The Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis
The Divine Will

June 3, 2005

Behold the Heart that so loved man

Filed under: Divine Will — Adele Maria @ 10:40 am

Sacred Heart of Jesus

“One day I saw the Son of God, holding in His Hand His own Heart, which appeared more brilliant than the sun and which was casting rays of light on every side; then, this amiable Savior gave me to understand that all the graces which God unceasingly pours forth on men, according to the capacity of each, come from the plenitude of the Divine Heart.”

- St. Mechtilde-

Warsaw, 11 of June, 1999; Solemnity of the Sacred Heart; The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the New Evangelization; Pope John Paul II; …some parts of the message given for the Centennial of the consecration of humanity to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
On the occasion of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the month of June, I have often urged the faithful to persevere in the practice of this devotion, which “contains a message which in our day has an extraordinary timeliness”, because “an unending spring of life, giving hope to every person, has streamed precisely from the Heart of God’s Son, who died on the Cross. From the Heart of Christ crucified is born the new humanity redeemed from sin. The man of the year 2000 needs Christ’s Heart to know God and to know himself; he needs it to build the civilization of love”.
In facing the challenge of the new evangelization, the Christian who looks upon the Heart of Christ and consecrates himself as well as his brothers and sisters to him, the Lord of time and history, rediscovers that he is the bearer of his light. Motivated by this spirit of service, he cooperates in opening to all human beings the prospect of being raised to their own personal and communal fullness. “From the Heart of Christ, man’s heart learns to know the genuine and unique meaning of his life and of his destiny, to understand the value of an authentically Christian life, to keep himself from certain perversions of the human heart, and to unite the filial love of God with love of neighbour”.
I wish to express my approval and encouragement to all who in any way continue foster, study, and promote devotion to the Heart of Christ in the Church with language and forms adapted to our times, so that it may be transmitted to future generations in the spirit which has always animated it. The faithful still need to be guided to contemplate adoringly the mystery of Christ, the God-Man, in order to become men and women of interior life, people who feel and live the call to new life, to holiness, to reparation which is apostolic cooperation in the salvation of the world, people who prepare themselves for the new evangelization, recognizing the Heart of Christ as the heart of the Church: it is urgent for the world to understand that Christianity is the religion of Love.
…We give thanks to God, our Father, who has revealed his love in the Heart of Christ and has consecrated us by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, n. 10) so that, in union with Christ, we may adore him in every place and by our holy actions consecrate to him the world itself (ibid., n. 34) and the new millennium….we call upon the help of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church. …may she help every Christian to live with generous consistency the consecration to Christ which has its basis in the sacrament of Baptism and is fittingly confirmed in personal consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, in whom alone humanity can find forgiveness and salvation.”

The Way of Prayer: The Catechism of the Catholic Church; 2669; (p. 641)

From the Little Flowers…

This one began to speak so deeply of the things of God, that St Francis was convinced that both he and his companion had spoken through the Holy Spirit. Of which also he received a manifest proof; for whilst they were thus speaking together, our Blessed Lord appeared in the midst of them, under the form of a beautiful young man, and blessed them all. And they, being ravished out of themselves, fell to the ground as if they had been dead, and were all unconscious of things external. And when they recovered from their trance, St Francis said to them: “My beloved brothers, let us thank God, who has deigned to reveal to the world, through his humble servants, the treasures of divine wisdom. For the Lord it is who openeth the mouth of the dumb, and maketh the tongues of the simple to speak wisdom.
To the praise and glory of Jesus Christ and his poor servant Francis. Amen.

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