(Musea Brugge collection), cir. 1501-5
Translation of the Epistle for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Ephesians 3:8-19)
Brethren, To me, the least of all the Saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ: and to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things: that the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places through the Church, according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man, that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that, being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the Saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth: to know also the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
Continuation of the Holy Gospel According to St. John (John 19:31-37)
At that time: The Jews (because it was the Parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that was a great Sabbath day) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true, that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of Him. And again another Scripture saith: They shall look on Him whom they pierced.
The Saving Words of the Gospel.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Transcription of Sermon
On this great Feast of the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, we celebrate multiple things. We’ve just had almost a hemorrhage of graces with the Easter Season, and Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and this is a rich time. We have First Communions today for Josepha and Harrison, and some members of the St. Veronica Giuliani Community will be redoing their promises. It’s a great day indeed for us and for all of Heaven. And this Feast Day is one that perhaps we’ve grown accustomed to.
You can find images of the Sacred Heart and most Catholic Churches, and however, many are unsure of the beginnings of this devotion. There were mentions of the Heart of God in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and so, this is not a novelty that appeared in the 17th century, and nonetheless with the apparitions of Our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary, there was a very, very clear form for this devotion to take. So, those things that have been uttered in scripture, those things that have been announced by saints talking about the Heart of Our Redeemer that’s bursting with love, all of a sudden, is made visible to this holy nun in 1673.
It began December 27th, on the Feast of St. John; appropriately, I think. 1673. It went on for 18 months. There were sporadic visions that she would have of Our Lord. When she told her superiors, they were doubtful, and many in the convent didn’t believe. Her spiritual director did believe, and after a time, the formulary for the Feast of the Sacred Heart was accepted just in that convent, and then in her diocese, and then, many years later, in all of France. But it wasn’t until the mid-1800s when Pius IX eventually made this Feast something for the Universal Church. So, there wasn’t an immediate acceptance of it. Also, not only was there not an immediate acceptance, there was a rejection.
And this is something that happens all the time with new devotions. The Church is very, very skeptical of new devotions that are supposed to be promulgated, and rarely is a new devotion immediately approved. It’s just the history of our Church because the Church is not in a rush to come to a conclusion on something and doesn’t want to make a mistake to the confusion of many.
And so, for example, St. Bernardino was promoting the Holy Name of Jesus. He was denounced by theologians and the Pope said, “What is this devotion to the Holy Name? I don’t understand it.” And St. Bernardino had to go and present his argument in front of the Pope and the Pope said, “I want to promote this devotion.” So, at first the Pope was skeptical. He heard the arguments for it, and then he accepted it. That was quick. The Feast of Corpus Christi, that took a while, a long time, to be approved.
The problem that the Vatican had with this devotion [to the Sacred Heart]… it was presented to Pope Clement XIII in 1734, and his cardinal, the cardinal who was in charge of the Holy Office, Cardinal Lambertini, who was a real Renaissance man in the good sense, and he was very… he had a lot of humor, he was artistic, he was a brilliant scholar, he would later become Pope Benedict XIV. Well, Cardinal Lambertini said, “What? The Sacred Heart? You mean the physical heart?” And they said, “Yes, that’s… that’s with this devotion is about; the physical heart of Jesus.” He said, “Why don’t we have a devotion to the Holy Nose, and to the Sacred Fingernails of Jesus? I don’t understand ‘body parts.’” And so, this was not something that was immediately accepted. And it took time. And so, eventually, under — well, lots of pressure from the French bishops, Pius IX in the 1850s recognized the Feast as a Universal Feast for the Catholic Church, and that’s the formula that we have for Mass today.
Now you’ve probably heard about the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary. It wasn’t that Our Lord appeared to her and gave her a list of 12 Promises; it just didn’t happen that way. These 12 Promises were actually called and collated by an Ohio businessman in 1882. His last name was Kemper; I forget his first name. And he went through all of the testimonies about Saint Margaret Mary. He went through all of her letters, everything she wrote, and he found these most prominent twelve promises for those who have devotion to the Sacred Heart. That was 1882. He sent what he found to the Vatican, and in 1899, so it took a while, that list of 12 Promises was approved. ‘Yes, this is true. This is what Our Lord said.’ And what are the promises? Well, you can look them up. I’m not going to read them now. But it’s important to understand that the promises themselves also received lots of rejection.
