Generous and Unafraid
Sacred Heart Devotion + Our Lives
Gift Upon Giving
Have you also noticed the following reality about the way God works? God gives each of us gifts and when we use those gifts to serve others, we often receive joy, peace, and energy. That is, God makes us recipients of his grace and life when we use our gifts to serve others. There is gift upon giving.
This lavish generosity is one of the hallmarks of the heart of God. Where we are limited in our love, God pours out love endlessly and without reserve.
I have been given the gift of writing for Faith and Family Life Catholic Ministries (FFLCM). FFCLM empowers parents to be their children’s primary teachers of faith and gives families tools for having conversations about faith and life.
I am currently working on a project for FFCLM that has given me the opportunity to learn and write about the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I have been so captivated by what I’ve learned that I wanted to share it with you so you might also be enriched in mind and heart. Read on!
The Sacred Heart Devotion
The Catholic Church dedicates the month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The feast of the Sacred Heart typically falls in June on the Friday following Corpus Christi Sunday. For those reading this article in real time, that’s today—June 27.
In the 17th century, Jesus appeared in visions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun of the Visitation Order. These visions began on December 27, 1673 and occurred over the course of 18 months. In these visions, Jesus revealed the mystery of his Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary.
Jesus told St. Margaret Mary:
Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love. … I promise you that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance the influence of Its Divine Love upon those who shall thus honor It, and cause It to be honored. (Fourth Revelation of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)
As Jesus revealed the love of his divine heart for us, he shared specific acts of piety for the faithful to come closer to his Sacred Heart. These include the creation of a feast day to honor Jesus’ Sacred Heart, a Thursday holy hour of time spent with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of every month.
The 12 Promises
Jesus also revealed 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary for those who are devoted to his Sacred Heart. I had never heard of these promises before and wow are they heart-swelling.
They are:
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 shall 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.
The names of those who promote this devotion will be written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
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, nor without receiving their sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
Our Hearts
A few Christmases ago, I opened a little box from my husband. When I saw what was inside, I started to weep. I don’t know what came over me. It was a necklace with a medal of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There was some unspoken place in me that responded viscerally to this image of Love.
As we celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus today, I pray that we all allow ourselves to be vulnerable and courageous enough to approach the Heart of Christ. That we would come close, place our wounds in his, and encounter a Love like no other. And then, that we would offer love to others, generous and unafraid.