You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).
On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we sung
these words for the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm (Isaiah 12:2-3,4,5-6).
Pope Pius XII also cites these words of Isaiah in his encyclical on the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, “Haurietis Aquas”.
And this title, which means, “You will draw waters”, was taken from the above
Responsorial Psalm refrain.
The Church’s solemn celebration of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus traces its roots to Jesus’ appearance to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque on
June 16, 1675, expressing his desire that we turn our hearts to his Sacred
Heart and consecrate them to his. To remind this, Jesus also told to have the
Church the solemn celebration of his Sacred Heart on Friday of the Octave of
the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
So Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary:
Behold the Heart which has so loved men
that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order
to testify Its love; and in return, I receive from the greater part only
ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and
contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel most
keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me, that treat Me thus.
Therefore, I ask of you that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be
set apart for a special Feast to honor My Heart, by communicating on that day,
and making reparation to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the
indignities which It has received during the time It has been exposed on the
altars. I promise you that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance
the influence of Its Divine Love upon those who shall thus honor It, and cause
It to be honored.
In 1765, Pope Clement XIII officially recognized and
approved devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1856, Pope Pius IX declared
the Solemn feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the entire Church. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII wrote Annum Sacrum
to address consecration of our hearts to the Sacred Heart. In marking the 100th
anniversary of the establishment of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Pope Pius XII issued his encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Haurietis Aquas, in
connection to the Body and Blood of Christ.
As the above-cited words of
to St. Margaret Mary on June 16, 1675, make it clear, what prompted him to ask
her to call the universal Church to make it solemn celebration of his Sacred
Heart was to draw us back to him, in particular, to his Heart, to consecrate
our hearts in it. It was his response to our indifference and ingratitude to
his love. This is reflected in the First Reading of the Solemnity (Hosea 11:1,
3-4, 8c-9) in which God, as their loving Father, called the His beloved
Israelites to remember his love and mercy in response to their sins against
Him, instead of punishing with His wrath.
We recall on the Solemnity
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus how he has called us to return to him and to
consecrate our hearts to his so that we can protect our hearts from evil, as
Pope Pius XII addresses in Haurietis
aquas. With his love and mercy,
Jesus draws us to him, draws our hearts to be consecrated to his Sacred Heart, which
is the eternal wellspring of the salvation (i.e. Isaiah 12:3).
Perhaps, prior to the
coming of the incarnated Christ, the wellspring of salvation in Isaiah 12:3 was
thought to be the healing water of the Pool of Siloam, with which a man born
blind was healed by Jesus (John 9:1-11). However, the Gospel Reading of the
Solemnity (John 19:31-37) describes that the eternal wellspring of the
salvation is, indeed, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is in the Body of
Christ, through which his precious blood runs. And when the sins of the world, represented
by the soldier’s spear, which pierced the body of Jesus on the Cross, blood and
water began to flow (John 19:34). As Jesus revealed to St. Maria Faustina in
the 1930s, the blood and water from his Sacred Heart represent his Divine Mercy.
This is reflected in the 3 O’clock Prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet:
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life
gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O
Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty
Yourself out upon us (Diary, 1319).
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from
the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!
(Diary, 84).
Upon his death on the Cross, the Body and Blood of the
Christ incarnated in the sinless human flesh, taken from the flesh of Mary, the
Immaculate Conception, have become available to us as the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist for our salvation and eternal life (i.e. John 6:35-58; cf. Matthew
26:26-30//Mark 14:22-26//Luke 22:14-20). And the center of the Body of Christ is his
Sacred Heart, from which his precious blood of life flows, along with the water
of salvation. The water that gushes out of the Sacred Heart becomes the River
of Life (Revelation 22:1; cf. Psalm 46:5; cf. Genesis 2:10-14; cf. Ezekiel
47:1-12). After all, it is not really oxidized hydrogens (H₂O) but the Holy Spirit
to give life (i.e. John 6:63; 7:37-39).
The Church’s solemn celebration and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus shall draw us to Christ, for he foresaw us to come to gather around him when he is lifted up (i.e. John 12:32). Jesus sure has made his Sacred Heart revealed and available to us to draw us to him upon his death on the Cross, his resurrection, and his ascension. As we are drawn to Christ, to his Sacred Heart, from which God draws His love, the Divine Mercy, for our salvation and eternal life, not only we have our hearts consecrated to his but he may dwell in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17a). Then, rooted and grounded in the divine love, we may cultivate the saintly ability to comprehend the surpassing supremacy of God’s love and be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17b-20).
After all, the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, to which we are drawn and gather, is the eternal wellspring of the
Divine Mercy, represented by the precious blood and water gushing from the
center of Corpus Christi lifted on the Cross, lifted from the tomb, and
lifted into heaven. This is how our God has responded to our sins against Him
for He is the merciful and loving God.
The
Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. The Lord
is good to all, compassionate toward all your works. All your works give you
thanks, Lord and your faithful bless you
(Psalm 145:8-10).
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