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 The Church sets aside days to honor special devotions to teach us and to remind us of what’s important in life. Some of these devotions are becoming popular due to the positive impact on people’s lives. I believe that we have a feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for all of these reasons.
As the years go by, our needs, understandings, and motivations change. In order to meet the needs of our changing situation, the meanings contained in a devotion often develop and grow. I believe this is happening in the Sacred Heart Devotion. The change is from devotion (something we do) to spirituality (something God does within us). Often in devotions, we hope God will cooperate with us and our needs and desires. Spirituality is about our cooperating with God and His desires. His first desire for each of us is a loving relationship with us because He loves us. His next desire is that we radiate the sentiments of His heart, which are the fruits of this relationship and which help those around us enter more deeply into a loving relationship with Him. All of our teaching, praying, sacraments, and vocations to priestly, religious, married, or single life are really about this. Missionary activity, evangelization, contemplation, and meditation all are about a loving relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Since the soldier pierced the side of Jesus on the cross, there has always been some form of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart is intimately connected with the movement of the Spirit. The blood and water flowing from His pierced Heart was a symbol of the living water, which is another way of describing the Holy Spirit. We see the reference to the Spirit as Living water in the Gospel of John. On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'" He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:37-39
Water is a beautiful symbol of the activity of the Spirit. Water washes (forgives), gives life and refreshes. When we see these activities in someone, for instance, when we witness someone forgive, choose life, or work for peace (including inner peace), we know that the Holy Spirit in the Heart of Christ is present, actively working in and through him or her.
Saint Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 speaks of the Fruit of the Spirit. “In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It is worth remembering that we cannot force plants to grow and bear fruits. Rather we let them grow, removing obstacles such as weeds and providing water. Likewise, we let the Fruit of the Spirit grow within us by removing the weeds (fears, angers, compulsions, addictions, etc.) and by giving sufficient water (opening ourselves to the movement of the Spirit in our lives through prayer, penance, good works, etc.). The Fruit of the Spirit contains the nature of its source, love, because God is love. It will grow on its own if it is well tended and it gives the same kind of life that it has received (love). We can help the fruit of the Spirit grow within us by dying to ourselves, that is, by opening ourselves completely to God’s love and God’s will for us.
As we continue our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us also continue to open ourselves to the Spirituality of the Heart, cooperating with God in His desire for a loving relationship with each one of us. The love of the Sacred Heart is like a plant within us. Let us remove the weeds and open ourselves to the Living Water, so that we too may radiate the sentiments of His Heart.
Br. Joe Tesar, MSC
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