Keeping All These Things In Our Hearts

     The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was the topic of last week's article, is closely connected with the Holy Eucharist.  Jesus is truly present in all our tabernacles with what we call His "Real Presence."  A Catholic church or chapel is a privileged place to pray because Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament in the fullness of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.  We celebrated the gift of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with beautiful solemnity last week on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, especially with the Eucharistic Procession that followed the 11:00 A.M. Mass.  It is because Jesus is truly present in our churches and chapel that we are careful to observe a reverent silence there.  Silence makes it possible for us to speak with Him and to listen to Him in our hearts, and our silence is also an act of gracious courtesy to others who may wish to pray and to be with Jesus.  

When we enthrone the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our homes, we are expressing that we wish to extend the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle to our homes, in a certain sense.  That is, we wish to make His presence in our home a " real presence," not in the sense that He becomes present in His Eucharist Presence, but in the sense that we open the doors of our hearts and our homes to Him and permit him to live and to guide and rule in our homes.  Jesus never forces Himself into our lives, but awaits our invitation: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).  In his book, Jesus, King of Love, Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC., writes: "The moments we can devote to God in church are few, for our duties compel us to live our daily life at home.  Unfortunately most of our religion is limited to those rare moments, and when we return to our homes we find them untenanted by Him who should be the center of our lives, the Lord and Friend of our homes. ... [B]y means of the Enthronement, Jesus really enters the home to have part in and guide the whole life of the family.  His love becomes the soul of both parents and children and His Heart their shrine.  Great and close relations exist between the cult of the Sacred Heart and that of the Blessed Sacrament .... [I]n both of them, wherever the spirit of the Enthronement exists and is understood, there is the same living King and Friend, Jesus." (p. 130).  Given the close connection between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Eucharist, we will be devoting the coming weeks to a reflection upon the Holy Mass, especially that form of the Mass which may be less familiar to us, namely, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.  

May the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus be the center of our hearts and of our homes always!