Behold This Heart 3.

Twelve promises were given by the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary to be guaranteed to those who would practice this devotion. This Heart contains "all the treasures of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God." The promises remind you of a blank check. Our Lord presents the soul with it and tells him to fill it in for as much as he wishes. "All" the treasures of divine knowledge and wisdom are here, so the more each one takes (to quote St. Margaret Mary), the more there is left behind. "In all things you are made rich in Him so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace."

The Sacred Heart promises to restore peace in families if they will adopt this devotion. He will bless the homes where the image of His Heart is publicly exposed for veneration. Tepid souls will become fervent through the practice of this devotion. He will bless "all the undertakings" of those who try to satisfy His appeal for the spread of this devotion. He will give them "all the graces necessary for their state." "Fervent souls will advance swiftly towards perfection." Is it any wonder we compare such largesse to a blank check?

We do not need, presumably, to dwell in detail on the means to be employed to cultivate this devotion. Or, rather, while referring briefly to the Nine Fridays, the consecration of families, the Holy Hour devotion, we might perhaps single out for special comment one practice inculcated by Our Lord.

He asked St. Margaret Mary, and us through her, to spend the hour from eleven to midnight, on the eve of each First Friday, in prayer, if possible before the Blessed Sacrament.

This hour was to be offered in union with the prayer and sweat of blood endured in Gethsemani, and in reparation for sin. Many fervent souls respond generously to this appeal. Certainly when the night is still and the rush and bustle of the day are ended, it is a most congenial time to remain in prayer, and there is something very noble in the sight of a soul kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament in reparation, precisely when so much sin is actually being committed.

"Lord, teach me to know the obstacles that, consciously or unconsciously, I am placing in the way of Your grace in me. ... Give me the strength to put them aside.... Never let me separate myself from You. Grant that our inner conversation may never cease, that I may receive all that You deign to give me, and that I may not stand in the way of the grace which, through me, should be poured out upon other souls to give them light and life. Amen."

Summary:

1. The ingratitude which forces a cry of complaint from the Sacred Heart.
2. The sight of the Sacred Heart teaches us reverence for God, understanding of sin, and the inexhaustible love of God for sinners.
3. "In all things YOU arc made rich in Him" blank check.

Thought:

From eleven o'clock until midnight on the eve of the First Friday.