Greetings. Yes it is Friday and another weekend. For some is a couple of days to relax. But I know after being a priest for some 48 years, weekends were just other work days. I guess I enjoyed it after 48 years. Oh well, happy Friday and a safe and blessed weekend.
The 5th of Sept. falls on the First Friday of the month. The First Friday of any month is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been a symbol of the loving connection God wishes to have with us. It would seem out of place that God, who created us would wait for us to make a move to accept His love for us and use symbols like the Sacred Heart to get His point across. But, that is what free will is all about. We have the ability to choose and decide on “who and what.”
Pope Francis wrote, “Popular piety highly value symbols, and the Hear of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy. But it is not an imaginary symbol; it is a real symbol which represents the center, the source from which salvation flowed for all humanity.”
Symbols, if used too often, can and do loose their meaning. Such is the symbol of the HEART. During the month of February we see hearts plastered all over. On store windows, on cards, boxes of candy. And after a while, it is just another February, just another heart.
Maybe, just maybe, we need to take a picture of the Sacred Heart and examine it. What is different from this heart from all the others we have seen? Maybe then we might come to understand what God means when He says to us, “I love you with all my HEART!”
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.
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