Hi, I m Father Chris Alar and welcome to another addition of Ask a Marian. You know, Steven
from Holly, Michigan, which is super cool because that s where I used to live. Hello
to my all-time favorite teacher, Mrs. Jacobs. Um, he writes, Father, I heard that Friday,
June eleventh is the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the next day, Saturday, is the Feast of
the Immaculate Heart. Is there anything different in these from the First Fridays and First
Saturdays that we ve been celebrating with you Marian Fathers all year? I am confused.
All right, Steven, thank you for the great question. Good observation. You know, in the
month of June, the secular world celebrates unfortunately, it s turning away from God
and His Commandments by deeming it Pride Month. But, as Father Mateo Crawley once said: the
family is the source of life, the child s first school. If the source of national life
is poisoned, the nation will perish. What we long to do is to plant faith deep in families,
and love for the Sacred Heart. If Jesus Christ is in the roots, the whole tree will bear
fruit. End quote. So, you really want to know what the month
of June is really about? June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and,
tomorrow, June the Eleventh, we celebrate actually the annual Feast of the Sacred Heart.
Not just a First Friday and as important as that is, but, the actual annual Feast of the
Sacred Heart as well as the next day, is the annual Feast of the Immaculate Heart.
Okay, now this all starts with love. Not the love of sin but, true love for each other
that helps us to leave sin and to follow Christ as a disciple. You know, love starts in the
heart and the Sacred Heart is seeing really Jesus physical Heart as a representation of
His Divine Love for all humanity. Basically, its mankind s devotion to Christ s Sacred
Humanity. You know, this is so important because the Church is the Body of Christ and to it,
Christ gave His own physical heart. The human heart. It s amazing. It s you know. The human
heart is the symbol of the deepest mystery of a person.
When we talk about somebody s heart, we are talking about who they are. Who they really
are deep down. Uh, what they think, what they feel, what s important to them. Our task in
this Devotion of the Sacred Heart is to try to return that Love, that is hopefully in
our heart, back to God who gave us all the Love from His Heart. That is why, according
to the Popes, uh, the last one hundred years, you know, the Popes in the last one hundred
years, there is no Devotion more important than the Sacred Heart Devotion.
Uh well, but wait a minute, Father, you re a Marian of the Immaculate Conception. I thought
you guys were all about Divine Mercy and that was it? We are about Divine Mercy, but they
are intimately connected and, one comes from the other. What do I mean? All right, Jesus
told Saint Faustina, quote: My daughter, know that My Heart (meaning the Sacred Heart) is
mercy, (Divine Mercy) itself. From this sea of mercy (the Sacred Heart) graces flow out
upon the whole world. No soul that has approached Me has ever gone away unconsoled. All misery
gets buried in the depths of My mercy, and every saving and sanctifying grace flows from
this fountain. Wow. Later, Jesus said, He is clamoring to
pour out mercy from His Sacred Heart out onto the world which is mercy. But you know what,
where is this grace? When we look at the world today it s in a mess. Why? Because His Sacred
Heart is wounded from our sins and He is now fully able to pour out graces onto the world.
You know, remember in Scripture, even Jesus couldn t work miracles when the people lacked
faith. Now, we can change that on every First Friday
and every First Saturday, which we ve been doing. We ve been making reparation to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But now, the next two days June Eleventh
and June Twelfth, we are going to partake in the actual annual Feasts of the Sacred
Heart and the Immaculate Heart. Not just a First Friday and a First Saturday. Although
they re very important as I said. So, it is important on these days to console
the Heart of Jesus on Friday, and make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Saturday.
Not just for the sins of others, but also for the sins that we have caused to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. So, try to attend Mass on either day, or both, if possible, to show
God that the Month of June is about the Two Hearts, not about taking pride in sin. Remember,
we love the sinner, but hate the sin. Especially our own. So, we re not judging other people,
you know, that s not it. Let s start by helping other people find Jesus. Let s start by offering
reparation to the sacred Heart of Jesus for the sins and ingratitude of all mankind, ourselves
and others, but especially the glorification of sin that is coming out in this Pride in
the Month of June, which society tells us we must do.
Please, for the sake of the world, don t believe that glorifying sin is ever the answer. It
s a lie. And what is the answer to this lie? The answer was given to us by John Paul the
Second in his encyclical, Rich in Mercy. He said, quote, the Church seems in a special
way to profess the mercy of God and venerate it when she directs herself to the Heart of
Christ. In fact, it is precisely this drawing close to Christ in the mystery of His Heart
which enables us to dwell on the merciful love of the Father, which constituted the
central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man. End quote.
Wow. This is so important; it was Jesus mission. So, in short, according to the Saints, Visionaries
and all the Popes, we need to be devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and at the same
time, to have a special devotion to the Divine Mercy, that flows to us from His Heart. They
are inseparable. Jesus has only one Heart, His Sacred Heart. And this is also His Merciful
Heart. The Sacred Heart overflows with Merciful Love for us and that is the only answer to
save this world from being turned upside down. Which is already happening.
So, Divine Mercy therefore, is form that Our Lord s Love takes to help us when we need
help, to meet us when our needs and our brokenness seem extreme. So, whatever our misery may
be, sin, guilt, suffering, even death, the Heart of Jesus is always ready to pour out
that Merciful Love on us to help us in our time of need. And, you know, if you can t
make it to Mass this Friday or Saturday, Our Lord asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to still
console Him in His Loving Heart by making a Holy Hour on Thursday night at eleven p.m.
until midnight. He asked her, as us, like the Apostles, to keep Him company for just
one hour. You know, in fact, this was the beginning
of the tradition of the Holy Hour. He gave no set prayers. So, the Chaplet of Divine
Mercy, the Rosary, or even just sitting in silence, are all excellent ways to do, or
things to do during the Holy Hour. You know, you can even use the Divine Mercy Novena prayers
because these make reparation to the Heart of Jesus.
So, in the end, it may be the most important thing you ever do in your entire life. Why?
Because it encapsulates the ABC s, the entire Message of Divine Mercy. So, Steven, may Almighty
God bless you and all of you watching. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen