Category Archives: Spirituality

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us

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Worth Revisiting Wednesday -This post originally appeared on June 1, 2014.

Sacred HeartThe Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated each year by the Universal Church 19 days after Pentecost Sunday. Since June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us take some time this month to reflect on this wonderful gift given to the Church through the private revelation of Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque in the small village of Paray-le-Monial, France in 1673.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not simply one devotion among many – it is the subject of all other devotions to Jesus Christ.

We know that private prayer is essential to growth in the spiritual life. Often, this includes particular devotions, whether to particular saints, to Our Lady in her many apparitions and with her many titles, or to the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. When we pray to Jesus, we might do so with particular devotion to Him as the Healer, the Miracle Worker, the King, or the Good Shepherd. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not simply one devotion among many – it is the subject of all other devotions to Jesus Christ. It is the person of Jesus Himself.

Many people came to Jesus during his earthly ministry, drawn to him by his immense love for them. He healed them, taught them, and showed his power over nature and over the evil that had entrapped them. When we encounter the Sacred Heart of Jesus in prayer, we encounter the person who heals, teaches, and conquers evil in his essential being as the person who, first and foremost, loves. He is able to heal, to teach, and to conquer only with the love that he willingly pours forth from His Sacred Heart. It is not a devotion to one aspect of Jesus’ ministry. The Sacred Heart is His very person.

Christ offers us an intimate union with his Sacred Heart through the sacramental life of the Church. By the grace of our baptism, we can love as Christ loves. We are capable of a love that is infinite, if only we cooperate with the sacramental graces to remain united to His Sacred Heart. Frequent confession and reverent reception of Holy Communion offer the most intimate of encounters with His Sacred Heart, which is truly the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

The intimacy between Jesus and his priests is an intimate union of the heart.

Saint John Vianney, patron saint of priests, describes the priesthood as the “love of the heart of Jesus.” The object of devotion of the Sacred Heart is the real, physical heart of Jesus, which is sacramentally present, really and truly, in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is Christ’s body and blood given for us on the cross, the body that contained His Sacred Heart.

For the priest, then, devotion to the Sacred Heart is a most certain meditation on his own identity, given to him on his ordination day. The intimacy between Jesus and his priest is an intimate union of the heart. The ontological change that occurs as a result of the sacrament is one of being – not of physical appearance or personality, but of the heart. This change in the heart gives it the capacity to love as Jesus loves, with an omnipotent love, because he is loving with the Eucharistic heart of Jesus.

The capacity for love and the way it manifests itself in ministry will reveal itself over and over again throughout a priest’s lifetime, and will often surprise him. The priest is called upon to minister in a wide variety of ways, but the one source of all these ministries is the heart. The priest teaches, heals, counsels, and absolves sin first and foremost as one who loves with the love of Jesus. He has a responsibility to be ever mindful of this heart he now has, and to be in constant and conscious relationship with this Sacred Heart of Jesus so he will remain aware of its capabilities and use them fully.

When people see a priest, they expect to meet Christ. If they don’t, they may move away from the Church, or feel justified that they already have. The priest must be an embodiment of the Sacred Heart. It is not by accident that the words of consecration and the words of absolution are in the first person. It is at these moments when the priest is most himself in his ontological being, in his heart. In these moments, he is Jesus saving souls with his omnipotent love, reuniting them to God the Father in heaven as the Sole Mediator.

We can bring this presence of Jesus into every aspect of our lives by being especially conscious of the presence of Jesus in His Sacred Heart and the means by which we encounter it. Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home, the Nine Consecutive First Friday Masses, the Consecration to the Sacred Heart, and reception of Holy Communion in reparation for those who do not love Him, are but a few ways to show love to the Sacred Heart, who loves us so much, and whose love gives us life itself.

Carmina Chapp is Associate Director of Online Theology Programs for Saint Joseph’s College Online.

Crisis Points – The Holy Spirit at Work

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I have been keenly aware of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life recently. So, I suppose, on this week before Pentecost, I should not feel surprised that I feel the Holy Spirit has guided my reflections here. Nevertheless, I still feel awed.

HS over Chair of PeterOver the past two years, I have witnessed the breakdown of one of the most effective, faith-filled teams with which I ever have had the pleasure of working. A cancerous tumor had metastasized and spread both deep and wide throughout the team’s relationships. Though the tumor itself was recently removed, the effects of those cancerous spreading fingers remain. True healing will require the deepest levels of love and compassion – a truth that resonates in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. As I ponder all the pain that exists and all the people that have been hurt, I am reminded of Thomas Keating’s thoughts related to crises and spiritual development.

In his book Open Mind, Open Heart on the contemplative dimension of the Gospel, Thomas Keating states, “By not answering our prayers, God is answering our greatest prayer, which is to be transformed” (68). Keating positions that God guides us to a higher state of consciousness in our relationship with Him through the crises we face in life – challenges that can take many forms and exude differing levels of pain – from deaths, to divorces, to family quarrels, to simple disappointments, to health concerns, to organizational chaos. Through crisis points in our lives, we either hold on to our false selves (think “ego”) or grow in our relationship with and understanding of God. Keating states that the false self, an illusion, is how we perceive the world and ourselves, and Christian practice is about dismantling this false self (67). If we resist the crisis, we risk regressing spiritually. We either regress, strengthening the false self, or mature, strengthening our spiritual self while overcoming our weaknesses. In the calamity I have faced these past two years, I have witnessed many examples of both spiritual maturation and regression in my fellow sisters and brothers, as well as myself. Keating reminds us that if we do regress, we have to wait until God presents us with a new challenge.  “Fortunately,” Keating says, “He has plans for us and never gives up” (67). Thank you God.

A similar pattern of Keating’s challenge – regression/growth – challenge occurs throughout the Gospel of John. Jesus has several dialogs of misunderstanding with his disciples and others within which He presents challenges (e.g., dialogs with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the blind man, Mary Magdalene, John, Peter). In the challenge, Jesus tries to capture and direct the person’s spirit and guide him or her to a higher level of understanding and faith. As the quintessential servant leader, Jesus used challenges to transform others. Why shouldn’t we, then, accept the challenges and crises in our lives as opportunities for spiritual growth?

Our God, in the abiding Trinitarian relationship with us, uses the Holy Spirit to guide us not only in our relationship with Him but also with all others. Our spiritual transformation may take any number of repeats of Keating’s pattern (only God knows what it will take), but ultimately if we are open to dismantling our false selves, we can find the compassion, mercy, and forgiveness to transform all our relationships and grow spiritually. All of this brings to mind my favorite leadership quote which I found over 25 years ago and titled “Leadership Means Helping God Transform Others:”

“The ability to understand and deal effectively with human beings – to get them to fully exploit their own capabilities, and overcome their shortcomings – to give them the opportunity to find success in life, and the courage to make good on that opportunity – in effect, the ability to capture and direct their spirit, and to guide them from where they are to where they need to be – that’s what leadership is all about.”

(General James P. Mullins, USAF)

Yes, God hears our prayers, but he does not always answer them in the way we expect.  He answers them in the way we need. We must trust and look for the Holy Spirit working on, within, and through us as well as on, within, and through the others God places in our path – especially during those crisis points.

My God, please send your Holy Spirit to help me to help You to heal emotional wounds, bring mercy, and transform others.

Fawn Waranauskas teaches spirituality for the Saint Joseph’s College Online Theology Program.