INTRODUCTION

Devotion to the heart of Christ, or the Sacred Heart, has its foundation in the revelation of which God gave to us through Jesus Christ, of which we have written records in the New Testament. It was only after many centuries of development that, like many other elements of religion, it became recognizable as the devotion we know today. It may be said to have reached its modern form through the revelations our Lord made to St Margaret Mary in the years 1673-1675. After this its influence spread more and more widely till it was made its own officially by the Church throughout the extension of the feast of the Sacred Heart to the whole Church in 1856. Later came the period during which several popes commended the devotion to the Church in their encyclicals and explained its doctrinal and scriptural foundation.

Past Commendation

Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical at the end of the last century (1899), ordered the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart, to mark the year 1900, which was proclaimed a Holy Year. Pope Pius XI devoted two encyclicals to this devotion, in the years 1928 and 1932. In his first encyclical in 1939, Pope Pius XII made clear how great was his esteem for devotion to the Sacred Heart and how much he relied on it for the success of his pontificate. Then, in 1956 (a hundred years after the feast had taken its place in the universal calendar of the Church) the same pope issued the most important document on the subject that had yet appeared, an encyclical which gave a full-scale exposition of the meaning of the devotion and its importance for the Church. The present pope, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, has frequently commended the devotion, particularly in an Apostolic Letter sent to all bishops, calling on them to lead the faithful to a better understanding of devotion to the Sacred Heart.

In the reform of the liturgy which has followed the Vatican Council this devotion has maintained, and even strengthened, its position. The feast of the Sacred Heart still holds the highest rank, and the new missal contains two Masses of the Sacred Heat instead of one as formerly. Care has been taken to improve the Mass texts, and a new Preface has been provided.

At a time of change like this, when so many old things are disappearing and new ones are taking their place, there is some danger of things of real value may get mixed up with out-of-date things that are being thrown out. Lest this should happen in the case of devotion to the Sacred Heart, it will be worth while examining it anew out the position it should hold in our lives. It could be true, that while devotion to the Sacred Heart can never be out-of-date, there are defects in us which prevent us from appreciating it at its right value.

One of the dangers the Vatican Council set itself to meet was the secularization of life and the loss of the supernatural spirit on which our religion must be based. This can manifest itself in a neglect of the person of Christ, round whom, as God's supreme revelation and the source of our supernatural life, our religion must revolve. The teaching and spirit of Jesus Christ are in danger of being largely set aside, even among those who profess themselves his followers. Love for our fellow-men, so desirable in itself and so essential to true Christianity, is in danger of losing its Christian value by being divorced from the love of God. If, in such an atmosphere, devotion to the Sacred Heart should wilt, the fault would be, not in the devotion, but in ourselves.

Misunderstanding

Another reason for want of appreciation of devotion to the Sacred Heart would be misunderstanding of its real nature. Many regard it as resting on sentiment and emotion, and it may be true that in its outward manifestations it has tended to become sentimental at times. Pictures and statues have more often encouraged this tendency.

The very word devotion carries with it undesirable associations and may suggest sentimentality. This is because it is one of many words which have become degraded in meaning through long use. When we use it in connection with the Sacred Heart we must keep in mind that we use it in its original meaning of being given over to, consecrated, devoted or dedicated to a person or a cause.

The Vatican Council has given us this warning: "The faithful should remember that true devotion does not consist in useless and transitory feelings, or in a certain empty credulity, but arises from true faith." (The Church, 67)

Essential Christianity

The term devotion may also suggest that devotion to the Sacred Heart is just one of many "devotions", or favourite ways in which people may express their religious sentiments, each according to taste and need. This would make it a mere optimal practice, whereas, when properly understood, it will be found to be of the very essence of Christianity. There are, of course, various devotional practices associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart, but they are not to be identified with it.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, means in brief, that we have such a practical understanding and appreciation of the place Jesus Christ occupies in our lives and of the love which, as God and man, he has given us, that we are led to dedicate ourselves to a life of love in return, following St Paul's injunction, "Let your life be one of love" (Eph 5: 2) Since, as the Vatican Council stated, "Christ is the source of all truth, holiness and devotion" (The Church, 67), it is evident that we are here dealing with something that is of great importance for our lives. Since the love of Jesus Christ is the object of this devotion, the human heart of Christ is - naturally enough as we shall see - taken as a symbol of this love and a reminder of what it demands of us in return.


I


JESUS CHRIST IS THE CENTRE OF SALVATION HISTORY

Creation is a marvelous work of God's wisdom, power and love. Like so many of God's works, we take it very much for granted, yet the very possibility of the existence of created beings something that is mysterious. We know, however, that God is necessarily the source of all reality outside himself; we know, too, that created beings cannot add anything to the reality that is God; they are only a finite manifestation of the perfection of God.

From the knowledge we have been given of the life of God, the Blessed Trinity, we see creation as a kind of extension of the generation of the Son. This was made clear to us through the Incarnation, and the truth is set forth by St. Paul in the words: "Christ is the image of the unseen God, and the first-born of all creation; for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible . . . All things were created through him and for him." (Col. 1: 15-16).

God's Wisdom and Love

It was in the creation of rational beings that God's wisdom and love were most strikingly revealed. Not only did he create human beings who were capable of knowing him and loving him, but he planned to unite them with himself in a still more wonderful way. Here, again, the Son was to have the central role. In becoming man himself he would communicate to them a share in his divine sonship, which would give them a new, supernatural life even in this world, and would lead them to the sharing of the life and happiness of the Blessed Trinity throughout eternity. Thus the Son became in a new and higher way the centre of all creation.

