LITANY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS, PART I
1. HEART OF JESUS, SON OF THE ETERNAL FATHER
Jesus is a “Son of Man” through and through – a human being who shares in our human nature, destiny, and limitations in every way possible, except sin. Nothing of what is really human is foreign to Him.
He is also “special,” however, because He has a human Mother but no human Father. As a Divine Person, He has only One Father: the One in Heaven, the Eternal Father who has imprinted on Him all the marks of dignity and power that are proper to God.
Generated by the Father before time began, Jesus’ Heart is the Heart of God. This means that His Heart loves also with Divine Love. Jesus’ Heart is a symbol and instrument of God’s eternal love for us.
2. HEART OF JESUS, FORMED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE WOMB OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Born of woman born under the Law, Jesus, the Son of Man, has the roots of His humanity in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Like a fertile field, that womb has produced the humanity of Jesus not through the intervention of an earthly Father, but through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not the fruit of two human loves. Rather, He is the primordial Divine Love of the Holy Spirit and of the Virginal Human Love of Mary Most Holy.
In Jesus, the Spirit has imprinted the holy traits that make Him the perfect refulgence of the Father. To Him the virginal love of Mary has given all those human traits that make Him our true brother. This is what enabled Him to love with a human Heart, just as he worked with human hands and suffered with human sensitivity.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Virgin Mary, and the Eternal Word of God, the Son of the Father, are not two persons, but one: the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The two natures, in Jesus are substantially united, though remaining distinct. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. This is what qualified Him to be the Redeemer of Mankind.
The love of the Heart of Jesus is human love at its best as it pours itself on all those who are the objects of His attention and affection: the sick, the sorrowful, the rejected, the poor, all those who have been in any way victimized by Satan. Bu this “humanness” makes Him also vulnerable to disappointments, rejection, ingratitude, betrayal, desertion. . These are consequences of His being fully human.
His substantial unity with the Word of God, on the other hand, has given an immense value to all that the Heart of Jesus and His Love have cherished, blessed and endured. As John Paul II stated, “In Jesus, God loves humanly, suffers in a human manner, and rejoices in a human way. And vice versa, in Jesus human love, human suffering, and human glory acquire a divine intensity and power.” This is why just one single act of love of the Heart of Jesus would have been sufficient to save the entire universe.
4. HEART OF JESUS, INFINITE IN MAJESTY
At the Incarnation, the Eternal Son of the Father divested Himself of the splendor of Divinity and took the form of a slave. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Though He was in the form of God, Jesus Christ did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness. And found in human appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8).
He did all that, not out of necessity, but out of love. All along, however, the Divine Power of the Trinity remained in Him, hidden as it were, like a treasure buried in a field. So did His Love and His Majesty.
Occasionally, however, His hidden greatness manifested itself in the miracles He worked, the sins he forgave, and the splendor of His transfiguration. The revelation of the Divine Power and Majesty that was inherent in Jesus and His Heart found its climax in the Resurrection. It was on that occasion that Jesus’ infinite majesty and glory shattered the power of death, not only for Himself, but also for the whole of mankind.
5. HEART OF JESUS, HOLY TEMPLE OF GOD
The whole universe is God’s Temple. All His creatures within it give praise and honor to Him. The temple built in Jerusalem was also meant to be a reminder of this, as well as to encourage all the members of the Chosen People to become the visible manifestation of the universe at prayer.
But more precious than any material temple is the heart of every human being, each human heart is the meant to be the temple of living flesh where God is praised, thanked, loved, and adored. But of all human hearts, none can equal the Heart of Jesus. It is the prayer that fulfills God’s expectations perfectly. The divinity dwelt in the Heart of Jesus in the most perfect way, permeating every fiber of it. And every fiber of the Heart of Jesus worshipped God in the most perfect manner.
This is what makes Jesus “the perfect worshipper”. This is what makes His Heart “God’s dwelling place with men” (Rv 21:3). And in Him, God’s presence sanctifies all of mankind.
LITANY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS, PART II
MARIO COLLANTES
The Messenger of Divine Love
Volume 1 Number 4
April - June 2007
The Messenger of Divine Love
Volume 1 Number 4
April - June 2007
