Sunday:       Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Date:         June 3, 2005
Year:         A
The readings: [Deut. 7:6-11; 1 Jn. 4:7-16; Mt 11:25-30]
The message:  Divine love manifested through Jesus.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1722

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To all those that I have not had the opportunity to do so today, I want to wish you a joyful Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Today's celebration of this very special Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus echoes the Divine love of God that was manifested in both, the human and Divine natures of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Linguistically speaking, the word "Sacred" is synonym to "Divine" and the word "Heart" is synonym of "Love." As such, when reference is made to the Sacred Heart, it is understood to be a reference to the Divine love of God that echoes the Sacred nature of the Lord; "God is love." [1 Jn. 4:8] In the Sacred Heart is revealed the undeserved love of God that was manifested through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. [1 Jn. 4:10].

During today's First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, [Dt. 7:6-11] we heard Moses say to the people, "You are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be His people, His treasured possession." [Dt. 7:6] These words echo the words of God that are found in the Book of Exodus, "Now therefore, if you obey My voice and keep My Covenant, you shall be My treasured possession out of all the people." [Exo. 19:5a] "But you shall be for Me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation." [Exo. 19:6] Ever since the early days of Biblical history, God has longed for a faithful people of His own, a priestly Kingdom of holy people that He could treasure forever.

In the early day of history, God reached out and made a Covenant with a people. Over time, the Covenant was dissolved because the people turned their back to God, refusing to obey His commandments. This first Covenant was finally replaced by a second and better one that Jesus instituted on the evening prior to the suffering of His passion. When instituting the Lord's Supper, "(Jesus) took the cup, and after giving thanks He gave it to (the disciples), and all of them drank from it. He said to them, 'This is My Blood of the new Covenant, which is poured out for many.'" [Mk. 14:23-4; Lk. 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25]

Since then, God's priestly kingdom has not only opened its doors to the people of the former Covenant who accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah, but also to us and our forefathers, descendants of the Gentiles. May God be praised for His infinite mercy that shined in abounding love for us who are sinners.

The conclusion of today's First Reading echoed powerful Words of God that still apply to this date. Those Words were, "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject Him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject Him. Therefore, observe diligently the commandment - the statutes, and the ordinances - that I am commanding you today." [Dt. 7:9-11] These Words command us to obey the ways of God. Those who do so, they shall be blessed. Those who reject God, they shall be judged accordingly.

One may ask, what does God command of us nowadays? Have the Commandments changed since the days of the Old Testament? When a lawyer asked Jesus which was the greatest of all the Commandments, Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [[Mt. 22:37-40]

Today's Second Reading from The First Letter of John [1 Jn. 4:7-16] touched on this subject. Faith in Christ and the manifestation of love towards our brothers and sisters are the twin signs of fellowship with God. If we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we love God and we have fellowship with God. If we mistreat our brothers and sisters, we are not born of God, nor do we know God. For God is love! As children of God, we must love one another because love is from God. The manifestation of our love towards others has its origin from God. This origin does not come to us as from a source, it is itself the very essence of God.

God's love for us was revealed through His Son, our Lord Jesus. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life." [Jn. 3:16] Eternal life here is not defined as living forever. Rather, it means to know God as He knows Himself. It means to enjoy to eternal beatific vision of God.

God's love that was manifested for us, even before we were born, is a free gift on His part. It is a love that could not possibly be motivated by any worthiness of human action. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves His love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by His Blood, will we be saved through Him from the wrath of God." [Rom. 5:6-9]

St. Paul tells us that of faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love. [1 Cor. 13:13] It is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, these being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. [Gal 5:22]

"Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another." [1 Jn. 4:11] "If we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us." [1 Jn. 4:12] Through the indwelling of the Spirit of God, we come to the realization that we do possess the greatly valued Divine life of God. The proof that we possess the Divine life of God is not in our own testimony. It is manifested through the active Presence of the Holy Spirit in our love, our works, the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit that shine through us as lights in the world.

As long as we continue to obey the Commandments, we are guaranteed communion with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When we fall from the grace of God by breaking the Commandments of love, by living in mortal sin, by neglecting the Sacraments, our lives becomes meaningless. Our testimony of being "Christians" then becomes an illusion, a self-deception that is covered with darkness.

According to Jesus' prayer of thanksgiving to the Father that we heard earlier during the Gospel Reading, [Mt 11:25-30] the wonders of our faith have been hidden from the wise and the intellectuals. In accordance with the gracious Divine Will of the Father, they have been revealed to infants, the peasants and the working class. It does not require wisdom and understanding to grasp the message of Jesus. It is made known only by revelation.

This does not mean that the message of Jesus was denied to the wise and the intellectuals. No, indeed, the message of Jesus was and continues to be proclaimed to all, this being revelation. But unfortunately, only the simple accept the insight that the Father grants to those who wish it.

In Jesus, the simple, the infants, the peasants and the working class perceive the manifestation of God the Father. In faith, they move forward in their spiritual growth. The wise and the intellectuals, they are hung up on the "how." They must know how this is possible, that God the Father incarnated on earth through Jesus. They cannot overcome the obstacle because they have created a blockage, an intellectual blockage that demands answers. At this point, even if the Holy Spirit inspired the truth to them, they would not hear it. For they have hardened their hearts.

Those who are simple, when they look at a holy picture or a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who do they see? In Jesus, they perceive the whole fullness of the Blessed Trinity dwelling bodily. [Col. 1:19, 2:9] First they see Jesus, then the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, they find their way to the invisible Father who manifested Himself in bodily form through Christ.

The Gospel Reading concluded with the words, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." [Mt. 11:28-30]

The invitation to the weary and the burdened is an invitation to the poor who have had the good news proclaimed to them. They are "the blind who receive their sight, the lame who walk, the lepers who are cleansed, the deaf who hear, the dead who are raised, and the poor who have good news brought to them." [Mt. 11:5]

Spiritually speaking, these are the spiritually blind who's eyes have been opened to the truth. They are those who have been hurt and who have found the strength to persist in their faith. They are those who living in mortal sin have reconciled with God and the Church. They are the hardened hearts who have opened their hearts to God, those walking in darkness who have found the Light, and those who hungering for the truth, have found the way and the life that can only come from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When one submits himself in humility and obedience to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the peace and joy that he receives in the love of God is so overwhelming that the yoke becomes easy, the burden being light. The recompense that one receives from living in the love of Jesus is so great that life obstacles, no matter how great they are, become meaningless. It is no longer the individual who is carrying the crosses of life; it is Jesus Himself.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Moses spoke to the people: 'You are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be His people, His treasured possession.

It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set His heart on you and chose you - for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that He swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject Him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject Him.

Therefore, observe diligently the commandment - the statutes, and the ordinances - that I am commanding you today." [Deut. 7:6-11]

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Second Reading...

"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them." [1 Jn. 4:7-16]

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Gospel Reading...

"At that time Jesus said, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said: 'All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." [Mt 11:25-30]

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