No one who comes to me will I ever reject.

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me. - John 6

I love the readings from John's Gospel for this week.  Today's reading is stunning, because Jesus speaks openly, revealing that he is I AM.  Since Sunday I have been pondering his message of merciful love, when he told the woman caught in adultry, 'neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.'  Jesus came not to condemn, but to save.  This is Truth.  

Yesterday I discovered that Sr. Consolata Betrone has been declared venerable.  She was a Capuchin Poor Clare from Italy, a mystic in the spirit of St. Therese of Lisieux*, to whom our Lord revealed the desires of his Sacred Heart: Confidence and love.  (To learn more about her, go here.)

He stressed his mission to save souls, teaching her a prayer, an act of continual love, "Jesus and Mary I love you, save souls."  He warned against passing judgment, and therefore, condemning others, assuring Consolata that 'no one who comes to him will he ever reject.  "The way my heart feels toward souls: though they be ugly, soiled, filthy, my love considers them always beautiful."

"My parental heart is wounded by every severe judgment, reprimand, or condemnation, even though based upon truth, and how much comfort, on the other hand, is afforded me by every act of compassion, indulgence and mercy?  You must never judge anyone; never say a harsh word against anyone; instead console my Heart, distract me from my sorrow, with eager charity, make me see only the good side of a guilty soul. [...] if you only knew how much I suffer when I must dispense justice!  My Heart needs to be comforted; it wishes to dispense mercy, not justice!" - Jesus Appeals To the World

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. - John 3

I like to read quietly and slowly and rest on the Gospels during Passiontide.  What they reveal about the Sacred Heart is echoed in Jesus' words to his friends, which can help one to understand our times better.  When we find we don't quite 'get it' and in the midst of confusion, we can say, "Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!"  Followed up with "Jesus I trust in you!"

Therefore, how can we doubt, and continually sadden the Holy Spirit and the Heart of Love?  Ven. Consolata helps us find and hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church, in and through that little, yet powerful prayer, "Jesus and Mary, I love you, save souls!" Repeated over and over from the heart, the Heart of Jesus cannot reject.

The readings and the Gospel in these last days of Lent are so important for us, this year especially.  We need to learn from the mistakes of the Apostles, the first bishops, who expected a political coup from Jesus, even though they were told that he must suffer and be rejected.  Today bishops and priests and laity expect the Church to triumph over her enemies, many are like the disciples, ridiculing the failures of the Pope, condemning his actions, his faulty diplomacy, and reluctance to condemn.  Yet that is how Christ himself acted, that is the example Christ gave to his disciples, revealing to us in every event, "It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice."

Venerable Consolat Betrone, pray for us.

Do not look to be consoled,
   - rather seek to console.

No one who comes to me will I ever reject.

*Sister Consolata  saw herself as one of the legion of even smaller souls which Saint Therese of Lisieux mentioned in the account her life, Story of A Soul. 

An Excerpt From Fr. Ciszek

The key word, in fact, of our priestly apostolate in the camps had to be the word 'witness'. It wasn't so much a matter of preaching God and talking religion to the men around you as it was a matter of living the faith that you yourself professed. 

It was not always a matter of preaching God and religion. It was enough at times to simply respect each of your fellow men in the camp, to do good to each no matter what he himself did or said, no matter how he acted toward you ... There was little call to preach about sin or damnation or hellfire to men who experience daily the hell of loneliness and separation and anxiety. A great deal of tolerance and a great deal of understanding were required of a priest if he wished to be effective among these unfortunate and almost degraded human beings. Common sense and intuition, a feeling for the finger of God's grace behind a question or a conversation or an encounter, was much more necessary than textbook answers in theology." - The Priesthood, He Leadeth Me, Walter Ciszek, S.J.

True devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Let us not interfere with His acting in us and for us just as He wishes. - S. Margaret Mary

It seems to me that our Lord's earnest desire to have his Sacred Heart honored in a special way is directed toward renewing the effects of redemption in our souls. For the sacred heart is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.

From this divine heart three streams flow endlessly. The first is the stream of mercy for sinners; it pours into their hearts sentiments of contrition and repentance. The second is the stream of charity which helps all in need and especially aids those seeking perfection to find the means of surmounting their difficulties. From the third stream flow love and light for the benefit of his friends who have attained perfection; these he wishes to unite to himself so that they may share his knowledge and commandments and, in their individual ways, devote themselves wholly to advancing his glory.

This divine heart is an abyss of all blessings, and into it the poor should submerge all their needs. It is an abyss of joy in which all of us can immerse our sorrows. It is an abyss of lowliness to counteract our foolishness, an abyss of mercy for the wretched, an abyss of love to meet our every need.

