The solemnity that
follows the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is the Solemnity
of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have
hidden these things
from the wise and the
learned
you have revealed them to
little ones.
Yes, Father, such has
been your gracious will.
All things have been
handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son
except the Father,
and no one knows the
Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the
Son wishes to reveal him (Matthew 11:25-27).
As these words of Jesus indicate, the Most Sacred Heart is one thing that has been hidden from those who are wise and learned on their own terms but revealed to anawim. And it is the will of the Father, who sent His only begotten Son out of His chesed (John 3:16), which is everlasting (e.g. Psalm 107:17; Psalm 136), that the Most Sacred Heart of His Son is offered to the anawim as their refuge. So Jesus further says:
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me,
for I am meek and humble
of heart;
and you will find rest
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and
my burden light (Matthew 11:28-30).
In these words of Jesus, we are reminded that we find our respite in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which his gentleness and humility (v. 29). By saying, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”(v.28), Jesus is gently and humbly offers us his Most Sacred Heart, just as he offers his Most Holy Body and Blood (John 6:51-58; Matthew 26:26-29//Mark 14:22-25//Luke 22:14-20) and the Holy Spirit in his breath with his peace (John 20:19-21).
As we submit ourselves to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we come to realize what Jesus means by saying, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light”(v.30). It means that he took our heavy yoke for his light one, given to us, by offering up himself as the Paschal Sacrifice so that we are delivered from the slavery of sins.
These words of Jesus, offering his Sacred Heart for our respite and liberation (Matthew 11:28-30) are echoed by these words St. Augustine of Hippo:
Cor nostrum inquietum est
donec requiescat in Te - Our hearts are restless until
they rest in You.
And the Most Sacred Heart
of Jesus is the core of the incarnated Christ himself, where we find rest.
In response to Jesus’
words of inviting us to his Most Sacred Heart for our respite and delivery from
the burden of sins, words from our hearts may reflect these words of St.
Augustine:
Great are You, O Lord,
and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and of Your wisdom there is no
end. And man, being a part of Your creation, desires to praise You — man, who
bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness
that You resist the proud, — yet man, this part of Your creation, desires to
praise You. You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for
Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. Lord, teach me to
know and understand which of these should be first: to call on You, or to
praise You; and likewise to know You, or to call on You. But who calls upon You
without knowing You? For he that knows You not may call upon You as other than
You are. Or perhaps we call on You that we may know You. But how shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe without a
preacher? And those who seek the Lord shall praise Him. For those who seek
shall find Him, and those who find Him shall praise Him. Let me seek You, Lord,
in calling on You, and call on You in believing in You; for You have been
preached unto us. O Lord, my faith calls on You — that faith which You have
imparted to me, which You have breathed into me through the incarnation of Your
Son, through the ministry of Your preacher (Confessions, 1,1).
Oh! how shall I find rest
in Thee? Who will send Thee into my heart to inebriate it, so that I may forget
my woes, and embrace Thee my only good? What art Thou to me? Have compassion on
me, that I may speak. What am I to Thee that Thou demandest my love, and unless
I give it Thee art angry, and threatenest me with great sorrows? Is it, then, a
light sorrow not to love Thee? Alas! alas! tell me of Thy compassion, O Lord my
God, what Thou art to me. "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." So
speak that I may hear. Behold, Lord, the ears of my heart are before Thee; open
Thou them, and "say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." When I hear,
may I run and lay hold on Thee. Hide not Thy face from me. Let me die, lest I
die, if only I may see Thy face (Confession, 1,5).
Still suffer me to speak
before Your mercy — me, dust and ashes. Genesis 18:27 Allow me to speak, for,
behold, it is Your mercy I address, and not derisive man. Yet perhaps even You
deride me; but when You are turned to me You will have compassion on me. For
what do I wish to say, O Lord my God, but that I know not whence I came hither
into this — shall I call it dying life or living death? Yet, as I have heard
from my parents, from whose substance You formed me — for I myself cannot
remember it — Your merciful comforts sustained me. Thus it was that the
comforts of a woman's milk entertained me; for neither my mother nor my nurses
filled their own breasts, but You by them gave me the nourishment of infancy
according to Your ordinance and that bounty of Yours which underlies all
things. For You caused me not to want more than You gave, and those who
nourished me willingly to give me what You gave them. For they, by an
instinctive affection, were anxious to give me what You had abundantly
supplied. It was, in truth, good for them that my good should come from them,
though, indeed, it was not from them, but by them; for from You, O God, are all
good things, and from my God is all my safety. This is what I have since
discovered, as You have declared Yourself to me by the blessings both within me
and without me which You have bestowed upon me. For at that time I knew how to
suck, to be satisfied when comfortable, and to cry when in pain — nothing
beyond (Confession 1, 7).
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Contemplating these words of St. Augustine in response to Jesus’ words in the Gospel Reading of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Matthew 11:25-30), we also see the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as our refuge and fortress as sung in Psalm 91.
In fact, the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus is not only our respite and protection, as well as, deliverance
from the slavery of sins, but also where we are nourished and nurtured with God’s
chesed as a nursing mother gives her milk (Isaiah 60:16; 66:11).
So, as we are nourished
with God’s chesed, we shall grow in love, loving each other, as Jesus
has loved us, as reflected in the Second Reading of the Solemnity, as God is,
indeed, love (1 John 4:7-16). And we are capable of loving as Jesus has,
because God set His heart on us, keeping his merciful covenant with us, as the
First Reading of the Solemnity (Deuteronomy 7:6-11) remind us.
Yes, the Most Sacred
Heart of Jesus is our refuge, as his love and mercy deliver us from the
restress world of sins. But it is not simply our refuge. It is also where we
grow in love as nurtured by chesed of God, being reminded that God’s
loving heart is on us. Yes, God wants us to love one another, as we are yoked
with Jesus together as one through his Most Sacred Heart.
Now, in response to his
invitation, as we come to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, upon having a
respite, we grow in love, as nurtured by God’s chesed, while firmly
yoked together with Jesus.
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