16 October 2020 - Friday of the 28th week of Ordinary Time - St Margaret Mary Alacoque - Ephesians 1:11-14

      In our first reading, we heard from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, as Paul stated that we were chosen in Christ, that we may exist for the praise of his glory.  How we praise his glory can vary according to our status in life, the gifts we are given by God, and the calling we receive from him.  When I was growing up, one of the parishes located in the neighborhood where I lived in Chicago was named after St Margaret Mary Alacoque, so I have always felt a connection to her and have wanted to learn more about her.  St Margaret Mary was born in France in the middle of the 17th century.  Her father died when she was young, with her family’s wealth being taken away by relatives and her family thrust into extreme poverty.  In addition, she was bedridden for four years as a girl with rheumatic fever.  Thus, her childhood was plagued by very difficult circumstances.  Her faith and prayer life kept her focused, which led her to enter the Order of the Visitation nuns.   As a young nun, over the course of 13 months, she had visions of Christ, many of which emphasized his sacred heart, a symbol of his divine-human for all humanity.  Margaret Mary developed a strong devotion to the Eucharist, with a special devotion of receiving it on the first Friday of the month. After her death at the age of 47, her devotion to the Sacred Heart came under a lot of scrutiny and was popularized by the Jesuits, becoming an officially recognized by the Church as a devotion 75 years after her death.  St Margaret Mary was canonized in 1920, the same year as another popular French saint, St Joan of Arc.  In an encyclical written in 1928, Pope Pius XI affirmed St Margaret Mary’s visions of Christ, noting how Jesus manifested himself to her and promised her that all those who rendered honor to his sacred heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces.  We can see how in the life of St Margaret Mary and in the popularity today of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our Church, that she praised him in a very glorious way, even in the midst of her sickness and struggles.  St Margaret Mary, pray for us today as we remember you on your feast day.