Feast of the Sacred Heart today, and...(at least for me)

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Blessings to all on this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and at least for me, I cannot think of Jesus withut also thinking of Mary, who by the power of the Holy Spirit conceived Him and carried Him in her womb. As I’ve quoted so often from the words of Pope St. John Paul II :
"… Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularised society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother…( words from an address to the Legion of Mary , Oct. 1982).
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Today we begin Chapter 13 in St. Louis de Montfort’s book: “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”:
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SUMMARY OF THE UNBELIEVABLE SORROWS THE INCARNATE WISDOM CHOSE TO ENDURE OUT OF LOVE FOR US
  1. Among all the motives impelling us to love Jesus Christ, the Wisdom incarnate, the strongest, in my opinion, is the sufferings He chose to endure to prove His love for us. “There is,” says St Bernard, "one motive which excels all others which I feel most keenly and which urges me to love Jesus. It is, dear Jesus, the bitter chalice which You drank for our sakes, and the great work of our Redemption which makes You so lovable to us. Indeed this supreme blessing and incomparable proof of Your love makes us want to return Your love. This motive attracts us more agreeably, makes most just demands upon us, moves us more pressingly and influences us more forcibly." And he gives the reason in a few words, “Our dear Saviour has labored and suffered much to accomplish our redemption. What pain and anguish he has endured!”
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In agony on His Cross, Jesus saw His Mother Standing with the Beloved Disciple John:
When Jesus saw His Mother and the disciple there whom he loved, He said to his Mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (Jn 19: 26-27)
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St. John Paul II remarked that the word “home” is not in the original Greek but rather the Greek word(s) translated is : “took her into his own” . St. JPII suggested that the words indicate John took her into His life. May we ponder the great Love of Jesus today and the uinque union of Love He shared with Mary whom He gave to be our Mother and Model for the Church.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love as you filled Mary with Jesus.
 
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Dear AlbMagno and CajunJoy,

Thanks so much for your “hearts” to let me know that you read and can see how much Love we “owe” to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and how precious a gift to us is our Mother Mary, given to us from His Cross. In the Supplement to St. Louis de Montfort’s book on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” he wrote about receiving Jesus with Mary’s Heart:
… Implore Mary to lend you her heart so that you may receive her Son with her dispositions. Remind her that her Son’s glory requires that He should not come into a heart so sullied and fickle as your own, which could not fail to diminish His glory and might cause Him to leave. Tell her that if she will take up her abode in you to receive her Son - which she can do because of the sovereignty she has over all hearts - He will be received by her in a perfect manner without danger of being affronted or being forced to depart. “God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.”

Tell her with confidence that all you have given her of your possessions is little enough to honour her, but that in Holy Communion you wish to give her the same gifts as the eternal Father gave her. Thus she will feel more honoured than if you gave her all the wealth in the world. Tell her, finally, that Jesus, whose love for her is unique, still wishes to take his delight and his repose in her even in your soul, even though it is poorer and less clean than the stable which he readily entered because she was there. Beg her to lend you her heart, saying, “O Mary, I take you for my all; give me your heart.” (from paragraph 266, # 4 in the Supplement)
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St. Alphonsus, in the Glories of Mary, says that Jesus suffered most of all from compassion for His Mother, who was giving birth to us in the life of grace:
So that the afflicted Mother saw her Jesus suffering on every side; she desired to comfort Him, but could not. And that which grieved her the most was to see that she herself, by her presence and sorrow, increased the sufferings of her Son. “The grief,” says Saint Bernard, “which filled Mary’s heart, as a torrent flowed into and embittered the heart of Jesus.” “So much so,” says the same Saint, “that Jesus on the cross suffered more from compassion for His Mother than from His own torments.”
https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/7DOLORS.HTM
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Dear patricius,

Thanks so much for both your “heart” to let me know again your great love for Jesus through Mary, adn for this reply, sharing with all of us the beautiful quote from St. Alphonsus’ masterpiece : “Glories of Mary” and also the beautiful quote of St. Bernard.

These great “Champions” of Mary, like St. Louis de Montfort have done much to help us all to appreciate the unique Love shared by those two Hearts – most especially in the Passion. May each day find us asking, seeking and knocking for grace to receive and find and have the door open for us : to Know, Love, and Serve Jesus more and more each day of our lives on this earth, through Mary our Mother.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You! Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother and Model of the Church pray for us. Righteous Heart of Joseph, protector of Mary and the Child Jesus, protect us all in our struggles against evil; pray for us.
 
Thanks, MariaChristi.

St. Alphonsus also says that Mary’s suffering was greater than the suffering of all the martyrs combined. And this is certain, given that she is holier than all angels and men, as the Church teaches.

