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to the Sacred Heart of Jesus |
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This is a monthly devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is an extension of the reception of the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
on the First Fridays of nine consecutive months.
The key word here is
reparation. It consists of setting aside one hour a month, some
people like to do it on the First Fridays, in reparation to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus for all of the sins, profanations and other attacks against
the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
During this hour one
can meditate on the sufferings of Christ, recite prayers of one's own choice,
and/or perform acts of penance or mortification.
The sufferings of Christ serve to remind each of us
how much Christ loves each and everyone of us. His agony, sufferings and
death are far beyond what anyone of us is called upon to suffer-no matter
how severe our own suffers may be or may become.
You have probably heard
the classical advice given to people who think they have problems. They
are told to visit the sick in the hospitals and the elderly in the nursing
homes and to help the homeless. After such corporal acts of mercy, such
people return counting their own blessings and thanking the good God for
having spared them of such sufferings, pain and anguish. In other words,
by comparison, their own problems seem trivial.
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Many people have been
drawn to various devotions concerning the sufferings of Christ. Perhaps
the most famous person who spent so much of his life meditating on the
terrible sufferings of Christ was Saint Francis of Assisi. God rewarded
him with what is called the stigmata, which is usually a reproduction of
the five major wounds (the two hands and two feet and the side wound from
the spear) of Christ on the body of the stigmatist. In this century, Padre
Pio was perhaps the most famous stigmatist.
Setting aside but one
hour out of an entire month filled with minutes, hours and weeks spent
on such activities as work and pleasure can tend to block one's thoughts
of what Christ did for you and for me and for everyone else!
Remembering that God
is never outdone in generosity, surely those of you who sacrifice but one
hour a month, taking it from the time you might have otherwise spent on
watching TV or reading or socializing with friends or relatives will be
well rewarded! It is kind of like putting a little money away each month
in a savings account at your local bank, pretty soon it begins to slowly
grow and grow and before you know it, there is a nice sum for you to use
for the proverbial "rainy day". The same is true here, except that you
are making a deposit into your spiritual bank which helps you to grow spiritually
in this life, attaining a higher level of the spiritual life than you might
have otherwise gotten. Plus a special honor, given only to those who have
meditated on the sufferings and wounds of Christ, will be given to you
when you enter Heaven! And everyone who sees it will give you a special
respect.
There are many reasons
for keeping Christ company for but one hour a month-but the greatest two
are your own charity towards Christ and this act of gratitude for his horrible
sufferings, agony and death for you and your sins!
The bottom line is Christ
stretched wide apart His arms upon the Cross to show how much He loves
you! Can you not stretch but one hour, from your busy schedule, into keeping
company with the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
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