Sacred Heart of Jesus Daily Feast The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on the octave day of the feast of Corpus Christi. In the 17th century Jesus appeared in a vision to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque asking her to request that this feast be celebrated in honor of his Sacred Heart in reparation for the ingratitude of mankind toward the sacrifice of his love on the Cross. Pope Pius IX extended the feast of the Sacred Heart to the universal Church in 1856. The imagery of Christ pointing to his heart, on fire with love, signifies his immense and infinite love for humanity which took Him to the Cross to die for our salvation. The Sacred Heart of Jesus desires that all mankind draw close to Him in love and trust. Today this devotion, given to the faithful by Our Lord himself, is among the most popular of the Catholic Church. | †Quote of the Day
"Let every knee bend before Thee, O greatness of my God, so supremely humbled in the Sacred Host. May every heart love Thee, every spirit adore Thee and every will be subject to Thee!"
–St. Margaret Mary †Today's Meditation†
"All of the Beatitudes are humbling. And this is scarcely a thing to be marveled at. For the Beatitudes are Jesus' personally programmed Christian living. And He has told us the reason that He lived and loved as He did: that is, lived unto death and loved unto the end. "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). It was because He was meek and humble of heart."
—Mother Francis, PCC, p. 71 An Excerpt From
Blessed Are You †Daily Verse†
"It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus]. Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus."
–Philippians 3:12-14 |  click to read more | | St. Regis St. John Francis Regis (1597–1640) was born to a wealthy French merchant and his noble wife. After being educated by the Jesuits, he joined their order at the age of 18 and was later ordained a priest. He grew into a skilled preacher and catechist, and received an assignment to evangelize the French provinces that had fallen to the Protestants – the Huguenots – as well as lapsed Catholics. He devoted his life to this mission and was very successful, winning countless souls to Christ. He preached the Gospel to men, women, and children in all walks and stations of life, even traveling on foot to wild mountain parishes as a missionary priest. He would live on meager meals while spending his days in prayer, preaching, hearing confessions, and visiting prisons and hospitals. He raised controversy when he established hostels for converted prostitutes to remain chaste and work for their sustenance in the lace-making and embroidery trades. He is also remembered for stationing a granary to feed the poor, which at times was miraculously replenished. St. Regis is the patron of embroiderers, social workers, and lace makers. His feast day is June 16th. | Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Reading 1 Dt 7:6-11 Moses said to the people:
"You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God;
he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth
to be a people peculiarly his own.
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers,
that he brought you out with his strong hand
from the place of slavery,
and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed,
the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant
down to the thousandth generation
toward those who love him and keep his commandments,
but who repays with destruction a person who hates him;
he does not dally with such a one,
but makes them personally pay for it.
You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments,
the statutes and the decrees that I enjoin on you today." Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10 R. (cf. 17) The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him. Reading 2 1 Jn 4:7-16 Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him. Alleluia Mt 11:29ab R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord;
and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mt 11:25-30 At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
| Daily Meditation: 1 John 4:7-16 God is love. (1 John 4:8) When John writes that God is love, he doesn't leave us wondering what he means. Instead, he explains how God's love was revealed to us: "God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him" (1 John 4:9). And this was God's initiative—he loved us first (4:10). John's words here can help us understand God's love, but images can bring us new insights as well. On this feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let's reflect on the popular image of the Sacred Heart to see what it might want to say to us. In the many paintings and illustrations of this image, Jesus is pointing to his heart, which has a flame rising above it and a circle of thorns encircling it. His heart tells us who he is: God in the flesh, who stooped down to become human, like the creatures he created, so that he could redeem us. The flame represents the burning love Jesus has for each one of us. This is a love that never fails, a love that longs for each person to know him and the forgiveness he offers. It is a flame that will burn throughout our lives and even into eternity! The crown of thorns symbolizes a God who willingly laid down his life out of love for us. Though Roman soldiers used the crown to mock Jesus, God used it to show that he truly is the King of the Universe. But this King, though whipped and crucified, rose from the dead, conquering sin and death once and for all. We know that God is love. Yet we all have moments when we wonder if God really loves us. Maybe we've sinned in some way and feel that we don't deserve his love. Or perhaps we are in a truly difficult situation and wonder how God could allow such a thing to happen. Or maybe we don't see our prayers answered the way we want and think he isn't hearing us. But when we look at the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we know for certain that his love will always burn for us. Today on this special feast, make some time to sit silently with Jesus. Let him lavish this love on you. "Lord, let me experience your burning love for me today." Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Psalm 103:1-4, 6-8, 10
Matthew 11:25-30 | From today's 1st Holy Scripture:
"Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed,
the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant
down to the thousandth generation
toward those who love him and keep his commandments..." end of verse. They say that when we speak about a generation, it typically means about 40 years. And so, if our Lord speaks about 1000 Generations, in His mercy, then, we are speaking about 40,000 years. We are then, probably in about under 4,000 years since the time of the first Exodus. This means God's people are still subject to mercy, or our own condemnation as we see fit for our lives, and the choice is a no brainer, for those who love Mercy, that is God's own heart. | We pray today:
" The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him. Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes." end of Psalm. The Lord is kind and merciful. Amen? Always, right? So feel free to roam about your own business? LOL. No! The Lord is kind and merciful, but there is more to that, and the stipulation is that we adhere to, and seek, and desire, and to ask for mercy and kindness and for what? So that we too may become merciful and kind...just as He is! A Sacred Heart United. | In the Gospel today we heard:
""Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." end of verse. | And there you have it, straight from the mouth and Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus, saying, "come to Me!". Come all who are laboring, and we think of the word "labor" as in the aches and pains of life, especially that of when we encounter labor pains during evangelization, that of proclaiming and living out His very desire.
If we would only take His yoke. That is, to bind ourselves with Him. And so, in the mornings, do as I've been learning to do. As I put on my boots to go to work, and my belt around my waist, I am also strapping on my prayers, my scapular, my rosary, my blessed sacramentals, and then, start praying before leaving the house, and praying as you exit the house and pray all the way to work, and when at work, think of God all day, and pray, and in all you do, involve Him, for we have bound ourselves to Him all the live long day. Then we will learn as we seek Him in all things, that there is a way to be meek and humble. And these will be the qualities desired in a good leader, that they are meek, and humble, just as our Lord is the supreme Leader, so too, in Him, we will find things are more peaceful, not in the violence brought about by sin, all things darkness.
And then, doing His will becomes easy, not a burden.
So often in our rushed world, we feel that doing God's will is a real chore, or a burden.
But that is a backwards way of living.
Doing His will should be easy, not a burden.
Now that I am learning this, now work also becomes easier.
The super stressful anxieties I face daily, I've learned can subside if I live and focus only on God's will and life.
There is time to pray. Where there is a will, there is a way, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let's pray:
Sacred Heart of Jesus, be my Love!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, be my Love!
Sacred Heart of Mary, be my salvation. |  Hear it click | Random Bible Verse 1
Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
