(Sacred) Heart Speaks to Heart

“It is plainly evident that there is no one in the world who will not receive all kinds of heavenly blessings if they have a true love of Jesus Christ manifested by a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus” (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque).

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart holds a special place in, well, my heart. My first name, “Sagra,” derives from the phrase for the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spanish, El Sagrado Corazon de Jesus. My birthday, June 16, falls on the day that Christ appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque on June 16, 1675. It was on this day that Christ instructed St. Margaret Mary to begin the dedication to His Sacred Heart with a feast day.

This year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart fell yet again on June 16, but the entire month of June in the Catholic Church is also devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we come to the end of June, let us reflect on how Jesus’ Sacred Heart speaks to our own heart.

When reflecting on the Sacred Heart, Pope Benedict XVI remarked, “His divine Heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to abandon our human certainties to trust in him and, following His example, to make ourselves a gift of love without reserve.”

Christ’s Heart in Scripture: “I Thirst”

Christ’s public ministry placed a special emphasis on the heart. In various passages in Scripture, Christ makes clear that He yearns for our love. He told the Samaritan Woman that He thirsted—but He was parched for more than just water from the well; He was parched for her conversion (John 4:4-42).

Although the heart is often portrayed in modern society as a vessel of uncontrollable feelings, the late Alice von Hildebrand meditated:

The liturgy of the Holy Church gives testimony to the role of the heart in religious life; She has blessed us with a Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is no litany dedicated to the divine intellect or the divine will. When Christ in agony spoke the heartbreaking words—“I am thirsty”—the Holy One was thirsting for our love. The heart is where love resides (“The Privilege of Being a Woman”).

Scripture tells us that during the Last Supper, the young disciple reclined at Christ’s bosom. Here, St. John could hear every pulse of Christ’s heart, beating with love for each and every one of His children (John 13:23-25). And so, he wrote of Jesus, “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

Christ repeated “I thirst” when He was on the cross (John 19:28). When He died, the Roman soldier pierced His heart, and water and blood gushed forth (John 19:34). Christ literally poured out His heart for us; every last drop of blood and water that gave Him life was shared with us to save our souls. 

The Church acknowledges that the heart plays a key role in both our physical and spiritual lives. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place “to which I withdraw.” The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant (CCC 2563).

Finding Rest in the Sacred Heart

It is in Christ’s Sacred Heart, this inner dwelling place, where we can find rest, and the Gospel reading for this year’s Solemnity of the Sacred Heart spoke precisely to this repose that we can find in Christ. Christ invites us to rest in Him: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

We can unite our own heart, filled with stress, anxiety, and past wounds, to His own wounded heart, pierced for our salvation. By binding our heart to Christ’s Sacred Heart, we can enter more fully into His passion and grow a deeper awareness for His unique love for each and every one of us.

Cultivating a Devotion to the Sacred Heart

There have been many saints in the Catholic Church who have shared a devotion to the Sacred Heart. For example, St. John Henry Newman’s motto, “Cor ad Cor Loquitor” (“heart speaks to heart”), was inspired by St. Francis de Sales’ ponderings on Christ’s Sacred Heart. The phrase refers to Christ’s Sacred Heart’s speaking to our hearts, compelling them toward greater virtue.

Throughout this month of June, let’s pray for greater union to the Sacred Heart, so that His heartbeat may be one with ours! To increase our devotion to the Sacred Heart, here are some resources and suggestions.

Meditations on the Sacred Heart

Tangible Ways to Incorporate the Devotion Into Your Daily Life

Each of these products comes from a Catholic woman-owned business:

Sagra Hardy is a Catholic wife and mother based in Washington, D.C. Sagra graduated with her B.A. in History from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Afterwards, she taught English in Sicily with a Fulbright grant. Following her year in Italy, Sagra earned her Ed.M. in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Since then, Sagra has lived in Washington, D.C., where she gained experience in communications and program management for an international non-profit contracted by the U.S. State Department to support student exchange programs, as well as The Catholic University of America, where she worked for an emerging Catholic education initiative. She is actively involved in her parish community and has written for various publications, including Verily and VIGIL Magazine. Sagra is now eager to focus on her expanding vocation as a wife and mother. You can connect with Sagra on LinkedIn.

Spirituality and TheologySagra HardySacred Heart, Jesus, prayer, love, rest, Scripture