Apparition of the Sacred Heart
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On December 27, 1673 Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, revealing to her His Sacred Heart.
While I was praying before the Eucharist, she writes, Jesus presented Himself to me, all resplendent with glory, His Five Wounds shining like so many suns. Flames issued from every part of His Sacred Humanity, especially from His chest, which resembled an open furnace and disclosed to me His most loving Heart, which was the living source of these flames. It was then that He made known to me the indescribable and excessive love he has for all people, most from whom He receives only ingratitude and contempt.
“My divine Heart,” he told me, “is so passionately fond of the human race...that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you and reveal my Heart to the world, so as to enrich mankind with my precious treasures. I’m letting you see them now; and they include all the graces of sanctification needed to snatch men from the very brink of hell.”
Next, he asked for my heart. I begged him to take it; he did, and placed it in his own divine Heart. He let me see it there—a tiny atom being completely burned up in that fiery furnace. Then, lifting it out—now a little heart-shaped flame—he put it back where he had found it. “There, my well-beloved,” I heard him saying, “that’s a precious proof of my love for you, hiding in your side a little spark from its hottest flames. That will be your heart from now on; it will burn you up—to your very last breath; its intense heat will never diminish…
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Jesus gave 12 Promises to those who will love him without reserve in the Eucharist and strive will all their might to do and surrender to His will.
1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life and, above all, in death.
5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls will quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who promote this devotion will have their names written in my Heart.
12. 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 or without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
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The twelve promises come with one condition, we will only receive the benefits in the measure that we open our soul to God through a deeper conversion. Most of us have one big problem. We convert, meaning we turn away from the big sins of our past, we begin to live a better life than we did before and then we find a comfortable place of mediocrity to settle in. We find this place where we don’t commit grave sins but we also don’t desire or strive for a burning love for God. Then we become luke-warm and we justify it because we are not chainsaw murderers.
Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart to Margaret Mary, a heart consumed with the flames of love for us – to show us how immensely He loves us unconditionally. He wants to set us ablaze for the love of God and neighbor. But we resist because we hold on to and justify our vices and disordered loves.
Why do I not love the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a burning love? If I am honest, I would admit that I love others things more.
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The Greatest Way to give joy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to ask him for forgiveness.
The Gospel of Luke tells us the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus and the Pharisees complained. 'This man' they said 'welcomes sinners and eats with them.' So Jesus said to them: 'What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbors? "Rejoice with me," he would say "I have found my sheep that was lost." In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.
You can give Joy to Jesus by asking Him his forgiveness right now, or any time you sin.
But his favorite way and the most powerful way is to receive his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For it is in this Sacrament that Jesus pours His precious Blood from His Sacred Heart into your heart to cleanse and make your heart glorious!
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There is a simple way to love the heart of Jesus more.
Begin to thank Jesus for everything throughout the day.
The more we thank Him the more we grow in love for Him.
Jesus, thank you for my life today; thank you for this meal, this conversation, the trees and this river I am looking at; thank you for my wife and my children; thank you for my work.
We must even thank Jesus for the things that appear difficult because the Heart of Jesus turns all things to good for those who love him. Begin to practice thanking Jesus for absolutely everything little and big thing this day and your heart will begin to burn for love of His Sacred Heart.