The Human Heart of God

This week is buttressed on either end by two very “incarnational” solemnities: Corpus Christi and The Sacred Heart of Jesus. With the feast of Corpus Christi, we reverence the true, bodily presence of Christ—“God with us”—in the Holy Eucharist, which is the “source and summit” of Catholic Christian life. Similarly, the feast of the Sacred Heart lends itself to contemplation of Jesus’ human heart as the source of life, from which blood and water flowed to cleanse us from all sin. In both celebrations, Christ’s heart is laid bare for sinners and saints alike as a means of intimacy with God and entrance into eternal life.

Scientific study of Eucharistic miracles throughout the ages has confirmed that the Blessed Sacrament is indeed the true flesh of Christ, the myocardium with living blood; this is tangible evidence of the theological truth that “God is with us,” as fully today as during his physical life on earth. The Eucharist is a living reality, not simply a sign of God’s presence; it is truly Jesus who is present, calling each of us into a deep bodily and spiritual union with himself—he who is both fully human and fully divine. Therefore, his heart is a ladder, so to speak, by which mortal man can ascend into the very life of God!