On the eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, I bring you to the last section of Fr. Wagner's article on Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In this part, he leads us into meditating on the 8 Flames....
The Flames of Love issuing from the Heart of Jesus
The better we come to know the love of the Sacred Heart, the better our love will leap up like a flame in response to His love. Rather than try to acquire spiritual growth through asceticism, which is slow and painful, we should enkindle the fire of our love in the Heart of Jesus. This is not to deny the need for asceticism; asceticism is necessary, only it should be inspired by love. To this end, we want to consider how the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus reaches out to us in love from the tabernacle, in order to inflame our hearts with a reciprocal response of love. St. John Eudes discerns eight different flames of love which issue from our Lord's Heart in the tabernacle which are freely adapted here to our present needs.
The First Flame Impels Christ to Remain with us
"The first flame is the inconceivable love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which impelled Him to abide there continuously night and day, for nearly 2000 years, to be always with us, so as to fulfill [His] promise." "Behold, He assures us, "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Mt 28,20). St. John Eudes, accordingly, understands this as a Eucharistic Promise. As he points out, this is an imprisonment of love. What loneliness, coldness and abandonment; never was there a lover so spurned and so neglected. "Could you not watch one hour with me?!" On the one hand -- when He finds Himself in the midst of friends -- it is a sheer delight: "It was my delight to be with the sons of men."
The Second Flame Repairs All Our Debts
The second flame of this fiery furnace is the love of our Lord's Heart which issues forth and rises up to heaven in order to pay our greatest debt. [continue reading the 8 flames and conclusion.......]
Post 1 and 2 originate from the same text. Tomorrow is Sacred Heart!!! Print this out and read it tonite and if possible, try to attend holy Mass.
For those who are local, the 7:00pm daily Mass on Friday at Assumption Grotto will feature the choir. I previously stated this would be our last Mass until August 15, but Fr. Perrone decided we would sing on Sunday at 9:30 as well before releasing us into the summer!