Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Christ is the Pulse- A Meditation on the Sacred Heart

Christ is the Pulse- A Meditation on the Sacred Heart

Last updated on: July 8, 2016 at 7:46 pm by Mary Pezzulo

Christ is the Pulse- A Meditation on the Sacred Heart 2016-07-08T19:46:03-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I know that God has a pulse, and that God is a pulse.

The Holy Trinity is a pulse. To be the Father is to give Life, to give Life eternally and to never not be giving Life. To be the Son is to receive and return Life, pouring Himself back to the Father and never not receiving or returning that life. To be the Holy Ghost is to be Life, to be poured and never not poured in boundless Life. The Holy Trinity is an eternal pulse, an eternal pouring of Life one to another and back again, God to God, Light to Light, Life to Life. Christ, the Son, the Logos, is the Pulse; Christ is the Heart which constantly receives and returns the fullness of life. Christ is the Heart of the Trinity.

But God chose to do still more. God chose, not only to be the Pulse, but to have a pulse. In the beginning was the Pulse, the Heart, and all things that were made were made through the Heart, and all things that were made have a pulse because they participate in the Pulse. And the Pulse became flesh, and bears a human Heart. The heart of the Pulse beats with the pulse of creation, and the heart of the Pulse beats for eternity. Christ the Pulse, the Heart of the Trinity, becomes the Heart of the Church, and His heart is a human heart.

How did He do this? How did unfallen Glory take flesh, when all flesh was fallen? How does the Pulse of eternal life come down and pulse with the hearts doomed to entropy, to slowing and death? How does the Heart who is the Pulse beat with the hearts who will lose the pulse? He did it by fashioning another heart, a heart to perfectly reflect His own, a Heart free from sin. An immaculate heart.

In the fullness of time, the Pulse took flesh inside the woman. He grew for nine months just as we all do, sheltered in the secret of darkness beneath a pulsing human heart. His own heartbeat started after about six weeks– the small Heart which was the Heart of Eternity, there beneath the heart of His ciboria. Her heartbeat was the first sound He heard, when his human ears took form. After the Nativity, he fed at her breast, held against her own heart. Her heart broke for Him when He was taken to the temple; it broke again as they fled from genocide. Her heart broke when He was lost in Jerusalem, and again when He was crucified. Her heart broke once more when His heart was pierced by the lance. The Heart of Christ was still, but hers lived and broke again as she lost Him to the tomb. And then, after the Sabbath was ended, the pulse began anew. She beheld Him, and her heart was glad.

At the heart of all Creation, the Creator is hidden. And the Creator has chosen to have a heart. By His design, the pulse of the universe flows from the Pulse of a human heart. By His eternal plan, the Heart of Christ is enthroned in the heart of His mother, a human, a woman like me. For all eternity, the Creator is a human Heart enthroned in a human heart. And still a deeper mystery: He longs to be enthroned in my heart and your heart as well, that my pulse and your pulse may be His Pulse. Those that beat with the Pulse who is God Himself, will never lose the pulse. Those who live in Christ will never die.

Art is sacred, because it reveals Creation. Creation is sacred because it enthrones the Creator. At the heart of all created things, there is a pulse that reflects the Pulse of the Trinity, and the Creator dwells among us, one with us in that same Pulse.

Today is the evening of the feast of the Sacred Heart; tomorrow begins the feast of the Immaculate Heart. Today we celebrate the Creator and His Throne, hidden in the pulse of Creation. Blessed be the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. May all hearts love them, now and in eternity.

(image via Pixabay)

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Trinity

Previous Post

June 2, 2016

Anguish in Paradise: A Reader's Request Review of "The Encounter: Paradise Lost."

Next Post

June 6, 2016 How To Be Friends With Different Kinds of People

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: King Saul was anointed by the prophet Nathan.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE