Every June, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart arrives and I often find myself feeling unprepared.
There is something intriguing about this mystery, but also something I can find hard to grasp. What does the Heart of Jesus have to teach us, especially about being human?
What Love Demands of Us
Earlier today, I came across this verse from 1 Peter 1: 22: “Love one another intensely from a pure heart.” One resource I read explained that the Greek word that Peter uses, translated here as “intensely,” is ektenos, which literally means to “stretch out” or “strain.” The connotation here is of a runner straining every muscle as he is about to reach the finish line.
As I prayed, I found myself becoming increasingly aware of ways in which my heart is not pure and my attempts to love are lacking. I noticed how my heart sometimes holds back, or certain parts of me attempt to self-protect rather than pour out everything I have in order to love. Sometimes in relationships, especially in moments where I don’t feel emotionally rewarded, I just want to sit down on the track rather than strain toward the finish line.
Another stumbling block to love also came into focus: the ways I try to control. Even in my most earnest efforts to love well, my desire for a particular outcome can lead me to approach others with control instead of freedom. Control can feel safer than being wrong or getting hurt or feeling disappointed or rejected or alone.
When I reflect on the Heart of Jesus, I see something very different. Throughout His life, and especially while enduring His suffering and death, Jesus allowed His Heart to be vulnerable, moved, wounded, betrayed, and pierced until blood and water flowed out. In other words, Jesus loved intensely. His heart stretched out, choosing to love us to the end.
What His Heart Unravels Within Us
Where does all this reflecting leave you and me? It could leave us feeling discouraged, or frustrated at our limitations. Maybe you’ve got a part condemning you for not measuring up, not having a pure heart, not being a faithful disciple or spouse or friend or child, not loving intensely or sometimes not at all.
One of my favorite parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) describes the heart as “our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others” (2563). “The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives” and it is “the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation” (CCC 2563). Our heart can grow and change because we are human persons, living in relation to the Heart of Jesus. At times, our heart might be a place that is wounded, hardened, tired, or controlling. But it is also the place of decision and encounter.
He Gives Us What is Lacking
I recall a moment years ago, when I was struggling in a particular relationship. I knew I was being called to love this person but my heart was not into it. I just didn’t have it in me and I knew it. As I wrestled and wrestled with myself, trying to be what I was called to be, it suddenly hit me. I can’t. I do not have this love in me.
In that moment of clarity (waiting in line at a rest stop bathroom, no less), I prayed: “Jesus, if You want me to love this person, You need to give me the love I don’t have.” Instant relief and peace flooded through me and I finally realized I was trying too hard to do this on my own. I don’t have to, and you don’t either.
Encountering His Sacred Heart
Perhaps this June is an opportunity to ask the Heart of Jesus for His help in learning to love again—to give us a more pure heart and His intense love. Here are a few suggestions to help you encounter the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a new way:
- Be curious
In the moments when you notice your heart feeling particularly closed off, hard, anxious, or controlling, ask yourself: what feels unsafe about what is happening right now? When have I felt this way before? Invite the parts of you forward that might feel the need to protect your heart from getting hurt again. Hear what they have to say. Often this very simple step can help unlock something new in our awareness.
- Encounter versus Hide
In most images of the Sacred Heart, Jesus has His Heart exposed and open. Often He is even pointing to His Heart, as if to say: “Come on in, right here.” In the moments when you are struggling most to love, the temptation can be to run or to hide. What if you turn toward an encounter with His Heart instead? Maybe find an image of the Sacred Heart that you find appealing and put it somewhere you’ll see it this month. He always has something for you, right where you are.
- Pray in a personal way to His Sacred Heart
One well-known invocation to the Sacred Heart that you may have heard is: “Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Yours.” What if you adapt this to your own particular need this month? For example, you might pray: “Jesus, when I feel tempted to control, make my heart like unto Yours” or “Jesus, whose Heart surrenders and trusts the Father, make my heart like unto Yours.”
Scripture tells us that Jesus stands outside the doors of our hearts, knocking. Will we have the courage this month to let Him in?