Sacred Heart ever relevant

Sorry to use such a word as "relevant" on this blog but the feast of the Sacred Heart cries out for it. St Margaret Mary received her visions providentially at a time of widespread Jansenism. The flowering of the devotion did encourage people to receive Holy Communion without fear of the "unrelenting judge". Pope Pius IX made the feast universal in 1856 and then Pope Leo XIII consecrated the whole world to the Sacred Heart, speaking of that act as the most important of his Pontificate. Both Pius XI (Miserentissimus Redemptor) and Pius XII (Haurietis Aquas) wrote about the Sacred Heart and Pope John Paul applied the understanding of the devotion to the present day in his sermon at the canonisation of St Claude de la Colombière, the spiritual director of St Margaret Mary.

This year on 23 May, Pope Benedict wrote to Fr Hans Peter Kolvenbach, the superior general of the Jesuits for the 50th anniversary of Haurietis Aquas. The Jesuits were notable advocates of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and fiercely opposed by the Jansenists who considered the devotion too liberal.

Back in the 17th century, St Margaret Mary heard our Lord say
Behold the Heart that has so loved men . . . instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude...
This seems as true today as it was then except that blasphemy (Jerry Springer the Opera etc.) is added to ingratitude.

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