Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Part 7 Reparation For the Sake of Love

Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Christians and Reparation

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TranscriptSacredHEartStainedGlassOrnate

But there is another and a nobler motive; not that of interest but love.
Is it possible to see God so insulted without feeling impelled to make Him some compensation? Can we look on and see Christ our Lord, our Head, mocked at and treated as an outlaw without a feeling of indignation, of regret, or of deeper love for His cause? It is true that, from the days of His Agony in Gethsemani and His Crucifixion, He is accustomed to have but few of His disciples with Him but, even so, cannot we be of that number? Where is the faith, where are the noble sentiments that should animate the souls of baptized Catholics ? Will none come forward to mitigate His sufferings? Will none try to comfort the Church in her grief? Are there only priests and religious who can realise what suffering costs and how much misery afflicts men?

” Look around you and tell me whether the world is governed by the Spirit of God who created it, or by the spirit of Satan, the worlds idol and destroyer ? We must make Reparation for all those who, though baptised by water and the Holy Ghost, have nevertheless sinned against Him. Yet we remain all the time indolent and inactive ” (Manning).

The Holy Spirit is betrayed every hour of the day. Are there none willing to make Reparation ?

We see the Church of Christ continually attacked, now openly and shamelessly, now secretly and cunningly. Are we always going to remain inactive? If we can remain so indifferent, it is because we do not love our Mother, the Church. The term ” Mother ” is an empty sound, a mere mockery. Shall we suffer our Mother to be insulted with impunity ? Formerly, if anyone had grieved our human mother, should we not have striven to make amends to her by increased tenderness ?

Mgr. d Hulst writes : ” We need in the world devout souls who love God and are desirous of making Reparation and of doing it without stirring up the resentment or curiosity of their neighbours by their choice of means.” Thanks be to God, there are some, more perhaps than we think.

It is related that a poor peasant woman was nursing her dying son. Presently, the young man, half- opening his eyes, exclaimed: ” Mother, save me some water, I am dying of thirst.” At this moment the clock struck three. The Christian mother took a crucifix and, placing it in her son s hand in a voice broken by tears, said to him : “My dearest child, it is the hour when Jesus too was tormented by thirst and died for you upon the Cross. Won’t you endure a little thirst to be like Him ?” “Yes, mother,” replied the young man and, putting the crucifix to his lips, he kissed it tenderly. Unconsciously these two, mother and son, were animated with the sentiments of St. Francis of Assisi when he exclaimed: “What, Thou, my Saviour, art nailed to the Cross, and I am not nailed to it !” Their generosity puts these two among those ” good Christians ” of whom the saintly Cure of Ars once said: “Worldlings complain dolefully of having crosses ; good Christians grieve when they have none .” True love ever begets imitation: this is the unequivocal mark of its genuineness.

The Cure of Ars also used to say: ” A Christian lives amidst crosses like a fish in the water.”  It is indeed admirable what God can effect with such a wretched thing as the heart of man. Let us admire it and, at the same time, try to understand it. Many know nothing of such heroic acts: those who perform them, generally speaking, do not realise their own heroism. There are different degrees of generosity and greatness in these deeds, ranging from the most glorious to the most humble (which are not always the least meritorious). Those who have heard of these voluntary victims know that there are more than we might imagine. Doubtless, specially privileged souls retain their high place and are consequently not numerous, but, God has chosen souls even in the world and among those who live an active life.

It devolves upon us to cherish and guard these chosen grains of the purest wheat. If God has inspired us with the germ of generous desires, let us beware of the indifference that surrounds usus. If we would be ready to suffer, we must love God. Is this so difficult?

During the french revolution one of the judges of a revolutionary tribunal asked a saintly young girl Marguerite de Pons : ” What are your religious views?” to which she answered simply: “I love God with all my heart.”

And who cannot make the same reply? Loving God with all our heart that is equipment enough for starting on the work of reparation. That, too, is enough to keep us carrying it on successfully to the end.

A Solemn Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Your throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!

The more Your mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!
The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Your Heart, sole hope of mankind!

The more hearts resist Your Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable heart of Jesus!
The more unbelief attacks Your Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!
The more Your holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!

The more Your Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!
The more the imitation of Your virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue!

The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!

The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!

The more Your Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!

The more Your Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more we will honor him as the infallible head of Your Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O kingly Heart of Jesus!
O Sacred Heart, through Your powerful grace, may we become Your apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Your crown in the kingdom of heaven.

Amen.

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Credits

This work is an abrigement of a Chapter from the book The Ideal of Reparation by Father Raoul Plus SJ or more details on how this work was abriged please visit the Audiobook page

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