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 thirty-third of the thirty-three invocations: Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints.
In order to know how the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the delight of all the Saints, we need to know a little about the Saints. The Second Vatican Council addresses “holiness” in Lumen Gentium chapter five (articles 39-42) under the heading of “the universal call to holiness” and in chapter seven (articles 48-51) about the union between “the pilgrim Church” on Earth and “the Church in Heaven. The Saints are the friends of God, here below in the here and now and on high in the hereafter. The love of friendship which exists between Christ and His Saints is real and enduring. Saints answer God’s call to holiness. We could compose a Litany of the Saints of the Sacred Heart.
Among the Saints who delight in the Sacred Heart of Jesus the following come to mind: Saint Gertrude the Great OSB (+1302) experienced mystical revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Saint Catherine of Siena OP (+1380) was a mystical sponsa Christi, who desired to drink deeply from the sacred flow pouring forth from the pierced Heart of the Lord. Saint John Eudes (+1680) composed the Mass and Divine Office of the Sacred Heart. Blessed Claude de la Columbiare SJ (+1682) was the spiritual director for Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, convinced of the veracity of her mystical experiences. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque VHM (+ 1690) experienced mystical revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Saint Louis de Montfort (+1716) was convinced that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus can provide a remedy for the evils of the day. Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat RSCJ(+1865) founded the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (+1917) founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Saint John Paul II (+2005) insists that we are only able to know ourselves or build a civilization of love through knowing the Heart of Jesus.
May our faithful love delight the Lord.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr