Invitation to rest in the Sacred Heart highlighted in cathedral feast day Mass

KOTA KINABALU – The invitation to rest in the Sacred Heart of Jesus was highlighted in the Sacred Heart Cathedral titular feast day Mass on 22 June 2017.

This was brought out strongly by Father Cosmas Lee in his homily at the concelebrated Mass presided by Archbishop John Wong.  Joining them at the altar were Archbishop Emeritus John Lee, Father Charles Chiew of Keningau Diocese, and most of the KK priests.

No matter what kind of heart one may have – anxious, tired, angry, etc – the invitation is extended to all to find rest in the Heart of Jesus.

Lee concluded his homily requesting the prayers of all for the clergy to be holy shepherds after the Heart of Jesus.

Earlier in the day, the clergy prepared themselves for the event with a recollection cum study day.

Pope John Paul II established the Day for the Sanctification of Priests on the feast of the Sacred Heart in 2002 because the feast of the Sacred Heart celebrates God’s merciful love, that becomes tangible for priests in the Eucharistic Mystery, which they celebrate daily, and in the sacramental pardon which they administer and receive.

As to how the cathedral was named after the Sacred Heart, it is said that in Father Henry van der Heyden’s letter of June 1903, when the community was still stationed at the shop-house in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), the Mission was already called Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Was it possible that, surrounding by, and experiencing so much human misery and suffering, Fr Heyden thought of God’s compassionate love for his children in Borneo, and remembered that Jesus also suffered and died for them? (cfr 100 Years of Good News, 1903-2003, Sacred Heart Cathedral Kota Kinabalu, 2003, pg 56).

Nobody really knows but it is good that all those who have received so many graces, favours, and services from the cathedral parish to make an effort to come together to celebrate the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on its feast day.