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 twenty-seventh of the thirty-three invocations: Heart of Jesus, our peace and our reconciliation.
How is the Sacred Heart of Jesus our peace? By His saving death and resurrection, which both presuppose His incarnation, Christ “himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Peace comes to us from the eternal Father through the Son in the Spirit (cf. Philippians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 1:3; Galatians 1:3). The Lord Jesus has made peace between Heaven and Earth. Jesus Christ is the “Prince of Peace” as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6. This is not only true at Christmas time or during the first century, but always.
How is the Sacred Heart of Jesus our reconciliation? By His saving death and resurrection, which both presuppose His incarnation, God reconciles us through Christ (cf 2 Corinthians 5:18; Hebrews 2:17). Saint Paul, the Romans (5:11), and Corinthians (2 Corinthians 5:19) had the “message of reconciliation” committed to them. How much more does the message of reconciliation belong to Christ and His Sacred Heart?/! The sacraments of Baptism and Penance extend to us in the here and now the reconciliation won for us on Good Friday. We approach the font or the confessional we are weighted down by sins yet leave restored.
Apart from Christ Jesus there is no peace on Earth or in our hearts or homes. Apart from Christ there is no reconciliation. The father of lies (John 8:44), who is the devil, prefers that we continue in sin and darkness (cf. Romans 12:12), unreconciled and without any peace. However, when we live our lives according to His Gospel, Christ Jesus is both our peace and reconciliation. When the grace which pours forth from His Sacred Heart is upon us, we are reconciled to God, our neighbors and ourselves, and our hearts are at peace. By living lives of faith and devotion, close to the Church and the sacraments, then we can know the grace, peace and reconciliation which only the Sacred Heart of Jesus can give.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr