Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 11th, 2010
“Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.”
Romans 5:5
All three members of the Trinity are involved in salvation. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit to fill our lives with love and to enable us to live by his power. With all this loving care, how can we not serve him completely!
We were weak and helpless because we could do nothing on our own to save ourselves. Not only did Christ come to rescue us at a good time in history: he came at the right time. While we were still sinners God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we deserved it but because he loved us. Whenever you feel uncertain about God’s love for you, look at the Crucifix. Looking at the Crucifix, John XXIII on his death bed reflected: “The secret of my ministry is that crucifix you see opposite my bed. … Look at it. See it as I see it. Those open arms have been the programmes of my pontificate: they say that Christ died for all, for all. No one is excluded from his love, his forgiveness.”
The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us every day. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that is available to all of us. No obstacle, however insurmountable it may appear, is greater than the power behind us.
Prayer
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
