Unite More Deeply with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

Jesus and Mary’s Hearts are full of so much love to give, and they desire to pour it out. Yet the reality is they often get so much indifference, ingratitude, blasphemy, etc., heaped upon them. May we at least try to console them and regularly pray the Rosary; practice the First Friday and First Saturday devotions; participate in Holy Mass; and have images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary blessed and enthroned in our homes and our hearts.

By Fr. Robert Vennetti, MIC

There's a double cause for celebration this year! 

While the First Friday and First Saturday of every month are traditionally devoted to promote, respectively, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary (especially here at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy), this year the celebrations in July (July 4 and 5) are preceded the week before by the annual feasts: the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27 and the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 28.

This is an ideal opportunity for immersion and education. Let's strive to know and unite more deeply with their Hearts, and make reparation for the fact that their love for us is so often not returned.

Heart to Heart
Loving and honoring these two holy Hearts has great benefits for us and the world, for as St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote,

It seems to me that our Lord’s earnest desire to have his Sacred Heart honored in a special way is directed toward renewing the effects of redemption in our souls. For the Sacred Heart is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure (Liturgy of the Hours, Oct. 16, second reading).

The heart most united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why, when God sent Our Lady to the children in Fatima in 1917, God desired devotion to her Immaculate Heart to also be spread.

Years ago, I was introduced to the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Ever since, I’ve tried to answer her call to pray the Rosary every day and to do the first Saturday devotions in reparation for the offenses against her Immaculate Heart.

Fruits of devotion
Looking back on this, I see how Our Blessed Mother was leading me deeper into the Sacred Heart of her Son and preparing my heart and soul to allow Jesus to pour out abundant grace and mercy for me and the world. 

For instance, praying the Rosary daily unites us to Mother Mary’s powerful intercession. She also helps us to contemplate the life and Heart of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, and receive abundant graces for ourselves and the world.

Further, when we embrace the First Saturday devotions, Our Lady serves as a spiritual teacher for us. She encourages us to make at least a monthly Confession where the Lord frees us from our sins, helps us to properly prepare for Holy Communion, and gives us the grace to grow in virtue.

When we attend Mass and receive Holy Communion (in the state of grace) on the first Saturday of the month, Our Lady is teaching us the infinite value of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Holy Communion, and can instill in us a desire to make reparation for the fact that Jesus, Love Incarnate, is not loved, especially in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

In fact, Our Lady eventually implanted in me a desire to attend Holy Mass every day.

Value of Meditation
In addition to requesting we pray the Rosary on the First Saturdays, Our Lady asks us to keep her company and meditate for 15 minutes on the Mysteries of the Rosary. Our Immaculate Mother is teaching us the great value of meditation, so that we may be formed more and more in the mind and Heart of Christ and allow Jesus and Mary to help us to “lead lives according to (God’s) good pleasure,” a life of Christian virtue, making us more fit for Heaven.

Jesus and Mary’s Hearts are full of so much love to give, and they desire to pour it out. Yet the reality is they often get so much indifference, ingratitude, blasphemy, etc., heaped upon them.

Love in action
May we at least try to console them and regularly pray the Rosary, practice the First Friday and First Saturday devotions (in a spirit of reparation), and participate in Holy Mass as much as possible, in addition to every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. 

May we also have images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary blessed and enthroned in our homes and our hearts.

As we prepare to celebrate these feast days, let us pray often: 

Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like Thine, and like Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Amen. 
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