“Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” “It is I, fear not.” “Be of good heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” “Be merciful.” “I will have mercy, not sacrifice.”
How tender are these words which came from the lips and the heart of Jesus! The whole life of our Lord was spent in ‘doing good’. He never saw suffering, bodily or mental, without healing or consoling it.
Let us take two instances out of a thousand others. Near the city of Naim, he met a widowed mother, inconsolable for the loss of her only son. And he was ‘moved with mercy’ for her, and raised her son to life.
On another occasion, when four-thousand men had followed him for three days in the desert, he said to the Apostles: ‘I have compassion on the multitude ...’ The expressions, ‘moved with mercy’, or ‘have compassion’, occur no less than eight times in the holy Gospels.
We, therefore, do a great injury to the Heart of Jesus when we doubt his mercy, or the pardon of our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we look upon his yoke as heavy and difficult to bear. When we exchange confidence for fear, and fear for discouragement, or even despair. Let us be most careful never to offer him an insult such as this.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp334-5
Our duties towards the Heart of Jesus
“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
‘To Jesus Through Mary’
I was having difficulty in the seminary. Someone recommended I read “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary” by St Louis Marie de Montfort. As a member of the Sodality of Our Lady, the motto, ‘Ad Jesum per Mariam’ was very familiar to me.
St Louis Marie suggested an act of consecration of everything we do ‘To Jesus through Mary’. I thought: ‘What do I have to lose?’ Mary, as the Mother of God, was in life the perfect exemplar of doing God’s Will; and in heaven she is undoubtedly the first whose prayers we must seek to identify with ours to know and to do God’s Will in our lives.
I recall that on 8 December 1958, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I knelt before the statue of Our Lady in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception in St Charles Seminary in Philadelphia. In the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, I made an act of consecration of everything to Jesus through Mary.
From that moment, I have never had one doubt about my vocation; and I have found great consolation in two prayers, in particular. One is the ‘Memorare’, the great prayer of St Bernard of Clairvaux: “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who sought Thy help or asked Thy intercession was left unaided. ...” [complete prayer in 17 August, Vol 3, p251 of “To Jesus Daily Through Mary”, these compilations]
The other prayer is the ‘Morning Offering: O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all our associates and, in particular, for the intentions of our Holy Father the Pope.’
This prayer is promoted by the ‘Apostleship of Prayer’ and the ‘League of the Sacred Heart’. Pope Paul VI particularly blessed with a plenary indulgence, a remission of all temporal punishment due to sin, for every day we sincerely offer everything to God.
A humble offering to God through the Mother of God of all that we have, all that we are and all that we do will also render us more open to the insights and promptings God gives us. We will be open to truth, ... to faith. In our admitted weakness and dependence, we will literally be given new courage, new heart -- the courage, the generosity, and the love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Ref: Archbishop JP Foley in “Alliance of the Two Hearts”, pp360-3
The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
The Church celebrates this feast in memory of the martyrs in the persecution under Nero (~64 AD). Many Christians, people from all levels of society, were tortured and killed. This celebration reminds us that Christians should seek sanctity regardless of their social status, age, or skills. (Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1569)
• Our Lady of Calais, built by the English while they possessed that city of which they were masters during 210 years; a magnificent chapel was added to it in the year 1631 by James de Bolloye, parish priest of Calais. — Davila, ii. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Calais (Built by the English in France), 1347. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Calais (France, 1347). (http://mariedenazareth.com); (www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• “Notre Dame de Calais”. France. 1347. Built by Anglo-Normans when they controlled the north coast of France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Rose -- Patroness of Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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