John 19:31-37

Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6

Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19

John 19:31-37

Since it was preparation day,

in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,

for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,

the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken

and they be taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first

and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs,

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;

he knows that he is speaking the truth,

so that you also may come to believe.

For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:

Not a bone of it will be broken.

And again another passage says:

They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I contemplate today the wounded and Sacred Heart of your beloved Son. As I recall the wonders of his love for me, I ask you for your grace, mercy, and the treasures of your love. May I offer worthy reparation for my sins as I honor your Son’s Sacred Heart.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Heresy of Jansenism: Historically, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus gained popularity as a response to the heresy of Jansenism. Jansenism was a theological school of thought developed by a Dutch bishop in early 17^th century France (modern-day Belgium) named Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638). Followers of Jansen’s teaching emphasized that Christ did not die for all people, but only those whom God predestined and chose to save. They held that, due to humanity’s sinful nature, some of God’s commandments were impossible for even good and just people to follow. Jansenism was fundamentally a denial of our free will and of how we can cooperate with God’s grace to attain holiness. Jansenism also required extraordinary penance of the Christian faithful. For example, only after long penance and purification could someone approach the Sacrament of the Eucharist. One of the disciples of Jansen, Antoine Arnauld, published a book in 1643 called, Frequent Communion. The book was extremely popular and discouraged its readers from receiving communion if they were not perfectly united to God and perfectly irreproachable. As a result, people stopped receiving communion even during Easter, and some Jansenist priests stopped celebrating mass. 

2. The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: A bishop who fought against Jansenism was St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), who founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), who received the private revelation of the Sacred Heart, joined that same order in 1671. Jesus revealed himself and his Sacred Heart to her over the course of 18 months, beginning on December 27, 1673. A book on the devotion to the Sacred Heart, published by Fr. John Croiset in 1691, a year after Margaret Mary’s death, taught that the object of the devotion is “the immense love of the Son of God.” This love is manifested especially in the mysteries of the Incarnation and the Eucharist. Some of the ways we are called to return this love are by acts of love, adoration, gratitude, and reparation.

3. Lessons for Today: The heresy of Jansenism emphasizes God’s anger toward sinful humanity; the devotion to the Sacred Heart emphasizes God’s merciful love toward sinful humanity. The heresy makes it seem like holiness is unattainable; the devotion invites us to respond to God’s love and imitate what we contemplate in the sacred heart of God’s Son. The devotion to the Sacred Heart invites us especially to ponder the mystery of the interaction between divine grace and the response of our free will. To those who practice devotion to the Sacred Heart, God promises grace, peace, consolation, blessing, mercy, fervor, and the attainment of perfection.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, your heart was wounded out of love. You gave yourself up for us with a wonderful love and poured out blood and water from your pierced side. May I draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation!

Living the Word of God: What acts of love, adoration, gratitude, and reparation is God calling me to do this week? Can I spend time before the Eucharist today or this week and contemplate the mystery of divine grace?