Dear Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake,
June is the month of the Sacred Heart, a time when we consecrate ourselves to Him. This is a way to intentionally dedicate our lives to Him and invite Him into all the aspects of our lives. Below is a prayer of consecration:
I give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being other than to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take You, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.
Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God the Father, and turn away from me the strokes of his righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in You, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Your goodness and bounty.
Remove from me all that can displease You or resist Your holy will; let your pure love imprint Your image so deeply upon my heart, that I shall never be able to forget You or to be separated from You.
May I obtain from all Your loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Your Heart, for in You I desire to place all my happiness and glory, living and dying in bondage to You. Amen.
I have found this line to be the most profound: “I therefore take You, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.” It packs many things into one—the fact that in this life there will be many objects competing for my love and devotion. If they take God’s place in my life then I have replaced the gift for the giver. If He remains in the center of my life then I can love those other things rightly. The fact is that the assurance of my salvation is Christ alone—may I never place my security in other things. Jesus is the remedy for my weakness and inconstancy—do I run to Him time and again as I continue to grapple with my weaknesses and inconstancy? Do I let Him strengthen me so I can stand firm? When I fall into sin do I fall into the confessional which is to fall into His Sacred Heart? Lastly, this consecration is a way to place ourselves into His hands which is all that Heaven is. Death then becomes nothing other than Jesus carrying us from this life into the next.
Jesus may this prayer be true in me and all of us!
God Bless,
Fr. Todd
Comments