Today's feast, which was extended to the universal church by Pope Pius IX, is the result of at least six centuries of devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus that culminated with the apparitions of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque at the height of Jansenism in the late-Seventeenth Century.
None of us deserves the mercies of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Yet it is that Our Divine Redeemer does indeed shower us with those mercies if we approach Him with a contrite heart, especially by making regular use of the Sacred Tribunal Penance to make good, integral confessions of our sins to a true priest as we promise to amend our lives, to do penance and to sin no more. We are loved by Love Himself. We are loved particularly by Love Incarnate, Who died for us on the wood of the Holy Cross to redeem us.
Our Lord's love for us is an act of His Divine Will, the ultimate expression of which is the salvation of our immortal souls as members of His Catholic Church. What an obligation we have to return love unto Love Himself as we seek to serve Him as His consecrated slaves through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Several other reflections on this feast day that have been posted on this site in the past are: Enthroning the True and Unsurpassed Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Our Homes, No One is a Stranger to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Remedy for the Cruelty of a Cruel Age.
I expect that the long commentary I am working on concerning the latest news about the coronascam will be published on Sunday, June 9, 2024, the Third Sunday after Pentecost and the Commemoration of Saints Primus and Felician.
A blessed Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to you all.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.