Is the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Bible?

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We recently enthroned our family & home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My dear friend who is Assembly of God was quite perplexed by the picture now hanging in our living room of Jesus with His heart exposed. I am confused by her confusion 🤷 She only goes by the Bible. Is the Sacred Heart of Jesus discussed in the Bible? Thank you!
 
Does your friend believe that Jesus Christ loves us?
Why wouldn’t His heart be filled with love. He was fully human AND fully Divine after all.
We have Christ depicted in many ways.
I don’t see what the issue would be.
🤷
 
:D:D I shouldn’t laugh but I am picturing your confusion at her confusion. This defines the Protestant-Catholic experience that so many have. We look at bewilderment at their practices and they at us.

Our faith is not based on “I think” or “the Bible says” or “it’s not in the Bible”. The Church has always defined Doctrine or Dogma then taught the masses. This was how the Apostles taught, they defined Teachings and Traditions and then taught the masses.

Having said that, Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a private revelation, not a Doctrine or Dogma.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses devotion to the Heart of Christ:

2669 The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior’s steps. The stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.

478 Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: “The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me.” He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, “is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings” without exception.
 
You should try to convert them. Heresy puts souls in danger. They believe heresies.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is mentioned in the Bible. He is Love (that is in the Bible). He wore a crown of thorns for our sins (that is in the Bible). He endured the Cross for our sins (that is in the Bible).

Our Mother, His Mother, Holy Mary, her heart was pierced with a sword. That is in the Bible.

You should explain to them about Apostolic Succession.

Holy Orders were passed down from Christ to every priest on the planet. Their Holy Orders all trace back to Christ. He gave the first Holy Orders Himself:

John 20:23
And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

He meant that literally. He loves your friend. Ask Him to help you convert them.
 
pianistclare said:
Does your friend believe that Jesus Christ loves us?
Why wouldn’t His heart be filled with love. He was fully human AND fully Divine after all.
We have Christ depicted in many ways.
I don’t see what the issue would be.
🤷
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Exactly! Emerald Oak, tell your friend the above explanation, and if he doesn’t get it, just pray for him.
 
Pope Pius XII (from his encyclical on the Sacred Heart):
  1. That all may understand more exactly the teachings which the selected texts of the Old and New Testament furnish concerning this devotion, they must clearly understand the reasons why the Church gives the highest form of worship to the Heart of the divine Redeemer. As you well know, venerable brethren, the reasons are two in number. The first, which applies also to the other sacred members of the Body of Jesus Christ, rests on that principle whereby we recognize that His Heart, the noblest part of human nature, is hypostatically united to the Person of the divine Word. Consequently, there must be paid to it that worship of adoration with which the Church honors the Person of the Incarnate Son of God Himself. We are dealing here with an article of faith, for it has been solemnly defined in the general Council of Ephesus and the second Council of Constantinople.(15)
  2. The other reason which refers in a particular manner to the Heart of the divine Redeemer, and likewise demands in a special way that the highest form of worship be paid to it, arises from the fact that His Heart, more than all the other members of His body, is the natural sign and symbol of His boundless love for the human race. “There is in the Sacred Heart,” as Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, pointed out, “the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return.”(16)
  3. It is of course beyond doubt that the Sacred Books never make express mention of a special worship of veneration and love made to the physical Heart of the Incarnate Word as the symbol of His burning love. But if this must certainly be admitted, it cannot cause us surprise nor in any way lead us to doubt the divine love for us which is the principal object of this devotion; since that love is proclaimed and insisted upon in the Old and in the New Testament by the kind of images which strongly arouse our emotions. Since these images were presented in the Sacred Writings foretelling the coming of the Son of God made man, they can be considered as a token of the noblest symbol and witness of that divine love, that is, of the most Sacred and Adorable Heart of the divine Redeemer.
 
The Sacred Heart devotion comes from a series of apparitions of Jesus to a nun, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque between 1673 and 1675.

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EmeraldOak said:
We recently enthroned our family & home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My dear friend who is Assembly of God was quite perplexed by the picture now hanging in our living room of Jesus with His heart exposed. I am confused by her confusion 🤷 She only goes by the Bible. Is the Sacred Heart of Jesus discussed in the Bible? Thank you!
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The answer is “no,” but I certainly agree with SAVINGRACE’s explanation of why Catholics are OK with that.
 
EmeraldOak said:
We recently enthroned our family & home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My dear friend who is Assembly of God was quite perplexed by the picture now hanging in our living room of Jesus with His heart exposed. I am confused by her confusion 🤷 She only goes by the Bible. Is the Sacred Heart of Jesus discussed in the Bible? Thank you!
Click to expand...
No, there is no description of His actual heart as such in the New Testament. Figuratively yes, of course, 2000 years ago referring to one’s heart would be the same as referring to one’s brain today.

Devotion to the sacred heart, is a later contrivance - 17th century. ewtn.com/Devotionals/heart/meditation.htm
 
EmeraldOak said:
We recently enthroned our family & home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My dear friend who is Assembly of God was quite perplexed by the picture now hanging in our living room of Jesus with His heart exposed. I am confused by her confusion 🤷 She only goes by the Bible. Is the Sacred Heart of Jesus discussed in the Bible? Thank you!
Click to expand...
The foundation to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is all over in the Bible and in the gospels. Firstly, Jesus certainly had a physical heart for he had a true human nature in which is found in the body of a human a physical heart without which we could not survive in the body. The physical heart of Jesus in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus symbolizes his love for us. Jesus showed his love for us while he was on earth in many ways and in his teaching and especially for dying upon the cross for us. Jesus taught us the two great commandments of love of God and love of neighbor on which depends the whole law and the prophets: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Matt. 37-40).

