I cannot think of the Sacred Heart without remembering my grandmother’s house. On the wall of the upstairs bedroom where we slept as children, two large devotional pictures were displayed: the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The memory comes back whole—the scent of fresh country air, the quiet, my kindly grandmother, and these radiant images. The faces of Jesus and Mary were gentle and peaceful. But why was his heart on fire, entwined with thorns? What were their eyes trying to tell us, as they pointed to their hearts?
Only later did I learn of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and how her visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus struck a chord in seventeenth-century France—a society struggling with Jansenism on the one hand and rationalism on the other. There was a great need to experience God’s love. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus eventually became immensely popular worldwide.
The image says a lot. The way of love is a way of suffering, hence the crown of thorns. Yet love is also full of gentleness and patience. The flame symbolizes what sacred fire always signifies: warmth, power, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
The readings for the feast of the Sacred Heart tell us the rest. They show the maternal tenderness of God toward the chosen people; they pray that our lives may be rooted in love; and they recall Christ’s ultimate sacrifice which begets the Church. It’s all a mystery of love. It’s our own mystery too, if we choose to follow the way of love. When Jesus points to his heart, he is showing us the way.
Rita Ferrone
Rita Ferrone is contributing writer for Commonweal magazine and author of the recently released Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis’s Desiderio desideravi. She lives in Mount Vernon, New York.