A quote from St. Bonaventure, Bishop: from The Liturgy of The Hours

“It was a divine decree that permitted one of the soldiers to open his sacred side with a lance. This was done so that the Church might be formed from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death on the cross, and so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘They shall look on him whom they pierced’. The blood and water which poured out at that moment were the price of our salvation. Flowing from the secret abyss of our Lord’s heart as from a fountain, this stream gave the sacraments of the Church the power to confer the life of grace, while for those already living in Christ it became a spring of living water welling up to life everlasting.”

We stand here today with confidence.  Confidence as children of God whose lives have been renewed because of the work Christ willingly did atop the cross on Calvary’s hill.  Understood as the “place of the skull – Golgotha” this is the space Christ inhabited so we would not be required to. Christ’s sacrificial work transformed us, gave us abundant life and filled us with an eager expectation of our reunion with Him in eternity.  I remember my long journey towards Him and the day when I finally recognized Christ as Lord and surrendered to His love through His most Sacred Heart.

See, it is from the Sacred Heart of Jesus that have received a true picture of Christ’s love.  The love so freely shared between the Father and Son came to earth at the incarnation, lived among us through the life of Christ, and carried Him with courage to the cross.  His Sacred Heart is the conduit through which humanity experiences His love.  The Sacred Heart reveals a love so infinite that Christ was willing to sacrifice Himself, in His humanity, to suffer for our sins so that we would experience the life transforming power of God.

I love this description of our devotion: Catholic Encyclopedia

“The devotion is based entirely upon the symbolism of the heart. It is this symbolism that imparts to its meaning and its unity, and this symbolism is admirably completed by the representation of the Heart as wounded. Since the Heart of Jesus appears to us as the sensible sign of His love, the visible wound in the Heart will naturally recall the invisible wound of this love.”

Our devotion –

“is characterized by a reciprocation of love; its aim is to love Jesus who has so loved us, to return love for love.”

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi, or 19 days after Pentecost.  Although this is the day in which the Church recognizes this feast we can devote ourselves to the Sacred Heart throughout the year.  Just imagine the changes this devotion would make.  I hope your ready for transformation.