But the Son of God had another part to play in the affairs of men. Men had rejected God's gifts and revolted against their Creator by sin, and it was impossible for them, by any efforts of their own, to recover the status they had lost. By a manifestation of love and mercy beyond anything we could have deemed possible, God decided to take on himself the task of restoration. The incarnate Son, as the new head of the race and in a sense containing us all in himself, accepted suffering and death in atonement for men's sins, and by his resurrection to life after death restored us to supernatural life.

Christ, the Key to Christianity

The key to Christianity, then, is Christ. Our religion consists in the knowledge and love of a person, and acceptance of all he offers us. We know how St. Paul put it: "For me living means Christ" (Phil. 1: 21); "It is no longer I that am living, it is Christ who is living in me" (Gal 2: 20).

It is one of the objects of devotion to the Sacred Heart to make us understand something of "the incomprehensible treasure we have in Christ" (Eph.3: 8) He himself told us that many prophets and holy men longed to see and hear what we have seen and heard, but were not granted our privilege (Matt. 13: 16-17) In ancient times God had spoken through men whom he raised up for this purpose. Then came the Son, to reveal fully and clearly what had formerly been made known only obscurely and in a fragmentary fashion (Hebr. 1: 1-2). As our Lord himself put it in that parable which is hardly a parable at all, so clearly does the reality shine forth: "He had still someone left, his beloved Son. He sent him last of all. 'They will reverence my Son', he said" (Mk. 12: 6).

What is our response to this? Are we still hesitating, in the questioning way of John the Baptist's disciples, "Are you the one who is to come, or have to wait for someone else?" (Luke 7: 20) There can be no one else; God has laid the one foundation and we can substitute no other (1 Cor. 3: 11). There is only one who can bring God and men together (1 Tim. 2: 5). The word salvation sums up all we hope for, but we have St Peter's word, "Salvation is to be found through Jesus Christ alone" (Acts 4: 12)

In the words just referred to, the apostles were only repeating what they had learned from Christ himself. He insisted we have only one teacher, only one guide (Matt 23: 8, 10). He told us that it is through knowledge of the one true God and of Jesus Christ who was sent to us by the Father that we reach eternal life (John 17: 3). We can come to the Father only through the son, because he is the way by which we must walk, as he is the truth which alone can set us free and the life which alone is our true life (John 14: 6).

Going Back to Christ

The Vatican Council set forth the important principle that spiritual renewal involves a continual going back to the sources of all Christian life, to Christ, his teaching and example. This was particularly addressed to religious, but the same truth is constantly being put before all members of the Church. Here are a few passages:

"Christ is the source and head from which the People of God derive every grace and their very
derive every grace and their very life." (The Church, 50). "All need Christ, for he is their model,
teacher, deliverer, saviour and life-giver. (Missions, 8).
"The Church believes that the explanation, centre and goal of all human history is found in its Lord
and Master." (The Church Today, 10).

The solution of all our problems in the world, in the Church, and in our own souls, is to be found in Jesus Christ, and in him alone. He must always be for us the one "in whom our faith begins and ends" (Hebr. 12: 2). We may recall the words put on the lips of the glorified Christ: "I am the alpha and omega (as we might say, A and Z) the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Apoc 22: 13). The quotation given in the last paragraph from the Pastoral Constitution in the Church in the Modern World continues in this way: "The Church further affirms that underneath all changes there remain many things unchanged, which ultimately rest on Christ, who is 'the same, yesterday, today, and forever'." That is why development of devotion to the Sacred Heart has special importance today, because it helps to put Christ in his proper place at the centre of our lives.




II

THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST FOR MEN

The mystery of Christ, which has been outlined above, is above all a mystery of love. It was because of his love, the apostle says, that God decided to make us his adopted children through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1: 5-7). It was owing to the greatness of his love that when we were dead through sin God brought us to life again and through Christ (Eph. 2: 4-5).

It is the love of Christ for us that we think primarily when we speak of devotion to the Sacred Heart; that is what the devotion deals with, it is its chief object.

Jesus Christ loves us with a twofold love, a divine love and a human love, and devotion to the Sacred Heart is concerned with both. The divine love is, of course, beyond our comprehension. In the first place it is, like all God's perfections, infinite, and what is infinite cannot be comprehended, that is, understood in its entirety, by a finite mind. We must remind ourselves constantly that any idea we form of the greatness of the divine love must fall short of the reality. If we could add together all the love that human beings ever had or will have for one another, the result would be as nothing compared with the love of God for us.

A Different Love

But the infinity of Christ's divine love is not its only mystery. It is not merely a love that is greater and more perfect than any human love could be, but the very nature of divine love cannot be grasped by us, nor can human love represent it as it truly is. All human love can do is to give us a hint or suggestion of what divine love must be. This comes out most clearly in the fact that God's love is not merely something which God has; it is something that He is. When God gives us his love he gives us himself, for his love is himself. St. John expresses this profound truth when he writes, "God is love" (1 John 4: 8, 16).

A consequence of this fact is that the love of the Son is identical with the love of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. As they have one and the same divine nature, and their love is one and the same thing as their nature, they must have one divine love. It is perfectly true that three distinct Persons love us, the Father loves us, and the Son loves us, and the Holy Spirit loves us; all God's actions are personal ones. But the love with which the three Persons love us is one and indivisible. So devotion to the Sacred Heart leads us to that sublime truth which Christ came to reveal to us, the mysterious inner life of God in the fellowship of the three Persons. It brings us in a special way to the Holy Spirit, who is love personified.

