Setting the Captive Within Our Own Hearts Free
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I place all my trust in You!
The devotion to the Sacred Heart is very near and dear to, well, my own heart! It was in silent Eucharistic Adoration where Jesus offered me His Heart. He only asked for love in return. Doesn’t it blow your minds that Jesus’ Sacred Heart is present in the Eucharist, burning with mercy and love for us awkward, little humans?! Reflect on this for a moment!
Jesus gives Himself completely to us in the Eucharist and He only asks for our love in return. Oftentimes it is very difficult for us to return Jesus’ total and self-giving love with our own feeble love. Why is this? Well, may I suggest that it may be because we are captives within our own hearts.
The late psychologist, Carl Jung, illustrates what I am trying to get at in the following reflection:
To accept oneself as one may sound like a simple thing, but simple things are always the most difficult things to do. In actual life to be simple and straightforward is an art in itself requiring the greatest discipline, while the question of self-acceptance lies at the root of the moral problem and at the heart of a whole philosophy of life.
Is there ever a doubt in my mind that it is virtuous for me to give alms to the beggar, to forgive him who offends me, yes, even to love my enemy in the name of Christ? No, not once does such a doubt cross my mind, certain as I am that what I have done unto the least of my brethren, I have done unto Christ.
But what if I should discover that the least of all brethren, the poorest of all beggars, the most insolent of all offenders, yes, even, the very enemy himself—that these live within me; that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness, that I am to myself the enemy who is to be loved–what then?
The whole Christian truth is turned upside down; then there is no longer any question of love and patience; then we say “Raca” to the brother within us; then we condemn and rage against ourselves! For sure, we hide this attitude from the outside world, but this does not alter the fact that we refuse to receive the least among the lowly in ourselves with open arms. And if it had been Christ himself to appear within ourselves in such a contemptible form, we would have denied him a thousand times before the cock crowed even once.
You see, when we do not accept ourselves as we are, even in our woundedness and with all our faults (St. Therese calls this our “littleness”), we become obstacles to God’s love. We become captives within our own hearts because we have become self-centered instead of God-centered. Because of our fallen human nature, we have the tendency to fixate on ourselves and on our various pains and sufferings instead of giving God the primacy in our lives.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, St. Paul tells his little community, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Retraining our sinful hearts to see God in everyone and everything, and consequently living in joyful adoration, allows God to transform our hearts into a Heart like His! God is the only one who can sanctify us; we cannot sanctify ourselves.
During this sanctification process, we recognize our nothingness before God, who is EVERYTHING. This is where we need to humble ourselves and accept God’s merciful love. By accepting God’s love, we are better able to love Him in return. The whole devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus arose because people were rejecting His love!
Now, let us take a look at a journal entry from a 23 year-old seminarian right before his diaconate ordination:
Every time I hear anyone speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Sacrament I feel an indescribable joy. It is as if a wave of precious memories, sweet affections and joyful hopes swept over my poor person, making me tremble with happiness and filling my soul with tenderness. These are loving appeals from Jesus who wants me wholeheartedly there, at the source of all goodness, his Sacred Heart, throbbing mysteriously behind the Eucharistic veils….
Today everything which concerns the Sacred Heart of Jesus has become familiar and doubly dear to me. My life seems destined to be spent in the light irradiating from the tabernacle, and it is to the heart of Jesus that I must look for a solution of all my troubles. I feel as if I would be ready to shed my blood for the cause of the Sacred Heart. My fondest wish is to be able to do something for that precious object of my love. At times the thought of my arrogance, of my unbelievable self-love and of my great worthlessness alarms and dismays me and robs me of my courage, but I soon find reason for comfort in the words spoken by Jesus to Blessed Margaret Alacoque: “I have chosen you to reveal the marvels of my heart, because you are such an abyss of ignorance and insufficiency.”
Ah! I wish to serve the Sacred Heart of Jesus, today and always. I want the devotion to his Heart, concealed within the sacrament of love, to be the measure of all my spiritual progress. The conclusion of my resolutions during the holy Exercises is in my desire henceforth to do all that I have been trying to do till now in intimate union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
-Angelo Roncalli…….a.ka. Pope St. John XXIII
See how the future pope and Saint turned away from himself and accepted Jesus’ love despite his “littleness?” This is what we are all called to do! Most of us will not become the pope, but we can all become saints.
May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.
In Christ’s Love,
Sr. Katie Marie
Jesus Is Calling
What do you want me to do for you?
I want to offer a humble reflection about this Sunday’s readings. I wish I could follow a specific order, but I have decided to write as the Holy Spirit prompts me to do it. I write having in mind all you young people who are discerning a religious or priestly vocation. I hope these reflections throw some light, so, like Bartimaeus, you can see!
First Point: RELIGIOUS AND/OR PRIESTLY VOCATION IS A GIFT GIVEN TO SOME.
The Second Reading, taken from the Letter to the Hebrews, while talking about the high priests says that “No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God.” Those of us who have been called and responded to God’s call to the religious life or the priesthood would not dare to say that “we” made the decision to join a community or enter the seminary in the same way we would’ve chosen to follow a career. Rather, we considered religious life or the priesthood because, by God’s grace, we perceived a call, an invitation, a divine seduction which was almost impossible to ignore.
