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 man and thereby actually had 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). However, 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: Before giving his life to the Lord, Robert strongly desired worldly pleasures. Jesus has totally transformed Robert's desires and now his desires align with those of God.
Reference: (For a related teaching on Jesus' Sacred Heart, order, listen to, or download our CD 19-1 or DVD 19.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 24, 2018
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