An Everlasting Love

From all eternity God has loved us. When the time which he chose in his wisdom was come, he drew us out of nothingness, giving us that gift of existence which he alone could give. Every instant since we were created the same divine power has been exercised for the continuance of our existence. So God does not forget us, and could not forget us; we could not exist for a moment if he were not thinking of us, working for us, and loving us. Every moment, therefore, God's love is around us, enfolding us more closely than the air we breathe. "I have loved you with an everlasting love", he tells us, "and still maintain my unfailing care for you" (Jer. 31: 3).

A Personal Love

At the same time, though God's love is such a love as could never be found in this world, we must keep before us the fact that it is a real love, tender, personal, thoughtful, and wise. It is particularly difficult for us to realize that God's love for us is a personal love. But he could not love us just as a crowd, for that would be an imperfect love, and God's love is perfect. When he created us, he chose each one of us individually out of countless other possible beings. We are not like cheap pictures that are turned out by the printing press in hundreds and thousands; we are rather like the masterpiece of an artist, which has perhaps occupied his mind for years and is in a way the expression of himself.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, then, is concerned first of all with the sublime truth that Jesus Christ loves us with a divine love, identical with that of the Father and the Holy Spirit. The question might be raised, why it is that we are naturally so interested in fairy tales? It could well be because at the very foundation of our being there is something that contains far more wonder, beauty, and excitement than any fairy tale, while at the same time being just plain fact.

Christ's Human Love

But there is another love which this same divine Person has for us, a human love, quite distinct from his divine love. Because he has two separate natures Christ has also two separate loves. The human love of Christ is not, like his divine love, not infinite, but still is something we shall never be able to understand fully; it is for us an unfathomable sea, an inexhaustible treasure. St. Paul did his best to express what it means, but found himself reduced to contradictions, as when he speaks of "knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowing (Eph. 3: 19).

The incarnation was God's supreme effort to show his love for us. He knew how difficult it was for us to grasp the divine love; he knew it would be hard for us to avoid thinking of God as far away from us, "dwelling in unapproachable light" (1 Tim 6: 16), though in reality no one could be closer to us than he is, "since it is in him that we live, move and exist" (Acts 17: 28). So he determined, in order to bring home to us the reality of his love, to bridge the gulf that seemed to separate us from him; he would take to himself our nature and offer us the love of a human heart.

Love Drove Him On

We know how the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity laid aside the glory of heaven becoming man ("emptied himself" is St Paul's phrase), and crept in a among us as a little baby, a stranger in his own world. "He came into his own world, and his own people would not receive him", is what St. John says in the first chapter of his gospel. He wanted none of the treasures of this world; it was love for us alone that was the reason for his coming. He grew up in obscurity and poverty, in humility and obedience, in labour and weariness; he endured pain and sorrow, loneliness and ingratitude, unkindness and injustice; he was hungry and thirsty, tired and disappointed; he was even depressed and afraid. And the sole examination of it all? His love for me. It is the aim of devotion to the Sacred Heart to keep this truth always before us and make it a force in our lives.

The Son of God came on earth, we know, to redeem us, and the cross with the wounded figure on it is a constant reminder to us of the price he was prepared to pay for us. "He loved me," St. Paul says, "and sacrificed himself for me" (Gal. 2: 20). We were ransomed, St Paul tells us, "not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1: 18). Could we demand any further proof of our Lord's love for us than which he said himself was the greatest a man could give, to sacrifice his life for those he loved? (John 15: 13).

When Christ died for us it did not mean he was lost to us. He rose from the dead to give us a new life, and he still at work in his glorious life. He works in and through his Church, in the sacraments, through the Holy Spirit, and by his constant interest in our welfare. He is with us in a special way in the Eucharist, enabling us to join in his sacrifice of redemption, giving us his body as our food and the blood of his heart to drink. His continual dwelling with us in the Blessed Sacrament is another manifestation of his love and a great help to us in learning to know and love him. As God he is with us always, dwelling in our souls, but in the Blessed Eucharist we also have him with us in that human nature he assumed for our sake, just as truly as when he walked on the earth.

The Warmth of His Love

Our Lord's human love is not to be thought of as a cold, abstract thing, as if he loved merely as a duty, or because he could not help it on account of his own great goodness. His love was a fully human love, though it was the love of a divine Person: it was a warm love, accompanied by human feelings and emotions. Consider the following passage from the Gospels:

"Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died'. At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who accompanied her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, 'Where have you put him?' They said, 'Lord, come and see'. Jesus wept; and the Jews said, 'See how much she loved him!'" (John 11: 32-36).

The whole of the gospel story shows what a tender heart he had. He loved little children. He defended the oppressed and was the friend of those who were despised. He joined in the simple festivities of the poor. He sympathized and wept with those in sorrow. He pitied the lepers, the blind, the crippled, and those who were weighed down with burdens. He invited all who were in need to come to him, and promised them help. He fed the hungry and gave health and strength to the sick. He was gentle with the wayward and forgiving towards the worst sinners. His hard words were reserved for those who would make approach to him or to his Father difficult. This, we must always remember is the same Jesus we are now dealing with, "the same yesterday, today, forever" (Hebr 13: 8).

The love of Christ was a love given to individuals. He told his apostles that he loved them. One of them refers to himself habitually as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". He loved the sisters, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus, as we have seen. He loved another Mary, Mary of Magdala, who was so devoted to him, and was the first of the disciples to see him on the morning of the resurrection. When a young man assured him that he had always kept the commandments of God, Jesus, we are told, looked at him with love. It is the same love that we share in.

Basis of This Devotion

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is based on the understanding and appreciation of the twofold love, divine and human, of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. There is nothing so important so as to let that love have its influence in our lives. If they learn to love Christ, St. Paul tells the Corinthians, the world immediately becomes a different world; the old order passes away and a new one comes into existence (2 Cor. 5: 17). We become possessed of a treasure of which we cannot be robbed; "Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ," St. Paul assures the Romans. He launches out into an enumeration of possible misfortunes - trouble, worry, opposition, want of the necessities of life, danger or even death. None of these, he says, can take Christ's love away from us; instead, the power of him who loves us will lead us through all to complete victory. Then, thinking he has not been emphatic enough, he looks for other terms with which to enlarge his statement. Nothing, he asserts, whether angel in heaven or power on earth, what is happening today or may happen tomorrow, what is in our world or in outer space, can come between us and the love of God which has been given us through Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8: 35-39).



III

OUR LOVE IN RETURN

The love of Christ demands, of course, our love in return, and it is the aim of devotion to the Sacred Heart to stir up in us the desire to pay the debt that is by so many titles due. Here, again, we are only following the teaching of the New Testament. Consider these two contrasting statements of St Paul:

"If anyone has no love for the Lord let him be accursed!"
(1 Cor. 16: 22).

"May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love." (Eph. 6: 24)

Devotion to the Sacred Heart can be summed up as living a life of love, and that is precisely what St. Paul asks of the Ephesians: "Let your life be one of love" (3: 17). "You must strive for love more than anything else", is what he tells the Corinthians. Exactly the same teaching is found in St. John: "This is the commandment which you have been told from the beginning, to live a life of love" (2 John 6); and he lays down what is a fundamental principle of devotion to the Sacred Heart when he writes: "We are to love God because he first loved us" (1 John 4: 19).

The same teaching, as we know, was given by our Lord himself. The first and greatest commandment, he said, was to love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. Devotion to the Sacred Heart makes us concentrate on that great commandment.

What is Love?

But when we speak of love we must be clear what we mean by the word. We have already seen that devotion to the Sacred Heart does not consist in feeling or emotion, and in this, as in so many other ways, it is in harmony with the teaching of the New Testament about love. "Love must not be a matter of words or talk," says St John; "it must be genuine and show itself in action" (1 John 3: 18).

Our Lord has been very explicit about the nature of true love. There is no use in addressing him in terms of respect unless we show our sincerity by doing what he tells us (Luke 6: 46). That is the test: "If anyone loves me he will do what I tell him" (John 14: 23). We enter life, Jesus tells us, simply by keeping the commandments (Matt. 19: 17); we rank as his friends by doing what he asks of us (John 15: 14); we can form ties with him as close as those of mother, brother, or sister, by the doing of God's will (Mark 3: 35). He divides men into two classes, those who listen to his teaching and act on it, and those who listen and do nothing. The former, he says, building their lives on solid rock, the latter on sand, without foundation (Luke 6: 49).

Obedience the Proof of Love

Our Lord's own life was in harmony with his teaching. It is St. Paul who points out that, just as disobedience brought about the ruin of mankind, so it was the obedience of the Redeemer that restored us (Rom. 5: 19). Christ himself stated that his purpose in coming on earth was to do his Father's will (John 6: 38) and that this was what he lived on, his daily food (John 4: 34); it was his proof to the world of the reality of his love for his Father (John 14: 31).

When Our Lord mentioned the first and greatest commandment he added a second, which he said was of the same nature as the first; it was, to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. There are not two virtues here but one, one love with two different objects. We love God for his own sake, and we love our neighbour for the same motive, for God's sake. The love of God comes first and must inspire the love of our neighbour. Christ always demanded our love for his Father and for himself. He claims a love that must take precedence of love for father or mother, wife or husband, son or daughter (Matt. 10: 37; Luke 14: 26). The love of others that does not spring from the love of God is not truly Christian charity. Devotion to the Sacred Heart, by stressing the importance of love for Christ, keeps our charity from becoming mere natural charity, not wrong in itself, but not the charity Christ asks of us.

Love Means Imitation

Devotion to the Sacred Heart fixes our attention on the character and virtues of Christ, and this provides us with another practical way of showing our love for him, imitation. This is in accord with the whole of New Testament teaching, that we are, called to be other Christs. St. Paul tells us of God's plan that through the Incarnation we should become true images of the Son (Rom 8: 29). This begins with our baptism: "All who have entered into union with Christ through baptism have clothed themselves with Christ" (Gal 3: 27), that is, they have taken on the duty of reproducing his image in their lives. The same apostle warns the Romans that if they do not possess the spirit of Christ they cannot be said to belong to him (Rom. 8: 9); and this is repeated in different terms by St John: "Whoever claims to be united with him is bound to live in the same way as he lived" (1 John 2: 6)

We know that Christ himself made the same demands on us. "If a man is my servant", he said, "he must follow where I go" (John 12: 26). He asked us to become his pupils and learn from him to be gentle and humble of heart as he was (Matt. 11: 29); the ambition of pupils, he said, should be to be like a teacher (Matt. 10: 24). At the last supper, having given a striking example of humility and charity, he said explicitly that he had done this as a lesson for us, "so that you may act in the same way towards one another as I have acted towards you" (John 13: 15).

