One soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which the universal Church observes today is a celebration of God's love. It is a celebration of God's love that is radiated to the world through God's Son Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God's love is expressed in its fullness (cf. John 3:16). It is a love that encompasses the entirety of Jesus' saving mission, from his birth through his passion and death to his glorious rising from the dead. In other words, the fullness of God’s love for the created world is demonstrated in Jesus assuming a creaturely nature, in Jesus feeding the crowds, healing the sick and forgiving sinners, and in Jesus giving his life for his brothers and sisters as he hung upon the wood of the cross (cf. Romans 5:7-9). It is this love which we call to mind every time we gather in praise and worship to celebrate the Eucharist.
In today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea, the Lord God speaks to the prophet’s community, reminding the people of the tender love that God has for them in spite of their infidelity to the covenant. The Lord describes in human language his loving presence to the community. It was out of love that God called this community from among the nations of the world and made her God’s very own. It was out of God’s tender love that God chose to journey with the community, being by her side and bailing her out every now and then whenever she got in trouble. And it is because of God’s love that the Lord will hold God’s wrath and desist from annihilating the prophet’s community that has persisted in her infidelity.
In the second reading, St. Paul reiterates his understanding of the Jesus event (incarnation). The incarnation, according to St. Paul, was neither an accident nor a coincidence. Christ, or rather the Jesus event, was God’s plan for the universe from the very beginning of creation. Jesus “happened” so that the riches of God could be unleashed upon creation. While in the ministry of Jesus we see the eternal plan of God for creation beginning to unfold, it is in the self-offering of Jesus on the cross that it comes to full fruition. Jesus offers himself as a redeeming sacrifice so that his brothers and sisters can attain the fullness of life that is found in God. Jesus offers his life in order that he can reconcile us to God for it is only in God that the fullness of life resides.
Because of Jesus’ self-offering for the salvation of his brothers and sisters, he has become the foundation upon which a new creation has been built: a creation that has been reconciled to God and subsequently put on the path to eternal life. This new creation gets sustained by the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side as he hung on the cross. As today’s response to the Psalm clearly puts it, Jesus has become the spring from which the water of salvation is drawn. The only thing that we have to do to attain the fullness of life is to approach the wellspring of salvation and drink of the life-giving waters found therein.