Spirituality of the Sacred Heart There has been a shift in emphasis of the spirituality of the Sacred Heart in recent times in Australia. The following quotes are from a book by Dennis Murphy, The Heart of Our Mission, Letters to a Province of Apostolic Religious, St Paul Publication, Sydney, 1981. The information from this and similar texts formed part of the brief for the Shrine of the Sacred Heart project. Murphy discusses the discomfort which even the word 'devotion' summons as it is so linked to the seventeenth century version of the spirituality. He comments : "There are many people of all ages and backgrounds who have retained a deep attachment to what we know traditionally as "Devotion to the Sacred Heart". Others are returning to it through a wide spread experience of the "piety void" brought about by the process of reform of all aspects of Church life. Many of these reforms were carried out by intellectuals and theoreticians, people not always in clofse contact with the real needs of the mass of the people who make up the Church. Thus in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest and appreciation of many older forms of devotion. Numerous practices have been rediscovered and (fortunately) given new life and meaning. Some of this is suspect, a temporary retreat into that nostalgia that is emerging in so many facets of modern life; much of it based on an insecurity about present and above all the future." The essential aspect of the spirituality of the heart is a respect of affectivity. This 'feeling' should not predominantly be a sadness of what sin has done to Jesus but should focus on the risen and glorified Christ. Finally the focus is on the Trinitarian aspects of the Sacred Heart: "There is no other Christ than the glorified, risen Christ. But the risen Christ is the Jesus who felt and who suffered... Emphasis on the risen "cosmic" Christ which has come about in recent years should not be diminished, but if one looses touch with the human Jesus it can become inadequate and even misleading." "Authentic pluralism holds that differences can enrich if they mutually respect each other, attempt to learn from each other, and influence each other." This is the Australian adaptation of the instruction from the Superior General, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Eugene Cuskelly, which Murphy received in a personal letter and which he quotes as follows: "Consequently, one has no right to heedless repetition of old phrases and old approaches if these can stifle the inspiration which such a spirituality has, on condition that it be thoughtfully presented to this generation." The most fundamental changes in the spirituality of the Sacred Heart occured in the years between the building of St Brigid's and the present time. However during those seventy five intervening years not one single new image of the Sacred Heart was introduced. The visual mediating link would have to enable attachment between the new image and images with seventy five years standing. In addition to maintaining the link to the image tradition of the past the hologram is required to evidence the enormous transformations which the spirituality had undergone over the same period of time. < Back to Public Commissions