Archbishop Peter A Comensoli delivered the following homily on the evening of Friday 15 November at Sacred Heart Parish, Kew, during a special Mass at which he consecrated a new altar.
There are not many parish Churches that can claim the Pope has written about them. But that is the case with Sacred Heart, Kew. The week before last, Pope Francis did, indeed, write a lengthy and beautifully profound letter called Dilexit nos. It is on the divine and human heart of Jesus Christ. As Pope Francis said of this letter,
I believe it will do us great good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart.
It is, as he says, ‘by drinking from this love in Christ Jesus that we are able to forge bonds of fraternity, or recognising the dignity of each human being, and of working together to care for our common home.’
The heart of Jesus, fully human, yet entirely drenched in the divine, is our privileged location to encounter the love of God for us. We have been saved in Christ’s flesh—given completely to us, and for us, on the cross. That same flesh, sacramentally present to us on this altar we are to consecrate this evening, continues to be given to us, and for us. It is the location of the re-presenting of his sacrificial offering, which we are invited to make our own.
We, too, from this table, and in this temple, stand with the heavenly hosts, as John the Divine saw in his vision. Here, around this altar, we offer up our prayer with all the saints, in humble petition, knowing it rises like the smoke of the incense and filling our space with its fragrance.
Jesus, in his own Sacred Heart, is inviting us forward, asking us to bring the offering of our reconciliation among and between us. And then, from here, and with his heart of love within us, we are sent out to give the offering of Jesus for the sake of others. To quote once more from Pope Francis’ letter, ‘Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost.’
As we dedicate this altar in Sacred Heart Church this evening, recognise in its consecration—its setting apart for sacred purposes—the location for the presence of Christ’s heart among us. And in so recognising it, then humbly, simply and graciously honour it.
Banner image: Archbishop Peter A Comensoli consecrates the new altar at Sacred Heart Parish, Kew, at a special Mass on Friday 15 November.
Archbishop Peter A Comensoli
Most Reverend Peter Andrew Comensoli is the Archbishop of Melbourne.
