The annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery brings us, in an ever new way, to the witness of the fourth evangelist who declares fulfilled the prophetic word of Zechariah: they will look upon him whom they have pierced (Zech 12:10). The soldier's thrust opens the side of Jesus Christ, turning it into a wellspring of life. From the surrender unto death is born the fountain that springs up to eternal life. He who saw it bears witness (Jn 19:35) and in his testimony is the way to reach this fountain: to look at him whom they pierced.
By showing us his glorious wounds, the Risen One opens the doors of the Mystery and invites us to enter through them to reveal to us the secret of his Heart: the infinite Love of the Holy Trinity dwells in this Heart, human like ours. And this Heart has allowed itself to be pierced so that we may experience how its wounds have healed us (1 Pet 2:24).
On the centenary of the Consecration of Spain to the Heart of Jesus, from the young Diocese of Getafe we invite all the faithful to look at the one they have pierced to unite with deep devotion to its renewal. Not a few ask themselves, outside and inside the Catholic Church, if it makes sense to renew this consecration in our days.
Without ignoring the socio-political connotations of the 1919 consecration, we understand the renewal of the consecration as an act of piety of the faithful in Spain who wish to respond to the evangelizing demands of the present moment, making everyone sharers in the Love of God revealed to us in the Heart of Jesus.
From the point of view of faith, every act of consecration, whether personal or communitarian, is always a response of love to the first Love of God. Whoever consecrates his life to the Heart of Jesus, responds gratefully to the extreme love of God by giving Him what he acknowledges having received from Him: understanding, will, affections, all that he is and has.
Thus understood, consecration finds its origin in the new life received in baptism, and always implies a recognition, an exercise of reparation and a missionary commitment. In renewing our Consecration we express our gratitude to the Lord for the inheritance of holiness received from our elders, we ask for a profound rejuvenation of the faith in Spain and we commit ourselves to courageously face the evangelizing challenges of the present and the future. n