A Way of Life

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, then, is a way of life, and a way of life which can be called in a special manner the Christian way of life, for it is based primarily on the teaching of the New Testament. It leads us to give Jesus Christ that position in our lives which is in accordance with the plan of God. It leads us to give particular attention to Christ's twofold love for us, which is the source and explanation of all he had done for us. It leads us, finally, to make our lives, lives of love in return. We could have no higher ideal than that, because it is what God created us for.




IV

THE HEART OF CHRIST

The love of Jesus Christ for us is something that can never be fully set forth in words. For this reason alone, apart from others, it is useful to have an outward symbol of it, which will sum up and recall to our minds the love that means so much to us. The natural symbol is the human heart of Christ, what we call the Sacred Heart.

It is, of course, not a mere symbol, for it is a very important part of the human nature the Son of God assumed for our sake. It was formed in the substance of the virgin Mary, its beating kept Jesus alive for more than thirty years, it stopped when he died, pierced after his death, and returned to life at the resurrection. It is a heart which we adore, because it is the heart of God made man.

Meaning of Heart

The heart can have two meanings for us. In the first place, it is the heart of flesh, having an important part to play in the life of the body. This has always been, among all peoples, a symbol or token of love, and even in these sophisticated times young people carve the symbol of the heart on trees. Father Gerald Manley Hopkins, the poet writes: "Is not all language, is not common talk, is not eloquence, is not poetry, all full of mention of the heart?"

We are quite aware, of course, that the physical heart is not the organ of love; but it is very closely connected with man's affective life. Many a heart has failed owing to the effects of joy and sorrow. Quite naturally, then, the heart can represent many aspects of a man's life. We speak of a big heart, a tender heart, a hard heart, a warm heart, a cold heart, and so on indefinitely. The heart has always been taken as standing for what is most true of a person. To quote Hopkins again: "Tears are sometimes forced, smiles may be put on, but the beating of the heart is the truth of nature."

Scriptural Usage

The Scripture, as we might expect, constantly uses the word heart in the sense just referred to. Even God is presented as saying that he loves his people with his whole heart and soul, though this is purely metaphorical. More to our purpose are the references to the heart of the Messiah, to be found, for instance, in the Messianic psalms: "My heart exults" (Ps. 16: 9), "My heart is like wax" through suffering (Ps. 22: 14), "Insults have broken my heart; I had hoped for sympathy, but in vain" (Ps. 69: 20).

St. Paul makes frequent use of heart in a variety of ways that seem so natural to us that they might pass unnoticed. There are some fifty examples in his writings and in his words as reported in the Acts. "We have opened our heart wide to you all," he writes to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 6: 11); to the Philippians he says: "I hold you in my heart" (1: 7). From the Thessalonians he was separated, he once wrote, "in person, but not in heart" (1 Thess. 2: 17). He complained that his friends were breaking his heart by their manifestations of grief when he insisted upon going to face persecution in Jerusalem (Acts 21: 13). Most of the texts belong to the realm of metaphor, but in some cases Paul seems to go further. For instance, he speaks of God's love being poured into our hearts (Rom. 5: 5), of Christ as finding a dwelling-place in our hearts (Eph. 3: 17), and of the Holy Spirit coming into our hearts (Gal. 4: 6). There is no question here of a real presence. When our Lord said: "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him", he was not talking of a metaphorical presence. Writing to the Corinthians, St. Paul distinguishes between a letter written on tablets of stone and one written on tablets that are hearts of flesh (2 Cor. 3: 3).

Our Lord's Use

Our Lord often speaks of the heart. The word is put on his lips thirty-nine times in the Gospels. In one case it does not refer to man ("the heart of the earth"), but in the other cases it is used just as we use it. Christ speaks of the dispositions of the heart - hardness, dullness, goodness, sincerity; he represents men as sinning in their hearts, and sin as coming from the heart; he attributes joy and sorrow to the heart; he reminds his hearers that God can read their hearts; and of course he refers to the love of the heart. In a well-known text he speaks of himself as being gentle and humble of heart.

So, when the Vatican Council says of Christ: "He worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind, he acted with a human will, and loved with a human heart," it is expressing a truth that all can understand and appreciate. (The Church Today, 22).

In English Translations

It is not, therefore, to be thought that when we speak of the heart of Jesus Christ we are using a strange or artificial mode of speech. It is used by those who are not concerned with devotion to the Sacred Heart. Translators of the New Testament who are not Catholics will use the expression where Catholic translators do not. For instance, in St Paul's letter to the Philippians (1: 8) Today's English Version translates: "My deep feeling for you comes from the heart of Christ Jesus himself", where the Jerusalem Bible has, "loving you as Christ Jesus loves you". In John 7: 38, where the Jerusalem Bible translates, "from his (i.e. Christ's) breast shall flow fountains of living water", the Revised Standard Version gives, "out of his heart", and two other versions (which refer to the words of the believer) have, "from his heart" (TEV) and "from his inmost heart" (Phillips). The New English Bible agrees with the Jerusalem Bible in translating John 1: 18: "God's only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart", though strict literalness does not demand this form of words.

The Wounded Heart of Christ

We know that Our Lord's heart was pierced after he had died on the cross. Why did he wish his further wounding to take place when he could no longer suffer for us? There must have been some purpose in allowing this action, to which St. John draws special attention, recalling the words of the prophet, "They shall look on the one whom they have pierced". We know, too, that our Lord retained this wound in his glorified body and invited Thomas to put his hand in his side.

