Devotion to the heart of Jesus, as a direct contemplation of the Lord that draws us into union with him, is clearly Christological in nature. We see this in the Letter to the Hebrews, which urges us to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus” (12:2). At the same time, we need to realize that Jesus speaks of himself as the way to the Father: “I am the way… No one comes to the Father except through me” ( Jn 14:6). Jesus wants to bring us to the Father. That is why, from the very beginning, the Church’s preaching does not end with Jesus, but with the Father. As source and fullness, the Father is ultimately the one to be glorified. 53“There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” ( 1 Cor 8:6). “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” ( Phil 4:20). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” ( 2 Cor 1:3).
If we turn, for example, to the Letter to the Ephesians, we can see clearly how our worship is directed to the Father: “I bow my knees before the Father” (3:14). There is “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (4:6). “Give thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything” (5:20). It is the Father “for whom we exist” ( 1 Cor 8:6). In this sense, Saint John Paul II could say that, “the whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father”. 54Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 49: AAS 87 (1995), 35. This too was the experience of Saint Ignatius of Antioch on his path to martyrdom: “In me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, ‘Come to the Father’”. 55Ad Rom., 7: PG 5, 694.
The Father is, before all else, the Father of Jesus Christ: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3). He is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” ( Eph 1:17). When the Son became man, all the hopes and aspirations of his human heart were directed towards the Father. If we consider the way Christ spoke of the Father, we can grasp the love and affection that his human heart felt for him, this complete and constant orientation towards him. 56“That the world may know that I love the Father” ( Jn 14:31); “The Father and I are one” ( Jn 10:30); “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” ( Jn 14:10). Jesus’ life among us was a journey of response to the constant call of his human heart to come to the Father. 57“I am going to the Father” ( pros ton Patéra: Jn 16:28). “I am coming to you” ( pros se: Jn 17:11).
We know that the Aramaic word Jesus used to address the Father was “Abba”, an intimate and familiar term that some found disconcerting (cf. Jn 5:18). It is how he addressed the Father in expressing his anguish at his impending death: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want” (Mk 14:36). Jesus knew well that he had always been loved by the Father: “You loved me before the foundation of the world” (Jn 17:24). In his human heart, he had rejoiced at hearing the Father say to him: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11).
The Fourth Gospel tells us that the eternal Son was always “close to the Father’s heart” ( Jn 1:18). 58“ eis ton kolpon tou Patrós”. Saint Irenaeus thus declares that “the Son of God was with the Father from the beginning”. 59Adv. Haer., III, 18, 1: PG 7, 932. Origen, for his part, maintains that the Son perseveres “in uninterrupted contemplation of the depths of the Father”. 60In Joh. II, 2: PG 14, 110. When the Son took flesh, he spent entire nights conversing with his beloved Father on the mountaintop (cf. Lk 6:12). He told us, “I must be in my Father’s house” ( Lk 2:49). We see too how he expressed his praise: “Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth’ ( Lk 10:21). His last words, full of trust, were, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” ( Lk 23:46).
Let us now turn to the Holy Spirit, whose fire fills the heart of Christ. As Saint John Paul II once said, Christ’s heart is “the Holy Spirit’s masterpiece”. 61Angelus, 23 June 2002: L’Osservatore Romano, 24-25 June 2002, p. 1. This is more than simply a past event, for even now “the heart of Christ is alive with the action of the Holy Spirit, to whom Jesus attributed the inspiration of his mission (cf. Lk 4:18; Is 61:1) and whose sending he had promised at the Last Supper. It is the Spirit who enables us to grasp the richness of the sign of Christ’s pierced side, from which the Church has sprung (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5)”. 62SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Message on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus, Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3: L’Osservatore Romano, 12 June 1999, p. 5. In a word, “only the Holy Spirit can open up before us the fullness of the ‘inner man’, which is found in the heart of Christ. He alone can cause our human hearts to draw strength from that fullness, step by step”. 63ID., Angelus, 8 June 1986: L’Osservatore Romano, 9-10 June 1986, p. 5
If we seek to delve more deeply into the mysterious working of the Spirit, we learn that he groans within us, saying “Abba!” Indeed, “the proof that you are children is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal 4:6). For “the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16). The Holy Spirit at work in Christ’s human heart draws him unceasingly to the Father. When the Spirit unites us to the sentiments of Christ through grace, he makes us sharers in the Son’s relationship to the Father, whereby we receive “a spirit of adoption through which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom 8:15).
Our relationship with the heart of Christ is thus changed, thanks to the prompting of the Spirit who guides us to the Father, the source of life and the ultimate wellspring of grace. Christ does not expect us simply to remain in him. His love is “the revelation of the Father’s mercy”, 64Homily, Visit to the Gemelli Hospital and to the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 27 June 2014: L’Osservatore Romano, 29 June 2014, p. 7. and his desire is that, impelled by the Spirit welling up from his heart, we should ascend to the Father “with him and in him”. We give glory to the Father “through” Christ, 65Eph 1:5, 7; 2:18; 3:12. “with” Christ, 66Eph 2:5, 6; 4:15. and “in” Christ. 67Eph 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 15; 2:10, 13, 21, 22; 3:6, 11, 21. Saint John Paul II taught that, “the Saviour’s heart invites us to return to the Father’s love, which is the source of every authentic love”. 68Message on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus, Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2: L’Osservatore Romano, 12 June 1999, p. 5. This is precisely what the Holy Spirit, who comes to us through the heart of Christ, seeks to nurture in our hearts. For this reason, the liturgy, through the enlivening work of the Spirit, always addresses the Father from the risen heart of Christ.