Yet, her suffering is much less than that of Jesus, since He is God… Even so, Jesus loves each human person so much that he counted his suffering as nothing, and would be glad–as Dame Julian of Norwich says–to suffer even more, if it were possible.

Here is a wonderful passage from chapter 24 of Dame Julian’s Revelation of Divine Love:
THEN with a glad cheer our Lord looked unto His Side and beheld, rejoicing. With His sweet looking He led forth the understanding of His creature by the same wound into His Side within. And then he shewed a fair, delectable place, and large enough for all mankind that shall be saved to rest in peace and in love.[1] And therewith He brought to mind His dearworthy blood and precious water which he let pour all out for love. And with the sweet beholding He shewed His blessed heart even cloven in two.

And with this sweet enjoying. He shewed unto mine understanding, in part, the blessed Godhead, stirring then the poor soul[2] to understand, as it may be said, that is, to think on,[3] the endless Love that was without beginning, and is, and shall be ever. And with this our good Lord said full blissfully: Lo, how that I loved thee, as if He had said: My darling, behold and see thy Lord, thy God that is thy Maker and thine endless joy, see what satisfying and bliss I have in thy salvation; and for my love rejoice [thou] with me.

And also, for more understanding, this blessed word was said: Lo, how I loved thee! Behold and see that I loved thee so much ere I died for thee that I would die for thee; and now I have died for thee and steered willingly that which I may. And now is all my bitter pain and all my hard travail turned to endless joy and bliss to me and to thee. How should it now be that thou shouldst anything pray that pleaseth me but that I should full gladly grant it thee? For my pleasing is thy holiness and thine endless joy and bliss with me.

This is the understanding, simply as I can say it, of this blessed word: Lo, how I loved thee. This shewed our good Lord for to make us glad and merry.
Revelations of Divine Love/Chapter 24 - Wikisource, the free online library
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Thanks, again, patricius,

The quote from Dame Julian of Norwich is a beautiful and encouraging one. We all need to listen to the Scriptures as the saints did, so that we may hear Jesus speaking to us. Too often we neglect Him and also neglect to read from the writings of the Saints and holy men and women who have based their lives as our Mother Mary did, on all Jesus said and did, pondering all in our hearts.

Today is Saturday, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, and I was thinking of a scene in “The Passion of the Christ” when Peter wept at the feet of Mary. I suspect Paul also came to know more of Jesus through Mary although there is no account in Scripture, to my knowledge, of their meeting.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. St. Louis de Montfort, Dame Julian of Nurwich, Sts Peter and Paul, and all Holy Saints and Angels, especially our Guardian Angels, pray for us.
 
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Thanks, MariaChristi. Our Lord told St. Faustina that we have time for everything except coming to Him for graces. He asked for souls who are willing to receive His Mercy. I think we need to pray for an understanding of what grace is, and pray that priests will preach about this Divine Love of Jesus for us. I find that if I don’t feed myself by a little spiritual reading here and there, and by appealing to Our Lady, I quickly become unhappy and lose perspective things, and on what the source of joy is.
 
Well said, dear brother! We do need to be nourished daily by prayer, and prayerful listening to Jesus speaking to us in His Word, as Mary listened and pondered in her heart, all He said and did. Good Spiritual reading from the writings of the saints can also encourage us in our battle against temptations – all of the Saints took up their Cross and followed Jesus. None were without suffering nor were they unaware of their need to conquer sin.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have Mercy on us, as we trust in You. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Righteous Heart of Joseph, Patron of the Church pray for us.
 
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Thanks, MariaChristi. Jesus told St. Faustina that he wants us to hand over all our troubles and griefs to him, so that he can fill us with his graces.
Jesus: My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace.
DIARY V (1322-1589) - Divine Mercy in my SOUL
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Shared from this mornings homily - ‘when negative things are buzzing in your mind, send them down to your heart. Physically imagine doing it. Send them to your heart space’.
 
Dear halogirl,

I’m thinking this may have been the homily for the Feast of the Sacred heart that you shared. The Heart of Jesus does call us to learn from Him Who is Meek and Humble of Heart, and the Gospel for yesterday’s Feast was the Shepherd who went in search of the lost sheep. The Indwelling Trinity is our true “heart space” for God is Love and from Him we learn to love and to be Meek and Humble.

Thanks for sharing. 🙂

P. S. Today is the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, who also learned from Jesus to be Meek and Humble of Heart. Today’s Gospel is the call of Peter to be the rock on which Christ built His Church.
 
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Dear AlbMagno and Annie,

Thank you both for your “hearts” letting us know that you read and appreciated the excerpts from St. Louis De Montfort’s writings. He is steeped in Scripture and is such a true son of Mary, I hope you will continue to read these threads on “The Love of Eternal Wisdom”. May we all ponder as Mary our Mother did, all Jesus said and did, and live the Truth we hear, by the power of His Holy Spirit.
 
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