The Diocese of Brooklyn is preparing its parish members to renew devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus so that a diocesan-wide Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus can take place in June 2013. The Sacred Heart of Jesus will be enthroned in homes and in hearts throughout the diocese. All are welcome to devote their heart to Our Lord…more details to come as the month of June approaches.
In the meantime, all are welcome to join the Sisters of the Visitation on the 1st Friday of each month at 7:30pm in our Sacred Heart Chapel located at 8902 Ridge Blvd, Brooklyn.
The Holy Spirit is working on this renewal of devotion and is sparking a fire of devotion in many other places and countries around the world. Pope Benedict XVI writes ” The essential nucleus of Christianity is expressed in the Heart of Jesus; in Christ…the newness of the Gospel was revealed and given to us: the Love that saves us and already makes us live in God’s eternity. Even our shortcomings, our limitations, and our weaknesses must lead us back to the Heart of Jesus. His divine Heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to abandon our human certainties to trust in Him and, following His example, to make of ourselves a gift of love without reserve.”
Stop reading. Only for a moment! Look, really look, at a picture of Jesus’ Sacred Heart…then read again, slowly, the Pope’s words.
His divine Heart does indeed call to our hearts. I have come to realize that every person has that moment of intimate calling, the call of Heart-to-heart, when Jesus’ Own Sacred Heart has reached out to our own poor, weak, lonely, wounded heart…and we respond!
Yes, we must reach that place of being poor in spirit to allow His Spirit to rush in.
Yes, we must set aside all of our own will to become weak, that He may take over and show His Almighty power. Yes, we must be lonely enough within, like realizing we have four walls of our newfound freedom (to borrow Thomas Merton’s thought) which are not walls at all but a spiritual freedom that hovers near, echoing the call to Love. Yes, we must cry out to Our Lord and tell Him we are wounded too, right beside You, Lord, and we feel Your pain and sorrow as You gently pull aside the garments to reveal Your Own Wounded Sacred Heart to us…still beating a pulse of unending Love for us. He calls us to join Him. How do we respond in that intimate moment? What do we say to Your invitation to make our hearts one with Yours, O Lord? To abandon our human certainties and to trust in You while making of ourselves a gift of love without reserve? If anyone is thinking, gee, the Pope’s writing asks alot…not really…it’s Jesus Who asks! It’s exactly what we are called to do. Abandon what we “know”. Let go, and let God. God sent Jesus to us, for us. God allowed His Sacred Heart to become wounded right before our eyes on the Cross. How do we respond to that much Love? If we were seeing the Crucifixion up close, like the Good Thief, then would we respond just like Dismas did? Jesus’ Sacred Heart, so full of Love for us, simply waits for our heart to speak to His with love.
Let us take time to offer ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, now, in a moment of intimate calling…
He is calling each of us to come closer. To abandon what we already know, and to trust in Him as He offers us the very Heart of Love…His Own Sacred Heart, aflame with Love for us. It is a heart that beat first within Mary, His Blessed Mother. May she remain very near to us as we adore Him and abandon ourselves to Him.
**FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1ST, 2013 MASS AT 730pm WITH BISHOP NICHOLAS DI MARZIO
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