My dear parishioners,
Peace! The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions the Heart of Jesus variously. “Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God’s plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since His Passover. The phrase ‘heart of Christ’ can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known His heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure” (CCC, 112; cf. Luke 24:25-27, 44-46; Psalm 22:14). how in view of the incarnation He loves with a human heart, and “the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that … love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception” (cf. CCC, 470, 478; John 19:34; Pius XII Encyclical Haurietis aquas). One form of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Here we consider the thirteenth of the thirty-three invocations: Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts.
How is the Sacred Heart the King of all hearts? Not many of us have an experience of kingship, unlike the citizens of the United Kingdom and other places. Our constitutional republic divides the various powers enjoyed by monarchs, namely, executive, legislative and judicial, into three co-equal branches of government. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is king of our hearts when we act as He would have us act, live according to His law, and judge things according to His measure. Of course, not all kings are equal (compare the English Henry II to Henry VIII). Even Saints David and Solomon for all of their glory had very great shortcomings (adultery, polygamy, and idolatry to name a few). The Kingship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is greater than that of the greatest kings (think of Saint Wenceslaus (+935), Saint Edward the Confessor (+1066), Saint Louis IX (+1270)…). The Sacred Heart of Jesus, King of our hearts, was wounded and pierced because of our sins, those aforementioned and all others.
How is the Sacred Heart the center of all hearts? The recent twentieth anniversary of the death of the Princess of Wales shows how dearly beloved some royals are held. How much more is the Sacred Heart of Jesus to be loved and held central in our hearts. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is central to our hearts because He is God. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is central to our hearts because His law is inscribed therein (cf. Hebrews 8:10). If we reject the Kingship of the Sacred Heart over us and refuse Him His central place in our hearts we are then not unlike those wicked folk from Shechem of whom we read about in the book of Judges 9:7-21.
The sacred liturgy teaches us devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a duty we bear for the King of the Universe, and our hearts.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr