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The Heart of Jesus

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Sometimes people in the Church speak about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as goopy spirituality. I prefer to think of our different expressions of devotion as a matter of preference. Some people love gaudy colors and lights, and some people prefer something understated and are happy with minimalist ascetics. But no matter which way we prefer to slice the cake, today is a Solemnity. It is not a memorial with or without a capital ‘m” and it is not a feast day. It is one of the highest expression of our adoration and worship of Almighty God.

Yet, does this devotion stop at a beautiful image on a mantle piece that is there as a sign of Our Lord’s protection and blessing upon our homes and families?

Does this devotion stop at warm thoughts about God’s heart being pierced by a lance, as is recounted in today’s Gospel?

Does it stop at the amazing reality that many Eucharistic miracles have been blind tested by scientists all over the world and they all confirm that the host that had become flesh is living heart tissue of a man who has been brutalized?

Does our devotion stop at the fact that Our Lord has appeared twice to bring awareness to the Universal Church that His Sacred Heart is the fount of Divine Mercy from which blood and water gush forth as expiation and salvation for the whole world?

God’s love for us is “crazy” or stated in a more sanitized fashion; “God’s love for us is other. God is Other.” His Sacred Heart is limitless love and mercy, and therefore our devotion to Him can always be growing and always be more and more total.

Today’s Solemnity is the perfect opportunity for us to run to the Lord with our hearts and to ask Him for the great-grace of receiving His abundant love. Today we can ask for the great-grace of loving God with our whole minds, hearts, souls, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves for love and obedience to Him who St. John says, “loved us to the end.”

His Heart is outside of His chest. His Heart is burning and pining for love. The only way to satiate our Lover’s thirst is to return love for love. Let us set no bounds to our devotion.

And not only that, but we can also count on St. Paul who says, “God is never outdone in generosity.” So I pray that today you and I will experience a huge influx of His infinite grace in our hearts, minds, and souls. We were made for this. We were made to be in communion with His Sacred Heart and to adore Him for all eternity.

Sr. Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi  is a Daughter of St. Paul, women religious dedicated to evangelization in and through the media. She has a degree from Boston College and the Augustine Institute. She has offered workshops, presentations, and retreats around the country. She currently serves as the head of marketing and sales at Pauline and one of the guides of Spiritual Accompaniment—the gemstone of the My Sisters online faith community.

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Our Mother and Reason for Hope

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Everyone needs a mother, and actually, everything needs a mother. Everything has a genesis, a backstory, a context. And very often when we really want to understand anything we try to look for the root.

In my religious community, we’ve grown accustomed to asking “who is the mother of this?” The this could be a reference to anything as small as a misplaced book to a project in the apostolate. But the intention is the same. We are asking “who takes care of this?” or “to whom does this belong?”

This sense of beginnings, rootedness, and context provide a rich backdrop with which to take our lives and bring them into conversation with the readings the Church gives to us on this beautiful celebration. Today we celebrate the new memorial feast day established recently by Pope Francis. It is the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church.

The first reading from Genesis gives us the radiant, unshakable hope of the woman stepping on the head of the ancient serpent. From the time of the Desert Fathers, our Church has understood this prophecy to point ahead to Our Blessed Mother and the definitive Word that put death to death: Jesus Christ, Son of Mary.

The second option for the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, bespeaks the bold hope of those who want to follow the One who chose to humble Himself to the point of death on the cross. Her presence among the frightened apostles in the upper room can become a solid part of our identity as beloved sons and daughter of God and members of His Body, the Church.

Mary, Mother of the Church is our sure mother, teacher, and queen even in darkness. The darkness brought upon the world by the sin of Adam and Eve is definitively crushed by our victor, queen who crushes the head of Satan. The dark moment of Christ’s death on the Cross is not only overcome by His resurrection, but Our Mother helps the early Church, scared disciples, to pray and wait for the coming of the Paraclete, the advocate promised by Christ Jesus. This Advocate is the one who prays from within our hearts and teaches and reminds us of all Truth.

God could have saved and healed the universe without Our Lady, but He chose to entrust us all to her. Through her, Christ came into the world. Through her, the Church learns how to stand at the foot of the cross. Through her, the Church gains a definitive clarity about her own mission and identity. Just as Our Lady gave her unconditional “yes” in humility and faith to God, so are we the Church called to be the Bride of Christ as St. Paul says. Christ is the head and we, the Church, are members of His Body.

So today as we give praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of life and all of our blessings, let us remember to adore Him for giving us Our Mother Mary as Mother of the Church. She is there to tell us where we came from and where we are going. In fact, the great Marian Saints have called her the surest and shortest way to the heart of Christ.

May Mary, Mother of the Church bless us all in these days where darkness seems to be looming in the news we read and in the faces of the people who are suffering both in our own neighborhoods and around the world. She is our Mother. She has been given to us by God Himself to be our sure hope. Let us ask her to intercede for each of our needs and for the whole world. And let us take a few moments today with her so she can teach us to love Christ and give Him our unconditional “yes” in humility and faith.

Sr. Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi  is a Daughter of St. Paul, women religious dedicated to evangelization in and through the media. She has a degree from Boston College and the Augustine Institute. She has offered workshops, presentations, and retreats around the country. She currently serves as the head of marketing and sales at Pauline and one of the guides of Spiritual Accompaniment—the gemstone of the My Sisters online faith community.