Sermons on the Sacred Heart
“The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Book of the Elect, in Which the Whole Sum and
Substance of our Knowledge and Reflection is Contained.
By Rev. J. Fuhlrott
"Behold a hand was sent me, wherein was a book rolled up" Ez. 11. 9
Why, dear brethren, did not our divine Savior Himself write a book while He was upon earth in which His Gospel signed with His own hand would be left to posterity? Do we not read that in the Old Testament the Lord God wrote with His own finger the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone? "The Lord gave to Moses on Mount Sinai two stone tables of testimony, written with the finger of God" (Exod xxx1. 18). Why did not God also write down the law of Grace? How greatly would such a book be prized by all Christians! Why did Jesus leave the writing of His teaching to the holy historians?
Once only we read that Jesus wrote in the dust; for instance, when they brought the woman to Him who was taken in adultery John viii 6), but we read nowhere else in Sacred Scripture that the divine Savior ever wrote anything.
The prophet Ezekiel relates that he received a book from the hand of God, filled with innumerable bitter words, with the charge that he should at once eat it up: "Open thy mouth," said the Lord, "and eat what I give thee. And I looked, and behold a hand was sent to me, wherein was a book rolled up, and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without; and there were written in it lamentations, and canticles, and woe: (Ez. 1. 8, 9). What a wonderful book was that which was bitter and sweet at the same time! For the prophet says further: "And I did eat it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth" (Ez. iii 3). Saints Jerome, Bernard, Lawrence, Justinian and other holy fathers remarked that this book had no other signification that Jesus Christ, the crucified One, and in particular His Sacred Divine Heart, which is the book of life and of the elect, by which consideration the learned Salmeron cries out: "O book of books, it should be in our hand by day and night. This is our guide book, the object of our soliloquies, the spur of love." This book is written within and without. Within, by its divinity and boundless love, with which the Heart of Jesus will love us to the end, for the apostle says: "He loved me, and delivered himself for me" (Gal. ii. 20) And without, it is written with an iron pencil, namely, with the cruel nails and the lance. The author of this book was the Holy Ghost, for "He was conceived by the Holy Ghost" . this book was dictated by the heavenly Father, "who produced the word from all eternity." The cover of this book was His sacred humanity the ink was provided by that precious purple blood, which was shed for our salvation so lavishly during His bitter Passion. The letters and marks in this mysterious book were as numerous at the wounds and scars which He received in His sacred Passion. The book was printed on Golgotha, under the press of His heavy cross as Isaias says: "I have trodden the wine-press alone" (Is. 1xii. 3). This book opened and read in public, as on the pulpit of the cross the Sacred Heart of Jesus was pierced by the lance of a cruel soldier. "But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side." (John xix. 34). On this St. Lawrence Justinian says: "God opened this book publicly, that all might read therein."
This is why, dear brethren, our divine Savior Jesus, while He among us, wrote no book, because He Himself was a book written within and without (Apoc. v i). Out of this divine book we can draw all wisdom and heavenly knowledge. St. Chrysostom writes: "Christ is that book which John saw in his revelations written within and without; without, we see the wounds of Christ, within we see the fire of His boundless love for us. This book should be mediated upon by the learned and the unlearned; thus should be read by all. While the human body, when it is opened and divided anatomically, affords the doctors the precise knowledge of the arrangement of the human body more certainly than a thousand books on the subject, so does Christ, lifted up upon the cross, wounded, and pierced through the heart by the cruel spear, when we contemplate Him, devoutly teaches us more for our salvation and the attainment of wisdom than all the books of the theologians. "This," says St. Bernard, "is my highest philosophy, to know Jesus, and Him crucified." And if, at first, this book seems to be bitter, on account of the endless pains and bitterness which He suffered upon the cross, still it will turn into sweetness for your soul, if you read it with devotion and earnest meditation. It was in this book that the Apostle Paul studied, therefore he considered all things inferior to this noblest and sweetest knowledge, for this reason he taught that on this earth he wished only to know Jesus, and Him crucified: "For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (I. Cor. ii 2)
Yes, it was not enough for him to know the Crucified One superficially, but by his truly wonderful knowledge he entered right into the divine Heart of Jesus, upon which all his thoughts were concentrated; therefore he had no greater longing than that all should have this wisdom, and like himself live in the Sacred Heart of Jesus: For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ" (Phil. i. 8), that is to say, with the love of the Heart of Jesus. Out of this book St. Philip Benizi learned the great art of climbing to the summit of sanctity, while he kept his eyes raised to the five sacred wounds, and especially to the most amiable Heart of Jesus, the Crucified One, who out of love for us was wounded with the spear, weeping tears of love, and when he was about to die he asked repeatedly of those standing around him for this book. "Give me my book," said he, first they handed him the Breviary, then an other book, till finally he pointed with his finger and raised his eyes to the crucifix, saying, "This is my book," and after he had used it with a countenance beaming with heavenly joy, he pressed it to his heart, and so gave up his soul into the hands of God.