This wound has always been considered by Christian writers to have great significance, and the tradition appears in the documents of the Vatican Council:

"It was from the side of Christ sleeping on the cross that the whole Church - that wonderful sacrament - had its origin" (Liturgy, 5)

"The beginning and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water that came forth
from the open side of Christ" (The Church, 3).

Surely, then is not unreasonable to find in the pierced heart of Christ a symbol of the love which he has poured out on us. It is this love which is the chief object of our devotion; the symbol is of secondary importance, and it may be admitted that different characters can find different values in it. But enough has been said to justify the place it holds in the devotion.

Wider Meaning

Besides the meaning we have been discussing, the heart as a single organ, with all the symbolism that goes with it, heart can have another and wider meaning. By a common figure of speech it can stand for the man himself. When we say, "There was not a soul in sight", we do not really mean that souls are visible; we are talking of persons. We may speak of a busybody, or of a nobody, but the idea of a body does not really enter our minds at all. So it can be with heart. When Shakespeare wrote:

"A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad ties in a mile-a." (A Winter's Tale)

no one thinks of a heart trudging along, but of a sad or cheerful person. It is not surprising, then, that when we speak of the Sacred Heart we often mean our Lord himself, with all the qualities that distinguish him.



V

PRACTICES OF THE DEVOTION

It has been mentioned that the love which devotion to the Sacred Heart demands of us must be a true love, manifesting itself in complete submission to the Saviour's will, in love of others for his sake, and in an effort to become like him. There are additional ways in which this devotion expresses itself, and these we may now consider.

Consecration

One of the commonest forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart is the consecration of ourselves to the Sacred Heart. What does this mean? Consecration in general means that something is withdrawn from ordinary uses and devoted to a sacred purpose. Thus, a chalice and an altar are consecrated, or rendered sacred, in order that they may be set apart for use in the worship of God. Sometimes persons are consecrated in this way. The Church has a special rite for the consecration of virgins, and the Council documents retain the common expression, consecration of bishops. The Council also speaks of the consecration to God which all Christians receive in baptism, and of the religious vows as consecrating in a still further way to the service of God those who bind themselves by these vows.

Consecration of a person is obviously different from the consecration of an inanimate thing like an altar or a chalice. These latter are entirely passive; they are consecrated that they may be used, but not that they may act for themselves. But when persons are consecrated, or consecrate themselves, it is that they may perform certain actions for the honour of God. The consecration of an inanimate thing is a single act; the consecration of a person looks forward to a continuing series of acts.

A Misunderstanding

In the past, consecration of a person or a group of persons to the Sacred Heart has not always been properly understood, and consequently has not always produced the expected results. It has often been regarded as a single act which, once done, carried no further responsibilities with it. But the true meaning of consecration to the Sacred Heart involves a deliberate intention to devote oneself to a life of special love. This does not mean giving up one's ordinary life, but directing it towards a higher end. It can be thought of as a consecration to the heart of Christ, or to the love of Christ, or to Christ as loving us; the particular form does not matter.

Once more it must be insisted that such consecration to the Sacred Heart is not something artificial. It is the natural development of the Christian vocation. Just as, in the case of religious, the Council insists that the consecration they make of themselves and their lives by their vows is the fuller expression of the consecration involved in their baptism, so the consecration we make of ourselves to the Sacred Heat is simply a more perfect carrying out of the obligation our baptism imposes on us; the Council furthermore tells us that the laity, by living such lives everywhere, can consecrate the world itself to God (The Church, 34).

Consecration of Families

There is a special significance in the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. The Vatican Council has insisted that the family is a school of Christian holiness, and as the Church in miniature is meant to share in the apostolate of the universal Church. Husband and wife can be said to be already consecrated by the special sacrament they have received (The Church Today, 48), which enables them both to grow in holiness individually and to sanctify each other. It helps them, too, in fulfilling their chief duty towards their children, that of bringing them up as true Christians. Since their love is derived from and drawn into union with God's love, obviously the consecration of the family to Christ and his love must be a powerful aid in reaching the perfection expected of them.

Even in these days of planned giving and parish councils, it remains the chief purpose of a parish to lead its members to holiness, that is, to a closer and closer union with Christ. A parish consecrated to the Sacred Heart will more surely attain that end, provided its members are taught to live in the spirit of their consecration.

The Apostolate of Prayer

A traditional expression of devotion to the Sacred Heart (declared by Pope Pius XII to be its most perfect expression), and one which contributes greatly to the solidity of the devotion, is what is called the Apostolate of Prayer (better known to many under its older title of Apostleship of Prayer). It asks us to offer our prayers, works, joys and suffering in union with the life and work of Jesus Christ and for the same purpose for which his life was spent, the glory of his Father and the salvation of mankind. It is not difficult to imagine how much the cause of Christ can gain through a world-wide association of men and women who would seriously devote their whole lives, prayer and work alike, to that cause. "Give me an army of men of prayer" said Pope Pius IX, "and which I shall overcome their foes."

The Apostolate of Prayer is a very practical way of gaining an understanding of the important doctrine of the Mystical Body, which to many may seem abstract and remote from ordinary life. The organs of our physical bodies derive their life and activity from their union with the body; but each of them, in turn, must contribute to the life and welfare of the other organs and of the whole body. So it is with the members of the Mystical Body, which St Augustine calls "the whole Christ", made up of Christ the head and the members of the body, the Church; they draw supernatural life, through union with the body, but at the same time they must help the other members, sharing in the life and activity of the whole organism.

