SACRED HEART AND DIVINE
MERCY
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Rooted in
the Holy Scriptures and practiced in a variety of ways throughout the Christian
centuries, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us that our Lord
Jesus never ceases to pour out upon us the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit
from His glorious Pierced Heart. The devotion was fostered and strengthened, in
a wonderful way, through the apparitions of our Lord Jesus to Saint Margaret
Mary Alacoque in the seventeenth century.
The
essence of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is our response to the
piercing of the Heart of Jesus on Calvary. The pierced Heart of Jesus is a permanent
invitation for us to place our sinful and poor hearts into the Sacred Heart.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart helps us to lift up our hearts to our Lord
Jesus throughout the day, overcoming, with the help of His grace, the
temptation to sin and finding in Him the strength to love as He loves.
The
practice of enthroning the image of the Sacred Heart in our homes and places of
work reminds us to draw grace from the glorious Heart of Jesus throughout the
day. The enthroned image of the Sacred Heart becomes the centre of our home and
our work, the place which recalls to mind that our Lord Jesus alone is the King
of our hearts.
The Season of Lent is a wonderful time for individuals and families to
prepare for the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is fittingly
celebrated during the Sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy
Saturday, on Easter Sunday, or during the Octave of Easter. If you desire more
information about the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in your home or
place of work, I urge you to obtain a copy of The Enthronement of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, published by the Archdiocese.
Devotion to the Divine Mercy
Pope John
Paul the Great strongly promoted the devotion to the Divine Mercy, which our
Lord gave us to us through Saint Faustina Kowalska in the last century. In a
time when so many had grown forgetful of God and, therefore, had despaired of
His mercy and love, our Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Faustina, urging us to
place our complete trust in Him.
Saint Faustina
taught us to pray, especially at the hour of out Lord's Passion and Death, the
Chaplet of Divine Mercy, returning us to the source of our salvation in Jesus
Christ and our share with Him in the work of salvation. She also taught us to
observe the Novena, beginning on Good Friday, to prepare for the celebration of
Divine Mercy Sunday. The devotion to the Divine Mercy, like the devotion to the
Sacred Heart, helps us to keep our minds and hearts focused on the mystery of
our Redemption.
If you
are not familiar with the devotion to the Divine Mercy, I urge you to use the
weeks of our Lenten observance to begin praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
daily. I also encourage you to observe the Novena of Divine Mercy.
Devotion to our Lord and His Passion
Both the
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the devotion to the Divine Mercy are
privileged ways of coming to know more fully our Lord's love for us and express
more fully our love for Him, in return. Both devotions keep us in communion
with our Lord in His Suffering and Dying, so that we unite our suffering and
dying with Him, as an act of total love of God and neighbour.
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