Therefore, you must unite yourselves to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, both at the beginning of your conversion in order to obtain proper dispositions, and at its end in order to make reparation. Are you making no progress in prayer? Then you need only offer God the prayers which the Savior has poured out for us in the sacrament of the altar. Offer God his fervent love in reparation for your sluggishness. In the course of every activity pray as follows: "My God, I do this or I endure that in the heart of your Son and according to his holy counsels. I offer it to you in reparation for anything blameworthy or imperfect in my actions." Continue to do this in every circumstance of life. And every time that some punishment, affliction or injustice comes your way, say to yourself: "Accept this as sent to you by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in order to unite yourself to him."

But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to his glory, and we will be happy to be his subjects and to trust entirely in him. - St. Margaret Mary

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Come to me,

all of you who are weary

and carry heavy burdens...

I will give you rest.

It is true.

Happy feast day.
 

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Altar of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Montreal, Quebec to which I felt irresistibly drawn when I first visited the church. It was before this image of Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary that my conversion 'began' in the summer of 1971.  The chapel was very dark and I was attracted to the image of Christ.  I lit a candle and asked the Sacred Heart of Jesus to "be patient with me because I can't give it (sin) up just yet." The following spring I returned to the sacraments after another call from the Sacred Heart at a Mass I attended at St. Agnes in St. Paul.

A very efficacious prayer to the Sacred Heart: "Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in you." Your salvation may depend upon it.

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My loving Jesus, out of the grateful love I bear you, and to make reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I give You my heart, and I consecrate myself wholly to You; and with Your help I purpose to sin no more. Amen. (Raccolta, n. 260)

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today is the First Friday of June, and June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Promises of the Sacred Heart to those who embrace this devotion.

1.I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2.I will give peace in their families.

3.I will console them in all their troubles.

4.They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

5.I will pour abundant blessings on their undertakings.

6.Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7.Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8.Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

9.I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.

10.I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11.Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.

12.The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

“Oh, how sweet is death when one has had a tender devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ!” - St. Margaret Mary

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"How do we serve God faithfully? We serve Him only as faithfully as we serve Him lovingly, by giving ourselves to the needs of everyone whom God puts into our lives. No one reaches heaven automatically. Heaven must be dearly paid for. The price of reaching heaven is the practice of selfless love here on earth.
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That is why God puts into our lives so many occasions for loving people who obviously do not love us, or giving ourselves to people who have never given themselves to us. How desperately we need, especially in today’s world, to learn that God became man in order to suffer and die out of love for us on the Cross.
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That is what devotion to the Sacred Heart is all about. It is the practice of selfless love toward selfish people. It is giving ourselves to persons that do not give themselves to us. In all of our lives, God has placed selfish persons who may be physically close to us, but spiritually are strangers and even enemies. That is why God places unkind, unjust, even cruel people into our lives. By loving them, we show something of the kind of love that God expects of His followers.
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Devotion of the Sacred Heart is the solution to the gravest problem in the modern world today. How can we give ourselves to those who do not love us, who even positively hate us? We can love them, with the help of divine grace, by following the example of Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross out of love for a sin-laden human race." - Fr. Hardon

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This year the Solemnity falls on the First Friday of July, which also coincides with the memorial of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.

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Most Precious Blood flowing forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a font of mercy for us, I trust in you.

First Friday

Promises of Jesus for those who Practice Devotion to the Sacred Heart

1.I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2.I will give peace in their families.

3.I will console them in all their troubles.

4.They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.

5.I will pour abundant blessings on their undertakings.

6.Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7.Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8.Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

9.I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.

10.I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11.Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.

12.The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

 “Oh, how sweet is death when one has had a tender devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ!” - St. Margaret Mary

"Have a carnal love for Christ."

The Sacred Heart of Jesus.