Personal Advantage

The Apostolate of Prayer has a great personal advantage for those who practise it, for it means that every part of their lives, even what may seem to be the most trivial actions, can acquire a supernatural value and enable them to raise their lives to a higher level by providing a spirit to inspire them and a very simple rule of life. The spirit is that of the apostolate in union with Christ, and the rule of life is to make the Morning Offering and live by it. The Church grants an indulgence to those who thus offer their day to God.

Here again we are brought back to the New Testament. It might also be claimed that St. Paul was the founder of the Apostolate of Prayer. He calls for apostolic prayer:

"First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men . . . God wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2: 1, 4)
He asks for the supernatural life in all we do:

"Whatever you are doing, whether you speak or act, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, in
thanksgiving to the Father through him." (Col. 3: 17)
"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you are doing, do all for the honour of God." (1 Cor. 10: 31)

He declares the value of trials and sufferings, when they are united with those of Christ:

"It is now my happiness to suffer for you. This is my way of helping to complete, in my poor human
flesh, the full tale of Christ's afflictions still to be endured, for the sake of his body, which is the
Church." (Col.1: 24)

We find the same teaching in the documents of the Vatican Council. In the decree on the apostolate of the laity it is pointed out that to be a Christian means to be an apostle, and that the success of this apostolate depends on living union with Christ. In the Constitution on the Church (no. 34) it is stated that, provided people act with a supernatural intention and with the aid of grace, "all their prayers, apostolic undertakings, their conjugal and family life, their daily labour, their mental and bodily relaxation, as well as the hardships of life patiently borne, are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ", and help to consecrate the world to him. This is the programme of the Apostolate of Prayer.

Reparation

There is a demand which devotion to the Sacred Heart makes on us, one which is less popular today, and that is reparation. This means that because we love Christ we are concerned about the ill-treatment he received when he came on earth for us, and the ingratitude he has met and still meets with us, and that we try to make compensation to him by our sympathy and devotedness.

This would seem to be a natural reaction. If a friend has been treated with gross ingratitude, our natural instinct is to try and make up for this by some special expression of our friendship. If a friend has been insulted, we take this as in a way done to ourselves, and try to show some extra appreciation so as to counterbalance the insult. If a friend is suffering, the suffering touches us, and we share it in a sense by our sympathy. Should it be different when it is our Redeemer who is concerned?

We must not think, of course, that our Lord suffers now in his glorious life. But his suffering in his earthly life was very real, and we were the cause of it. He asked his followers to share in his sufferings, and in this way we can now show our sympathy and make reparation. All time is equally present to God.

So Little Response

The spirit of reparation will urge us to show still greater love for Jesus Christ when we see his love meeting with so little response. He was turned away at Bethlehem, and a little later had to run for his life. When he came forth as a teacher, the religious leaders of his people would not accept him, and did everything they could to oppose him. They called him a lawbreaker, a glutton, a drunkard, a sinner, a violator of the sabbath, a lunatic, a blasphemer, a traitor to his race, an emissary of satan, possessed by the devil, and an impostor. They criticized his teaching, twisted his sayings, misconstrued his actions, heckled him and sneered at him.

The people to whom he had devoted himself so generously turned against him and howled to have him crucified. Though deserving of all honour, he was struck in the face, spat upon, treated as a mock king, condemned without cause, and finally tortured to death.

Christ's Reaction

Being truly man, Jesus Christ could not but feel such treatment. He remarked himself that he received no honour in his own country and in his home town, and that in the place where most of the miracles had been worked there was least faith in him. We are told that he often felt hurt by the hardness of heart of those to whom he appealed, and that he was astonished to find pagans showing more faith than the people of God.

When he had fed thousands with a few loves and soon after promised a more wonderful food, he was met with incredulity: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" This was the moment when large numbers finally broke with him, just when he had promised them his greatest gift. "Will you, too, go away?" he said sadly to his apostles.

Yes, he felt ingratitude and injustice. We remember the occasion when only one of ten lepers (and he a stranger) came back with a word of thanks, and Jesus asked, "Were there not ten who were cured?" He was hurt when his love was rejected: "How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; and you refused." He had gifts to offer, but they were not wanted: "You are not willing to come to me so that you may have life," he said to the people of Jerusalem.

Most of all he felt the want of loyalty in his friends. In answer to Peter's protestations he said: "Lay down your life for me? I tell you solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times." We catch the tone of sorrow in the words, "One of you will betray me"; "You will all leave me alone"; "Could you not keep awake for a single hour with me?"

The Same Today

But the same story goes on today. In a great part of the Christian world Jesus Christ is receiving no better treatment than he did when he walked on earth. His teaching is neglected, his love ignored, and his claims rejected.

If we turn to ourselves, what can we say? We know the penalty he paid for sin; have we continued to sin in spite of that? We all we owe to him; what have we done for him, or tried to do, in return? Devotion to the Sacred Heart will help us to meet our obligations.

The Cross

One particular way in which we can make reparation to our Lord is by sharing in his suffering. The words sympathy and compassion are derived from Greek and Latin words respectively, which literally meant "suffering with". We should sympathise with our Lord in the great sufferings he took on himself for love of us; but we should also be prepared to suffer with him, either by enduring patiently the various sufferings which cannot be avoided or by voluntarily choosing, in imitation of him, what human nature dislikes. Self-sacrifice is a natural response when we are touched by another's sufferings. Not only do we fly flags at half-mast as a sign of sympathy, but we have known restrictions to be placed on amusements on days of national commemoration of those who have given their lives for their countrymen.

