Practically speaking, what does devotion to the Sacred Heart consist of?
Our Lord made known to St. Margaret Mary His ardent desire to reign over Christian families. So, one of the best forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart, I think, is the home enthronement. Placing a statue or image of the Sacred Heart in a prominent place in your home, having a priest come out, with your family present, for the enthronement ritual: to ask Jesus to preside over all of your family gatherings, to bless your undertakings, to banish from your family all worldly anxiety, to sanctity your joys to Him, to acknowledge that he is the source of all mercy for your sins.
Another very popular form of devotion is the first nine Fridays: receiving Holy Communion on the first Fridays of the month as an act of reparation. Reparation is a key dimension of this devotion. We see the Sacred Heart of Jesus depicted with thorns, he is being “wounded by the ingratitude of man” as he said to St. Margaret Mary.
A third form of devotion is praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart, a beautiful litany describing the virtues and aspects of the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I will lead all who wish to stay after Mass, in the litany of the Sacred Heart. The Heart of Jesus is full of goodness and love, it is the abode of all justice and love. By devoting ourselves to his sacred heart we seek the transformation of our own hearts, to love and he loves, to be patient as he is patient, and pure as he is pure.
For over and over in the Gospels, our Lord insists that building the kingdom of God does not consist in simply erecting physical buildings, but making our hearts places where the love of God dwells supreme.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a firm foundation for building the kingdom of God, a work in which we are all called by God to participate. Through this devotion, may we put our families under the Lord’s kingship, may we make reparation for the ingratitude of man for the sufferings of Christ, and seek to imitate his love and charity toward all for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment