By Mudita Menona Sodder
Mumbai: Spirituality is a way of life. Sacred Heart of Jesus Spirituality is the way of the heart – the path of unconditional love. To follow in the footsteps of the Master, one has to study the interior dispositions of Jesus’ heart and learn to love whole heartedly and unconditionally.
To make this a reality in one’s life, one needs to have a tête-à-tête with Him daily, spending quality time and energy, in quiet prayer and contemplation. Observing, imitating and making one’s own, the different nuances of His sensitivity and unique touch in one’s own life during the day, one must be aware that we are all made of clay. He lovingly moulds us, firing us with His love to strengthen us.
Having observed the preferences of His Heart, one needs to choose like Him, the poor and the under privileged. This must reflect in one’s life – the friends one has, the choices one makes when one visits people, the things one chooses to do and how one does them. In order to discover Jesus’ Heart, one needs to contemplate His words, His attitudes, His relationships, His way of relating to all His creatures, thus understanding and grasping the art of putting flesh on to His words in scripture, living it in one’s life and making it come alive in one’s encounters with others.
Unconditional love is very demanding. Does one relate with equanimity and magnanimity with all, or does one have reservations and treat people differently? Does one dispense with one’s time, energy, gifts and talents freely or are they at the service of the select few, partially rendered to the chosen ones, who will benefit one in return? Does one have the Bania/Do ut des Mentality- “I give, so that you may give”? Or does one give of oneself generously to all God’s creatures, irrespective of which creature?
Actions speak louder than words and are the acid test. Is one other-centered as Christ was? Does one experience pain when injustice is meted out to ones neighbour? Or is one apathetic and not wanting to burn ones fingers, or get involved? Does one take Mother Earth for granted, unconcerned about her depleting natural resources? If, one is a disciple, bride or spouse of Christ, then authentic love must permeate and soak ones whole being. This will demand hard decisions and a heavy price as a consequence.
Unconditional love is Trinitarian-given by the Father to the Son and through the Spirit. One needs to imbibe it the hard way – by trying, experimenting, succeeding at times and failing often. One needs to live and abide in His love i.e. accepting His generous love given freely in abundance and sharing it with all around. One can only give what one has. One’s love must flow out from within. Superficiality has no place in Sacred Heart Spirituality. The world and its ways are superficial and passing. Money, power, status, ego are transient. What is one’s inner treasure trove filled with?
To keep one’s antennae in tune with the stirrings of the Spirit, one needs to be open and alive. The Spirit speaks loudly at times, but most often softly and gently. Jesus is already present within, at every moment of one’s life. But it is the Spirit who unites and conforms one to His Heart. Only when one’s heart beat matches His Heart beat, in unison will one be able to experience reality with His Heart and His Mind. Only then, will one be able to grow oneself on the model of His Love, Heart and Mind.
By contemplating reality with His Sacred Heart, one becomes a powerful force of conversion and transformation. One has to break one’s body and lay down one’s life for Jesus daily, so that others may have life and have it to the fullest. One has to stick one’s neck out and pay the price as living saints like Jesuit Father Stan Swamy and those languishing in jail are presently paying.
Many courageous martyrs have died for a cause. Is one willing to lay down one’s life joyfully, go against the grain, worldly ways and stereotypes, and be beaten up, incarcerated or even killed; as Jesus was? Or does one use one’s congregation as one’s shield; not wanting to get into a controversy or tarnish its good name?
To grow one’s interior life and glorify the Sacred Heart, prolonged times of prayer, meditation and contemplation are necessary. Reading/studying scripture, reflection/daily Examen, periodic renewals, days of recollection, annual retreat/triduum etc. can facilitate this spirituality. Spiritual direction, reflection with another RSCJ/friend, help from the community, time and space for prayer are aids that make the journey easier. Rosary, Marian devotions, community prayer, reconciliation are further add-ons.
However, the epitome of Sacred Heart Spirituality is the Eucharist. Receiving the Body/Blood of Christ, one is blessed with grace, capacity to lay down one’s life, be broken, even killed if need be, so that new life, new humanity and a new birthing can take place.
Are you read for this painful birth? Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 21.
(Sister Mudita Menona Sodder is a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus congregation. She is an Eco-Spiritualist who lives on the Sophia College Campus, Mumbai.)