It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.

“Purity of heart is what enables us to see.” ― Pope Benedict XVI

(Gospel Text: Jn 19:31-37)

Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Since it was preparation day,

in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath,

for the Sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,

the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken

and they be taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first

and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs,

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;

he knows that he is speaking the truth,

so that you also may come to believe.

For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:

Not a bone of it will be broken.

And again another passage says:

They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

"God is Love" (1 Jn 4:16). This is the most fundamental revelation from God. "We, for our part, love because He first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19). First of all, we must know that God loves us. However, we have great difficulty believing in God's love for us. Although He draws us "with human cords, with bands of love," and although He stoops to feed and heal us (see Hos 11:4), we may not believe He loves us. Even when God became a human being and proved His love by dying on the cross for us (Rm 5:8), we denied, ignored, and questioned His love. The Lord has sent apostles, prophets, preachers, and teachers to proclaim His love (see Eph 4:11). These proclamations have been like a two-edged sword, which penetrated, divided, and judged the thoughts and reflections of our hearts (Heb 4:12). In this way, many people have come to believe in God's love for them and begin to live a new life of love. Probably the most effective proclamation of God's love for each of us is the prophetic vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Look at a picture of the Sacred Heart. "Thus you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may attain to the fullness of God Himself" (Eph 3:18-19). Look daily at a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus if you can. Believe that He loves you.