Our Redeemer's Infinite Charity |
After the world-saving events of Easter and Pentecost comes the lovely Feast of the Sacred Heart (15 June). Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, because of its emphasis on the home, has a vital role to play in the stabilisation of the Faith in Europe. Father Timothy Finigan offers a meditation. |
Modern 'spirituality' tends to place great emphasis on our 'self esteem' and how God loves us whatever we do. We might imagine that Our Blessed Lord had said, "If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, let him affirm himself, put down his cross and have a rest."
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a healthy reminder that sin is an outrage against God's charity. Pope Pius XI summarised the purpose of the devotion:
"And this indeed was the purpose of the merciful Jesus, when He showed His Heart to us bearing about it the symbols of the passion and displaying the flames of love, that from the one we might know the infinite malice of sin, and in the other we might admire the infinite charity of Our Redeemer, and so might have a more vehement hatred of sin, and make a more ardent return of love for His love." (Miserentissimus Redemptor (1928) n.11)
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Our consideration of the infinite love of the Incarnate Word should not be used as an excuse to continue in sin but as a powerful motive to love Him in return, and in particular to detest our sins which diminish His grace in our soul, or kill it completely as in the case of mortal sin. If we are aware even dimly of the infinite love of God, and the danger of losing this love for eternity, we will know that mortal sin is the greatest misfortune that can befall us.
Pope John Paul II said that, "The Sacred Heart devotion is a most fitting and efficacious way of extending Eucharistic worship and devotion into every moment of our lives and every aspect of our lives" (Homily at St Louis 1999). In the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord shows His love for us by remaining in our tabernacles night and day, waiting for us to adore Him, thank Him, repent of our sins, and ask for His grace. Today, He is despised in many ways through sacrilege, indifference and loss of faith in the Church's teaching on His Real Presence. Yet He continues to await our love in return for His.
We can practise devotion to the Sacred Heart in everyday life through our beautiful traditional litanies and prayers, and through short aspirations such as, "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee." These prayers help us to resist temptation and should prompt in us an ardent desire to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion with the proper dispositions, our soul cleansed by frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance.
Over fifty years ago, Pope Pius XII was aware of the urgency of recognising the loving Kingship of Christ in the home and in society. He said:
"Since then, alas, one can see that the number of those whose boast is that they are God's enemies is in some places increasing, that the false slogans of materialism are being spread by act and argument, and unbridled license for unlawful desires is everywhere being praised; is it remarkable that love, which is the supreme law of the Christian religion, the surest foundation of true and perfect justice and the chief source of peace and innocent pleasures, loses its warmth in the souls of many? For as our Saviour warned us: 'Because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.' " (Haurietis Aquas (1956) n.119)
The Pope wrote this before the legalisation of abortion, the promotion of contraception among the young, the widespread acceptance of homosexuality, or countless other attacks upon the family and the Faith that have grown up during the past fifty years. His words apply even more strongly after half a century of moral and spiritual decline.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart is a powerful remedy for this sad state of affairs. Our Lord calls us to detest and overcome sin in our own lives, to receive Him devoutly in Holy Communion, to enthrone His Sacred Heart as King of our own homes, and to labour tirelessly as "co-workers of the truth".
The enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home was promoted tirelessly by Fr Mateo Crawley-Boevey who died in 1960. He was told by Pope St Pius X to consecrate his life to this work. The saintly Pope said to him: "To save the family is to save society. The work you are undertaking is a work of social salvation. Consecrate your life to it." Fr Mateo said that the enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home was "the official and social recognition of the loving Kingship of the Heart of Jesus in the Christian family." This "social salvation" is an integral part of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Speaking to St Margaret Mary, Our Lord said "I will reign through the merciful omnipotence of my Sacred Heart."
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
[Taken from "Mass of Ages" May 2007, The Latin Mass Society's quarterly magazine]