St. Margaret Mary Alacoque began to develop her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament when she was very young. She must have recognized something gravitating in the Living Body of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. She grew closer to Christ as she grew up. However, her path to intimacy with Christ was not straightforward.
Margaret lost his father at age 8. This resulted in
her family’s hardship. At age 9, she began to suffer from a debilitating
illness. Amidst of her suffering, Margaret sustained herself by frequenting to
the Blessed Sacrament for consolation. And she promised the Blessed Virgin to
consecrate herself to a religious life. Then, immediately, she was healed.
Because of this, she added the Blessed Virgin’s name, Mary, to her name,
Margaret. Later, her family was able to recover assets that her father left.
As her health was restored and family’s economic
situation became better, Margaret Mary’s life was more drawn to secular
pleasures. Forgetting her vow made to the Blessed Virgin. Then, she saw a
vision of Jesus being scourged. In this personal apparition to Margaret Mary, Jesus
admonished her for letting herself drifted from him upon as her life became
free from struggles and suffering. But he also assured of his Sacred Heart
burning with love. This turned a dwindling fire of her heart for Jesus into a
flame. And she entered a convent. Ever since then, the flame of her heart for Jesus
has never diminish, because she found her heart in the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and recognized him living in her heart.
Thus began the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And not only being so devoted to the Sacred Heart, but she also enthusiastically
served to be a passionate promoter of the Sacred Heart devotion, as Jesus
wanted her to be.
In order to propagate the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Margaret Mary wrote Mother Louise-Henriette de Soudeilles on June 25, 1687.
I beg the loving Heart of Jesus to consume
our hearts in the pure flames of His holy love, so that they may live and
breathe only to love, honor and glorify Him. I assure you, dear Mother, that I
have nothing but pleasure in thinking of the ardent zeal this Sacred Heart give
you to make Him known and loved. I see in that a great sign of His love for
your Charity . You must never let up in this holy work which will, I think,
bring you a rich reward from God. In His presence I do not forget you in my
unworthy prayers and beg you not to refuse the help of your prayers to one who
is wholly yours in the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
As the First Reading (Ephesians 3:14-19) reflects, the
devotion to the Sacred Heart, which goes with the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
of the Holy Eucharist, let the love of God through the Holy Spirit (i.e. Romans
5:5) be poured into us, efficaciously affecting our inner-selves, being filled
with the fullness of God and receiving what God reveals.
As in the case with St. Margaret Mary, we must devote
ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with humility and hope. Because of our
humility, we know that we need God’s providential grace, especially during a
time of challenges to endure to grow in character (i.e. Romans 5:4-6). So,
Jesus is calling us to come to him to yoke with him through his Sacred Heart. And
this is reflected in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 11:25-30).
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