devotion to the Sacred Heart involves dedicating ourselves to Jesus’s love
The phrase “poured out” is commonly found in Church texts during Solemnities. For example, the Opening Prayer for Pentecost Mass asks God to “pour out the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth.” St. Paul in the second reading for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity says, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Similarly, in the Sequence for Corpus Christi, St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “Blood is poured and flesh is broken, / Yet in either wondrous token / Christ entire we know to be.”
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus continues this theme by highlighting the source of these gifts: Jesus’s heart, which was pierced on the cross. St. John’s Gospel recounts, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). This event is remembered during Mass when the Church proclaims that Jesus “poured out blood and water from his pierced side, the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments.”
St. Bonaventure also reflects on this imagery, urging us to “draw water from the wells of your Savior.” This emphasizes how the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reveals the source of life and divine grace.
The heart of Jesus symbolizes God’s love for humanity. Just as Christmas celebrates Jesus’s birth, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart celebrates His love, especially shown by His pierced heart. This love first appeared at creation and continued even after humanity turned away from God. Jesus’s incarnation and sacrifice show this enduring love, aiming to bring us eternal life (John 3:16).
Pope Pius XII noted that devotion to the Sacred Heart involves dedicating ourselves to Jesus’s love, which His wounded heart symbolizes. Christians respond to this love in various ways, such as honoring the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of each month, making holy hours, or placing an image of the Sacred Heart in homes or offices.
The Mass’s prayers on this day guide us in our response. Psalm 23 encourages courage and trust in God’s presence, while the Preface invites us to draw joy from Jesus’s open heart. The Prayer after Communion asks that we be filled with holy love, seeing Jesus in our neighbors.
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart celebrates God’s immense love through Jesus’s human heart. It calls us to unite our hearts with His and share His love with others. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Source: Adoremus
