were ratified during the
eight-day retreat I made under the direction of a well-known Jesuit in
Detroit in order to prepare for my priestly ordination. It was my director,
Father Jules Toner, who assigned me a whole day to read and pray over
Pius XII’s Encyclical on “Devotion to the Sacred Heart.”
I view that as Providence’s confirmation that not only in my years
before ordination but also in all the years thereafter I am called to
make the foundation of my ministry the shaping of my heart according to
the model of Christ’s priestly Heart.
Grace received
In thinking about the grace I have received through devotion to the Sacred
Heart, I cannot help but be mindful of the instruments through which that
given has been mediated to me and to all the other members of the Church.
In the obscurity of her Visitation convent, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
received in prayer remarkable manifestations of Christ’s love which
were not for her alone but were a charism given to her for the enrichment
of us all. St. Margaret Mary stands in a long line of saints – before
and after her – so many of them women, who were latter day prophets
calling the Church never to forget that the heart of discipleship is belonging
to the Heart of Christ.
One remarkable woman who came centuries before St. Margaret Mary with
this same message was St. Catherine of Siena. In our own era St. Faustina,
with her message of the Divine Mercy that streams from Christ’s
heart, is another such witness. And the recently beatified Mother Teresa
of Calcutta is surely a remarkable voice calling us to respond with love
to him whose Heart is only love for us.
These saints, and the many others who could rightly be classed in their
company, exemplify what some theologians, thinkers like Hans Urs von Balthassar,
call the “Marian Dimension” of the Church. Throughout the
Church’s history they have been living embodiments of the Blessed
Virgin as she performed the culminating act of her role in Salvation History:
Standing at the foot of the Cross to witness to and share in the consummation
of God’s love for the world.
Noblest vocation
St. Margaret Mary, St. Catherine, St. Faustina, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
all invite us to “draw water from the springs of salvation,”
from the Sacred Heart of our Savior, thrown open by the spear’s
wound so that we could receive the treasure of infinite love the temple
for which is his Heart. Of all the vocations in the Church, this is the
noblest and most important.
I am very grateful that the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart
this year has been an occasion to confirm me in the rich graces given
me through this devotion from my childhood until today. I pray that it
will be that same sort of opportunity for you.
If you once were regular in marking the First Friday of each month with
Confession and Communion, but you have gotten away from that, now is a
good time to return to this practice once more. If you never had this
devotion as part of your life, then through Pius XII’s eloquent
encyclical learn more about the profound significance of the Lord’s
Heart as a rich symbol for his person and love, to which we are all invited
to pledge our person and love in return.
Previous "In His Light" Columns by Bishop Allen H. Vigneron
