Homily for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

A little late, but here's my homily from the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

--------------------------

Think for a moment of an event – a concert, a play, a sports game – any event where you were astounded because someone you were watching gave “it” their all. Was it the soloist at the opera who poured her soul into her aria? Was it the high school student who put everything he had into the role of a lifetime? Was it someone like Marc-Andre Fleury making some outstanding saves in the final moments of Game 7?

For me, it was the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. To gather with thousands of Catholics from around the world was an awesome event and feelings that are difficult to describe. But what really astounded me – or, actually, “who” astounded me – was our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Every day, at every event, this 80-something-year-old man came to us, his children, with as much energy – if not even more! – than some of the youngest pilgrims there had. Every day, the pilgrims from throughout the world witnessed a daily choice to mirror Christ through the Pope’s giving of his all for our all.

Whatever the event was, we come today as a community of believers to celebrate the giving of Jesus’ all for our all. Through His Death on the Cross, the “all” of Jesus is performed selflessly in His acceptance of the Will of the Father. And with the thrust of the soldier’s lance, the Blood and water pour forth from Christ’s Heart: An apparently pointless act, since Jesus was already dead, but an act which opens for us a sign of the totality of Jesus’ self-giving and pledge of future life.
This is part of the Paschal Mystery which we celebrate today and strive to live outside the walls of this church. Just when Jesus had given us His all, even to the point of death, He opens Himself and pours out more life for us.

This is the eternal Love that we come to know in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it is that same eternal Love that we are commanded to living as members of the Body of Christ. Through our Baptism, Confirmation and reception of the Eucharist, we are commissioned to give our all for Christ’s all, so that the Body of Christ may continued to be built up, and that the work of the salvation of souls may never be a lost cause.

In His self-giving act of total love, the eternal Father sent us His Son. In His self-giving act of total love, the Son emptied Himself in the will of His Father, and suffered, died, and was pierced for us. How wonderful for us that we mark this great solemnity on Father’s Day! This is the day when we acknowledge the self-giving love that our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, foster fathers, and spiritual fathers give to us. It is a day in which we say “thank you” to those men in our lives who allow their own hearts to be pierced so that their love can be given and spent all-the-more.

But it is not on this day alone that we celebrate the self-gift of Christ Jesus or acknowledge the self-gift of our fathers who have done so much for us. Rather, it is a day when we, who bear the name of Sacred Heart Parish, come together and celebrate that eternal Love which continues to pour forth from the Heart of Christ so that we may take that eternal Love to a world that is broken from the effects of sin. As we come around the table of the Eucharist, we become nourished by Eternal Love Himself, the One who was pierced, so that we may become pierced, as well. It is only when our hearts our pierced that we can pour forth the eternal Love of God to others who cry out for it from their inner-most being. This eternal Love, now manifested through us, is poured out from our hearts is aflame with the love of God.

A prayer that has always struck me, and does even more so on this great Feast, is the Anima Christi. This is a prayer that I pray often, usually following the celebration of Mass. The meditation it gives to me helps me, even in my broken state, to endeavor to allow my heart to be pierced so that the eternal Love which was poured out on Calvary two-thousand years ago may be poured out in me today. And through allowing my heart to be pierced, I may strive to give my all for Christ’s all – and I choose to do this daily. We must choose daily to give our all for Christ’s all. And so we pray:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus hear me,
Within Your wounds hide me,
Never permit me to be separated from You.
From the Evil One, protect me.
At the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to You,
That with Your saints
I may praise You forever and ever.
Amen.