"Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spared nothing, even going so far as to exhaust and consume Itself, to prove to them Its love.” -Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion which began in the 12th Century and gained popularity after Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 1670s, revealing to her the image of His Sacred Heart. It is a month dedicated, therefore, to contemplating the wonderful mystery of the human heart of Jesus that contains all of God’s eternal, infinite, self-giving love for each person. Pope Francis has said that it is easier for us to believe in our own love for God than it is for us to believe in God’s love for us; in this month, the Church invites us to contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus and let ourselves be convinced of God’s passionate love for us.

In Jesus’ first apparition to St. Margaret Mary, after revealing His Heart to her, he said to her, “My divine Heart is so passionately fond of the human race, and of you in particular, that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you.”

As we look at the images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we notice many symbols. Each of these expresses some aspect of God’s love for us.

Flames: The Sacred Heart of Jesus burns with divine love. In the Gospel, Jesus says that He has come to set fire to the earth—the fire that He longs to set is the fire of divine love, the fire of the Holy Spirit, in each human heart. One prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus says, “Oh Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, inflame our hearts with love for You.” The Sacred Heart of Jesus is aflame with love for you and for me, and in this month, He wants to set our hearts on fire with His love, to consume all that is not His love, and for this fire of His love to spread to others who so need to know God’s love for them.

Rays of Light: The Sacred Heart of Jesus is surrounded by rays of light, as if rays of light are emanating from it. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says He is the light of the world. What does light do? It shines in and dissipates the darkness, and it reveals the truth. The Sacred Heart of Jesus reveals to us the eternal truth of God’s love for us, bringing the light of God’s love into the darkness of our sin and suffering, our fear and doubt.

Crown of Thorns: We remember that during His Passion, the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. In one of His revelations to St. Margaret Mary, Jesus told her that the crown of thorns symbolizes our individual sins, which prick His heart.

The Cross: In the Gospels, Jesus hangs upon the cross as He dies for us. In the image of the Sacred Heart, the Heart of Jesus no longer hangs upon the Cross, but rather the Cross stands atop the Sacred Heart, as if to say that the Heart of Jesus is what supported the Cross and what supports us when we have to bear a cross. It was the Divine Love of the Sacred Heart that willingly accepted death on the Cross for our sake, and it is that same Divine Love that transforms the Cross into the most powerful act of redemption.

The Open Wound: After Jesus dies on the cross, a soldier pierces His Heart with a lance, and blood and water flow out—the mercy of God floods the world. The open wound in the image of the Sacred Heart shows us that the Heart of Jesus is always open to us, His mercy always available to us, that He never closes His Heart to us.

At this moment in our world, torn by so much violence and suffering, we need to let our own hearts be filled with the love of the Sacred Heart, so that the flames of God’s love reach the world through us. So let us ask for two graces this month: first, the grace to be convinced of God’s love for each one of us personally, manifested in the Sacred Heart of Jesus; second, for the grace to show that love to all those around us, to love others as Jesus has loved us.

In this month, we invite you specially to start each day praying the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Divine Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer myself to God the Father in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, with all of my works, studies, prayers, sufferings and joys of today, in reparation for our sins and so that your Kingdom come.

Prayers:

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Reflection by Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B:

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