"Although the Heart of Jesus is no longer actually wounded, yet He has ever endured strange indignities in His person, since the institution of the Sacrament of His love. Can any greater indignity be imagined than the outrages, which the Jew, the heretic, the Atheist, have made Him suffer during so many ages, and will continue to make Him suffer until the end of time?" (Nouet.)
But, perhaps, even more deplorable still, is the conduct of those who bear the name of Christians, and who still retain some Christian practices. Jesus condescends to dwell amongst men; (John 1) and to enter even into their hearts; He goes even so far as to express Himself, (O incomprehensible excess of love!) in those astounding words; My delights are to be with the children of men. (Proverbs 8:31) But, O Lord! how art Thou treated by ungrateful men? Thou deignest to reside in the midst of them; and they refuse Thee even a decent dwelling. Whilst they are living in palaces, they have the effrontery to lodge Thee in a hovel. "Dost thou see," said the holy king David, with bitterness of heart, to the Prophet Nathan, "that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?" (2 Kings 7:2) O true ark of the New Covenant, of whom the ancient ark was but a feeble figure, O Lord Jesus! who is there, now-a-days, who is disturbed, amidst the wealth that surrounds him, at the thought of the poverty which attends Thee in our churches? Even this would seem but little to Thee, didst Thou but find, in our hearts at least, in the absence of all splendour in our material temples, a ready and respectful welcome. But no! day and night in our sanctuaries Thou art waiting for and calling upon men; whilst days, and nights, and weeks, pass without their answering to Thy call; or if, at times, they make Thee a brief visit, it is but custom and human respect that brings them. They are present, indeed, before Thee in body; but how far from Thee are their hearts! Thou abidest in Thy sacrament of love, ever occupied with the thought of them; ever as a victim in the presence of Thy Father, offering to Him Thy wounds for them; and they, whilst in Thy presence, think of nothing less than of adoring Thee; their very attitude shows so little respect, that heretics themselves, who deny Thy real presence, reproach them with it. At the time of Holy Communion, during Mass, Jesus offers Himself to them: they hear those words; "Behold the Lamb of God! behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world;' come all to Him! Jesus Himself invites them in those admirable words: "Eat O friends! and drink, and be inebriated with the torrents of my delights, my dearly beloved. Come eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." (Canticle 5:1; Proverbs 9:5) But all go their way, as though they had no wounds to heal, no stains to efface; they reply, that others have invited them; that they have other friends to serve. Be astonished, O ye heavens! at the sight of this prodigy of ingratitude! (Jeremiah 2:12) O Christians! O senseless and perverse nation! is this the return you make to your Lord and God? (Deuteronomy 32:6)
O Jesus! so tender, so generous, so full of love for us, could we inflict a more cruel wound on Thy Divine Heart? Ah! I hear Thee say to me; I looked for one of those whom I love, to compassionate my sorrow, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. (Psalm 68:21)
Our Lord Himself testified to the Venerable Mary Margaret how much He felt this indifference; "I suffer," said He, "a burning thirst, to be honoured and loved by men in the Blessed Sacrament; and yet I find scarce any one who exerts himself, according to my desire, to allay my thirst, by making me any return."
Practice - The benefits of God are like a river that flows unceasingly, watering your soul, that city which God has chosen for Himself. (Psalm 45:5) In this world, you can discover but the smallest part of these precious gifts; and, as gratitude is one of the distinctive characteristics of devotion to the Sacred Heart, you should never allow a single day to pass, without recalling to mind the benefits which you have received from God; your creation, preservation, vocation to the true faith, a Christian education, the sacraments, particular graces, graces decisive for salvation, etc. Nay, more; thank God for all the graces, with which He would have loaded you, had you been more faithful, and for all those which He has in store for you; thank Him in behalf of others who, nourished by His favours, either do not think of returning Him thanks for them, or make use of them only to offend Him. Gratitude is a necessity felt by noble and generous souls, and the surest means of drawing down fresh blessings; whilst ingratitude, on the contrary, dries up their source.
Prayer - What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that He hath rendered to me? (Psalm 115:3) I will take the Heart of His divine Son, and I will offer it to Him with confidence, that I may thus discharge all my obligations.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
O Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
- text taken from Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Father George Tickell