In 1928, Pius XI wrote a beautiful encyclical called Miserentissimus Redemptor, On Reparation to the Sacred Heart in which the Holy Father described veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the epitome of our entire religion. The sacred heart he wrote, “the sum of all religion” and “the pattern of perfect life.”
What a bold claim! But, consider: the Sacred Heart represents the entirety of Christ's love and sacrifice. In venerating the Sacred Heart, we are honoring the very core of Jesus' mission - His infinite, redemptive love which led Him to offer His life for our salvation. Thus, the devotion encapsulates the essence of Christianity.
The Sacred Heart is a symbol of the Incarnation. The human heart of Jesus, united to His divinity, is a powerful reminder of the central truth of our faith: that God became man out of love for us. Honoring the Sacred Heart is a way of affirming and celebrating this mystery.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart leads us to a deeper participation in Christ's life and mission. By contemplating His pierced Heart, we are moved to greater love and reparation for sin. We are inspired to imitate His virtues of charity, obedience, and self-sacrifice. In this way, the Sacred Heart becomes a "pattern of perfect life" for us to follow.
And so what a fitting day for us to come to church, to kneel and pray before the Eucharist.
For, the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Christ's love. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us His Body and Blood, the very life that flowed from His pierced Heart on the Cross. The Eucharist is the ultimate expression of His love, the love symbolized by the Sacred Heart—his Body and Blood given out of love for us. As Pope Benedict XV wrote in his encyclical on the sacrament of Charity: “"in the Eucharist Jesus does not give us a "thing' but himself; he offers his own body and pours out his own blood"
So, Eucharistic adoration is an extension of devotion to the Sacred Heart. When we adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we are in the presence of His Sacred Heart, burning with love for us.
As we gaze upon him with love this evening, we pray to be more and more transformed to be like him, to be conformed to His Sacred Heart, learning to love as He loves.
Recall the words of Pope Leo XIII as he consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart. He wrote, “There is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another.”
May our time with Jesus this evening truly conform our hearts to his for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
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