XIII — CONSECRATION TO THE HEART OF JESUS

Presence of God. — O Jesus, make me worthy to consecrate myself to your most sweet Heart and to truly live my consecration.

Meditation

1 — Precisely because devotion to the Sacred Heart awakens in us the need to return his infinite love, it spontaneously flows into an act of consecration, by which the creature wishes to give itself wholly to that God who has so loved it. To consecrate oneself to the Sacred Heart - Leo XIII teaches - “means to give oneself, to bind oneself to Jesus Christ, because all honor, all homage, all piety toward the Sacred Heart are in reality directed to Jesus Himself” (Enc. Annum Sacrum). And Pius XI explains what this act consists in: “by this pious consecration we offer to the Heart of Jesus ourselves and all that is ours, recognizing that we have received all from the eternal charity of God” (Enc. Miserentissimus Redemptor).

To love is to give oneself: “to love is to give all, it is to give even oneself,” St. Teresa of the Child Jesus sang (Poems). Love, when true, has need of total self-giving, and in this total gift to God the loving soul finds peace and rest. St. Paul’s burning cry, “charitas Christi urget nos,” resolves itself in his magnificent “ut non sibi vivant, sed ei qui pro ipsis mortuus est” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Yes, the charity of Christ constrains us so that we may no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us. Whoever consecrates himself to someone gives himself wholly to that person, no longer belongs to himself, can no longer live for himself; his tastes, interests, desires must yield place to the tastes, interests, desires of the one to whom he has given himself and to whom he now belongs. This is the profound meaning of consecration to the Sacred Heart, a consecration that, far from being reduced to reciting a formula, must take our whole person, our life, our capacities, in order to employ all our being and having in the service of the divine Heart.

2 — Speaking of total consecration to the Sacred Heart, we do not mean the consecration to God made through religious vows - something reserved to only some - but that total consecration which Jesus Himself proposes to all in the Gospel and which each one is bound to carry out according to his state of life. “Love the Lord your God” - Jesus tells you - “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30). With this repeated “all,” He asks of you a total love and therefore also asks the total gift of yourself, that is, He asks you to give yourself to Him and to his service not by half measure but fully. The way to accomplish this, to demonstrate by deeds the truthfulness of your love and total self-giving, is once again shown to you by Jesus: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (cf. Jn. 14:15). Do not go far, then, seeking particular modes and forms to carry out your consecration to the Sacred Heart; do not make it consist in exceptional, extraordinary things, but know how to find it very near you, in the concreteness of your daily life. To consecrate yourself wholly to the Sacred Heart means: to choose his commandments, his will, his desires, his tastes as the norm of your life, ready to renounce your will and your tastes when they are in contrast with his. Many Christians consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart, but few live their consecration and live it totally. Most live it halfway; that is, they know how to prefer Jesus’ will to their own when to act otherwise would be to commit mortal sin, but when it comes to venial sins and, even more, imperfections, they have no scruple about displeasing the Heart of Jesus and acting as they please. But Jesus seeks more faithful friends; He seeks souls who live their consecration to the point of never preferring a personal desire or taste to his desires and tastes. Do you not want to be among these? “Son, give me your heart,” Jesus repeats to you and adds: “Give it to me totally by living totally according to my Heart.”

Colloquy

“Adored Heart of my most loving Jesus, what good have You found in me that You have come to love me without measure, even when my heart, stained by a thousand faults, had for You only indifference and hardness? The great proofs of love You gave me even when I did not love You make me hope that You will welcome the proofs of my love. Welcome, then, most loving Savior, the desire I have to consecrate myself entirely to the honor and glory of your most holy Heart; welcome the gift I present You of all that I am: I consecrate to You my person, my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, wishing henceforth to be a victim consecrated to your glory, at once kindled and one day wholly consumed by the holy flames of your love. I offer You, then, O Lord and my God, my heart with all its sentiments, because I desire that throughout my life they may be perfectly conformed to the sentiments of yours. Here I am, then, O Lord, all of your Heart, here I am all yours. O my God, how great are your mercies toward me!... Adored Savior, accept my consecration also as reparation for the wrong I have not ceased doing You up to now by responding so poorly to your love. I recognize that I give You very little, but at least I want to give You all I can and know You desire; therefore, consecrating my heart to You, I give it to You never to take it back.

“Teach me, most loving Savior, perfect forgetfulness of self, because only this is the road that can make me enter your adored Heart; and since from now on I will do everything for You, grant that whatever I do may be worthy of You. Teach me what I must do to attain purity of your love; but give me this love, give it to me ardent and most generous. Give me that profound humility without which no one can please You, and fulfill in me all your holy wills” (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque).