SACRED HEART OF JESUS
16th June 2023 (Friday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week Proper
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Moses spoke to the people, saying “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 10 (R. 17ab)
R/. The mercy of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
Second Reading: 1 John 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord; and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Love that never ceases but seizes hearts!
Indicative: In a culture where advanced culture equals to lack of heartiness and sensitivity, the festivity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a challenge to foster a culture of heart{alertSuccess}
1. This feast of the most sacred heart of Jesus reveals and confirms to us that our God is a God of heart. That is, a God who values us so much, who loves us without end, always radiating upon us the rays of His care, a God whose heart burns with the flame, the fire of passion. It never gets cold, it never becomes lukewarm, but always passionate, always zealous.
2. Even if we are weak and fragile, even if we fall often, even if we make so many mistakes, even if we fail in our fidelity and sincerity, even if we lack in our responsibilities and duties, even if we do not deeply believe, live and witness how we must like the believers, like the children of God and disciples of Christ, even if we often wound that beloved heart of Jesus - still despite all our weaknesses, faults, unfaithfulness, and unworthiness, God loves us. Jesus never fails to love us.
3. This fact of the love of God, so faithful and persevering, is today a matter of great comfort and encouragement. Especially in our times, in our society, where and when, unfortunately, the ambience and the culture of love, of loving, of the warmth of heart, of tenderness, of sensitivity, is diminishing, but instead an air, a culture of hatred, rancour, indifference, violence, evil is increasing, this celebration of the heart, of love is a confirmation, a call, a challenge, and a guide for a way of living of love.
4. Today the Lord comforts us that he always pours his love over us. Never doubt, even if sometimes we are surmounted by difficulties, upset by afflictions, beset by unfavourable situations, God loves us. Trust in God. Trust in his love. Feel the warmth of his heart. Experience the passion, the fire of his love. Be open and docile to the marvel of his love.
5. Not only this but also we are called to nurture and foster a deep love for him. Love God. Let us be gripped with a passionate feeling, a powerful bonding with the Lord. Many times we feel a lot of interest, enthusiasm, anxiety, and concern for many things.
6. But how much intensity and depth for the Lord are there? How do we cooperate with God's commitment as He promises: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone and put back a heart of flesh "(Ezek 36. 26). That is a heart that is warm, tender, sensitive, and caring, a heart that is open, which understands, accepts, forgives, and helps.
Imperative: Let us grow such a heart towards God and others. Let us open our hearts to God and our sisters and brothers. Let us widen our hearts. Let us guard them, heal, enrich, and transform our hearts so that our hearts also become like the sacred heart of Jesus{alertSuccess}