On this feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Tess Koning, a member of our Parish Pastoral Council and Principal of St Peter’s Primary School, reads from the Gospel of John (19: 31-37) which recounts happens when the body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross.

Tess says the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a visual sign that helps us to experience the meaning of the love of Jesus.

For Christians, the love signified by the Sacred Heart is the steady, reliable, faithful, life-giving love which we experience in Jesus as we encounter him in the Gospels, in the Sacraments, and in our life of faith. We are called to imitate that faithful love.
• The wounded heart reminds us of the scriptural foundation of our devotion, the reference in today’s Gospel to the lance piercing the side of Christ on the cross.
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The crown of thorns reminds us that real love, faithful love, totally committed love for others, can lead to rejection and suffering, the cost of discipleship.
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The cross is the primary symbol of Christian faith, drawing us to contemplate sacrificial love of Jesus, as he lays down his life for us on the cross. It is centred not on self, but on others. We must go and do likewise.
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e all.The flames surrounding the Sacred Heart represent the glorious love of Jesus; the sign of the fire that came down upon the disciples at Pentecost, as they were sent out to set the world on fire for Christ, as are w
The Sacred Heart is a powerful symbol of the love of Jesus, which each of us was commissioned to make present in this world on the day we were baptised.

On this solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Tess says, we might consider what we are doing to become the visible sign of Christ’s love for others.
Divine Heart of Jesus,
I offer you through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Mother of the Church,
in union with the Eucharistic Sacrifice,
my prayers, actions, joys and sufferings of this day
in reparation for sins and for the salvation of all people,
in the grace of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Heavenly Father.
Amen.