Humans commonly employ the word “heart” when they express their emotions especially love, for example, ‘I love him/her with all my heart.’ The principle or seat of our emotions and thoughts is in the soul and its powers but being that our soul animates our body, for we are a body/soul composite, the movements of our soul are experienced in the body as passions and feelings and love is experienced in the heart area of the body and not as in the head where we experience our thoughts.
 
Just say it is like Jesus sending us his valentine greeting and reminding us of how much he loves us. And we like to keep this valentine around to remind us of this.
 
Protestants are taught to be suspicious of anything Catholic. For example:

Intercession of the saints means worshiping the saints or “praying to the dead” (because heaven is supposedly empty until the last day)

Calling the pope father means we think equate him God.

Looking at an icon or statue means worshiping the statue and committing idolatry

Having a crucifix means Catholics don’t know Jesus rose from the dead (despite the fact that Paul wrote about preaching Christ crucified).

I even saw some claim that the “smoke coming out of the ball” (an incense burner) looked like necromancy (at a funeral) or burnt offerings (at mass).

So, ANY picture of Jesus is going to draw suspicion. Additionally, they don’t acknowledge miracles/revelations of canonized saints such as Saint Faustina.

You can see the end game here, as well as the resulting Protestant doctrine.

Even though they have their own traditions (but will never admit it), such as Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, altar calls, baptism at the “age of reason”, and the like, Protestants will refer to anything they don’t see in THEIR interpretation of scripture/tradition as “traditions of men”. That’s code for false, unbiblical, or corrupt, and acts as a way to deny the authority of the Church.

Don’t fall for it. Even 2 Thessalonians references both oral teachings/tradition and written teachings.
 
While you’re at it ask when, where, and by whom the Assembly of God church was originated 🙂 Guarantee it wasn’t first century Middle East
 
Jesus’ sacred heart was pierced by the soldier’s lance.

-Tim-
 
Actually, a lot of early 19th century Protestants in the American South were very fond of the Sacred Heart image. Peddlers who carried Sacred Heart lithographs for the benefit of their Catholic customers soon found that Baptists, Methodists, et al, were also very fond of the image of a kindly Jesus with His heart crowned with thorns and bleeding. They may not have followed all the associated devotional practices, but they certainly followed the symbolism.

Here’s a modern example, from some kind of offshoot Baptist church that apparently likes the Sacred Heart, too: Sacred Heart of Jesus International Spiritual Baptist Church.

The Sacred Heart devotion was a later derivative of the Five Wounds of Christ devotion, which used to be extremely popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. It caught on big time after the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, but she wasn’t the first person with a devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart.

And yes, it’s in the Bible:

“But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water.” (Jn. 19:34)

“Put your hand into My side. Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe!” (Jn. 20:27)

“Take up My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls.” (Mt. 11:29)

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good… for out of the heart’s abundance, the mouth speaks.” (Lk. 6:45)

“…grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that (we) may attain to the fullness of God himself…” (Eph 3:18-19)

And of course, there’s a lot of Christological interpretation of Psalm verses about hearts, but we’ll keep it short!

Devotions to the Five Wounds, to the instruments of the Passion, and to the Sacred Heart all focus on gratitude for Christ’s suffering and death for us, and wonder at His resurrection which we will someday share. We learn to believe in Him and to live in Him, and we ask to share in His sacrificial love and amazing compassion.

Obviously, not all private devotions appeal to everyone; that’s why they are called private devotions. But devotion to the Sacred Heart is Church-approved, and has often been very fruitful.
 
Mintaka said:
Actually, a lot of early 19th century Protestants in the American South were very fond of the Sacred Heart image. Peddlers who carried Sacred Heart lithographs for the benefit of their Catholic customers soon found that Baptists, Methodists, et al, were also very fond of the image of a kindly Jesus with His heart crowned with thorns and bleeding. They may not have followed all the associated devotional practices, but they certainly followed the symbolism.

Here’s a modern example, from some kind of offshoot Baptist church that apparently likes the Sacred Heart, too: Sacred Heart of Jesus International Spiritual Baptist Church.

The Sacred Heart devotion was a later derivative of the Five Wounds of Christ devotion, which used to be extremely popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. It caught on big time after the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, but she wasn’t the first person with a devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart.

And yes, it’s in the Bible:

“But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water.” (Jn. 19:34)

“Put your hand into My side. Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe!” (Jn. 20:27)

“Take up My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls.” (Mt. 11:29)

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good… for out of the heart’s abundance, the mouth speaks.” (Lk. 6:45)

“…grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that (we) may attain to the fullness of God himself…” (Eph 3:18-19)

And of course, there’s a lot of Christological interpretation of Psalm verses about hearts, but we’ll keep it short!

Devotions to the Five Wounds, to the instruments of the Passion, and to the Sacred Heart all focus on gratitude for Christ’s suffering and death for us, and wonder at His resurrection which we will someday share. We learn to believe in Him and to live in Him, and we ask to share in His sacrificial love and amazing compassion.

Obviously, not all private devotions appeal to everyone; that’s why they are called private devotions. But devotion to the Sacred Heart is Church-approved, and has often been very fruitful.
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Thank you Mintaka for that excellent post!

Thank you Holy Spirit!
 
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