Sacred Heart of Jesus Feast - June 19

Dearest Ones,

No one ever thought of a picture of a person in which the heart was outside the body. It may even sound bizarre. However, in France, in the year 1830, St. Margaret Mary, a Catholic nun, had a vision of Jesus, as she was praying in the chapel. He appeared as a normal size person, but his heart was on the outside of his body.

It was a time when love for God had grown cold. Many no longer believed that God had taken the form of a man and lived on this earth. They acted like they didn't know He loved them so much He sacrificed His own Son to save them. When appearing to St. Margaret Mary, Jesus asked her to have an image painted in which his heart appeared on the outside of his body. Surrounding his heart was a circle of thorns, signifying the neglect, the insults lack of love from those He loves so much! This does not seem strange to me, as we always had a large picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our home. Devotion to the Sacred Heart goes back a long way. In fact, my parents named my sister, after the nun, Margaret Mary, who had the vision in France.

Jesus told her that He was lonely and sad because of the coldness of people's hearts. "Behold this heart, which has so loved men, and is loved so little in return," He said. He longed for a return of the great love he has for us. Just as parents love their children, even if they disappoint them, so our heavenly Father never stops loving and caring for us!

"Love one another as I have loved you." This is a command from Jesus, not a suggestion. It is something we have to do in order to go to heaven. Impossible? Yes, by ourselves. Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing."

There is no room for hatred in heaven. We are asked not to just love those who love us, anyone can do that, but we must love those who get on our nerves, those who don't like us and our enemies. When someone disagrees with us, our first inclination may be to destroy him or her. Instead, we are asked to pray for them and not talk unkindly behind their backs. Jesus loved even those who were nailing him to the cross. If we can't actually do kind needs for someone, we can hold love for them in our hearts. Love is a condition of the heart that Jesus sees all the time. Even when we can't sleep at night, we can send our love to others - to the depressed, the lonely, prisoners, even the terrorists.

I read about a lonely, depressed prisoner named Joe, who was abandoned by those he loved and served most. Through a picture of the Sacred Heart in his cell, Jesus reassured Joe of never-ending love. He was not lonely again.

On Friday, June 19, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Every day, look at a picture of the Sacred Heart and let the Lord show His love for you in a way you've never imagined possible.

My mother taught us, as children, to say these short prayers throughout the day:
" Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in You."
"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto thine."

My love through the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Sister Francelle