Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (June 23, 2017): Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Ps 103:1-4,6-8,10
1 John 4:7-16
Matthew 11:25-30
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062317.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_23.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

One day many years ago (in 1988), soon after I began to participate in the daily celebration of Holy Mass, it occurred to me that the Lord was hoping that I would stay for a while after Mass to pray in front of his holy presence in the Tabernacle. I said, “Okay”.

At first I felt embarrassed that others would notice me kneeling there. But then the presence of Jesus became strong, not only in the Sacred Host that was hidden behind the closed Tabernacle door, but in Spirit in front of the Tabernacle. Mind you, I am no visionary, but what I experienced can best be described as a keen awareness that Jesus wanted to show me his Sacred Heart. I “saw” him open the robe that covered his chest (it reminded me of Superman peeling off his shirt). I expected to see an image of the Sacred Heart similar to what artists have painted for holy cards.

That’s not what I saw. It was a live, beating, pumping, thumping heart. A human heart “on fire” with the glow of pure light — a “fire” of tremendous love, an often-suffering but powerful love.

How sacred his love truly is for you and for me and for everyone! It’s without flaw or sin. It’s complete and all-consuming. It suffers for us when we sin. It suffers with us when we are hurt by the sins of others. And it’s as real as your own beating heart.

Jesus did not lose his human body when he ascended to heaven. The heart in his glorified body did not stop existing. The reason why the Church gives us this special feast day to commemorate the Sacred Heart of Jesus — and the reason why Jesus shows his heart to us — is because it symbolizes his love, pierced for us on the cross but forever alive, real, and unconditionally caring.

Problems and unanswered prayers cause us to doubt the liveliness of Christ’s love. The inability to feel his love pumping through us seems to prove that it’s not always here. Our unworthiness seems to prove that he should not make it available to us.

However, these doubts dissolve away when we give to others the love that we seek from the Lord, for it’s in giving that we receive, it’s in doing that we understand, and it’s in taking action that we become aware of what is real. By giving his sacred love to the people around us, our hearts beat in unison with his Sacred Heart. Then we understand what we hear in today’s first reading: “The Lord has set his heart on you and chose you!”

You were chosen by God to be loved and to love others on his behalf. Remember this: The same doubt that you’ve felt is also what others are experiencing. Who in your life needs proof that God loves them? Who’s in a bad mood? Who needs a kind, calming, caring word of encouragement and hope? Because you have within you the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you are the proof they need that God’s love is real. Give it to them and you will find the proof that cures your own doubts!

Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to recognize in the trials an opportunity to surrender myself entirely to You. Thank You, my God, for seeking me so earnestly and for loving me so much. Amen.