In the spirit of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Scripture: Ephesians 3:8–12, 14–19; John 19:31–37
“To me, the very least of all the saints, is given this grace—to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
— Ephesians 3:8
The liturgical heart of the month of June is the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion not born from sentimentality, but drawn from the deepest wellsprings of Scripture and Tradition. The readings from Ephesians and the Gospel of John bring us face to face with this sacred mystery: the pierced Heart of Christ, opened for us on Calvary, revealing “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8) and pouring forth the twofold stream of blood and water (Jn. 19:34), the fountain of the Church’s life.
Ephesians: The Apostle Kneels Before the Mystery
St. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, presents a doxology that flows from an experience of divine revelation: “that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts” (Eph. 3:17). He speaks not in abstractions but in the language of intimacy—of indwelling, of rootedness in love, of breadth and length and height and depth. He is not speaking merely of theological knowledge, but of a personal participation in the mystery of Christ’s love, “which surpasseth all knowledge” (v. 19).
The Fathers saw in this text the mystery of God’s condescension, His willingness to enter into the inner life of man. St. Gregory of Nyssa marvels:
“The fullness of God is poured into those who are worthy, and yet is not diminished… the soul expands to receive what is poured in, as much as it can bear.” (On the Beatitudes, 6)
This “expanding soul” reaches its climax in contemplating the Heart of Jesus. For in that Heart is the “fullness of God”—not a metaphor, but the incarnate love of the Word made flesh, wounded for us.
John 19: The Heart Pierced, the Church Born
“And immediately there came out blood and water.” (Jn. 19:34)
The piercing of Our Lord’s side is no mere detail; it is the climactic revelation of the Father’s love. St. John Chrysostom, meditating on this moment, declares:
“Not without purpose or by chance did those fountains flow from His side, but because the Church was formed from both. Just as Eve was formed from Adam’s side, so the Church is formed from the side of Christ.” (Homily on John, 85.3)
Here, in the language of typology, the Church Fathers unveil a foundational truth: the Heart of Christ is the womb of the Church. Blood—the sign of the Eucharist; water—the symbol of baptism. The sacraments, by which the Church lives, flow from His pierced Heart.
The mystery deepens. St. Bonaventure, a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, contemplates this scene and urges the soul to enter into the wound:
“The wound of the side is a door to the secrets of His Heart… There we see the great charity with which He loved us; for it was this that allowed His side to be pierced, the Heart to be wounded, and the fountain of grace to be opened to us.” (Vitis Mystica)
The Sacred Heart: A Living Furnace of Charity
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is not a later pious invention—it is the organic flowering of the Church’s constant gaze upon Christ Crucified. The readings of today immerse us in that gaze. The Sacred Heart is not just a symbol—it is the real, living heart of Jesus, still beating in glory, still interceding, still offering itself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Collect of the Feast prays:
“Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who glory in the Most Sacred Heart of Thy beloved Son, and recall the chief benefits of His love towards us, may be gladdened by the actions and fruits of devotion unto Him.”
To live this devotion means to root ourselves, like St. Paul prays, in charity. To live not in abstraction but in the concrete habits of love: adoration, reparation, sacrifice, imitation.
Final Reflection: “That Christ May Dwell in Your Hearts”
Let us kneel, as St. Paul did, and ask for the grace to comprehend the incomprehensible—to plunge into the abyss of love that is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let us say with St. Bernard of Clairvaux:
“The wound of the body reveals the wound of the Heart. Who will not love Him who so loved us? Who would not love Him who so redeemed us?”
Let this Solemnity renew in us not merely emotion, but a covenant: to enter into the Heart of Jesus and let Him reign in our hearts, our homes, and our Church.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity, have mercy on us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mother, have mercy on us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints, have mercy on us.