“Behold the Heart that has loved so much and is not loved in return.” (Revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque).
I recently heard of an Eucharistic miracle that occurred during the 8th century when a Basilian monk, who had begun to doubt the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist saw the Host converted into real Flesh and the Wine into real Blood. That miraculous Eucharist has been kept in the town of Lanciano for fourteen hundred years and has remained incorrupt. In 1981 a Professor of science called Linoli conducted many tests on the Eucharistic miracle. And discovered many astonishing facts about these Blessed Things. One of the most remarkable revelations was that the Flesh – that had been preserved without any human procedures or chemical products for more than twelve centuries (at that time) – was part of a Human Heart!
And I have been contemplating the Sacred-Heart of my Beloved – preserved as it is in that miraculous Flesh...
It is a strange concept to consider the Sacred-Heart of Christ as revealed through some visions and many revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. This is because in referring to His Sacred Heart, Christ is not referring to the physical muscle that pumps blood throughout the body, but rather to His infinite capacity for love…
And it is heartbreaking to me that God – who so loves the world that He sent His only Son to suffer and die to redeem it, should continue to suffer for love of miserable souls like mine…
A revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was, “Behold the Heart that has loved so much and is not loved in return.”
And I have been reflecting on that loving Heart over the last few weeks since the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in late June… For God lays down His life for His sheep…
“Jesus told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing... Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’” (Luke 15:3-7).
And I have been reflecting on the joy of the GOOD Shepherd in saving even one sheep… For that JOY contrasts so strongly with the work of the Sacred Heart in the redemption of souls… “Behold this Heart that has so loved men that is spared nothing, even going so far as to exhaust and consume itself to prove to them its love.” (Revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque).
In this same revelation the Sacred Heart of Jesus revealed, “I receive in return scarcely anything but ingratitude because of their irreverence and sacrileges, and because of the coldness and disdain they show towards Me in this sacrament of love.”
And to know that my Beloved suffers for my disdain of Him, causes me such grief… Such terrible terrible grief…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.