Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

“I will look after and tend my sheep” (Lk. 15:3). In Christ, God entered our space and became our companion on the pilgrimage of life. He came to be near us and tend to our needs. The image of the Sacred Heart tells us that not only did Jesus lay down His life that we might live, but also that He was consumed by love for us. “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a consuming fire, rages like an uncontrollable flame” (Song 8:6).

The Heart of Christ, ablaze with the fire of Divine Love, has become our light and our life. Christ cradles his heart in an outstretched hand as on a lampstand (CF. Matt. 5:15). The Sacred Heart of Christ makes the love of the Father available, accessible, open, and receptive to all who are willing to embrace it. “It is only under the impulse of love that the minds of human beings obey fully and perfectly the mind of [God]” (Pope Pius XII).

The Heart of Christ is a shepherd’s heart. The “Shepherd of Israel” is a powerful metaphor that manifests God’s commitment to caring for and protecting his people. The Beloved Son became our brother in the flesh to seek out, rescue, and bring us to his Father. We are never alone or forgotten, even when we feel lost. Troubles are removed in love, and sins are pardoned in mercy. The Father’s Love Incarnate makes manifest God’s care to each of us. “He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (Is. 40:11). Whenever we gaze upon the heart of Christ consumed in the Fire of Divine Love, all we have to do is trust in the strength of his arm to pick us up and carry us. God’s love is unconditional and rescues us from the places where we were scattered. He seeks us out so we can experience the joy of repentance and restoration as sheep in his flock.

Lift every voice and sing

Till earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

(Lift Every Voice and Sing, James Weldon Johnson)