Feast of the Sacred Heart--Oh, Console Him!

Agony in the Garden, Frans Schwarz, 1888

Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart began with St. Gertrude, popularized by St. Margaret Mary, and finalized in the Divine Mercy. But its origin is really when the Apostle John rested his head on His Heart at the Last Supper. This history is written beautifully in Bulman's Sacred Fire, which I reviewed here.

What always struck me was our Lord revealing his sorrow to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love; and in return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of Love." It made me want to console Him like the angel did in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

I used to think that that Jesus's Agony in the Garden was due to my sins. And yes, indeed, I have scourged Him, crowned Him with thorns, nailed Him to the Cross. He suffered and died for me out of love for me. But all I gave Him was my indifference. I am eternally grateful that He never stopped chasing me, loving me, drawing me close, even though I was in the pit of sin. I can no longer call my life my own, but His. And how sweet it is to belong to Jesus. Jesus, my Love! So one day, during Adoration it came to me that His Agony is over the lost souls. It is true, God creates us without our permission but He will not save us without our acceptance of His Grace to save us. We must freely choose to love Him or else it wouldn't be love. The Muslim way, "Convert or die!" is not the way of Jesus. There is no coercion, only a proposal. 

Pope St. John Paul II wrote, "The crucifixion of Christ is the event that expresses with stunning clarity how Jesus is a symbol of contradiction. In fact, people line up on two sides: those who adore him and those who mock him..." 

They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced. John 19:37 Every one of us who looks upon the Crucified Christ has to make a choice: love Him or mock him. During Lent and Easter this year, I read Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Fr. Gaitley. And what is amazing is that even as I choose to love and console Him with my poor, little heart, it is He Who consoles me, tells me how much He loves me, just as I am, even in my sins. He leads me ever closer to Himself. May He draw you ever closer too.