heart to heart
"His heart was grieved." —Genesis 6:6
God's "heart was grieved" because man's heart desired nothing but evil (Gn 6:5-6). God's heart was broken because man's heart is hardened, disobedient, and rebellious.
Jesus revealed the condition of His heart through the image of the Sacred Heart, bleeding and surrounded with a crown of thorns. God said His heart was grieved, but no one ever suspected that this would be literally true when God became a human being and thereby actually has a human heart. Likewise, no one suspected that our hearts would be so perverse that we would murder God by our sins and even try to stab Him in the heart after His death (see Jn 19:34). Moreover, no one could understand how God would fulfill Ezekiel's prophecy and give us a new heart (Ez 36:26). But by the Lord's perfect love for us, and from His crucified body and pierced heart, we can be baptized and receive a new heart.
God's heart is a mystery of perfect love and excruciating pain. Don't continue to pierce His heart through sin, but plunge into the mysterious love of His Sacred Heart.
Prayer: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may love Thee more and more."
Promise: " 'Do you remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of fragments you gathered up?' They answered, 'Twelve.' " —Mk 8:19
Praise: Patricia faithfully fasts and prays every Friday, the day Jesus' heart was pierced.
Reference: (Grow in love of the Sacred Heart by reading the Bible every day. We have several tape series that may help you. Overview of the Bible is six audio tapes starting with AV 10A-1 or three video tapes starting with V-10A. 15-minute Bible Teaching - New Testament is forty audio tapes starting with #700. How to Pray the Bible on audio AV 82-3 or video V-82. How to Read the Bible on audio AV 46-3 or video V-46.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, August 1, 2002
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 7, 2002