This Friday is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sunday we have the opportunity to celebrate the External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What do we mean by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in what does it consist?
The object of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is of course the infinite love of Christ. This love is what prompted Him to die on the Cross and to give Himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Although Christ knew the ingratitude He was to receive until the end of time He nevertheless instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist to show His infinite love for us.
This love has caused many people to consider how little the world is moved by the love of Christ and how little men love Christ in return. Christ’s faithful friends do show their love by special acts of homage and reparation. This is in essence the nature of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
There are certain days of the year we have the opportunity to recognize particularly the great love Christ shows us in the Blessed Sacrament. In addition, we have the chance to make reparation for all the indignities our Lord has received and still receives each day in the Blessed Sacrament.
We make reparation first by our own frequent adoration and return of love. We call to mind how Christ is so little known by men in the Blessed Sacrament, or how He is so little loved by even those people who do know Him. Second, we make reparation for the indignities Christ suffered during His time on earth, as well as the indignities he receives each day in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
In summary, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus consists in loving Christ, whom we always have with us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. We demonstrate our love by our sorrow for seeing Christ so neglected by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and by our acts of reparation for this neglect. The object of our love is the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
I encourage you to visit Christ in the Blessed Sacrament frequently. He is waiting for you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Jeffery Fasching
Pentecost
7 years ago