Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jun 16: Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and so it’s a great day to say the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It might feel repetitive and long,1 but that aids in reflecting on Jesus. Let the words wash over you, and instead of considering their meaning, consider Jesus himself. They very repetitiveness is what allows your mind to drift to Jesus personally.
Here’s a short and a long version to follow along with—
Reading 1
Dt 7:6-11
Moses said to the people: "You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God; he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments, but who repays with destruction a person who hates him; he does not dally with such a one, but makes them personally pay for it. You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments, the statutes and the decrees that I enjoin on you today."
Always remember, it is God who loves us first; we can only love Him back because He allows us to exist.
The ancients demonstrated their love for God by following His commandments. We can and should do that, but as we talked about yesterday, that’s the start, not the end. We truly show love for God by loving each other.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
As above, we love God by obeying the commandments, but we often fall short. But God doesn’t love us only because of what we do. He loves us because He made us to be loved. He’ll pardon, redeem us, even send His only Son to die for us. That’s why we should bless the Lord.
Reading 2
1 Jn 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
God is love. That’s why, when we love one another, we’re also loving God. He sent Jesus not just as a savior, but as a teacher and an example. Faith in and praise of Jesus is likewise showing our love.
Alleluia
Mt 11:29ab
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord;
and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus is the best example, if only we’d listen.
Gospel
Mt 11:25-30
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."
Children love with big hearts. They don’t hold back, because they’re not afraid of being hurt. They have perfect faith in their love.
The second half of this passage, we read back in December. At that time, I wrote: “If you look at plowing from the ox’s perspective, a yoke is easier, because the farmer’s gonna make you plow the field one way or another. The yoke provides leverage for the plow, and also can hitch two oxen together to work even more efficiently.”
And this ties in neatly with Jesus’ statement about little ones.2 A child isn’t afraid to learn from someone, just as we shouldn’t be afraid to learn from Jesus.
Jesus taught us the highest form of love—to lay ones life down for a friend—and then showed us by example.
Because it is.
Not that you should tie kids to yokes; they’re too little to be useful.