April 2023
Dear Guards of Honour,
For once, to introduce this month’s council, I give the floor to Father Goy of our Coligny Center. May his lines inspire you as they have deeply inspired me!
well in communion with each one and holy road to the Resurrection
Geneviève V, Coordinator
We are preparing to accompany Jesus to the Garden of Olives where, before his infamous trial, He freely accepts the sacrifice He is about to make with His life to His Father for our salvation. The apostles who accompany him to the garden of olives are not of great comfort to him, they fall asleep instead of watching and praying with him.
Jesus will reproach them. We are no better than the apostles. How many times have we fallen asleep in the presence of the Lord? How many times have we not been indifferent and insensitive to all that Jesus suffered to save us from hell and open Heaven to us? “Here is this Heart that has loved men so much and receives in return so much ingratitude!” Jesus will say to St. Margaret Mary.
The Sacred Heart’s Guard of Honor has its origin in Jesus’ complaint: “I have sought comforters and I have not found any.” The approaching holy days are an opportunity for us to redouble our fervour and to fulfill our mission as Guards of Honour in the best possible way by accompanying Jesus to the Garden of Olives, on the Way of the Cross and to the summit of Calvary, with the Most Holy Virgin the first and most faithful of the Guards of Honour. Let us be very faithful to our hour of guard duty to keep Jesus company and console him a little for the ingratitude of men. Let us be for him a Simon of Cyrene and a Saint Veronica. Let us remain at his side through prayer, meditation on the Way of the Cross, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Let us help him to save souls, adding to his perfect sacrifice, our lenten penances, since he wants us to make our small contribution to the salvation of our souls, to the salvation of our brothers and sisters. (Father Laurent Goy)
The Visits of Jesus
Jesus’ visits may go unnoticed in our lives, yet it is undeniable that Jesus makes himself present in every moment, in every situation of our existence.
Illness is a visit from Jesus: when the pain is there and nothing comes to relieve it, when medicine seems to butter, life takes on its full meaning. Riches become trivial, honors empty, secondary material, time flows differently… We become aware of our fragility and our temporality. Illness sheds light on these great truths, living this trial with Jesus and offering him, give meaning to what seems to have none.
Remorse is a visit from Jesus: when our soul feels guilty, Jesus visits us. With His voice, He challenges our troubled conscience. A voice that resembles no human voice, it is sometimes soft and caressing to soften our heart, sometimes vibrant like the brilliance of the storm destined to break our resistance and obstinacy. Jesus visits us and points out in us our sins, He has only one goal, to help us take the step of penance and thus relieve our consciences.
Sadness and joy are visits of Jesus: Jesus often visits the lukewarm souls he wants to heal and stimulate. If our duties are badly fulfilled, our words badly regulated, our thoughts idle or misdirected, little by little a weight of sadness ends up invading our soul to darken it. Sadness is the sign that Jesus gives to come out of lukewarmness and regain the vigor of our faith! As for joy, it is the reward of fervent and praying souls who throw themselves into his arms with confidence!
The spiritual night is Jesus’ visit: Sometimes, for virtuous souls, Heaven closes abruptly, the horizon narrows and thick darkness surrounds them. A kind of agony embraces and tortures them. Jesus is never closer than in these hours of torment, his visit is insensitive, invisible, nothing suggests it, but Jesus is there. He purifies them to make them more worthy to possess Him in eternity.
There are many visits of Jesus, we must desire them, receive them humbly and taste them… Better than anything in the world, they reveal to us the infinite tenderness of the Sacred Heart and its innumerable measures that He employs to attract souls and give them rest. In this very special month, let us allow ourselves to be visited and seized by the mystery of his Passion and Resurrection.