Communion of the Three Hearts
One
The CCC offers a beautiful teaching on the human heart. It is so rich that I wish to cite it in full. It says the following, “the heart is the dwelling place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place to which I withdraw. The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant” (#2563).
Two
Why talk about the Heart, why not talk about the Mind of Jesus? The CCC defines the heart as the resting place for the human person. We’re talking about the three hearts because we want to remind ourselves that Jesus and Mary and Joseph were real people and experienced life at the core of their being. That experience was not the experience of Mr. Spock off of Star Trek, for whom emotion was seen as weakness. The heart is not merely about emotion, but is the center of being, the center of the deepest thoughts and desires, of the power of love. Devotion to the hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph clarifies the ideal to which we should strive to conform our hearts to theirs. This devotion affirms the desire of God to heal, perfect and elevate the human heart, including the emotions. A hyper intellectual modern view might want to emphasize the brain of Jesus as the superior organ for personal activity. But God does not want only our thoughts; He want our fatigue, or sorrows, our joys, our sufferings, in short, God wants to enter into all of our experiences. Nothing is too insignificant for Him. This divine desire is symbolized by the Sacred, Immaculate, and Most Chaste Hearts.
Three
Enthroning our homes and our hearts to the Sacred Heart is a powerful way to honor and love Jesus and experience intimacy with God. Consecration to the Sacred Heart makes sense. Why do we include Mary and Joseph? When the Church speaks of consecration to Mary, it means that we are giving ourselves to God through her. So, too when we consecrate ourselves to St. Joseph, or any other saint, for that matter. We are not professing our belief that these saints are Divine; rather, that God lives and works through them. The saints all share in and channel God’s goodness with particular excellence and effectiveness. In the case of the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph participate even more deeply in the life of Jesus and are therefore the most effective and perfect channels ever created through which God can give Himself to us. Our homes are plagued by unchastity, jealousy, and selfish consumerism. Perhaps the time is right for us to include consecrating ourselves to Joseph’s Most Chaste Heart along with the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. Communion of Hearts in the Holy Family, draw our hearts into union with yours that we may repose in your peace and joy.
Four
God wishes to have an intense personal relationship with us. The saints reveal the face of God in the uniqueness of their own individuality. So, God uses the saints, as well as all good things great and small, to personally connect with us. This principle explains why we Catholics have so many parts of our faith: Saints, sacraments, monks, nuns, crucifixes, holy water, and devotions because all of them reflect and remind us of God in a unique way. Some are holier than others, but all point to God. St Joseph is perhaps the best example of this. He is content being outshined by his wife, who in turn is outshined by her Son. The depths of love and humility are revealed in the life of Joseph. He neither bragged about his role nor wrote an autobiography to preserve his legacy. He was content to be only in the first chapters of the life of Christ. His most chaste relationship with Mary and His humble relationship with his Divine Son enables Joseph to live in complete communion with God. The communion of the Sacred, Immaculate, and Most Chaste Hearts are the source for all charisms and graces available to the Church now. Imagine having access to the keys of God’s heart, to the depths of God’s Being, to the source of God’s power! What would you do with it? Whom would you serve? What would you fix? How would you change? This is consecration! Oh Holy Communion subsisting in the Three Hearts, help me to be willing to set aside my own ego and desire for recognition and applause to preform my role in God’s plan with simple humility and Divine power!
Five
In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 2, Jesus is discovered in the Temple after three days of searching by His parents. It’s an astonishing testimony that they didn’t expect to find Him in the Temple. Jesus Himself reveals the reason for this when He cleanses the Temple from the money changers, calling it a den of thieves (Lk 19:46). Once found Jesus returns with them to Nazareth and is obedient to them. And His mother kept all these things in her heart. Joseph too, no doubt. Then Luke tells us, “Then Jesus increased with wisdom and stature and favor with God and man” (Lk 2: 52). What a mystery! Christ Himself was obedient to His creation, revealing to us how to increase virtue and favor with God. To increase in wisdom is to increase understanding into the mysteries of God’s plan for salvation. To increase in stature is to gain heavenly strength and skill in doing battle against the demonic forces. To enjoy the favor of God is to enjoy God’s support and guidance in our endeavors and plans. To increase in these ways is to have clarity and freedom to accomplish great things in God’s Kingdom on Earth. Devotion, that is obedience, to the Sacred Heart, and as a consequence, the Immaculate and Chaste hearts, is the way to enjoy this increase.