Mark,
Chapter 10, Verse 32
They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of
them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what
was going to happen to him.
Why were the apostles amazed?[1]
Christ's
going on with his undertaking for the salvation of mankind, was, is, and will
be, the wonder of all his disciples. Worldly honor is a glittering thing, with
which the eyes of Christ's own disciples have many times been dazzled. Our care
must be, that we may have wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him; and
we may trust him to provide what the degrees of our glory shall be. Christ
shows them that dominion was generally abused in the world. If Jesus would
gratify all our desires, it would soon appear that we desire fame or authority,
and are unwilling to taste of his cup, or to have his baptism; and should often
be ruined by having our prayers answered. But he loves us, and will only give
his people what is good for them.
After
His death and resurrection, Christ gave His apostles the power to dispel fear via the influence of the Holy
Spirit through the imposition of hands on the elect.
Sacred Heart of Jesus[2]
ALTHOUGH many pious souls
had been accustomed, in the silence of their secluded lives, to venerate the
sacred Heart of Jesus with great devotion, still our divine Savior desired
that the boundless love of His Heart might be known by all men, and that a new fire
of love should thereby be kindled in the cold hearts of Christians. For this purpose
He made use of a frail and little-known instrument in the person of Margaret Mary
Alacoque, a nun of the Order of the Visitation, at Parayle-Monial, France. One day,
when, according to her custom during the octave of Corpus Christi, she was deeply
engaged in devotions before the Blessed Sacrament, the divine Saviour appeared to
her, showed her His Heart burning with love, and said: "Behold this Heart,
which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and
consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return I receive from the
greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the
coldness and contempt they have for Me in this sacrament of love. And what is most
painful to Me is that they are hearts consecrated to Me. It is for this reason I
ask thee that the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi be appropriated
to a special feast to honor My Heart by communicating on that day and making reparation
for the indignity that it has received. And I promise that My Heart shall
dilate to pour out abundantly the influences of its love on all that will render
it this honor or procure its being rendered. Margaret obeyed, but met everywhere
the greatest opposition, until finally, when she became mistress of novices, she
succeeded, by the help of her divine Spouse, in animating her young charges to venerate
the sacred Heart of Jesus. But this was not sufficient for her zeal. She persevered
until she softened the opposition of the nuns, and kindled in all an equal
devotion towards the most sacred Heart. Thence the devotion spread to the
adjoining dioceses, where confraternities in honor of the most sacred Heart of Jesus
soon sprung up. Pope Clement XIII., after having instituted a most rigorous examination
of the whole affair, commanded that the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
should be solemnly celebrated throughout the whole Catholic Church every year, on
the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.
The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus
1. Object
of this Devotion.
In the divine Heart of Our
Savior we must not imagine an inanimate heart, separated from the person of
Christ, but the living heart of the God-Man, the center of all His affections, the
fountain of all His virtues, the most touching emblem of His infinite love to man.
The Church venerates the cross, the blood, and the wounds of the divine
Savior, by feasts which have their proper masses and lessons, in order, by meditation
upon these objects, to awaken in us a more fervent devotion to the Redeemer. How
much more worthy, then, of our devotion is the sacred Heart of Our Savior, since
all its thoughts, movements, and affections aim at our salvation, and it is always
ready to receive truly penitent sinners, to pardon them, to restore them again to
God s favor, and make them partakers of eternal happiness!
2. Excellence
of this Devotion.
It is, writes the
venerable P. Simon Gourdan:
a.
A holy devotion, for therein men venerate in Christ those
affections and motions of His Heart by which He sanctified the Church, glorified
His Heavenly Father, and showed Himself to men as a perfect example of the most
sublime holiness.
b.
An ancient devotion of the Catholic Church, which, instructed
by St. Paul, the great apostle, has at all times acknowledged the great
beneficence of the divine and sacred Heart of Jesus.
c.
An approved devotion, for the Holy Scriptures everywhere
admonish us to renew the heart, by changing our lives; to penetrate it with true
sorrow, to inflame it with divine love, and to adorn it by the practice of all virtues.
When, therefore, a new heart is promised us, by which to direct our lives, that
can be no other than the Heart of Jesus, which is to us the pattern of all excellence,
and which we must follow if we would be saved.
d.
A perfect devotion, as being the origin of all other devotions.
For the Heart of Jesus is the inexhaustible treasury from which the blessed Mother
of God, and all other saints have derived their graces, their virtues, their life,
their spiritual goods. Filled first with treasures from this source, different servants
of God have instituted and established other devotions.
e.
A profitable devotion, for thereby we have brought before
our eyes the very fountain of life and grace, and can draw directly from it, increasing
in ourselves all virtues, by adoring this divine Heart, meditating on its holy affections,
and endeavoring to imitate them.
f.
A devotion pleasing to God, for thus we adore God, as Christ
requires, in spirit and in truth, serving Him inwardly in our hearts, and endeavoring
to please Him. Finally it is:
g.
A useful devotion, since its whole object is to unite
us most intimately with Christ as members of Him, her head, to make us live by and
according to His spirit, to have one heart and soul with Him, and through grace
finally to become one with Him, which is and must be the object of all devotions.
As this devotion is, then, so
excellent, we cannot sufficiently recommend it to all who are anxious for their
salvation. While everyone can practice this devotion, and adore the sacred Heart
of Jesus, by himself, there is a greater blessing when pious souls unite and
form a confraternity for practicing the devotion. Of such confraternities there
were in the year 1726 more than three hundred, and they are now established throughout
all Catholic countries. Hesitate not, Christian soul, to engage in this devotion,
and to join in the adoration of that sacred Heart of Jesus in which all men find
propitiation, the pious, confidence; sinners, hope; the afflicted, consolation;
the sick, support; the dying, refuge ; the elect, joy and delight.
An Offering to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Whoever says the following prayer before
the image of the most sacred Heart of Jesus, with sincere sorrow for his sins, gains
each time an indulgence of one hundred days; and by saying it daily for a month,
he can on any one day gain a plenary indulgence, if he makes his confession,
receives communion, and prays according to the intention of the Church:
“My
loving Jesus, I (N.N.) give Thee my heart; and I consecrate myself wholly to Thee,
out of the grateful love I bear Thee, and as reparation for all my unfaithfulness;
and with Thy aid I purpose never to sin again.”
[2]
Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
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