Mary Margaret Alacoque entered the Visitation nuns at the age of 24, having been very sickly as a child and a youth. In 1674, three years after entering the convent, she started receiving revelations from Christ, revealing to her that his human heart was to be a symbol for all humankind of his human and divine love for us. These revelations revealed the first Friday devotion to his Sacred Heart and to the importance of frequent reception of the Eucharist. The revelations lasted for 13 months. She received hostility from some of her fellow sisters and theologians who were summoned to investigate her revelations, declaring her to be delusional. However, a Jesuit priest who became her new confessor recognized the holiness of her revelations and supported her. She died at the age of 43, stating: “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.” The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, popularized by her revelations, remains one of the most loved devotions of the Church to this day.
We hear Jesus call out the Pharisees today for the way they cling to the superficial practice of the faith but neglect their inner growth. I love the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the First Friday devotion, rooted in the revelations received by St Mary Margaret Alacoque. Fidelity to the devotions and traditions of our Catholic faith help us grow in our inner faith life. May we be true to these devotions and traditions.
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