A novice master* once recommended that I have a carnal love for Christ - he said he was quoting St. Bernard of Clairvaux  I believe he was referencing Bernard's Treatise On the Love of God or his Commentary on the Song of Songs.  I think Father took the quote out of context, since Bernard discusses carnal love in a much different manner than what the monk was communicating to me.  I think I realized then, as I understand better today, that his idea of a carnal love would fit rather well with some of Chris West's confusing views on Theology of the Body.  One needs to be cautious when it comes to spiritual lust and spiritual directors who interpret mystical doctrines in a far too sensual manner.  In making use of the imagery contained within the Songs, Bernard always stressed the experiences were totally spiritual and produced by grace.  Referring to mystical union, the Saint writes: "Be careful to think of nothing corporal or sensible in this union of the Word with the soul. Let us call to mind here what the Apostle says: `He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him' (I Cor. 6:17).
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One can witness the sensualization or sexualization, if you will, of the mystical experiences of St. Bernard in the manner by which they are sometimes depicted in art.  The images themselves are edifying and evocative of deep spirituality, ideally moving the soul to devotion, yet to the more sensual person, infected by contemporary culture's obsession with sexuality, or his own passions, the sacred images can be misinterpreted or misreprepresented.  I dare say, often appealing - consciously or unconsciously - to a 'gay spirituality' of sorts.  This may sound prudish, but I think I speak from experience.  Sadly, that is one reason why Bernard is sometimes referred to as a 'gay saint'.  (Aelred and John of the Cross have been likewise misunderstood, and misrepresented.)
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However, devotion to the sacred Humanity of Christ is indispensable for the Christian, as all of the saints attest - perhaps none more than Teresa of Avila, who certainly understood the mysticism of St. Bernard.  The Sacred Humanity was Teresa's 'constant companion'.  Indeed, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the perfect devotion which encompasses a chaste 'carnal love' leading to the highest mystical love.  I mention this because not a few men with homosexual attraction long for an intimacy with Christ that can be corrupted by modern 'homsexualist' spiritual directors, who tend to emphasize sensuality in direct opposition to authentic spirituality.
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To avoid these errors, I believe devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the proper antidote, as well as the source of healing for disordered passions, affections and especially movements to lust.  The Heart of Jesus attracts all the affections of our soul and purifies them in the burning furnace of charity that is His Heart.
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Divine Love, A Gift of the Heart of Jesus.
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The infusion of this divine charity also has its origin in the Heart of the Savior, 'in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.'  For this charity is the gift of Jesus Christ and of His spirit; for he is indeed the spirit of the Father and the Son from whom the origin of the Church and its marvelous extension is revealed to all the pagan races which have been defiled by idolatry, family hatred, corrupt morals, and violence.
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Divine Love, the Source of All Graces.
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This divine charity is the most precious gift of the Heart of Christ and of His Spirit:  It is this which imparted to the Apostles and martyrs that fortitude, by the strength of which they fought their battles like heroes till death in order to preach the truth of the Gospel and bear witness to it by the shedding of their blood.  [...]  This finally, moved the virgins to a free and joyful withdrawal from the pleasures of the senses and to the complete dedication of themselves to the love of their heavenly Spouse." - Pius XII: Haurietis Aquas 

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(And I'll share with you a secret to insure your personal, intimate devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is pure and chaste and true.  Go to him through the Immaculate Heart of Mary...  He will perhaps lead you there anyway.  "I will lead you, bring you in to the home of my mother." Songs 8  There he will teach you true and pure and chaste love... and heal you.)
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*Note:  Strangely enough, that particular novice master discouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Month of June Is Dedicated To...

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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How do we serve God faithfully? We serve Him only as faithfully as we serve Him lovingly, by giving ourselves to the needs of everyone whom God puts into our lives. No one reaches heaven automatically. Heaven must be dearly paid for. The price of reaching heaven is the practice of selfless love here on earth.
.
That is why God puts into our lives so many occasions for loving people who obviously do not love us, or giving ourselves to people who have never given themselves to us. How desperately we need, especially in today’s world, to learn that God became man in order to suffer and die out of love for us on the Cross.
.
That is what devotion to the Sacred Heart is all about. It is the practice of selfless love toward selfish people. It is giving ourselves to persons that do not give themselves to us. In all of our lives, God has placed selfish persons who may be physically close to us, but spiritually are strangers and even enemies. That is why God places unkind, unjust, even cruel people into our lives. By loving them, we show something of the kind of love that God expects of His followers.
.
Devotion of the Sacred Heart is the solution to the gravest problem in the modern world today. How can we give ourselves to those who do not love us, who even positively hate us? We can love them, with the help of divine grace, by following the example of Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross out of love for a sin-laden human race. - Fr. Hardon

Photo:  Altar of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Montreal, Quebec to which I felt irresistibly drawn when I first visited the church.  It was before this image of Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary that my conversion 'began' in the summer of 1971.  Not sure what I was doing, I lit a candle and asked the Sacred Heart of Jesus to "be patient with me because I can't give it (sin) up just yet."  The following spring I returned to the Church after another call from the Sacred Heart.
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A very efficacious prayer is this one: "Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in you."  Your salvation may depend upon it.
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My loving Jesus, out of the grateful love I bear you, and to make reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I give You my heart, and I consecrate myself wholly to You; and with Your help I purpose to sin no more. Amen. (Raccolta, n. 260)