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 part of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM (+1690) mystically received the promises. Here we consider the sixth of the twelve promises: Sinners shall find in My heart the Source and infinite ocean of mercy..
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has many different aspects. This promise of the Sacred Heart requires us, as devotees, to acknowledge our sinfulness so as to find and be immersed in the deep mercy of God. Baptism is our first dip into God’s merciful love.
Mercy is a major aspect of Sacred Scripture occurring more than four-hundred times (justice occurs less than four-hundred times). While humanly speaking we may oppose justice and mercy, they are one in God (cf. Micah 6:8). The “mercy and truth” which have met in Christ on Calvary include the wisdom and justice of God (cf. Psalm 85:10; 1 Corinthians 1:24). The Hebrew hesedh (kindness, loving kindness), raham (bowels, the sympathetic region), hanarr (inclined to) and the Greek eleos (kindness, beneficence), eleeo (to show kindness), and oiktirmos (pity, compassion) are all translated as “mercy.” Mercy is an essential quality of God (cf. Exodus 34:6, 7; Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalm 62:12).
Saint John Paul II (+2005) wrote an Encyclical Letter on the mercy of God, Dives in Misericordia (30 November, 1980), canonized Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (+1938; 30 April, 2000) and instituted the annual observance of Divine Mercy Sunday at the same time to be observed on the Sunday after Easter. Ten years after Saint John Paul II went to Heaven in God’s mercy, the entire Church observed a Jubilee Year of Mercy (2015-2016). But the mercy of God is not just for an anniversary year or for the Sunday after Easter. The mercy of God endures forever (cf. Psalm 118:1).
Acknowledging our sinfulness here below allows us to walk with God not in darkness (cf 1 John 1:8). The only sins the Lord will not forgive are the ones we fail to repent. Now is the time for us to repent and to receive God’s favor (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:2).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr