Thursday, June 26, 2014

 

Friday - Solemnity, The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 27, 2014 
Friday - Solemnity, The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Dt 7: 6-11 / Ps 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10 (see 17) / 1 Jn 4: 7-16 / Mt 11: 25-30

Reading: Dt 7:6-11
You are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh has chosen you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may be his own people. Yahweh has bound himself to you and has chosen you, not because you are the most numerous among all the peoples (on the contrary, you are the least). Rather, he has chosen you because of his love for you and to fulfill the oath he made to your fathers. Therefore, with a firm hand Yahweh brought you out from slavery in Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh. So know that Yahweh, your God, is the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches to the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his commandments, but he punishes in their own persons those who hate him and he repays them without delay. So keep the commandments, the norms and the laws that today I command you to practice.
    
Gospel: Matthew 11: 25-30
On that occasion Jesus said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what pleased you. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light."

Reflection:
     Jesus calls God his Father, and God calls Jesus His Son. No one is called Father unless there is a son who calls him Father.  And no one is Son unless there is a father who calls him Son. Jesus' relationship with his Father is one of mutual self-giving and reciprocity of love - the Father giving Himself to the Son and the Son giving himself to the Father. It is a bond of unity between Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. This makes Jesus the perfect Revealer of God; "All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son (Mt. 11:27; NRSV)." Jesus is the begotten Son of the Father. He comes from God and he is himself God Incarnate.
     Jesus reveals to us the love of the Father through his Most Sacred Heart. Christ's heart knows all human experiences of pain and suffering, grief and sorrow, loneliness and despair.  No single experience of the human heart is alien to him. Christ, moved with his love, took all of our woundedness as his own into his heart, unto his cross. We received the gift of salvation through his pierced heart from which blood and water flowed. Through his resurrection, we were given the "Heart of Christ" - from wounded hearts to healed hearts.  He marked our hearts with his own identity as Son of the Father that made us worthy sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
     However, our hearts can get challenged, jolted, and even shattered with life's experiences such as a progressive illness, death of a spouse, breakdown of relationships, a debilitating depression, and the overwhelming burden of responsibility to take care of an aging parent. As we face these experiences, we start to depend on the strength of our hearts. And as we hold on to the strength of our hearts, we slowly let go of the Heart that is the inexhaustible source of strength.
     The Heart of Jesus infuses our hearts with the grace of his strength to withstand all that is unimaginable to bear in life with our own strength alone. This is sheer gift. The greater our dependence on the Heart of Jesus, the greater our hearts can endure anything in life.
     Come to think of it, Christ walks with us through the dark alleys of our life. Christ takes us by His hand to pull us out from our self-absorption. Christ takes a share in carrying the weight of the burden on our shoulders. This is the compassionate Heart of Jesus. This is how his Heart gives us strength. We just have to surrender our hearts to his Most Sacred Heart in loving response to his invitation; "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Mt. 11: 28; NRSV)."
     What weighs me down today? Come to the Heart of Jesus. Beg from the Heart of Jesus for the grace of his strength.  Pray to the Heart of Jesus. 

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
... for families who are in need of healing
... for world peace and reconciliation
... for the intentions of Alay Sa Diyos Community

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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