{"id":72233,"date":"2013-06-10T09:06:30","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T16:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=72233"},"modified":"2013-06-10T09:08:49","modified_gmt":"2013-06-10T16:08:49","slug":"pope-francis-on-divine-mercy-and-the-sacred-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pope-francis-on-divine-mercy-and-the-sacred-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis on Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope<\/a><\/p>\n

The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus<\/a>, the highest human expression of divine love. Just this past Friday, in fact, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: the feast that sets the tone for the whole month. Popular piety highly prizes symbols, and the Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy \u2013 but it is not an imaginary symbol, it is a real symbol, which represents the center, the source from which salvation for all humanity gushed forth.<\/p>\n

I<\/span>n the Gospels we find several references to the Heart of Jesus, for example, in the passage where Christ says, \u201cCome unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. (Mt 11:28-29)\u201d Then there is the key story of the death of Christ according to John. This evangelist in fact testifies to what he saw on Calvary: that a soldier, when Jesus was already dead, pierced his side with a spear, and from the wound flowed blood and water (cf. Jn 19.33-34). John recognized in that \u2013 apparently random \u2013 sign, the fulfillment of prophecies: from the heart of Jesus, the Lamb slain on the cross, flow forgiveness and life for all men.<\/p>\n

\"Icon<\/a>But the mercy of Jesus is not just sentiment: indeed it is a force that gives life, that raises man up! [This Sunday]\u2019s Gospel tells us this as well, in the episode of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). Jesus, with his disciples, is just arrived in Nain, a village in Galilee, at the very moment in which a funeral is taking place. a boy is buried, the only son of a widow. Jesus\u2019 gaze immediately fixes itself on the weeping mother. <\/p>\n

The evangelist Luke says: \u201cSeeing her, the Lord was moved with great compassion for her (v. 13).\u201d This \u201ccompassion\u201d is the love of God for man, it is mercy, i.e. the attitude of God in contact with human misery, with our poverty, our suffering, our anguish. The biblical term \u201ccompassion\u201d recalls the maternal viscera: a mother, in fact, experiences a reaction all her own, to the pain of her children. In this way does God love us, the Scripture says.<\/p>\n

And what is the fruit of this love? It is life! Jesus said to the widow of Nain, \u201cDo not weep,\u201d and then called the dead boy and awoke him as from a sleep (cf. vv. 13-15). The mercy of God gives life to man, it raises him from the dead. The Lord is always watching us with mercy, [always] awaits us with mercy. Let us be not afraid to approach him! He has a merciful heart! If we show our inner wounds, our sins, He always forgives us. He is pure mercy! Let us never forget this: He is pure mercy! Let us go to Jesus!<\/p>\n

Let us turn to the Virgin Mary: her immaculate heart \u2013 a mother\u2019s heart \u2013 has shared the \u201ccompassion\u201d of God to the full, especially at the hour of the passion and death of Jesus. May Mary help us to be meek, humble and compassionate with our brethren.<\/p>\n

(Pope Francis, Angelus address<\/a> for 9 June 2013)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the highest human expression of divine love. Just this past Friday, in fact, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: the feast that sets the tone for the whole month. Popular piety highly prizes symbols, and the Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditations","category-pope-francis-i"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-iN3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85071,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-divine-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":72233,"position":0},"title":"The Divine Mercy","author":"Thom","date":"12 April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. 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