"The Love of the Heart of Jesus"

11 June 2010 - 1:08pm — joyce

-By Jeremy J. Priest

“The priesthood,” said St. John Vianney, “is the love of the heart of Jesus.” My first experience of this was as a high school student, playing football as we always had Mass a few hours before we played. [As an aside, such an experience of the Mass was an amazing gift that formed my heart to associate holy things with manly things.] I don’t remember much of what was preached at those Masses, but I remember the Shepherd’s heart of the priests who celebrated those Masses with us.

After Mass, the team would all line up and, one-by-one, receive a personal blessing from the priest. As a player it made me think of lining up to go out for battle on the football field. Yet, as I look back, it speaks of the love of the Heart of Jesus walking with us in this ordinary moment of high school life. A few years later, when providence brought me to a deeper conversion, I encountered the love of the Heart of Jesus through those same priests through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

As we celebrate the close of the Year for Priests, we rejoice in the love of the Heart of Jesus poured out in the lives of the men to whom Jesus said, “Follow me” (Jn. 21:19). Certainly, these men are not perfect. Even the best of them isn’t. Some priests have been grave sinners whose lives have been a countersign to the love of Jesus. Yet, even the love of the Heart of Jesus reaches out to these most broken people, these most grave sinners. It is even to these that the Heart of Jesus is poured out: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6). And it is in such mercy that we find hope for ourselves and those whom we love.

Poured Out and Sent Forth

The Communion antiphons from the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus read, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me; if anyone believes in me, let him drink. Streams of living water shall flow out from within him” (Jn. 7:37-38); and “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a lance, and at once there flowed out blood and water” (Jn. 19:34).

If the priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus, then the Sacraments that they celebrate are the love of the Heart of Jesus poured out into us. Through their hands we are fed with the body and blood of Jesus. It is their hands that plunge us into the saving waters of baptism. Through their mouths the words of absolution come forth to forgive our sins (cf. Jn. 20:22-23). With the bishop’s consent, they confer the Gift of the Holy Spirit upon us in Confirmation. They anoint us with healing oil that forgives our sins and helps us to face sickness.

Let us rejoice over the gift of the priesthood and continually pray for our priests who sacrifice so much so that the love of the Heart of Jesus might be poured out upon us. St. John Vianney, Patron Saint of Priests, Pray for Us!