On 27 December 1673, the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary said that Jesus had permitted her to rest her head upon his heart. 

The Lord Jesus requested His love be made evident through her. and to diffuse the treasures of his goodness.

Margaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Ezekiel 34:11-16

 Indeed Yahweh says this:

I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them.   As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over my sheep and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog.   I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from other countries.

 

I will lead them to their own land and pasture them on the mountains of Israel in all the valleys and inhabited regions of the land.   I will take them to good pastures on the high mountains of Israel. They will rest where the grazing is good and feed in lush pastures on the heights of Israel.  I myself will tend my sheep and let them rest, word of Yahweh.   I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd my flock with justice.

 

Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

   ＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Romans 5:5b-11

because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God.

Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us: when we were still helpless and unable to do anything.  Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.  But see how God manifested his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us   and we have become just through his blood.

With much more reason now he will save us from any condemnation.  Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of his Son; with much more reason now we may be saved through his life.  Not only that; we even boast in God be­cause of Christ Jesus, our Lord, through whom we have been reconciled.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊     

Luke 15:3-7

So Jesus told them this parable:

 “Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the nine­ty-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it?   And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders?  Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.’   I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.

 

Gospel Reflection：

An Open Heart

Pope Benedict ⅩⅥ (Ratzinger, Behold the Pierced One) places the Sacred Heart right at the center of the Easter Mystery, which overturns the understanding of heart as the organ of self-preservation:

“The task of the heart is self-preservation, holding together what is its own. The pierced Heart of Jesus has also truly ‘overturned’ (cf. Hos 11:8) this definition. This Heart is not concerned with self-preservation but with self-surrender. It saves the world by opening itself.

 

The collapse of the opened Heart is the content of the Easter mystery. The Heart saves, indeed, but it saves by giving itself away. Thus, in the Heart of Jesus, the center of Christianity is set before us. It expresses everything, all that is genuinely new and revolutionary in the New Covenant.

This Heart calls to our heart. It invites us to step forth out of the futile attempt of self-preservation and, by joining in the task of love, by handing ourselves over to him and with him, to discover the fullness of love which alone is eternity and which alone sustains the world.”