Dear Friends,

In this month, Holy Church celebrates in a special way the Sacred Heart of Jesus … the nexus between the Heart of Almighty God and the human heart which longs for its fullness in Him. This Scriptures for Holy Mass this month are full of reminders of the mystery of God’s unconditional love made manifest in Jesus. On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Gospel began: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) And last week in the Gospel on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, our Lord reminds us: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6: 51) This week is no different, St. Paul reminds us in his epistle to the Romans: “God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by His blood, will we be saved through Him from the wrath.” (Rom 5: 8-9) And today’s Gospel begins: “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. …” (Matt 9: 36) Words of healing, forgiveness and encouragement … words full of life, not simply in this world with its limitations; but unto life eternal. This hope-filled message is from the Heart of God to the heart of every human being through the Sacred Heart of Jesus … Cor ad cor loquitor. (Heart speaking to heart) In our attempt to understand this wondrous mystery of our faith, we might have to let go of our pre-conceived ideas of what and how God is according to our mental constructs and simply go before Him in silence and loving adoration … “Be still and know that I AM.” (Psalm 46: 10) Maybe this story states it more clearly in the language of the heart:

“A member of a certain parish, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the priest’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. Father made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the priest got up, took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The pastor glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave; he slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the priest reached the door to leave his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”

We live in a world which tries to say too much with very little trust, empty words and broken promises to God, to others and to ourselves. We seem to be in a search for meaning among the meaningless. While inundated with data and information, we are woefully lacking in wisdom and right judgment. Consequently, no one seems to listens anymore, no one seems to trust anymore, finding ourselves attempting to anesthetize ourselves from ourselves. Human nature is in the same struggle in every age. St. Augustine eloquently expresses the human response to this mysterious reality when he finally realized the Sisyphean struggle of resisting God’s loving design, rather than accepting it. He writes:

Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved You! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for You. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which You created. You were with me, but I was not with You. Created things kept me from You; yet if they had not been in You, they would not have been at all. You called, You shouted and You broke through my deafness. You flashed, You shone and You dispelled my blindness. You breathed Your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for You. I have tasted You, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for Your peace. [The Confessions: Book X]

God’s Word calls us to “Be still and know that I AM” (Psalm 46: 10) so that we discover the gentle whispering message from His Heart that He would have us share with someone else today? SACRED HEART OF JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

Be of good cheer and have a blessed week!

Msgr. Grous