Two feasts that should converge and complement one another are the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Feast of the Divine Mercy. Both are moveable feasts. The feast of the Divine Mercy is actually the Sunday after Easter, the octave day of Easter. The feast of the Sacred Heart is always on the Friday following the Feast Of Corpus Christi (this year June 12).
Both feasts are dependent on the date of Easter which is determined by the full moon after March 21st. If we examine the image of the Sacred Heart, the heart of Jesus is made visible. We actually see the heart depicted in picture or statue form. Love, even in our secular world, is often connoted by the image of a heart. The feast of the Divine Mercy conceals the heart of Jesus. Yet in reality where does Divine Mercy come from?
There is a scriptural basis for both. Criticisms that can come forth center on the seemingly non-scriptural foundation for either one of these devotions. Yet, John’s gospel tells us that when Jesus died, the soldier plunged a spear into the side of Jesus, and out flowed blood and water, deeply witnessing the death of Jesus and His spiritual legacy of Baptism and Eucharist. The white rays of the image of the divine mercy reflect the waters of baptism. The red rays reflect the Eucharistic elements of the Body and Blood of Jesus. The devotion to the Divine Mercy in one sense conceals the source of mercy, the Sacred Heart, even though the rays of mercy flow from the now concealed Heart of Jesus.
As we celebrate a new plateau in our BLD community by welcoming a new DCS and a new DSL, let us beg the heart of Jesus and His mercy upon our future efforts and ministries. Things change, but the work of God is always here. Whatever good has been accomplished in the past and whatever good we pray for in the future has been and will be is the work of the beloved Sacred Heart of Jesus, and His Divine Mercy. Welcome the new leadership, and remember that whatever is “successful” is always the work of the sovereign action of God.
There is a scriptural basis for both. Criticisms that can come forth center on the seemingly non-scriptural foundation for either one of these devotions. Yet, John’s gospel tells us that when Jesus died, the soldier plunged a spear into the side of Jesus, and out flowed blood and water, deeply witnessing the death of Jesus and His spiritual legacy of Baptism and Eucharist. The white rays of the image of the divine mercy reflect the waters of baptism. The red rays reflect the Eucharistic elements of the Body and Blood of Jesus. The devotion to the Divine Mercy in one sense conceals the source of mercy, the Sacred Heart, even though the rays of mercy flow from the now concealed Heart of Jesus.
As we celebrate a new plateau in our BLD community by welcoming a new DCS and a new DSL, let us beg the heart of Jesus and His mercy upon our future efforts and ministries. Things change, but the work of God is always here. Whatever good has been accomplished in the past and whatever good we pray for in the future has been and will be is the work of the beloved Sacred Heart of Jesus, and His Divine Mercy. Welcome the new leadership, and remember that whatever is “successful” is always the work of the sovereign action of God.