Let this beautiful month of June dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus be for all the guards of honor, and all their relatives, a source of joy, love and peace!
Selfishness … or charity!
“Behold this Heart which has so loved men, that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself in order to testify to its love. In return, I have received from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and their sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this sacrament of Love.”
(Jesus to St. Margaret Mary)
Ingratitude complained of by our Lord, is the direct result of our selfishness. Ah selfishness! It germinates in us with existence. The child already instinctively has this attraction; growing up, he retreats further into his own love; as a man, he lives his personality and the “me” prevails, which regulates his life and governs his whole being. The heart of man becomes like frigid regions where vegetation is excluded; it is sterile.
But how different is the process of saints, friends of Jesus and therefore of honor guards! For to love Jesus is to love your neighbor! It’s to help him, comfort him, to share joys and sorrows … We would ‘love Jesus as He loves us,’ ‘which means that we must be able to forget oneself for others. But alas, we can not arrive at this point in charity without some sacrifices, without struggling victoriously against our pride, against our personal interests, against the ” me ” which is selfishness kneaded! Do we not find these charming good souls who, forgetful of themselves, think only of others and are always willing to sacrifice for the happiness of others? But how rare!
Without being heroic or pretentious, during this month dedicated to the Sacred Heart, why not train ourselves to bear the foibles of those who are close to us, to smile at those who are troubled, pardon injuries? Slip small acts of kindness into our day, fight against our selfishness in order to live, reign and triumph with fraternal charity and thereby overcome and conquer the Heart of God! (Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart Bernaud)