Open Your Heart by Timothy P Schmalz, available in several sizes and editions. The original in clay (above) offers the greatest detail.
Beyond our imagining, the breadth and depth of Jesus' heart expands eternally to hold in its beating chambers every human being created in God's image. In the heart of Jesus are found the peoples of every time and age, of every race and nation: past, present and to come. We are in Christ's heart now, already - and we always have been. All things came to be through him and without him, nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. In the heart of Jesus we are brothers and sisters. Our life's work is to grasp that each heart is meant, is made, to beat as one with Christ's heart. And if each heart beats as one with Christ's, then all hearts will beat together and live in the Spirit's breath. Sin is congestive heart failure in the body of Christ and we need the healing of the divine Physician to heal us and give us one heart and one breath. In this month of November, the month of All Souls, let us pray that all who have died will find there eternal home in the heart of Jesus.
Litany of the Sacred Heart
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
So loving
So humble
So gentle
So compassionate
So faithful
So wise
So patient
So steadfast
So tender
So spacious
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
God’s joy
God’s shalom
Harp of the Trinity
Wingbeat of the Spirit
Breath of God
Five-petaled rose
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Womb of justice
Birthplace of peace
Our dearest hope
Longing of our lives
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Freely flowing fountain
Spring of grace
Freshet of forgiveness
Merciful river
Mystical dew
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Warmth of our hearts
Transforming fire
Cosmic furnace
Enflamer of hearts
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Heart of evolution
Beginning and ending
Center of all
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Garden of virtues
Mystical dew
Table and food
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Our refuge
Our shelter
Our comfort
Our rest
Our welcoming breast
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Wounded by love
Pierced by our cruelty
Broken by our hardness
Mystic winepress
Poured out as gift
Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!
Have mercy, gracious heart,
Give us gratefulness
Teach us tenderness
Let us learn to love.
Hear our prayer!
- Wendy Wright
Let us pray...
God of all our hearts,
open your heart that we might see in yours
the beauty of each and every one created in your image.
We pray for all who have died
that they may find in your heart
the eternal peace you offer us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments
When a brother or sister is cut we all bleed.
ReplyDeleteThis passage really is a good one to help me reflect on the awful events of this past week in Baghdad and so many others throughout the world who have shed their blood for the sake of their faith.
Blessings