Our world says: “Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve for it will be broken.” But Jesus is shown pulling His garments aside to show us His Sacred Heart. The love of God is exposed. His heart is not hidden; we see it.

When someone is in love, their heart is exposed. We all know it. They will take risks; nothing matters. Jesus is in love, His heart is exposed, He is willing to take risks, not calculating the consequences, knowing full well that His heart will be wounded. In the Sacred Heart, if we pause and listen, we will learn three things definitively, clearly, and unambiguously.

First, we see the heart of God exposed. The Sacred Heart “is God stepping out of hiddenness” (Pope Benedict XVI). God is stepping into view. We see God’s own heart, laid bare. We stand before this heart opened not with the turn of a key, but opened with the thrust of a soldier’s lance. In the Sacred Heart, we are invited to what is most personal, most intimate to Jesus – His communication with His Father. We are not eavesdropping, not unfortunate overhearers of an intimate exchange. This is what the Sacred Heart is: “Come and know what is deepest to Me.” The first thing we learn is what God is like, what His heart is like.

Second, we learn what a human heart is like. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a human heart. When we refer to a human heart, we refer to the physical and the spiritual. We refer to a muscle about the size of our fist that takes in old, tired blood, then spurts out clean, rejuvenated blood. It takes in dark blood that has exhausted itself of oxygen, then processes it and pumps out life-giving fresh blood. Our human heart does this about 100,000 times a day. Takes in, pumps out. Human heart also refers to our human spirit – the core, the focus point of all our living and loving. Finally, in the Sacred Heart, we have a pattern of understanding how to know the mysteries, capacity, and purpose of our own heart.

Third, on that heart pinioned to a tree, we see the heart of the Church. We see a heart that is pierced, opened wide to receive anyone who is wounded, thirsty, hungry or lost waiting to be found and brought home. In the heart of Christ, we see the heart of the Church.

So spend some quiet time with Jesus, listen for His gentle whisperings and allow Him to show you what His Sacred Heart is like.

Sister Regina Marie, O.C.D. – Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

Image credit: “Sacred Heart of Jesus” (detail) by Chambers | via Restored Traditions

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