Timothy ODonnell - Heart of the Redeemer

TIMOTHY TERRANCE ODONNELL, S.T.D.

An Apologia for the Contemporary
and Perennial Value of the Devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

First edition printed by
Trinity Communications, Manassas, Virginia
1989 Trinity Communications
All rights reserved

Cover by Marcia Ryan

Cover art:

The Merciful One

Berlin-Dahlem
Staatliche Museum

Reprinted, Ignatius Press 1992
ISBN 978-0-89870-396-2
Library of Congress catalogue number 91-76070
Printed in the United States of America

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to a man who comes
from a land deeply committed to the Heart of Christ.
He is most certainly a man of the heart
who radiates the love of Christ Jesus to all men.
In him the Lord has truly blessed us all
with a shepherd after his own heart.
With deep respect and thanksgiving
I humbly dedicate this work to our Holy Father,
Pope John Paul II.

ACKNOWLEDGEMNTS

I am clearly indebted to a number of fine works on the devotion, particularly those of Fr, Larkin, Fr. Stierli, Fr. Hugo Rahner, Fr. Kern and the Apostleship of Prayer. I truly feel as a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants to use the expression of St. Bernard of Chartres. I have built upon this common foundation by organizing, expanding and developing this material in a single volume. It is my earnest hope that this will meet the needs of priests and laity in their efforts to foster the devotion as a source of renewal for the Church.

I would like to thank Fr. Jordan Aumann, OP my mentor at the Angelicum in Rome.

I would also like to thank my parents for their generous love and support in nurturing me in the Faith.

Lastly, I wish to thank my dearest wife Catherine for her patient assistance in typing and proofing the manuscript. Without her loving support this book would not exist.

So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in him.... We love because he first loved us.(1 Jn. 4:16, 19)

PUBLISHERS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the following persons whose financial support made publication of Heart of the Redeemer possible :

Mrs. Ingrid D. Climis

Mr. Philip T. Crotty

Mr. David J. Duffy

Mr. & Mrs. Dave Jaszkowiak

Dr. & Mrs. Christopher Lee

Mrs. Nancy E. Lenihan

Mr. Gerald J. Lopriore

Miss Jeanette M. Maschmann

Mr. & Mrs. W. H. Power

Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Ruffner

Mr. Cornelius J. P. Sullivan

Contents

The Mystery of the Heart in Sacred Scripture: Old Testament

New Testament

Christological Heresies & the Early Councils of the Church

The Problem of the Origin of the Devotion

The Fathers of the ChurchThe Golden Age

The Silver Age: The Seventh to the Eleventh Century

The Early Medieval Period (1100-1250)

The Flowering of the Middle Ages to St. Margaret Mary

Conclusion

Her Life and Revelations

The Spread of the Devotion & the Response of the Church

Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903)

Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922)

Pope Pius XI (1922-1939)

Pope Pius XII (1939-1958)

Summary

Vatican Council II

Pope Paul VI (1963-1978)

Pope John Paul II (1978- )

Obligation to Practice the Devotion

The Perennial Validity of the Devotion

The Sacred Heart and the Trinity

The Sacred Heart and Christs Humanity

The Sacred Heart and Christocentric Spirituality

The Sacred Heart and Devotion to Mary

The Sacred Heart and the Mystical Body

The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist

The Sacred Heart and the Apostolate

The Sacred Heart and the Interior Life

The Sacred Heart and Universal Brotherhood

The Sacred Heart and Reparation

Preface

Christianity is an intensely personal religion. In saying this we do not mean that it is private or individualistic. Rather, it is one way of referring to the Churchs constant concern for the dignity and the rights of the human person from the time of his or her conception until the hour when one passes from earthly existence to that which is everlasting. So true is this that, when speaking of the Churchs social doctrine, Pope John XXIII could write: The cardinal point of this teaching is that individual men and women are necessarily the foundation, cause, and end of all social institutions.

It should not surprise us that the Church is so intent on the dignity and rights of the person, since Christianity is an intensely personal religion in yet a more profound sense. It worships and draws its very life and meaning from the personal God who has become a human being, Jesus Christ, our brother and savior. In Him the Church knows the value that the Creator has placed on the human person. Indeed only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. In Jesus Who is God from God and light from light we are able to discern the loving esteem which God has for us and which we, in imitation of Him, should have for one another. To know Christ and His life is to know the deepest meaning of love, a love that is capable of giving and receiving.

Over the centuries the innumerable lessons to be learned and benefits to be drawn from the love of God for us in Christ have found concrete expression in devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. By means of this devotion we are able to meditate on and draw close to the love of Christ which, as St. John Eudes wrote, is humanly divine and divinely human.

If in our own day, as many think, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not what it once was, then the present book by Timothy ODonnell will hopefully serve as a stimulus for a renewal. Heart of the Redeemer is a comprehensive and profound study not only of the origins and theology of devotion to the Sacred Heart, but of its contemporary importance as well. I find his work particularly valuable for its examination of the writings of Pope Paul VI and of our Holy Father John Paul II as they set forth the doctrine and principles which illustrate the relevance of this devotion in light of the teachings of Vatican Council II.

The present work also illuminates with abundant documentation the natural and necessary link between devotion to the Sacred Heart and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament where Christ, in full divinity and humanity, offers Himself in love to the Father and to us. Heart of the Redeemer quotes John Paul II as saying:

We are called not only to meditate on, and contemplate, this mystery of Christs love; we are called to take part in it. It is the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, the center of our faith, the center of our worship of Christs merciful love manifested in his Sacred Heart.

So personally convinced of this truth am I that I have recently inaugurated the practice of nocturnal adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Patricks Cathedral on the First Friday of each month. For it is in this Sacrament of His love that the whole spiritual wealth of the Church is contained, as Vatican II teaches us. I am sure that such devotion to the Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, far from being a pietistic and outdated form of spirituality, will in fact give new life to the Churchs social apostolate. It will move us, by grace, to express our love for the person of Christ not only in prayer but in committed effort to effect and defend the dignity and rights of all that family of which He is the firstborn. For all the good that it will do to foster a love for Christ which is personal and social I warmly welcome Heart of the Redeemer , recommending it to clergy and laity alike.