Dear St. Rita Parishioners,
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus became widespread in its current form in the Church through the efforts of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 17th century Visitation nun and mystic, who had visions of Our Lord throughout her life. In particular, the 9 First Fridays Devotion, asked for by Jesus Himself, has become well-known and widely practiced. Jesus made 12 promises to those who would complete the First Friday Devotion in honor of His 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. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all 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 rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
The Devotion itself is simple. 1) On the first Friday of the month for 9 consecutive months, one must 2) receive Holy Communion 3) in honor of and in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That’s it. And there are so many graces that follow from it! It is a devotion that the evil one strongly dislikes, and he often tries to throw up obstacles so prevent one from completing the 9 Fridays. Those little obstacles, even if they mean you have to “start over” in the devotion, are just means of proving our love for Jesus even more fully.
Because that’s what this is about, in the end. Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary that His Heart aches and longs for some return from humanity for the love He has shown us. The ingratitude and contempt He receives from humanity are “more grievous to me than all that I endured in my Passion.” Indeed, one of the reasons that Our Lord desired to use the image of His Heart was to indicate and emphasize the great love He has for us, and it is impossible for us Christians to tire of proclaiming that love! Our Lord’s precise care for and deep interest in each and every one of His creatures is beyond our ability to comprehend, and His Heart is consumed with longing for us to requite that love. It is easy for us to understand through our own experience the pain of unrequited love, and story upon story tells the unbelievable lengths to which people go in order to win the heart of their beloved and the agony when their advances are spurned. Love makes people do crazy things. And Jesus is madly in love with each one of us.
It is what drove Him to make these 12 promises to those who would respond to the Love of His Heart. They are designed to speak to other desires and needs of our hearts, and to remind us that Jesus wants these things for us, too, and that He wants to be the One who gives them to us! What better way is there for Him to show us His Goodness? He offers us realities that are so fundamental to our existence as persons, to our happiness and holiness in this life, and to our eternal salvation – how could we not respond?
It is certainly with all of this in mind that the US Bishops are going to consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this coming Thursday, June 11. Friday, June 12 is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart this year, which always falls on the Friday after Corpus Christi Sunday (really, the day after the Octave of Corpus Christi Thursday, but Corpus Christi is perpetually transferred to Sunday in the USA). That means, among other things, that next Friday, June 12 is a MEAT FRIDAY. It is certainly, however, the desire of all of us that our country find peace in Jesus Christ, and that the blessings of His Sacred Heart accrue to each of us and our families. It is good that we join ourselves and our hearts to this consecration so that we can share in the graces received, but also so that we share in the giving of this great gift to our country.
The only way we can share God’s Goodness is by first coming to know His Goodness. This is why we can never tire of proclaiming not just the Love of God in a general sense, but that He loves you, personally. These words are more than just a nice way of making you feel good. These words express God’s closeness and guidance and power in your life in the midst of all the chaos and difficulties. Have confidence in them, ask Him to help you know and experience His closeness and guidance and power, and seek to requite His love, to worship and adore in gratitude His Sacred Heart, which was pierced for Love of us!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen