We consecrate ourselves to Your Heart,
the Essence and Substance of Love
Gospel: John, Chap 19, verses 33-35
June 9th, 2024
Solemn Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Homily of the Pontiff Samuel
(Draft)
“Heart of Jesus, our only hope! Heart of Mary, our only refuge!” Today, in this prolongation of the Feast, we celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, placing Him back at the centre; so that by prolonging the Feast, all the sons may love, understand, and live it even more on the day of the Lord (1Jn 4:10), so that we may all understand the Heart of Jesus, the Man-God, true Man and true God, and consequently, by understanding His Heart, do as He did: to imitate Him so as to become as He is, to become many little Jesuses (Rom 8:29).
This is the Heart of Christianity, to thus be able to say not just with words but with our heart: ‘I belong to Christ, I am a Christian’ and thereby to be able to manifest ourselves in the same way as Christ manifested Himself, as a consequence of having Him in us, as well as His same thoughts (Phil 2:5). This is the meaning of placing our heart at the centre, not only as a biological organ: the Heart of Christ is everything: Humanity and Divinity merge in this Heart. This is the core of His Life, the Essence and Substance of a journey that on Golgotha can well be understood, as we have just read (Jn 19:34).
It has been necessary to come to the end to be able to understand the full significance of those words Jesus said to Nicodemus: “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the Spirit” (Jn 3:5) and from that Heart flowed out water and blood, Humanity and Divinity, hence Water and Spirit. And it will be necessary to come to the end, as now we are, to fully understand the extent of these words because if we are not born again from Water and Spirit (Jn 3:6), we cannot take part in the Kingdom of God, in the Kingdom of Heaven, that promised Kingdom of Heaven, which is now being fulfilled here, in the New Jerusalem, and it can be understood because we are living it (Rev 21:2).
Everything becomes simple when it is lived with heart, not with mind but with heart, just as Jesus teaches us (Gal 5:14), just as we want to do on this Feast: putting the heart at the centre, at the centre of life, so that the heart of man may become more and more like the Heart of Jesus, and may attain and bring to everyone what animates the Heart of Christ, so that they may understand the meaning to be in communion with the Heart of Christ (Jn 17:23), to feed on the Heart of Christ, to eat from the Heart of Christ (Jn 6:57).
The connection between this Feast and the Feast of Corpus Christi is great and intimate. Not by chance did Jesus want this Feast to be linked to the Feast of Corpus Christi. Here is that reference to eating and drinking (Jn 6:56), to partake of His Body which means partaking of His Heart, the Essence and Substance of Christ, true Man and true God (1 Cor 12:27), the Essence and Substance of Christianity, the Essence and Substance of Christians.
For every person, the heart is and must be the centre of their intimacy with God, and this centre, this intimacy must be preserved. And the example, as always, is given to us by Mary, who kept and treasured in Her Heart (Lk 2:19), all that was said to Her, the most precious things. Even if we do not promptly understand everything, we must keep it in our hearts, in the centre of our intimacy with God, and they must be sealed so to be gradually lived and understood while the Spirit grows in us (1 Jn 4:13). Here is the example of Mary and here is the example of the sons who, wishing to imitate Mary, keep everything in their hearts so to be able to manifest everything with heart.
Love is the heart of the law (Lk 10:27). If this world is now struggling to find the peace that is now missing (Mt 24:6), to find the love that is now missing, it is because it has lost the heart of the law, wanting to pursue other laws, often contrary to the laws of the Creator (2Tim 4:3), the fundamental ones: first and foremost, the sacredness of life and the defence of the family. If the world does not return to the heart of the law, to the Heart of Christ, it will never find true Peace and true Love (Jn 14:27).
This is the path of the Christians who leave what is worldly while living in this world (Jn 17:16): it is not a physical leaving to become estranged. This is not a time when we can afford to retreat. It might be pleasant for many to do so, but those who want to fight are to come down (2Tim 2:3). We go up the mountain to recharge ourselves in contact with God to then live the good daily battle (1Tm 6:12) in the midst of this barren and bewildered humanity, to bring to them the heart of the law, Christ, to bring to this humanity what characterises Christians.
Therefore, faith must be accompanied by that righteousness, that loyalty and that Holiness (Jas 2:26) so that many who do not understand Christ, may at least understand Him through the sons of Christ, who carry on their apostolate, their mission, so that all may recognise themselves in the Heart of Jesus, in the Heart of Mary: two Hearts, one only Heart in which there is Life (Lk 1:35).
Behold this feast which merges the two Feasts: Heart of Jesus, our only hope! Heart of Mary, our only refuge! And thus, the union of these two Hearts draws us to be, in turn, united to the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary in order to become a living offering to the Father (2Tm 4:6), to thus be able to take our heart, our life, into our hands and then offer them to the Father saying: “Father, do with me what pleases You (Lk 1:38), I offer and give You my heart through Mary”.
This is why we consecrate ourselves to Mary, entrusting our heart to Her, so that Mary may take it and squeeze it under Her feet removing even the slightest impurity, to give it back to us, renewed and purified (Revelation of Jesus to Maria Giuseppina. Norcia, “Mary, I consecrate myself to You”, March 10, 1986) so that we may be in Her image and be able to become as Christ desires, and in turn offer ourselves completely to the Father (Rev 1:6).
Here is that, on this day, I want to renew with you, the prayer of consecration to the Heart of Jesus through the Heart of Mary, wanting to consecrate the whole world, this continent and this Country to the Heart of Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that this day may mark a new day which will be fulfilled and manifested on the Feast of the Child Jesus (Acts 2:11), that will be a great and living Feast, where all the world that wants to see will be able to look and see the presence of God who has placed His Heart in this Land.
Therefore, joining my heart to yours, I offer this prayer to the Father: “Heart of Jesus, our only hope! Heart of Mary, our only refuge! O Jesus, I love You with the heart of Mary, Your Mother; I adore You with the deep adorations of Your beloved Mother; I console You with the Heart of Mary. So I beg You, by the Father’s Power, save me! By Your Knowledge, purify me! And by the love of the Holy Spirit, make my heart always burn with Divine Love!” (Prayer “To the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary”, Prayer of the Booklet “The New Jerusalem, Land of Love”, p. 22). And so be it.
