Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Year C

The feast became a celebration in the universal Church in the nineteenth century. At the center of the feast is the heart of Jesus, full of love for the world. According to the Gospel of Saint John, when Jesus died on the Cross, a Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear. "One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out" (John 19:34). An ancient tradition sees in the water and the blood elements of a birth, that from the wounded side of the crucified Jesus the Church was born.

In the tenth century in the West, an identification began between the wounded side of Jesus and the heart. The heart is the place of love and for love of the human person the Christ died for us on the Cross. Sister Marie-Margaret Alacoque from France saw visions in which Jesus asked her to spread the spirituality of the Sacred Heart, a spirituality focused on the love of Christ. She received the support of the head of the Jesuits in the region, Father de la Colombiere.

On the day after the feast, on Saturday, we honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a heart that was in the perfect image and likeness of the heart of her son.