A deacon lies prostrate during his ordination to the priesthood. Photo: OSV News / Gregory A. Shemitz. The month of June is dedicated in a special way to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In 2002, Pope St John Paul II established the solemnity of the Sacred Heart as the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. The solemnity is a fitting day for this prayer because it highlights the importance of the Sacred Heart for the life and ministry of priests. In his 1992 apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, St John Paul II said that future priests must be formed “in the spirituality of the heart of the Lord”.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart has deep scriptural roots. Many Fathers of the Church recognised that the Church flows from the pierced heart of Christ. The Second Vatican Council taught that “the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church” came forth “from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross”. St Ambrose noted that just as Eve was formed from the side of Adam, so the Church was formed from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.
Important
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is especially important for priests because they act in the person of Christ, who is divine love incarnate. Pope Leo XIII described the Sacred Heart as “a symbol and sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another”. A priest is meant to embody the love of Christ in all his actions, especially in his sacramental ministry.
The priesthood is a gift from the Sacred Heart because Christ offers his faithful his body, blood, soul and divinity through the sacred ministry of the priesthood”
Pope Benedict XVI explained the identity of the priest as alter Christus, another Christ. The priest, configured to Christ, is called to be in Christ, for Christ and with Christ, at the service of humanity. This is why the priesthood cannot be understood merely as an office or function. It is a participation in Christ’s own self-giving love.
Pope Pius XII, in Haurietis Aquas, recognised the Eucharist and the priesthood as gifts flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Reflecting on Jesus hanging on the cross, he wrote that the Lord granted humanity his greatest gifts: himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, his most holy mother, and the office of the priesthood. He continued that the Eucharist and the priesthood “are indeed gifts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”.
The priesthood is a gift from the Sacred Heart because Christ offers his faithful his body, blood, soul and divinity through the sacred ministry of the priesthood. Through the priest, Christ continues to feed his people with the bread of life. He continues to offer the sacrifice of the Mass. He continues to draw the faithful into communion.
Priests should also be formed by the Sacred Heart as ministers of reconciliation. They are called to embody the merciful love of Christ as they reconcile sinners to God. In his 2015 bull for the Jubilee of Mercy, Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis urged the Church to place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more, so that people may touch the mercy of God with their own hands.
Receive
Yet priests must not only offer mercy; they must also receive it. St John Paul II reminded priests that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a fundamental means of sanctification. When a priest approaches another priest for absolution, he remembers that before being a minister, he is first a member of the saved people of God.
There is also a mystical way in which priests should be formed by the Sacred Heart. St John Eudes described the priest as acting in the Mystical Body of Christ as the eyes, mouth, tongue and heart of Jesus. Because the priest speaks and acts in Christ’s name, he must be configured to the Sacred Heart.
Venerable Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche, a Visitation sister and author of The Sacred Heart and the Priesthood, wrote that the priest should enter through the Sacred Heart into intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. She described the Heart of Jesus as a door through which one must pass in order to enter the interior life of Christ and become like a mirror reflecting infinite love.
She also pointed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the model for the love a priest should have for Christ. The union of the hearts of Jesus and Mary was a central theme for St John Eudes, who believed that the heart of Jesus living in Mary was “the spirit of her spirit, the soul of her soul, and the heart of her heart”.
In the month of June, priests should renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As the Mother of priests, the Blessed Virgin will help form their hearts to become more like the heart of her divine Son.
Robert Fastiggi is a professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and former president of the Mariological Society of America.