From this same book St. Bonaventure drew his knowledge and sanctity. When he was once visited by St. Thomas Aquinas, who complimented him about his library from which he gathered such remarkable learning, he led him into another room, and showed him the crucifix, on which traces of tears could plainly be seen, and who wounded side was worn away from being kissed, and he said, "This is my only book, and all my library, for what I know, I learned from this book of life." The Lord spoke once to the prophet Habakkuk: write the vision, and make it plain upon tables; that he that readeth it may run over it" (Hab. ii. 2). A wonderful book, written on panels of wood, and set up publicly to be read. This book is Christ lifted up upon the cross, out of this book all, the educated and tie ignorant, if they read it with devotion, will learn the way of salvation, and know how to live and die, especially if their attention is riveted on the Sacred Heart of Jesus out of which the treasures of knowledge and wisdom flow, and of which the mysterious book St. John writes: "It is written in the prophets," (John vvi. 45). Listen, in regard to this truth, to a wonderful example. At one and the same time, two persons entered a strict order; one was learned, and experienced in knowledge, and the other was a simple unlettered man. After a short while, the learned one, on account of the severe and unaccustomed, manner of living, suffered such violent temptations that he decided to return to the world. Before taking his step, however, he told of his temptations candidly to his fellow novice, who encouraged him by powerful and earnest reasoning, to hold his good intention, and fulfill it to the end of his life, and said: "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." The scholar was surprised at the remarkable speed of the ignorant one, and asked him were he obtained such high-flowing philosophy. The ignorant one drew the crucifix out of his bosom, and said: "Behold, this is my book!" Oh! how good is the book, the crucified Jesus.
The Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, of the Visitation Order died on the 17th of October, 1690, a holy death, and went to her Spouse; she it was to whom our Blessed Savior appeared distinctly on the feast of St. John the Evangelist (who himself had drawn all his knowledge from this Sacred heart, and had seen this Book of Life opened on the cross) and showed her His Sacred Heart, on a throne of fire, as clear as crystal, scarred with the cruel wound, surrounded with a crown of thorns, and surmounted in the centre by a cross. by this appearance Christ the Lord wished to give an account, as in a book, of that love without which He was filled from the first moment of His conception until the end of His life. For this reason He desired that His Sacred Heart should be opened to all, not only in heaven, but on earth, the Blessed Eucharist, and that all men should find therein a call summon. Christ lifted up upon the cross," says Dionysius the Carthusian, is the book in which the perfection of all virtues, the most sublime of all contemplation and whatever leads to salvation in the most wonderful, inexpressible and supernatural way can be read or learn thereof. Therefore, dear brethren, have courage and confidence, and you will obtain from this Sacred Heart of Jesus crucified and in the Blessed Sacrament, all that is needful for your salvation. this is the teaching of St Francis of Sales, one of the greatest lovers and adores of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. As he was one day addressing a large congregation of people, quite inflamed with the love of Jesus Crucified, there were seen suddenly to come from the wounds of Jesus rays of light, and he appeared to the people to be wonderfully enlightened, and he called the Divine Heart of Jesus his gem, and his most precious pearl. And in conclusion, all those living in the world should take Jesus crucified as their model, and imitate Him, in life and death. As he who sails o the sea takes notice of a certain star, according to which he shapes his course, so as not to miss the port, so should the Christian, who is in such peril to his body and soul, choose the Sacred Heart as his guiding star, if he does not want to miss the port of eternal glory, in the midst of the great dangers of the sea of the world, by which he will attain a perfect knowledge, how to avoid evil, and how to do good, and by whose assistance and grace protected he will stand fearless and unshaken through all the dangers of life and death: "Where," asks St. Bernard, "are we surer or more fearless than when in the wounds of the Redeemer?" The world may crash in its fury, the flesh tempt us, the devil persecute us, fear not whilst you are in the cave in the rocks, that is in the sacred wounds. O may Soul! how lovely it will be in the embrace of the Crucified One, in the kiss of His Sacred Heart, to breath our last sigh.
That you may obtain this grace, take shelter often in this book, namely in the Heart of your divine Redeemer, which is full of heavenly teaching, and spiritual consolation; let not a day, or an hour, pass by without thinking of the most amiable heart of Jesus, to love It, and honor It; for this reason accustom yourself when the hour strikes, to strike your breast and to say: "Heart of Jesus, I love thee, for Thou hast first loved me." Amen.