"
I WILL BE YOUR ETERNAL LIGHT" Is 60.19
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
is a Feast set apart by the Holy Mother Church to show how God could
feeel for us.
It was very difficult for me to understand the meaning of the Feast of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It took me years before I could feel
comfortable about this and many other feasts. I like to share with you my
present understanding of the Feast of the sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Heart of Jesus stands for His felings to us. This tells us of a fully
Human and a fully Alive God
and felt for us and who lived among us and who promised that he will be
with us until the end of time. More besides, Jesus has promised to be
present any time we call on him.
When the first parents Adam and Eve sinned against God, God felt for them
and for the entire humanity. God felt sorry for us to be away from God.
Being cut off from God we are just nothing. Jesus said" I am the wine and
you are the branches. Apart from me you cant bear fruit ". Apart from God
we are reduced to unhappy and unfulfilled people. Apart from the Heart of
God, we are unable to produce fruits of joy and fulfilment in life. We
are unproductive being cut off from God.
Prayer of Jesus for his Disciples
( Jn 17 ) is a good example of the feeling Jesus. It gives us a glimpse
of the love of Jesus to his followers.
God felt even for the first sinners and they were Adam and Eve, the
beautiful handiwork of God. God pittied them and realized that they are
His breath.
"GOD BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS" ( Ex.2.7)
thus we, the discendants of Adam partake of the Life of God. Many times
it is said in the Old Testament of a relenting God. God felt pity for the
sinners when they reformed their lives. When the people did penance for
their sins, God took a second look at them, instead of punishing them.
This tells us of a loving God.
God and the repenting King David
In the Book we read of a great King David sinned against God. God send
his prophet to David. The King realized his mistakes. He repented.
Proclaimed a fast. He did penance in public.
God felt for this painful and repenting heart of David. When we repent
God feels the same way about and for us.
Yes it is true that God reads our hearts. Many of us have spend hours
before the Sacred Heart Image, asking for favors. We have asked for good
health, good marks in the exams, for healing, a good job, to get a good
life partner in marriage, prayed for discernment, to get a placement
abroad to bring in a better fortune, prayed for a Visa... prayed for a
multitude of intentions. We know many us recieved favors from God.
Everytime we were before the Heart of Jesus,
Jesus feels for us. In a different way if we express, God feels for us
when we pray. The Heart of Jesus feels for us. God feels for us.
A feeling Jesus and a dead person
Jesus said "..ask you shall recieve, knock and it shall be opened to you"
This promise proudly proclaims the feeling level of Jesus, the feeling
capability of God. One day when Jesus was walking with his disciples, he
saw a crowd and the only son of a widow was being carried to be buried.
Jesus advanced and touched the litter and the bearers holted. "Young man
I bid you stand up", the author of life called him back to life. The dead
cells of that young man were revived. New blood rushed through his veins
as his soul returned and retouched his body and he came back to life.
Jesus felt for that widow. He gave her son and walked away. The people
marvelled at the miracle.
Feel with Jesus .. Feel for one another.
The feeling Jesus
showed us a way to get closer to the Father in Heaven.
Jesus showed us the way to the Father. Jesus said " I am the way, truth
and the salvation...." "... .and only through Jesus we will be able to go
to the Father". I like to say that only in and through the Heart of
Jesus, we could feel for one another.
Only thorugh the love of Jesus we will be able to be different. I
remember of a young lady , a Hindu lady and she felt bad in a convent as
she was the only non christian there.( as it is mentioned by Priya Joy in
one of her mails.) When a young full timer went to stay in that convent
she felt differently for this non christian girl. She went to this Hindu
girl and told her " Jesus loves you and I love you " ( As I remember
reading the mail of Priya Joy), this young Hindu girl felt different and
joyful.
This young full timer, being filled with the love of Jesus said to the
young Hindu gril "Jesus loves you and I love you".
I think the whole theology and philosophy is contained in this statement
of this full timer as was reflected in the 9th final batch by Priya Joy.
