The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Respect for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a result of the cult of the Eucharist, is a two-fold object of our devotion. It first presents us with the bodily Heart of the Lord Jesus, a symbol of respect and adoration. Secondly, it reveals the infinite love, the very essence of the Heart of the Lord, which burned for us and continues to be consumed for us in the Sacrament of the Altar. This respect is the soul of our entire religion, its center, as religion is nothing but the law of love, the virtue of love, and perfect love. The Sacred Heart, a source of grace and a model of life, provides us with the means to embody this love.

When we worship the Divine Heart of Jesus, we are immersed in Divine love, for this heart is not merely a symbol of love but the very seat of love. The Blessed Sacrament, a visible and permanent guarantee of love, is where we should seek and find the Heart of the Lord that loved us so much. It is here that we should nourish our love. In the Sacrament, Jesus protects us: present in a small host, he seems to be sleeping helplessly, but his heart is awake, ever vigilant. He watches over us, whether we think of him or not, and sends sighs to the Father for the forgiveness of our sins. He covers us with his heart as a protective shield against God’s wrath, which our sins still provoke.

His heart is open here as on the cross, and streams of grace and love pour out from it to us. The holy evangelist John notes: “Streams of living water will flow from within him… If anyone is thirsty and believes in me, let him come to me and drink” (Jn 7, 38, 37). In the Eucharist, Jesus brings his heart into our hearts. Thus, the Eucharist, Holy Communion, becomes a daily gift of his Divine Heart. His constant invitation is: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you strength.” Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your soul” (Mt 11, 28-29).

On August 23, 1886, Pius X established the Sacred Heart of Jesus feast for the entire Church by decree and ordered that the Sacrament of the Altar should be presented and consecration to the Divine Heart should be publicly performed. Pope Pius XI. Concluded the Jubilee year oof itf 1925 with the establishment of the Feast of Christ the King and ordered that on this feast in all parish churches in front of the unfolded Sacrament of the altar, the renewal of the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus took place.

The reasons for which the Feast of the Divine Heart and First Fridays were introduced and the manner and circumstances under which the Lord Jesus revealed his heart teach us even more strongly that we should worship him and seek his love right here, in the Blessed Sacrament. After all, it was during the exposition of the Eucharist that Lord Jesus revealed St. Margita Maria Alacoque’s Heart. In the holy host, he appeared to her holding his heart in his hand and told her those most holy words containing evidence of his presence in her: “See that Heart that loved people so much!” So the purpose of the first Fridays is a more emotional reverence and devotion to Jesus for his love with which he suffered for us and that he instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood for us.

So that we thank the Lord Jesus for all that he suffered for us, and thus give him compensation for all the ingratitude that he now receives in the Sacrament of the Altar day by day; because at no moment of Jesus’ suffering did he receive so much humility as in his Sacrament: the earth became for him the second humiliating Calvary since its establishment. Let’s not allow the world to push our only treasure – Christ in the Eucharist – out of our lives, somewhere aside. Let us always remember Jesus’ words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6, 21). So, let our hearts rest in the Divine Heart of Jesus. So that others can genuinely and truthfully talk about us and think that in our parishes, the Eucharist is not only celebrated but also lived.