16 October 2012
From Sr. Mary Berchmans, FEAST OF SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
Our Saint Margaret Mary has left us a beautiful legacy in devotion to the loving Heart of Jesus.
In a special visitation to our saint, Jesus said to her:
“Behold this heart which has so loved all God’s people
and receives so little love in return.”
One of our most blessed missions in life is to share the abundance of God’s love – a love so great that he sent his Son to show us how to live – how to “LIVE JESUS, the motto of the Visitation order.
Her advice for us today:
“Take as your model and inspiration in every event and frame of mind, these words of our Lord: “Thy will be done!” adding: “My God, I abandon myself to Your loving heart.”
Jesus, gentle and humble of heart:Make my heart like unto yours.
Still another inspiring thought from Wendy Wright, a true Salesian scholar:
Let us strive to make our hearts beat in rhythm with the Heart of Jesus as we seek to embrace his Good Pleasure in the events of our lives.
May the blessings of this feast day fill your hearts, dear readers, and may they bring you to an ever clearer understanding of God’s tremendous love for you individually.
Sr. Mary Berchmans Hannan, VHM
AND…
We celebrate the feast of another one of our saints: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, known for her intense love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Saint Margaret Mary was born just about the time that St. Jane de Chantal completed her earthly sojourn.
What did these two saints have in common? Both were graced with a deep knowledge of God’s love for each and every one of us as manifested in the life, death and resurrection of his beloved Son, Jesus.
As a Visitation Sister, following in the tradition of these two saints, I believe that my life has been blessed by their example, especially by their response to Our Lord’s invitation: “Learn from me who am gentle and humble of heart.” This is a goal worth striving for each day of our lives.
One thought that frequently comes to mind as I receive the Lord in Holy Communion is found in our Spiritual Directory. Our Founders advise us to receive our Lord into the very essence of our hearts and bring before him our senses and the offerings of the day, asking his blessing on each of them. As the Litany of the Sacred Heart depicts Christ as the King and Center of all hearts, I find it both strengthening and stabilizing to greet our Lord in the center of my being.
St. Margaret Mary offers us this advice:
To work or to suffer is all one to a heart that loves. Let us then, leave the future to the loving Providence of this divine Heart which only asks of us fidelity to the present moment.
It is reflective of St. Francis de Sales encouragement to
Leave the past to God’s merciful love, the future to his Divine Providence and embrace the present willingly and lovingly.
How blessed we are with the down-to-earth approach to sanctity encouraged by our Visitation Saints!
Sr. Mary Berchmans Hannan, VHM
From the Live Jesus Blog of the Georgetown Visitation Sisters