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Columns | Saturday, May 20, 2017

Jesus loves us with a human heart — and through his priests

Archbishop Wenski's column for the May 2017 edition of the Florida Catholic

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On Friday, June 23 — 19 days after the celebration of Pentecost — the universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is associated with St. Margaret Mary — just as devotion to the Divine Mercy is associated with St. Faustina. While these devotions add nothing to the revelation of faith, they do foster a richer appreciation of the revelation which is about the God who is love, the God who, because he loves us, remains close to us.

Jesus loves us with a human heart. The Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of the humanity of Jesus — but also of the concreteness of his love. Love is not an abstraction, it is not a philosophical axiom; love is always an action, a deed. It is a “giving away” of oneself — even as Jesus gave away himself on the cross for our salvation so that “we might live no longer for ourselves but for him who died and rose again for us.” (cf. IV Eucharistic Prayer, II Cor. 5:15)

And one way God shows his love and closeness to us is through the ministry of his priests. This explains also why Pope St. John Paul II associated this popular feast with the priesthood and designated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart as a day of prayer for the sanctification of priests.

The patron saint of diocesan clergy, St. John Vianney, once said: “The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.” The Heart of Jesus was pierced on Calvary, symbolizing the totality of Jesus’ gift of himself on the cross. But the blood and water that flowed from his side also symbolizes the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.

We also do well to recall how Jesus’ love — in all its tenderness — is also mediated to us through the ministry of our priests, especially their ministry in the sacrament of Penance through which our sins are forgiven. For this reason, the ancient Fathers of the Church would say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, that is, the Church is born from the Heart of Jesus. And so, celibate priests are rightly called “fathers” — for the faithful are brought to life in Christ, and they are sustained in that life, through the sacramental ministry of priests.

On May 13, I ordained nine new priests for service here in the Archdiocese of Miami. When called forward, they answered “Present” and thus expressed their willingness to put themselves at the disposal of the Lord. We pray that these newly ordained will be the good priests, the holy priests that Christ’s faithful need and deserve.

All our priests respond “Present” every day, and in so many ways, through their ministry to the People of God. Here in the Archdiocese of Miami, we are served by priests from every inhabited continent. They may speak in many different accents but thanks to their dedication and to their extraordinary love for the Lord they are here for us. Called to be “friends of Jesus,” these men conform themselves to the Good Shepherd and find unity, peace and strength in the obedience of service.

Let ask that, through the intercession of St. John Mary Vianney, our new priests and all our priests will continue to grow in holiness — and, in this way, they might take Christ and his Gospel to the men and women of our times, as John Vianney did in his times.

“O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep all Your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may harm them. … Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they minister here below be their joy and consolation, and in Heaven their everlasting crown. Amen.”

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