Why the Sacred 'Heart' of Jesus?
The adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has always been an enigma to me. I mean, why not the Sacred Brain, from which so much wisdom emanated? Or the Sacred Mouth, from which all the parables were spoken? Or even the Sacred Lungs, that breathed life and health into so many?
The adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has always been an enigma to me. I mean, why not the Sacred Brain, from which so much wisdom emanated? Or the Sacred Mouth, from which all the parables were spoken? Or even the Sacred Lungs, that breathed life and health into so many?
The heart is just a simple pump, nowhere as complex as the brain, or maybe even the mouth with all its parts and fine motor functions. Why this divine focus on this one body part, the heart, a simple pump?
The Indicator of Life
As long as the heart is beating, life is present and continuing. Once the heart stops beating, we are declared dead. One can even be so-called “brain dead,” but if the heart is still beating, life goes on.
So the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the life of Jesus. His heart being the last thing they killed on the cross, blood and water flowing forth from it, as the soldiers pierced his side with a spear.
An Essential Part of the Eucharist
It is that blood and water from Jesus heart that we partake of from the chalice. The body of Christ is, of course, the other part, when we receive the host. Without the heart, there would be no blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
Symbolic of Many Things
Mercy, love and caring all come from the heart, in the minds of most people. When we want to encourage someone to give us a break, we often say, “Come on, have a heart.”
We also associate the heart with the essence of things, as in “the heart of the matter.” The heart is associated with sympathy: “My heart goes out to you.” Also, courage and perseverance: “The road ahead tests your heart, long before it tests your legs.”
Simplicity vs. Complexity
Jesus was known for his simplicity. He lived simply, he usually spoke simply (except when he wanted to confound the Pharisees and Scribes), and his commands were simple: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart … You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-39).
So, rather than the complex brain, perhaps the “simple” heart is the more appropriate symbol for Jesus.
A Sacred Heart
So when we focus on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are focusing on the loving, caring, merciful, sympathetic, courageous, persevering, essential life of Jesus. We are honoring the source of his blood in our holy Eucharist.
Jesus’ heart is also the fundamental link to our humanity. He had a heart that signaled the beginning of his life on Earth, just as our hearts do for us.
What the heart unifies bodily, the Holy Spirit joins spiritually with our souls and Jesus’. As Athanasius said, “The Son of God became man, so that we might become God.” Said a little less shockingly, so “you may come to share in the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4) through his Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Summing It Up
Seemingly heightened emphasis this year on the feast of the Sacred Heart couldn’t be more relevant and timelier. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops consecrated the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11.
Jesus’ human, Sacred Heart, and his divine Holy Spirit, are the essential combination of what God the Father sent to Earth for our salvation. Jesus’ two natures, human and divine, are what we are called to follow, worship and adore.
Thomas Dorsel, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of psychology and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He lives on Hilton Head Island with his wife Sue and is a parishioner at St. Francis by the Sea Church. Visit him at dorsel.com.
