“Heart of Jesus, victim of sins, have mercy on us”.
1. Dear brothers and sisters, this invocation from the Litany of the Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, “was put to death for our sins” (Rom 4:25); although he had committed no sin, “God treated him as sin on our behalf” (2 Cor 5:21). The immense weight of the sin of the world rested on the Heart of Christ.
In him, the figure of the "Paschal Lamb" was perfectly fulfilled, a victim offered to God so that the firstborn of the Hebrews might be spared by the sign of his blood (cf. Ex 12:21-27). Rightly, therefore, John the Baptist recognised in him the true "Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29): - an innocent lamb, who had taken upon himself the sin of the world to immerse it in the healing waters of the Jordan (cf. Mt 3:3-16 et par.); - a meek lamb, "led like a sheep to the slaughter, as a sheep before its shearers is silent" (Is 53:7), so that his divine silence might confound the proud words of wicked men.
Jesus is a willing victim, because he offered himself "freely to his passion" (Missale Romanum, Prex euchar. II), as a victim of expiation for the sins of men (cf. Lev 1:4; Heb 10:5-10). which he consumed in the fire of his love.
2. Jesus is the eternal victim. Risen from the dead and glorified at the right hand of the Father, he preserves in his immortal body the marks of the wounds in his hands and feet, and his pierced side (cf. Jn 20:27; Lk 24:39-40) and presents them to the Father in his unceasing prayer of intercession on our behalf (cf. Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34).
The wonderful sequence of the Easter Mass, recalling this fact of our faith, exhorts us:
"To the Paschal victim, / let the sacrifice of praise be offered today. / The Lamb has redeemed his flock. / The innocent one has reconciled us sinners with the Father" (Sequentia "Victimae Paschali", str. 1).
And the preface of this solemnity proclaims:
Christ is "the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world; / it is he who, by dying, destroyed death, / and by rising, restored life to us".
3. Brothers and sisters, in this hour of Marian prayer we have contemplated the Heart of Jesus, victim of our sins; but first of all and most deeply of all, his sorrowful Mother contemplated it, of whom the liturgy sings: "For the sins of her people / she saw Jesus in the torments / of the harsh punishment" (Sequentia "Stabat Mater", str 7).
As we approach the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Sorrows, we remember this intrepid and intercessory presence of Our Lady beneath the Cross of Calvary, and we think with immense gratitude that, at that moment, the dying Christ, victim of the sins of the world, entrusted her to us as our Mother: "Behold your Mother" (Jn 19:27).
We entrust our prayer to Mary, as we say to her Son Jesus:
Heart of Jesus, victim of our sins, accept our praise, our eternal gratitude, our sincere repentance. Have mercy on us, today and always. Amen.
[Pope John Paul II, Angelus, 10 September 1989]
Dialogo e Solstizio
Jan 10, 2026
Written by
don Giuseppe Nespeca
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Free and eternal victim
don Giuseppe Nespeca
Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Anyone who welcomes the Lord into his life and loves him with all his heart is capable of a new beginning. He succeeds in doing God’s will: to bring about a new form of existence enlivened by love and destined for eternity (Pope Benedict)
Chi accoglie il Signore nella propria vita e lo ama con tutto il cuore è capace di un nuovo inizio. Riesce a compiere la volontà di Dio: realizzare una nuova forma di esistenza animata dall’amore e destinata all’eternità (Papa Benedetto)
You ought not, however, to be satisfied merely with knocking and seeking: to understand the things of God, what is absolutely necessary is oratio. For this reason, the Saviour told us not only: ‘Seek and you will find’, and ‘Knock and it shall be opened to you’, but also added, ‘Ask and you shall receive’ [Verbum Domini n.86; cit. Origen, Letter to Gregory]
Non ti devi però accontentare di bussare e di cercare: per comprendere le cose di Dio ti è assolutamente necessaria l’oratio. Proprio per esortarci ad essa il Salvatore ci ha detto non soltanto: “Cercate e troverete”, e “Bussate e vi sarà aperto”, ma ha aggiunto: “Chiedete e riceverete” [Verbum Domini n.86; cit. Origene, Lettera a Gregorio]
In the crucified Jesus, a kind of transformation and concentration of the signs occurs: he himself is the “sign of God” (John Paul II)
In Gesù crocifisso avviene come una trasformazione e concentrazione dei segni: è Lui stesso il "segno di Dio" (Giovanni Paolo II)
Only through Christ can we converse with God the Father as children, otherwise it is not possible, but in communion with the Son we can also say, as he did, “Abba”. In communion with Christ we can know God as our true Father. For this reason Christian prayer consists in looking constantly at Christ and in an ever new way, speaking to him, being with him in silence, listening to him, acting and suffering with him (Pope Benedict)
Solo in Cristo possiamo dialogare con Dio Padre come figli, altrimenti non è possibile, ma in comunione col Figlio possiamo anche dire noi come ha detto Lui: «Abbà». In comunione con Cristo possiamo conoscere Dio come Padre vero. Per questo la preghiera cristiana consiste nel guardare costantemente e in maniera sempre nuova a Cristo, parlare con Lui, stare in silenzio con Lui, ascoltarlo, agire e soffrire con Lui (Papa Benedetto)
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus identifies himself not only with the king-shepherd, but also with the lost sheep, we can speak of a “double identity”: the king-shepherd, Jesus identifies also with the sheep: that is, with the least and most needy of his brothers and sisters […] And let us return home only with this phrase: “I was present there. Thank you!”. Or: “You forgot about me” (Pope Francis)
Nella pagina evangelica di oggi, Gesù si identifica non solo col re-pastore, ma anche con le pecore perdute. Potremmo parlare come di una “doppia identità”: il re-pastore, Gesù, si identifica anche con le pecore, cioè con i fratelli più piccoli e bisognosi […] E torniamo a casa soltanto con questa frase: “Io ero presente lì. Grazie!” oppure: “Ti sei scordato di me” (Papa Francesco)
Thus, in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvellous effects in their own lives (Pope Benedict))
Nella figura di Matteo, dunque, i Vangeli ci propongono un vero e proprio paradosso: chi è apparentemente più lontano dalla santità può diventare persino un modello (Papa Benedetto)
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