Daily Retreat 06/15/07
2007 Jun 15 Fri:SACRED HEART OF JESUS S
Ez 34:11-16/Ps 22(23):1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6 (1)/Rom 5:5b-11/Lk 15:3-7
From today's readings: "Thus says the Lord GOD: I Myself will look after and tend My sheep.... The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.... The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.... Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep...."
Haurietis Aquas
Fifty-one years ago, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical entitled Haurietis Aquas, on devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Holy Father traced both the Old and New Testament roots that have such tender words about the human heart, and how these verses inspired saints in the patristic and subsequent ages to reflect on the divine love and life that Jesus came to share with us.
In words that have been reiterated by his successors, Pope Pius summarized how the Sacred Heart devotions foster Eucharistic reverence, as he urged all to
"consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - 'to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist.' For 'not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart.' "
The document, a beautiful meditation on this feastday and the history of devotion to the Sacred Heart, can be downloaded in its entirety:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_15051956_haurietis-aquas_en.html
Ez 34:11-16/Ps 22(23):1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6 (1)/Rom 5:5b-11/Lk 15:3-7
From today's readings: "Thus says the Lord GOD: I Myself will look after and tend My sheep.... The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.... The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.... Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep...."
Haurietis Aquas
Fifty-one years ago, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical entitled Haurietis Aquas, on devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Holy Father traced both the Old and New Testament roots that have such tender words about the human heart, and how these verses inspired saints in the patristic and subsequent ages to reflect on the divine love and life that Jesus came to share with us.
In words that have been reiterated by his successors, Pope Pius summarized how the Sacred Heart devotions foster Eucharistic reverence, as he urged all to
"consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - 'to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist.' For 'not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart.' "
The document, a beautiful meditation on this feastday and the history of devotion to the Sacred Heart, can be downloaded in its entirety:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_15051956_haurietis-aquas_en.html
posted by FrPitstick | 6/14/2007
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