The doctrine of the cross is, of course, at variance with modern ideas. It was never at any time acceptable to those who were guided by human principles. For the Jews the great cross was the great obstacle that prevented them from accepting their Messiah; for the pagans of the time, as it is for those among whom we live, it was sheer nonsense. (Cf. 1 Cor. 1: 23)

Acceptance of Our Cross

But we know that Jesus Christ made it quite clear that we cannot be his followers or share in his redemption unless we accept the cross, both in principle and in practice. See, for instance, Matthew 16: 24. "The Messiah must suffer" is a truth that is set forth at least twelve times in the New Testament (Matt. 16: 21, 17: 12; Mark 8: 31, 9: 12; Luke 9: 22, 17: 25; 24; 26, 46; Acts 3: 18, 17: 3, 26: 23; 1 Peter 1: 11). "To that you are called," writes St Peter, "because Christ suffered on your behalf, and so left you an example; it is for you to follow in his footsteps" (1 Peter 2: 21). We know St Paul's words, "I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2: 19); and he says to all of us: "Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified their lower nature with its passions and desires (Gal. 5: 24). Devotion to the Sacred Heart will help to keep us faithful to this essential Christian spirit.

The Vatican Council, following St. Paul (Rom. 6: 12), exhorts us all to overcome the reign of sin in us by self-denial and holy living (The Church, 36). Two other passages from the same Constitution may be quoted:

"While we are on pilgrimage on earth we follow Christ's footsteps in trial and persecution, and as his body share in his sufferings, so that suffering with him we may be joined with him in glory" (7).

"Those who have top up with poverty, illness, disease, and various hardships, or suffer persecution in the cause of right, can be assured that they are in a special way united with Christ, suffering for the salvation of the world" (41).

The Stations of the Cross might be mentioned as a practical expression of and gratitude for the generosity of our appreciation for the generosity with which our Lord accepted such great suffering for our sakes. Passing from station to station is a way of following in his footsteps as he carried his cross to Calvary for us, and it should be means of strengthening our love and our generosity.

The Blessed Eucharist

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, with its consecration to the love of Christ, is inseparably linked with the Eucharist, for this gift for us and a very powerful means of developing our love in return.

In the Mass we are brought into very close contact with our Lord's love for us as shown in the wonderful work of our redemption: "He loved me and sacrificed himself for me" (Gal 2: 20). The Mass keeps before us the fact that this work, and the love that prompted it, are not something lost in the depths of eternity, or even separated from us by thousands of years of time, but something which is perpetually carried on in a sacramental way, and something in which we take actual part, for we are both offerers of the sacrifice, sharing in Christ's own priesthood, and victims together with him.

When we offer this sacrifice we re-consecrate ourselves and our lives to the love and service of Christ by uniting ourselves with his offering of himself. We are able to offer up to the Father a gift of love infinitely pleasing to him, and thus make full reparation for our own sins and ingratitude, and for the sins and ingratitude of the world.

When we receive Holy Communion, we both show our appreciation for a wonderful gift of love and derive love ourselves from its very source. We enter into a living union with Jesus Christ, which strengthens his divine love within us and enables us to carry out more perfectly our duty of being other Christs in our daily lives.

In the Blessed Eucharist we have a real presence of Our Lord which cannot be found elsewhere. As God he is everywhere, and we can never be separated from him. But in the Blessed Sacrament we have the risen Christ present in the human nature he assumed for love of us. That is a great privilege. In our visits to the Blessed Sacrament we can prepare ourselves to join in the sacrifice of the Mass with a fuller realization of what it means; we can make a better thanksgiving than we may have time for when we actually receive communion, and we can develop the dispositions which will make our next communion more fruitful. To be with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament frequently, adoring him, speaking to him, and making acts of faith, trust, love and gratitude, must contribute greatly to a close friendship with him. That is the object of devotion to the Sacred Heart.




CONCLUSION

There is only one Saviour of the world, so if we want to solve the problems of the world today we must bring men back to Christ. He is, in the words of the Vatican Council, "the goal of human history . . . the centre of the human race, the joy of every heart and the fulfillment of its aspirations" (The Church Today, 45).

For that reason devotion to the Sacred Heart is more necessary today than ever before. It is the instrument the Church needs in order to carry out its mission, for "the Church is the 'universal sacrament of salvation', showing forth and at the same time putting in operation the mystery of God's love for man" (Ibid.)

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, as this booklet has endeavoured to show, is concerned with the essence of the Christian revelation.

"The love of Christ leaves us no choice . . . His purpose is dying for us was that all men, while still in
this life should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was
raised again."
(2 Cor. 5: 14-15).

"Since you accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live united with him; keep your roots deep in him and build
your lives on him; and become ever stronger in your faith as you have been taught, and be full of
thanksgiving." (Col. 2: 6-7).

From Ephesians 3: 17 we learn that these roots and foundations of ours must be "in love".

Our Lord often asked questions of people, both individuals and groups, both friends and enemies. The last question that is recorded occurs at the end of St John's Gospel. Because it was the last, and because it was repeated three times, it should have a special interest for us. The question was:

"Do you love me?"

Since our Lord had already referred to love as "the first and greatest commandment," we must take this question - originally directed to Peter - as meant for us all.

Those who practise true devotion to the Sacred Heart will be able to give the answer our Lord hopes for:

"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."