By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: COURTESY
Archbishop Thomas Wenski prays before the Blessed Sacrament after celebrating the opening Mass of the annual Great Vigil marking the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the evening of June 16 through the morning of June 17, 2023, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the annual Great Vigil, held on the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and organized by the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It took place this year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral, beginning with 8 p.m. Mass June 16 followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 2 a.m. June 17, 2023.
Today is the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is associated with St. Margaret Mary – just as devotion to the Divine Mercy is associated with St. Faustina. These devotions add nothing to the revelation of faith, but they do foster a richer appreciation of the revelation which is about the God who is love, the God who, because he loves us, remains close to us.
El Corazón de Jesús fue atravesado por la lanza de un soldado en la crucifixión; al mismo tiempo, el corazón de María fue atravesado por una espada de dolores. En el Inmaculado Corazón de Su Madre se refleja el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. El corazón humano tanto en las Escrituras como en la literatura representa el centro personal de un individuo; el corazón simboliza el amor. En los Corazones traspasados de Jesús y María, queremos reconocer su amor, un amor a través del cual Jesús y María quieren llevarnos al amor desinteresado de Dios y del prójimo. Es a través de este amor desinteresado que crecemos en la santidad a la que hemos sido llamados como seres humanos creados a imagen y semejanza de Dios que es amor.
Photographer: COURTESY
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preaches the homily at the opening Mass of the annual Great Vigil marking the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the evening of June 16 through the morning of June 17, 2023, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral.
Jesus loves us with a human heart. The Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of the humanity of Jesus – but also of the concreteness of his love. Love is not an abstraction, it is not a philosophical axiom; love is always an action, a deed. It is a “giving away” of oneself – even as Jesus gave away himself on the cross for our salvation.
Today, on this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, we do well to recall how Jesus’ love – in all its tenderness – is also mediated to us through the ministry of our priests, especially their ministry in the Sacrament of Penance through which our sins are forgiven.
St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis have asked that this feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be also dedicated as a day of prayer for the sanctification of priests. St. John Vianney once said: “The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.” John Vianney served the Lord with a single heartedness that all priests should strive to emulate. His rule of life was “Do only what can be offered to the Lord.” Today, let also us resolve to support our priests by our prayers. May all that they say, do or think be a worthy offering to the Lord.
"In the Heart of Christ, man's heart learns to know the genuine and unique meaning of his life and of his destiny, to understand the value of an authentically Christian life, to keep himself from certain perversions of the human heart, and to unite the filial love for God and the love of neighbor."
These words of Pope St. John Paul II explain why we gather tonight to celebrate this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We gather so that we might “know the genuine and unique meaning of our life and our destiny.” For in the pierced heart of the Crucified God, God’s own heart is opened up. Heaven is no longer locked up – for through the incarnation of his Word made flesh God has stepped out of his hiddenness.
Photographer: COURTESY
Archbishop Thomas Wenski celebrates the opening Mass of the annual Great Vigil marking the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the evening of June 16 through the morning of June 17, 2023, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral.
St. Augustine prayed: “O Lord, our hearts were made for thee, and our hearts shall never rest until they rest in thee.” The Heart of Jesus speaks to our hearts beckoning: “Come to me, all you who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is not sweet, sugary, sentimental piety. Yes, the heart throughout human history has symbolized love – and too often love – human love – has been reduced to the sentimental inanities found on a Valentine Card and worse. But here, in speaking of the Sacred Heart, we are not talking about our discourse about love, but about the love of God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. As St. John writes in his first epistle: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins” (1Jn 4:10). In the pierced heart of the Crucified One, God’s love is laid bare for all to see. God is telling us that he loves us – not with a spoken word but a word carved out in the flesh of Jesus’ side by the soldier’s lance.
Photographer: COURTESY
Archbishop Thomas Wenski and concelebrating bishops and priests pray before the Blessed Sacrament at the conclusion of the opening Mass of the annual Great Vigil marking the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which took place the evening of June 16 through the morning of June 17, 2023.
Today as we gaze in silent wonder at the image of Jesus’ pierced heart – his Most Sacred Heart – and that of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, we can sense how God is offering us a “better way.” In acknowledging their love for us, represented by their pierced hearts, we wish to renew our hearts – so that we might think, speak, work and love as they do.
Alongside our own sinfulness is the reality of Jesus’ brotherly compassion and mercy and Mary’s maternal tenderness. God created us for bigger things than the sum total of our sins and failures. He created us in his image and likeness, and he created us to know his love and his mercy. Only to the degree that we are willing to embrace the message of mercy revealed through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to live it by being merciful ourselves will we experience peace in our hearts and peace in the world.
“Oh, Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, al cual es imposible no sentir compasión por los infelices, ten piedad de nosotros pobres pecadores y concédenos las gracias que pedimos por medio del inmaculado Corazón de María, tu y nuestra tierna Madre”.
