Sacred Heart of Jesus

June is the month of the Sacred Heart. Traditionally the Church has focused on a particular devotion each month of the year — May has always been the month of Mary — and in June the Church invites us to focus on our devotion on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion became prominent in 17th century France, following St Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions of Jesus and his Sacred Heart (though it is also true that other mystics before her had developed similar devotions). From France this devotion rapidly spread throughout the world.

However, it would be a mistake to think the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is purely a 17th century French invention. It is rooted in the Gospels, and in particular, in that moment during the Crucifixion where Jesus’ heart was pierced with a lance and water and blood came out of his side. Jesus’ heart had to be broken physically for our salvation.

There is another reason why devotion to the Sacred Heart has become so relevant to us. Traditionally the heart has been regarded as the centre of life, love, passions and emotions. Our devotion to the Sacred Heart is a profession of faith in a God who loves and cares, for and about us. This devotion is an antidote against the image of God as an impersonal, impassive architect, a rational God who created us just to abandon us to our devices. It is not a coincidence that the devotion to the Sacred Heart flourished in the 19th century, a time when the elites were trying to explain away religion and spirituality. It is not a coincidence that this devotion was so popular among soldiers in the midst of the atrocities of the First World War.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is still as relevant to us now, as it was then. In moments of difficulty, when we cannot make any sense of what is going on in our lives and around us, we may want to turn to the Sacred Heart to remind ourselves that God loves and cares for us even if we cannot see how, even if we don’t feel he does.