Living within the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Living within the Sacred Heart of Jesus

A recent documentary on St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who was the chosen apostle of the Sacred Heart brought many remembrances of my own life’s connection as well.  As I have written before a picture of the Sacred Heart hangs over my desk where it has been for over 60 years.  It is the one impetus that brought me into Holy Orders and gave me the strength to learn what an ordained ministry is really about.  

Watching the story regarding St. Margaret Mary and how she struggled with many disappointments that are the same signs of being blessed by God in order to reach the mission he calls one to succeed in.  As we look at the many martyrs who became saints and stood in their belief to succeed in their quest for righteousness saw the grace of God within the Heart of Christ.

Following the different rules that Christ expounded on to St Margaret Mary could lead some to find outward expressions favorable to themselves but called for a greater effort on the part of anyone who is caught in a mission of giving themselves in a deeper manner that led many saints to their death.    

It isn’t in becoming austere that makes one holy but holding on to the mission we’re sent to accomplish can become one that we either succeed in doing for Christ or become frightened to the point of giving up too soon.  This is not for everyone.  

From a personal attempt to expose a Sacred Heart badge given me by a distant cousin who was a Sister of the Visitation Order in Wheeling, W/VA I began by wearing it on a chain around my neck.  It did attract a lot of skepticism and I remembered the words of Jesus to the Saint about blessings for wherever an image was exposed.   For a while I was being a bit austere until I discovered that was not the exposure that he was looking for, at least by wearing it around one's neck.  Fifty years of ministry has taught me the real meaning of devotion to the Sacred Heart begins with giving of myself to the needy, the disenfranchised, and any one who has lost their way to Christ.  Sts. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas More, and St. Joan of Arc.  These are some who either found the meaning of the Sacred Heart through martyrdom, or a life of suffering for the cause of holiness and giving themselves to Christ by expounding their lives for their brothers and sisters in Christ.

All of us are not called to become martyrs but we are called to live a life that seems to imply giving ourselves over to the people of God in some way that supersedes the normal manner of just doing what our acceptance of ministry is all about.  There is a comprehensive impulse that those of us that have been called to something a little different will pull our conscience into a feeling that goes beyond the original call we had.  It won’t come as a text message or a letter from the Chancery  But through the Heart of Christ it will disturb us to the point of following something we never dreamed about.  If the internal call is not nudging us to become this missionary then that person is not on the list.  God’s intent will grow within our own heart and the ultimate path he has for us will require sacrifice, suffering, and a glory that awaits us.

Many will discover that answering a call to religious life or Holy Orders in themselves will experience times of doubt, a need to find a spiritual advisor, and continue reading and studying Sacred Scripture.  Without these attributes the role of ministry can find a void and might corrupt the minister’s role for Christ and the Church.  And this applies to all in ministry irregardless if you are called to a deeper role or not.    

Ralph B. Hathaway