It is no coincidence that the feast of the Sacred Heart is the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. This always made sense to me; I had no problem with it, but the deep, unbreakable connection between these two feasts escaped me until recently. I didn’t realize that Jesus specifically wanted them celebrated one after the other. This is because Eucharist is at the center of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. I was reading Jesus’ words to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom he revealed this devotion, and I came across these famous words:
“Behold, the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to show its love, and in return, I receive from most only ingratitude by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this Sacrament of Love. […] Therefore, I ask of you that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special feast to honor My Heart by receiving Communion on that day and making reparation to it by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which it has received during the time it has been exposed on the altars.”
A heart which has loved so much and been rejected in so many ways, and what is Christ’s greatest pain? Being poorly treated in the Eucharist. Why? Because the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart are one and the same. The Eucharist isn’t a symbol. It is he himself, and that is why it hurts. Just think of all those abuses of the Beloved Host throughout the centuries. Sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament seems clean, but it isn’t. It’s dirty. It tortures him. See it for what it is. Think of the empty churches and dusty tabernacles. They are everywhere, and he is still there. How we make the Sacred Heart suffer by our indifference to and rejection of the Blessed Sacrament, and he lets us do this to him! He chose to make himself completely vulnerable and helpless, no hands to defend himself, no feet to run. He is totally at our mercy when it is we who are totally dependent on his Mercy. What does that say about our God? Think about it. What does that say about our God?
And how does he ask us to console his wounded Heart through this devotion? Details aside, he tells St Margaret that we do so by Eucharistic hours, receiving Communion, and going to Mass, all through the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is the Sacred Heart hidden behind a thin veil. Christ is so hurt by the dirty abuse and cold indifference of so many toward him in the Sacrament. That is what makes his Sacred Heart bleed. Let’s console him by being close him in this Sacrament of Love, leaning our head against his Heart as St John at the Last Supper. He is there, burning to pour his love into us. Satisfy that desire of his Heart.
Praise God for his patience with us is endless.