Monthly Devotion: Sacred Heart of Jesus

Behold the Heart which has so loved men but which has been given so little love in return.

Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pompeo Batoni

June is well under way, thus it is time for our monthly devotion. June is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and this is beautifully celebrated in the Church liturgically and devotionally. Not only do we have the glorious feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (this Friday!) but the Feast and Procession for Corpus Christi. It is so beautiful to have Corpus Christi in this month because the Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love. Also, in the new calendar, the Saturday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. How appropriate to have the feasts of these hearts side by side, just like they are in reality.

There is so much to say about this adorable, loving, Sacred Heart... let us hear from the great Saint Bonaventure what we ought to deeply know about Our Lord's Heart:

"Beloved brethren, since it had been ordained by a merciful Providence that the Church should be formed from the side of the crucified Christ and that the words of the Scriptures be fulfilled: They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced - a soldier armed with a lance opened the sacred Breast. The Blood mingled with water, which was shed from that pierced side, was the price of our salvation. Flowing from the hidden fount of the Sacred Heart, it gave to the Sacraments their power of conferring the life of grace, and to those already living in Christ a draught of the living fount, gushing forth unto life eternal.

Arise, therefore, O soul friendly to Christ! Cease not your vigil; bring close your lips, that you may draw waters from out the Savior's fountain. Oh, how good and how pleasant it is to dwell in this most Sacred Heart. Your Heart, dearest Jesus, is the great treasure, the precious jewel which we will find in the dug field of Your sacred Body. Who is there who would throw away this jewel? Rather would I throw away all my own jewels, my thoughts and my affections, and cast my cares upon Your Sacred Heart, which will nourish me without fail. I beg of You, sweet Jesus my God, place my prayer among those that You will answer. Draw me wholly into Your Heart. For unto this end Your side was pierced, that an entrance would lie open to us. Unto this end Your Heart was wounded, that detached from worldly tumult, we would be able to dwell in it.

But above all, Your Heart was wounded so that a visible scar would enable us to see the invisible would of Your love. For how could the ardor of Your love be better shown that by this, that not only Your Body but even Your very Heart was pierced with a lance? Truly the wounds of the flesh showed forth the wounds of the spirit. Who is there who would not love One so loving? My dearly beloved, let us pray that the Sacred Heart may deign to wound our heart still so hard, still so impenitent, and bind it with the sweet bonds of His love."