And people were saying, “What?” The last promise, called the Great Promise, was that for those who keep the First Friday, nine months in a row, receive communion worthyly, in reparation to the Sacred Heart, will not die in Christ’s disgrace. It means that they will die in a state of grace and make it to heaven eventually; whether they go to Purgatory or not, that’s a different question. But they would die in a state of grace, and people resisted this. They said, “Wait a minute. That sounds like a guarantee. Sounds like a contract. I go to Mass on the First Friday, receive communion nine months in a row on the First Friday, and Heaven is won!?” So, you can imagine if somebody superficially approaches these Promises, that there’s going to be some confusion. And that’s not a problem. There’s always an answer.
And so, what is the answer to that? Is that critique valid? Well, if you understand this contractually, yes, that critique is valid. We don’t enter into a contract with Our Lord. I do this and you give me something. It’s not a contract. This is a relationship. And so, what does it mean to receive, worldly, Holy Communion on nine First Fridays? It means that I have to be in a state of grace. It also means that I have to receive them with the right disposition. What is that disposition? That I’m offering it up in a reparation to the Sacred Heart, and with an adequate amount of charity in my heart. This is where the questions start, where we start to enter into a certain gray zone, where all of a sudden, this contract, if we call it that, on our part is a little nebulous. Because, is my degree of love proper? Is it adequate? Do I have the right dispositions? These are not things that I can measure. And so, this is where trust enters into it.
And at the root of this Devotion to the Sacred Heart is precisely that; it’s trust. Think about the context of when and where Our Lord made these apparitions. It was in France, late 1600s, during a time of much confusion. Much of the confusion in France at the time, and it also extended to Holland and other countries, was called Jansenism. And this Jansenism focused on God’s justice, which is real. But when we focus only on one thing, justice or mercy, we don’t see anything very clearly. And so, only focusing on His justice, it instilled an unholy fear of God rather than a holy fear of God. Fear of God means that I’m concerned about my ability to offend Him. That’s a healthy fear to have. The unholy fear is self-absorbed and is worried about one’s own sinfulness, and it can create lots of scrupulosity and other conscience disorders because of self-absorption. And so, all of a sudden, priests, bishops are noticing that nobody’s going to Communion anymore, and they thought that was a good thing because who’s worthy to go to Communion? And so, Our Lord appears and reveals – He opens up His tunic – reveals to the saint, Margaret Mary, His burning heart. “Behold this heart which has loved so much and received so little in return.”
So, he gives us a very plastic, tangible expression of something that is eternal: the love of God for us. And if we can take our eyes off of us and keep them on Him, it’s very purifying for our imagination, our memory, our will, our affections, because He starts to work on us the more time we spend with Him in adoration, the more love with which we go to Him to receive Him in communion, and the more deeply We give our thanks after communion.
Imagine what a special day it is for children who are receiving Him for the first time today. There’s this intimate link between the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart. Our Lord reveals Himself as love, love that’s on fire for us. And nonetheless, it’s a love that complains.
Why does He want? Reparation. He said, “Because of ingratitude, coldness, sacrilege.” Ingratitude, coldness, and sacrilege. So, this was at a time when the first black masses were being offered by Satanists, using a corruption of the Roman Missal. So, those were the sacrileges He was complaining about. The ingratitude? Well, these people who are not going to Him anymore in Confession or Communion because they don’t trust His mercy. They’re so absorbed with their own littleness, their own sinfulness that there’s no room left for Him. And the coldness can be also the mechanical communion. I get in line for Communion, I received communion, and I’m thinking about what I’m going to do the rest of the day. And so, He wants reparation for this.
Somebody once told me, “I go to confession, and I know I do my best, and I know I’m absolved, but something’s missing. And I don’t know what it is.” And she said, “When I discovered the Sacred Heart and reparation, then I realized that’s the missing piece: Reparation. It’s undoing the damage that has been done; paying a debt.” So, Our Lord gives us this glorious way of paying a debt by trusting Him, by loving Him, by letting Him do what He has always wanted to do for us, which is to love us, come to us in our hearts, and save us. So, this is the great feast, and this is the great adventure these First Communicants are starting today in receiving Christ for the first time, and may it be the first of many.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen.
~Fr. Ermatinger