“What does the Heart of Jesus do for all people in the Blessed Sacrament?” It performs the office of a ‘mediator’, continually interceding for us. If God has not exterminated the human race due to sins which cry for vengeance to heaven, we know that it is because the heart of Jesus is perpetually pleading with Him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
It performs the office of a ‘priest’, sacrificing itself every day for us on thousands of altars. ‘It performs the office of a father’, feeding us with its own flesh and blood. It performs the office of a ‘master’ and ‘teacher’, instructing us, by its very condition in the Blessed Sacrament, in the virtues we most need: silence, recollection, humility, patience, resignation, devotion.
‘What do we do for the Heart of Jesus?’ What does he receive from those who believe in his Presence in the Blessed Sacrament? The homage of adoration day and night, and that gratitude and filial devotion which are his due; but only from a few! And from others? Neglect, disdain, contempt, profanation, sacrilege.
‘What does the Heart of Jesus expect of us?’ To make reparation to it, by extraordinary devotion and fervor, for all the contempt, injuries, and profanations so many Catholics are guilty of. That we should receive Holy Communion worthily and hear Mass with great devotion. And make an act of reparation to the Sacred Heart.
What powerful motives we have to do this with all our hearts! We owe many blessings and graces from the Heart of Jesus! Our numerous sins and infidelities cry for reparation. Many graces and benefits to pray for. To these, add public motives, especially those which affect the Catholic Church, still so bitterly persecuted.
We shall never tire of finding a thousand different ways of honoring the Sacred Heart.
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp336-8
The Son and the Mother united in love
Christ, the Eternal Incarnate Word, born from Mary, is always oriented towards the Father. Sent by Him into the world, Christ is in permanent union with the Father: He lives listening to His word, does only what ‘He sees the Father doing. ... always ready to fulfill His Will and seeks only His glory. ... the Father’s Will is the salvation of man.’
But Christ, though He is the only Mediator and the sole Saviour, though He does not need any help, does not act by Himself in the work of salvation of mankind because the Father arranged that to Him must be indissolubly conjoined the Mother and helper, Mary of Nazareth.
The conciliar constitution, ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ which mirrors the style and the way of thinking of Liturgy, affirms that the Blessed Virgin was ‘conjoined indissolubly with the operation of salvation of her Son’.
It is the intense and extremely pure love of the Mother: a love constantly nourished by the Spirit, who is the source of the Mother-Son relationship, between Mary of Nazareth and the Incarnate Word. Though pure, their love is not limited to their persons, but given to the whole mankind.
Simeon’s prophecy on the tragic end of the Messiah; and of the sword that will pierce through the heart of Mary joins in a single pain, the Mother and the Son. The Virgin’s pain will be a ‘participation to the suffering for the resistance against the Son; it will be the pain of the Messiah’s Mother, who becomes involved in the dramatic event’.
May’s pain will not cease even after the death of Jesus, because ‘every refusal from Israel suffered by the Messiah was also suffered by His Mother in her heart’. Christ and Mary are driven by the same Will to please the Lord. These two wills met simultaneously at the time of the Incarnation.
To the joyful ‘Fiat’ of the Virgin: ‘Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word’ was joined to the divine ‘Fiat’ of the Word: ‘Here I am, O God, I come to do your Holy Will.’
To Jesus and Mary, two ‘anawim’ (poor in spirit), the observance of the ‘Law of the Lord’ and the fulfillment of His Will, shall be the constant rule and essence of their life, and ‘the mover’ of their action. The ecclesial tradition has understood that the consent of the Virgin in faith at the time of the Anunciation was maintained without hesitation even under the Cross.
In light of the liturgy, this union is a fruit of the salvific plan of God-Father; a plan which in Christ-Mary changed the ingratitude of Adam-Eve into an obedient love; mysterious, merciful, inspired by providential goodness.
Ref: I Calabuig in “Alliance of the Two Hearts”, pp118-21
Ss John Fisher and Thomas More, Martyrs
I would like to recall another aspect of Baptism, perhaps the most universally familiar. In Baptism we are given a Christian name. In the tradition of the Church it is a saint’s name, a name of one of the heroes among Christ’s followers, an apostle, a martyr, a religious founder, like St Benedict, whose monks founded Westminster Abbey ...
Taking such names reminds us again that we are being drawn into ‘the Communion of Saints’, and at the same time that great models of Christian living are set before us. London is particularly proud of two outstanding saints, great men also by the world’s standards, contributors to their national heritage, John Fisher and Thomas More.
John Fisher, the Cambridge Scholar of Renaissance learning, bishop in his loyalty to the faith and in his devoted attention to the people of his diocese, especially the poor and the sick.
Thomas More was a model layman living the Gospel to the full. He was a fine scholar and an ornament to his profession, a loving husband and father, humble in prosperity, courageous in adversity, humorous and godly.
Together, they served God and their country: bishop and layman. Together they died, victims of an unhappy age. Today all of us have the grace to proclaim their greatness and to thank God for giving such men to England. ...
Ref: cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, p232
Our Lady of Narni, in Italy. It is said that this image spoke to the Blessed Lucy, to whom she gave the Infant Jesus to hold. — Triple Couronne, Trait 3. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)
Our Lady of Narni (Italy, 15th Century).(http://www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (http://www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html); (MaryLinks Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html). / Spoke to Blessed Lucy. (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
'Madonna della Narni'. Italy. 15th Century. Mary speaks to the virgin stigmatine Blessed Lucy of Narni (1476-1547). (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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