The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - Solemnity - Year C

Byzantine/Icon painting for the Sacred Heart Convent, Craiglockhart, Edinburgh - later a bequest to Nunraw Abbey. 
as from: Jesus Christ Pantocrator, Detail from deesis mosaic from Hagia Sophia Jesus-Christ-from-Hagia-Sophia

Friday, 07 June 2013

The Solemnity
Of the Sacred Heart

(Community evening Chapter Sermon by Fr. Hugh).

Although the Feast of the Sacred Heart is not an ancient feast, it was established in 1856, the significance of the heart in biblical thought is well established. The Jews conceived: the heart as the centre of a persons whole being, his deepest self, including his intellect, will and emotions. Our Lord himself said: "A man’s words flow out from what fills his heart" (Mt.12 v. 35) It is the preoccupations of the heart which determine one's attitude to God and to other people.

So in honouring the Sacred Heart we are contemplating Christ's deepest self the well-spring of all his redeeming activity. This could: be summed up in one word; love.

In some monasteries, a statue of the Sacred Heart is placed in the centre of the cloister garth, in the middle of the monastery. In this way it is seen as a symbol of the love of Christ which should keep the whole place ticking over. The stimulant of all a monastery’s activity and the feature which characterises its life. Although at Nunraw we have no statue in the cloister garth we have a large painting of the Sacred Heart in the cloister which could surely be seen as serving a similar purpose, portraying Christ's love as the driving force of the monastery and of each of its members.

This picture, painted in the Byzantine/Icon tradition was given to us when the Sacred Heart. Convent, Craiglockhart, Edinburgh, closed down some years ago. It was in fact specially painted for them in honour of their dedication to the Sacred Heart and hung in the entrance hall. Like most icons it is traditional rather than original and shows Christ as the Pantocrator, the Ruler of' the Universe. The only new feature is the discreet outline of the heart of Jesus in the centre of Christ's body.

The connection of Christ as Lord! and His; Sacred: Heart is surely significant. To the Jews; of Our Lord’s time the title ‘Lord’ indicated divinity and by implication blasphemous. 

The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator, encaustic on panel (Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai). The two different facial expressions on either side may emphasize Christ's two natures as fully God and fully human.^{[4][5] Wikipedia}

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It was a title which was quite unique indicating sovereign majesty. The gospels and Christian tradition show Christ not a severe Lord but one of infinite kindness and love.

St. Benedict in his chapter on the Instruments of Good Works says that we should be always mindful of the presence of God: ·'To know for certain that God sees one everywhere”.

Although this should be seen as a deterrent against sinning It is above all a reminder of God's love and constant, interest and concern. It is of the nature of goodness to pour itself out .and to share. As St. Benedict says "What can be sweeter to us dearest brethren than this voice of the Lord inviting us? Behold in his loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life”.

Christ’s Lordship indicates abundance, abundance of power and of Love to each one. "The love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us." It is poured forth, not just a trickle, there is plenty of it.

The icon of Christ as Pantocrator, Lord of the Universe, traditionally shows Christ with the book of the Gospels in his hand as is the case in the painting in the cloister. The Gospels are the good news that God has; become man that man might become God. God, not indeed by nature but by grace. The Gospels show us Jesus as our brother and friend. "I call you friends because I have made' known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.” This intimate communication is an aspect of the divine love symbolised by the Sacred Heart.

The fullest expression of this is in St. John's Gospel, known traditionally as the Spiritual Gospel. St. Aelred calls St. John, 'The One who knew the secrets'. Friends share their intimate thoughts and feelings, their sorrows and their joys. It is so with Christ. He offers a new perspective and a much wider horizon than could otherwise be obtained, the possibility of seeing the ups and downs of life, its sorrows and its joys in a different way. God is infinitely greater than all our problems

"God who spoke of old uninterruptedly converses with the Bride of his be Love d Son (Rev.8) This is why St. Benedict starts off his Rule by the word ‘Ausculta', 'Hearken'.

The Sacred Heart must be listened to with the ear of the heart. Christ communicates not just truths but a presence, awareness and an environment which can colour a person's life. The Word of God in the Gospels comes over live; it is not a question of listening to a. recording of words uttered long ago. Scripture says: “Today is you hear his voice harden not your hearts." A complaint was once made to the novice to the novice master at Gethsemani that the novices were talking too much. “Why don’t you tell them to shut up?” He replied: “Silence is observed when you come to realise that someone else is speaking.”

The effusive love: of God is expressed in words, and are of different kinds but above all in the person of Christ himself a love which his members are called to channel and which is dynamism of a monastery and of parish