Search This Blog

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Contemplating the Heart of Christ




The following quote is from one of a Religious of the Sacred Heart in Spain who is a theologian and one I consider a friend. Her name is Maria Jose Arana and you can read the article she has written on our International website and see her picture there. It was posted January 20 so is still on the rightside of the international website.

"There is no doubt that the call “to contemplate the Heart of Christ through the pierced heart of mankind” constitutes the center of our vocation and, in one form or another, we are reminded of this in all our documents. This proposal is not an invitation to mere passive contemplation; in the first place, it demands a penetrating look, capable of finding this wounded humanity in him, and at the same time of perceiving it as the significant center for meeting and illumination. So contemplation invites us to confidence and calls for generous, daring, committed responses. The contemplation of the open Heart shows us the wounded, broken Body of Christ in the whole of humanity, and so, by gazing on reality in all its depth, it is possible to discover its indwelling Mystery and grasp the identity of that Heart with the very heart of the world. I think one of our best theological texts is to be found in the Chapter of 1970:

“To contemplate his Heart we have no need to turn away from this earth, the home of God made Man. Christ is present, hidden in the heart of the world. Earth could not hold him in death; he lives and the whole world of time and space is transfigured through his risen life. He is present in the unconscious waiting of creation in travail; he is at work in the efforts of man to build a world of justice and brotherly love. It is in this very humanity whose fear and loneliness and love he shared that his GLORY must shine forth.” (The italics are mine!)

We are to be God's Heart in our world today! I often pray about that in the morning and hope that I may live my day reflecting something of the love of the Heart of Jesus. Now, as you know, I am trying to live and love in joy! That phrase is staying with me as I contemplate the Heart of Jesus.

No comments: