This past April, Cardinal Collins published a pastoral letter about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I had previously heard of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but I knew next to nothing about it. Curious about it, I went looking for the pastoral letter and found it here: (https://www.archtoronto.org/en/offices-and-ministries/sub-sites/sacred-heart/sacred-heart-jesus/).
I have learned a lot from it, and I thank Cardinal Collins for creating and publishing it. It has opened my eyes to an important devotion that I barely knew anything about, and now realize is quite important. It has made me curious to learn more.
The pastoral letter is only 25 pages long, but it is packed full of information on the devotion. I highly recommend that you read it. It seems to me that this is a powerful devotion around which to build a life of holiness. I think it is also a core around which to gather the strength to face the crazy world in which we live.
Here are 3 points that stood out for me, but as I said, go read it. I’m sure there are other elements that will speak strongly to you:
- Cardinal Collins writes about the balance of reason (seeing reality as it is, not as we might want it to be), heart (the centre of our relationship with others, and ourselves), and the will (we must act on what we know to be real and true). I found this balance upon which we should approach reality very powerful. Cardinal Collins also made it into a nice rhythm, equating them as the head, the heart, and the hands. Also, to know, to love, and to serve.
- Cardinal Collins ties the balance of head, heart, and hands to the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion. Here are two quotes (my square bracket additions) related to this:
- The devotion is rooted in intellectual reflection upon the Gospel encounter with Jesus, and the doctrine of the incarnation [the head]; this leads to deep personal love for Jesus [the heart], which bears fruit in a life of decisive Christian action [the hands]. (page 10)
- But the devotion to the Sacred Heart is more a way for each of us to intensely encounter Jesus in practices of prayer that move us to be better disciples, and to grow personally in holiness. Meditation upon the loving humanity of Jesus represented by the Sacred Heart, leads each of us to become more on fire for the Lord [the heart], to become not a superficial Christian, but a devoted Christian, a dedicated Christian, an intentional Christian [the head] committed to living out our baptismal mission to bring Christ into the world [the hands]. (page 8)
- I liked how Cardinal Collins talks about how the Sacred Heart of Jesus represents more than just the love of Jesus. I found this to be quite powerful as Cardinal Collins quotes Msgr. Ronald Knox on page 9: The Sacred Heart is the treasury of all those splendid qualities with which a perfect life was lived; it is the repository of all those noble thoughts which mankind still venerates in the gospels. It was the Sacred Heart that burned with anger when the traders were driven out of the temple; it was the Sacred Heart that loved the rich young man, yet would not spare him; it was the Sacred Heart that defied Pilate in his own judgment-hall. It is strong and stern and enduring; it hates prevarications and pretenses.
I wrote down the following actions as I read through the list of Practical Suggestions on page 20:
- Link a Holy Hour of Adoration of the Lord in the Eucharist as often as possible. Friday is a good day to focus on the Sacred Heart, especially on the first Friday of the month.
- Participate in Mass on the first Friday of every month.
- Dedicate the month of June to the Sacred Heart.
- Read a portion of one of the Gospels every day. It could be the Gospel reading for the Mass of the day, or it could be one chapter a day. I liked this comment from the Pastoral Letter (page 12): Our hearts must become pure, and they are purified when we encounter the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom we discover in the Gospel. Which is why we should read a part of the Gospel every day.
- Place an image of the Sacred Heart in your home, and consecrate your family to the Sacred Heart.
- Personally carry an image of the Sacred Heart and use it as a reminder of the generous love of Jesus, which it symbolizes. Put that love into practice every day.
Reading the pastoral letter reminded me that when I was newly born I was quite sick for a while, which would prevent me from sleeping. My Dad would lie down, put me on his chest, and I would calm down and fall asleep. I don’t remember this, of course, but I imagine I was soothed by the strong, regular beating of his heart, by the warmth of his body, and because I was already aware somehow that he was someone strong who cared for me. I’m thinking this might be a good starting point for me to enter into the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion.
Lastly, I would note that in the pastoral letter Cardinal Collins writes about some of the history of the devotion, describes the different elements of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, talks about analog versus digital and how it relates to the devotion (I found this to be an interesting perspective), discusses the need to focus on others not ourselves, provides references for further learning on the devotion, and much, much more.
Go read it. You’ll be glad you did.
Peace Be With You.
Steve.
Peace Be With You 