By Fr. Nicholas Akindele
Guest Column
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus contains all treasures of love and mercy of God. St. Paul says of Jesus Christ, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2: 2-4).
Giving honor to the Sacred Heart of Jesus flows from the example of the Father who sent Christ into the world not to condemn but to SAVE. Jesus Christ said, “no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The shedding of blood was and continues to be a great testimony and witness of Christ’s sacrificial love for us all. If he has loved us, we ought to love him in return. In what does this love consist then? St. John says clearly, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14: 15). This essentially is love of God and our neighbor for God’s sake. That is the first way to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
One other way that the Lord Jesus shows us his love is by loving our enemies. This is hard to do, but not impossible. Jesus shows us the way by loving us while we were yet sinners. He said, “If you love those who love you, what reward should you receive? Even tax collectors do that much.” (Luke 6:32-36). Love must stretch us into uncomfortable territory. However, there is great reward in doing this. It is also important to ask for help from the Holy Spirit to be able to carry this out in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to further Christ’s mission in the world.
We can also honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus this month by confessing all mortal and venial sins through the sacrament of reconciliation. We must make sure we are in a state of grace to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Without this, we receive holy Communion in a state of sin and we commit a sacrilege.
Another way to honor the Sacred Heart is by saying a prayer of thanksgiving immediately after we receive holy Communion. The angel of peace taught the children at Fatima a beautiful prayer to say after they had received holy Communion: “Most Holy Trinity. My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament.”
The angel also taught the children a second prayer: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which he himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of his most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you the conversion of poor sinners.”
The First Friday Devotion is yet another way we can venerate the Sacred Heart. Jesus made a request during his appearances to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that lay faithful, clergy and religious go to confession and receive holy Communion with the intention of making reparation to his Sacred Heart every first Friday for nine consecutive months. There are 12 promises Jesus made to those who put this devotion into practice. I encourage parishes to consider making a plan together so that everyone can take advantage of this. At Holy Family Parish in Davenport, the community began taking part in this devotion in 2022 and it is ongoing. We invite you to join us.
Finally, I encourage everyone to begin the practice of praying the daily “morning offering” to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for the reparation of my sins, the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of our Holy Father this month. Amen”
Please consider consecrating your home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this month. Jesus promised peace, serenity and reversions to the faith in families who do this. You can get a free kit for consecration from menofthesacredhearts.org. Recordings of a livestreamed nine day novena in preparation for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart held June 3-11 can be found at TheyHaveNoWine.com.
(Father Nicholas Akindele is pastor of Holy Family Parish in Davenport.)
