This week’s reading brings us back to the importance of loving and honouring the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Several points are inspired from the reading:
Firstly, “To Jesus, Through Mary”.
When we think of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we might also think of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is often depicted next to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And often, these 2 hearts are inseparable. It is, in a sense, a sort of visualisation that without one, we cannot have the other.
Without Mary’s “yes” and tremendous sacrifice in becoming the Mother of God, we would not have Jesus.
And without Jesus Himself creating Mary and filling Her with all His Graces and choosing Her to be the Mother of Himself, we would not have Mary.
As Mary remains inseparable from Jesus, from the Holy Trinity, we, as legionaries and children of Mary ought to follow in Her footsteps and try to remain close to Jesus (and the Holy Trinity).
But let’s face it: it can be difficult to love Jesus on our own. Our sinfulness and weaknesses and shame can hold us back. Our “good intentions” can often be stained with some sort of a “hidden motive”, such as pride.
As such, we should turn to Mary and go through Her to reach Jesus. It can be easier to approach Mary because She is a creature, like us, and God gave Her to us to be our Mother. And which child does not seek his/her mother in time of need?
As St Louis de Montfort said, Mary will dress up our poor offerings, She will make up for what we lack, and being the Mother of God, She will obtain Mercy for us before God, and God will not refuse Her, because She is His most Beloved Mother.
And in all the Great Saints whom we admire, there is one common denominator among all of them. Whether it was public or not, all of them had an unwavering devotion to Mary, which supplied them the Grace to reach that pure Love for God, and put them on the “express” path to Holiness and Sanctity.
Now, in the same way that Mary brings everyone to Jesus, we are also called, as legionaries, to do the same – to bring everyone to Jesus, and as per this week’s reading, to bring them to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We can do that by sharing about the Sacred Heart of Jesus with people we meet, or by the most foolproof method – appealing to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus for people who are in need (that is, praying to the Sacred Heart of Jesus).
Here, I would like to draw everyone’s attention to St. Padre Pio, who was known for his immense Love of the Madonna, AND his unfailing daily devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
He is the perfect embodiment of today’s reading – he prayed the “Efficacious novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus” everyday, for everyone who asked him for prayers. And he lived a life of close unity with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in his sufferings, trials and joys.
And you can bet this prayer is powerful, because St. Padre Pio was known for answered prayers :)
But my point here is that, we cannot simply suddenly establish a love and devotion for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We need to seek Mary’s aid, but more importantly, we need to be praying daily TO the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It can be a little prayer, it can be a meditation on an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it can be the Padre Pio novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (strongly recommended). Only this way will we grow to have a relationship with and tenderness for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And once we have that established connection with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, only then can we propagate devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with authenticity and fervour, because we would have come to know the gentleness and tenderness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus through prayer.
Another point brought up from the reading was about the Sacred Heart of Jesus and families.
As Our Lady of Fatima said, the final battle between God and the Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.
We can see this in the rise of broken marriages and families – divorce is now commonplace, and the world is constantly pushing “woke” agenda through the media, through entertainment, through politics, to try to remove God’s definition of what family is, of what marriage is…etc.
Good families are a weapon that can counteract against the evils of our present time, because it is in good families that holiness is schooled, that children are brought up with the proper morals and values…etc. And children are the future of our world. They can lead the change.
That is why they are the one group that is especially targeted by the evil one, by tearing marriage and family apart.
But Jesus offers us His Sacred Heart as a refuge and solution to these problems, in 2 particular promises of His Sacred Heart, revealed to St. Margaret Mary.
“I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honoured.” and “I will establish peace in their homes.”
Every family should put up an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their homes. Jesus Himself has promised blessings and protection in every place in which His Heart is exposed and honoured. Why should we miss this opportunity of Grace from God? And by this, Jesus is also teaching us that every family should have a devotion to His Heart. Every family should be praying together every day. Just like a marriage is between man, woman and God, similarly, families can only stay together by the Grace of God. Prayer, prayer, and more prayer, is the only way for marriages and families to stay together in the face of the devil’s attacks and the madness of modern society in which we are living in.
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