Of course, it is an honor to become a bride of Jesus and/or to become an Alter Christus (another Christ), but the honor is conferred on us by God in all gratuity. John Paul II states in Vita Consecrata that “The profession of the evangelical counsels thus presupposes a particular gift of God not given to everyone, as Jesus himself emphasizes with respect to voluntary celibacy (cf. Mt 19:10-12).”
Second Point: WE ARE IMPELLED TO ABANDON EVERYTHING WHEN WE HEAR JESUS CALLING US.
In the Gospel, we see that when Bartimaeus hears Jesus calling him, he “throws aside his cloak, springs up, and comes to Jesus.”
Well, some of us definitely have not sprung up and followed Jesus like Bartimaeus because we lacked his faith. But many of us, after a period of discernment, decided to throw aside the cloak and follow Him. For Bartimaeus, being a blind person and probably being a poor person as well, the cloak meant everything he owned; it was his security.
To follow Jesus is not easy, Jesus is demanding. We must throw the cloak, abandon our families, our comforts and our plans for the future.
As I talk to young people who are discerning, they tell me that they are discerning where they can serve Jesus better. Maybe that is not how the discernment should go. In my humble opinion, it is not a matter of where I can serve Jesus better, because after all, God does not need our service. He is God!!! He has the power to do everything!
Maybe the question to reflect on should be: Has Jesus asked me to follow Him? There is only one thing God would not do: violate our freedom! As powerful as God is, He would not oblige us to surrender our lives to Him.
So, for you young people discerning God’s will, it is not a matter of service (even though definitely it is involved since every community has an apostolate) but of surrendering your life to God. Saint Mark points out that “He appointed twelve so that THEY MIGHT BE WITH HIM and he send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14). Our first and foremost duty then is to become one of Jesus, to be with Him.
Have you heard his voice? Is the person of Jesus attracting you in a way that He becomes your spouse, in a way that He becomes more valuable than many children, a nice house and a car, a successful career?
Has Jesus whispered your name? Then, like Bartimaeus, TRUST JESUS and leave behind what has been your life and cling to Jesus’ hand and follow Him wherever He goes.
Third Point: JESUS WILL CONFORM YOU INTO HIMSELF.
The first reading, taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah says that “They departed in tears, but [God] will console them and guide them; [He] will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. For [He is] a Father to Israel.”
Also, the Book of Revelation says that we will be given a white robe that has been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Religious life and priesthood are a white martyrdom, but when one loves, one is ready to sacrifice everything for the beloved to become one. And we long to become one with the crucified and risen Jesus.
All of us have shed tears when we have said our byes to our families and friends, but one moment of spiritual consolation is worth many tears.
Believe me, after thirty something years of religious life, I can attest to what Saint Teresa of Avila says about Jesus, she says that this King knows how to repay his subjects, giving them many graces and consolations. God is such a good Father, confidant, companion, consoler, bridegroom. In Him all the lofty dreams of our little poor human hearts are satisfied.
The Little Sister
V.J.E.
If you were wondering, no, I am not talking about my height (but I’m pretty sure I am the smallest of the sisters in formation hahaha).
I just entered postulancy about two months ago. There have been many things to adjust to like sharing one bathroom with three other women, wearing the same outfit every day (and keeping it clean), eating meals at the same time as the whole community, the prayer schedule, and living in a convent with Sisters! With a total of fourteen women in the house, it is a challenge, but one that is filled with joy! I had anticipated many of these changes, but one in particular was totally unexpected: the adjustment of being the “little sister.”
In my almost 24 years of life, I have been accustomed to being the oldest or the older one in both my family and among friends. I have several people I look up to and confide in, but I have never been involuntarily the “younger sister.” I am the youngest in the convent, and I didn’t realize it for a while. It came to light one day when false thoughts about my sisters were storming my mind. In my weakness, I became sensitive and broke down crying. Why was I crying over such trivial things that weren’t true? In this moment, Jesus revealed two things: 1) I have control issues and 2) I am the youngest.
As for control issues, I will always have them so I was grateful that Jesus was showing me how to grow in trust even more. But as for being the youngest, this was new to me. My sisters affectionately treat me as the “baby sister,” but I did not want this, yet God has placed me here right now as the “little sister.” What does this even mean? Why is this even important? Taking this to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, He told me I need to live out being the “little sister” of the family which means I need to learn how to be the “little sister.”
So for the past two months, this has been a great challenge so far, but truly a gift. Each day as I learn to be the “little sister,” I grow in charity towards God and towards others, especially my sisters. I am learning to be the “little sister” who serves her older sisters (postulants and novices) and listens to them, and the “little daughter” who serves and listens to her mothers (professed Sisters). Yet, I am also learning to receive and accept the acts of charity of my Sisters when they desire to serve me and sacrifice for me as their “little sister” or “little daughter” (or when they occasionally want to spoil me!).
I am growing to be “little.” That’s the paradox of the Gospel. “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). If I desire to be full of Love, I must give myself entirely to Jesus. This doesn’t happen overnight. It will be a gradual change, a gradual decrease of self, but an increase in Jesus Christ. It is in the small daily things that God calls me to great fidelity, humility, and charity. It is in my littleness that I will grow in love for my Father, for His Son, and for the Holy Spirit. All I have is a small, poor love to give to God, but it is enough for Him because He only asks that I freely give Him everything.
Please pray for me as I continue to discern God’s will, and please pray for my sisters in formation: Marianne, Michelle, Yve, Sr. April Marie, Sr. Ines, and Sr. Katie.
“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” –St. Thérèse de Lisieux
Fiat voluntas Tua