St. margaret Mary Alacoque
One
The Revelation of the Sacred Heart
On December 27, 1673, Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, revealing to her His Sacred Heart.
“While I was praying before the Eucharist,” she writes, “Jesus presented Himself to me, all resplendent with glory, His Five Wounds shining like so many suns. Flames issued from every part of His Sacred Humanity, especially from His chest, which resembled an open furnace and disclosed to me His most loving Heart, which was the living source of these flames. It was then that He made known to me the indescribable and excessive love he has for all people, most from whom He receives only ingratitude and contempt.”
“My divine Heart,” he told me, “is so passionately fond of the human race...that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you and reveal my Heart to the world, so as to enrich mankind with my precious treasures. I’m letting you see them now; and they include all the graces of sanctification needed to snatch men from the very brink of hell.”
“Next, he asked for my heart. I begged him to take it; he did, and placed it in his own divine Heart. He let me see it there—a tiny atom being completely burned up in that fiery furnace. Then, lifting it out—now a little heart-shaped flame—he put it back where he had found it. “There, my well-beloved,” I heard him saying, “that’s a precious proof of my love for you, hiding in your side a little spark from its hottest flames. That will be your heart from now on; it will burn you up—to your very last breath; its intense heat will never diminish…”
Two
Jesus gave 12 Promises to those who will love His Sacred Heart
I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
I will establish peace in their homes.
I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
I will be their secure refuge during life and, above all, in death.
I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings
Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls will quickly mount to high perfection.
I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
Those who promote this devotion will have their names written in my Heart.
I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace or without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
Three
The twelve promises come with one condition.
We will receive the benefits in the measure that we open our soul to God through a deeper conversion, deeper prayer, greater growth in virtue and love. Most of us have one big problem. We convert, meaning we turn away from the big sins of our past, we begin to live a better life than we did before, and then we find a comfortable place of mediocrity to settle in. We find this place where we don’t commit grave sins, but we also don’t strive for a burning love for God. Then we become lukewarm and we justify it because we are not chainsaw murderers.
Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart to Margaret Mary, a heart consumed with the flames of love for us – to show us how immensely He loves us unconditionally. He wants to set us ablaze for the love of God and neighbor. But we resist because we hold on to and justify our vices and disordered loves.
Why do I not love the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a burning love? If I am honest, I would admit that I love other things more.
Four
There is a simple way to love the Heart of Jesus more.
Thank the Sacred Heart of Jesus for everything throughout the day. The more we thank Him, the more we grow in love for Him.
“Jesus, thank you for my life today; thank you for this meal, this conversation, the trees and this river I am looking at; thank you for my wife and my children; thank you for my work.”
We must even thank Jesus for the things that are difficult because the Heart of Jesus turns all things to good for those who love him. Begin to practice thanking Jesus for absolutely everything little and big thing this day and your heart will begin to burn for love of His Sacred Heart.
Five
Consoling the Heart of Jesus
CCC 478
Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us. With St. Paul we too can say, "The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me." He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings" without exception.
Jesus did not suffer and die for a collective or vague mass of humanity. The Catechism teaches that Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony, and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us.
Jesus is an eternal Person. Eternal means that there is no past and no future for God. Everything is in the present moment.
Therefore, every event from the life of Jesus remains present. The Catechism says “All that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all men - participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while being made present in them all.” 1085
Jesus was thinking of you when He was hanging on the Cross dying for you. Now you are thinking of Him while you are praying this Rosary. On the Cross, He thought of you. Now you think of him. In this way, you console the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Every time you think of the Sacred Heart, thank the Sacred Heart, do something for love of the Sacred Heart, accept and offer up something for the Sacred Heart you console Him in His suffering. That is the way to return love of Love.