(Ez 34:11-16; Rom 5:5b-11; Lk 15:3-7)
The
heart has long been considered the center of love. On Valentine’s Day and in love letters, we
use the symbol of the heart to indicate the depth of emotion we feel for
someone. Neuroscience tells us that
emotion is more properly attributed to brain activity. But when we limit the experience of love to
emotion, we miss the essence of love. To
appreciate the rich symbolism of the heart, we must remember in Judaism that
the word heart represented the core of the person. While recognized as the principle life organ,
the heart was also considered the center of all spiritual activity.
Consider
the couple who had two children. Their family
experience was quite normal at first, with the parents showering their children
with loving care, making the necessary sacrifices to ensure the children had
all they needed and then some. As the
children came of age the discipline of family life was formed;
responsibilities, chores, school activities, and parish life became the
norm. As the children advanced to their
later teenage years, they became increasingly distant and desired to be free of
their parent’s control and each one in turn left home. One returned after a few months to share with
their parents how they now understood the reason for the family norms and disciplines. The other disappeared for years. The parents suffered great sorrow as they
wondered where and how their child was. Their hearts longed to hear their child’s
voice and to welcome them back.
So, it is
with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Scripture
uses the imagery of the shepherd in the first reading to reveal the depths the
shepherd, and God, will go to rightly tend his sheep. “The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will
heal.” (Ez 34:16) “What man … would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go
after the lost one until he finds it … to set it on his shoulder with great joy
… rejoicing he has found his lost sheep.”
This is the
love of a parent and the love of our God, a love that is truly more than the activity
of the brain. It is a sacred emotion
that encompasses our entire human and spiritual being, generating a longing to
be united with the wayward sons and daughters.
In this Eucharistic meal that we share is where “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners
Christ died for us.” This is
his sorrow for his lost sheep, his calling and desire for their return, and His
great joy for every one of his lost sheep found.
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