Year for Priests begins: Feast of the Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart of Jesus by Salvador Dali (Click on image for a larger version)

Today, June 19, is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the beginning of the Year for Priests. The feast of the Sacred Heart is a movable feast. It is always celebrated on a Friday, 19 days after Pentecost Sunday which is 50 days after Easter.

I have posted Salvador Dali's painting of the Sacred Heart before and here again for the same reason: the beauty, the strength, the intensity and the raw humanity of the divine heart-for-us is so clear in this image.

This is not the passive Christ of so much religious art but rather the strong Christ of self-emptying love whose heart was crucified for us.

Here is a Christ I can imagine fishermen leaving their boats and nets to follow.

Here is a Christ strong enough to carry any burdens we might lay at his feet.

Here is a Christ with a heart robust enough to pump its Spirit through the universe; a heart tender enough to welcome any who seek refuge within it; a heart unafraid to expose itself that all might know its love and mercy; a heart ready for giving itself away from unfathomable depths; a heart big enough to be the very heart of God, made flesh, that our hearts might know God's love for us.

Cor ad cor loquitur! (Heart speaks to heart!)

To help us pray on this feast, here are the scriptures for today's Mass. And just in case not all follow that link, at least take a look at today's first lesson:

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Hosea

Thus says the LORD:
When Israel was a child I loved him,
out of Egypt I called my son.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
who took them in my arms;
I drew them with human cords,
with bands of love;
I fostered them like one
who raises an infant to his cheeks;
Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,
they did not know that I was their healer.
My heart is overwhelmed,
my pity is stirred.
I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not a man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.

This is, indeed, a good day to begin the Year for Priests!

-ConcordPastor