The seventh reflection about the painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at St Ubaldesca Church, Paola

For raised up high on the Cross,

he gave himself up for us with a wonderful love,

and poured out blood and water from his pierced side,

the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments,

so that, won over to the open heart of the Saviour,

all might draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Preface of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This is the concluding reflection in the rather long series of reflections about the titular painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at St Ubaldesca Church in Paola. In the previous reflection we considered the figures we find in the lower section of the painting. In that part of the painting however, there is also another, quite significant, detail. Although barely visible because the painting needs restoration, in the space between the little girl in her white First Holy Communion dress and the poor man, there is a spring which wells from under the bottom step of Jesus’s throne, then trickles down the rock and goes on seemingly to overflow on to the main altar. We encounter this image both in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel and in the Book of Revelation. Ezekiel has a vision of water coming out from under the threshold of the temple (Ezek 47:1-2). In the Book of Revelation, one of the twenty-four elders standing around the throne says to John that those who have come out of the great tribulation, “shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:16-17)

To appreciate the full meaning of this spring of water, we ought to recall two other instances that we find in the Gospel according to St John. In chapter 7, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (Jn 7: 37-39). The Evangelist specifies that Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive after he is glorified. And, when he is glorified upon the Cross, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’s side with a spear, and “at once there came out blood and water” (Jn 19:34). These have been considered as symbols of Baptism and the Eucharist since the Patristic era.

From the Preface of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus above, we see that the liturgy links all these aspects together but concludes with a description of humanity won over to the Heart, so that all might draw water from these springs of salvation. Although the wording is used matter-of-factly, in truth there is a choice that one must make as to whether to draw water. And therefore, this final reflection ends with an invitation to let the joy of the Lord stir us and imbue us with a longing to be filled with the water from the spring of salvation: His pierced Heart!