The Theology is simple. Only when one person loves God and when inturn
feel the love towards that person, that person is able to love. When one
person pregnant with God communicates the love of God even in Word,
people will be ignited.
We need to love God, we need to experience the love of God. We need to
express or communicate our heart towards the others.
Feel for your Parents:
Now coming to our daily life, we need to feel what the others feel.
At times we are too short of feelings. At times we don't even know how to
feel or fail to feel for the others. The other day I went out for a drive
with a friend and at one point this young engineer shared about the
thrills he felt going to the rivers challenging the rapids. I have
listened to him and at one point I asked this young engineer about the
risk factors involved in that thrill. I know he is the only son to his
parents and he is in this country for a better future. Now he is out
risking his own life. I asked him about the possible feelings of his Mom
and Dad about his recent adventures. The answer came " I don't care.. I
am a kind of independent". He had many other points of disagreements. At
that point I thought of touching his own sentiments. I asked him, how
different he might feel in a c! ouple of years when his own son, (if will
have one ..), might be in his shoes.. I asked him if he wants his son to
be endangered, if he has only one son. This young man became silent.
I looked at him. He was driving my car but was silent and all of a sudden
he said to me " I think I have to think differently.. I know that my
parents feel bad about my adventures if they know of it."
I did appreciate this friend of mine who looked at life differently and I
thanked God for his opneness to listen than to keep arguing. Mostly
people feel different when we touch their feelings, instead of touching
their faculty to make judgement . I am thankful he was involved with
prayerful life.
Feast of Sacred Heart and change of heart
The Feast of the Sacred Heart is all about a change of heart for us and
to experience a differnt feeling level about God. This feast of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus teaches us to feel differently towards the others.
This Feast teaches us to feel differently towards God first that is to
feel the awesome presence of God, then feel about us and that is to feel
sorry for our sins, feel happy that we are forgiven, feel good that we
are energised, feel great and strong in the Lord. Feel strong and
fearlessness as we read in Psalms and Isiah (" The Lord is my good
sepherd.. Although I walk in the valley of darknes, I will not be afraid"
Psalm.23. "Although I walk in the valley of death I will not be afrid"
Isiah 43.2.) This feeling of fearlessness like the Apostles after the
Pentecost is reminscent of the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. On this feast day, we are invited and reminded to feel
safe and secure in the Lord, feel powerful being closer to the Sacred H!
eart of Jesus, feel being enhanced, feel being gentle and humnble, feel
being a true follower of Jesus and feel being rewarded by God.
A feeling God is closer to me today.
A feeling God is alive and present in my life, in my self, in my
family..a feeling God watches over me today and every day. In His
infinite wisdom and goodness God has appointed an angel in guard of me..
I am so precious for God. I am so dear to my God. God gave me life
because he so loved me. God send his Only son Jesus for us because he so
loved the whole world.
God felt for Abel and appeared to Cain. God asked " Where is your brother
Abel" ( Ex. 4.9). God wanted Cain and the whole world to know that we are
our brother's keepers and that is why God put in the mouth of Cain the
very words "Am I my brother's keeper". God felt for Abel and the same
feeling God who punished Cain felt differently when Cain asked for
clemancy.
God marked Cain with a sign on his forhead and Cain said when people see
this they might curse him and hurt him. God listened to his supplication
and
said to Cain
" If anyone kills you.." Ex4.15. Here we see an avenging God.
God felt for Sinners and Saints
The sinful woman was forgiven and she became a grerat lover of Jesus.
Jesus felt for the people. Jesus feels for us,
you and me who are sinners creating saints out of sinners.
Feel for your family and friends. Think about them differently and nicely
as you can. I would Not only as nicely as you can but think as Jesus
might feel. Love the others as Jesus loves us ." Love one another as I
have loved you" is the message of Jesus on this Feast of the sacred Heart
of Jesus
I wish you all a Happy Feat of the Feeling Jesus
Ps.It would be nice to hear how different you felt about this feast of
the sacred Heart of Jesus
Fr.Thomas Mathew
California
June 23rd 2001.
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