The Sacred Heart of Jesus & The Eucharist: Reflections by Fr. John Croiset on the exceeding desire of Jesus Christ to unite Himself to us

On the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 2013
Reflections on the exceeding desire of Jesus Christ to unite Himself to us from ch. 8 of 'Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus'
By Fr. John Croiset –  last Spiritual Director to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Introduction

Let us consider, that, the union of hearts is the final effect of love; it is also that which Jesus Christ willed when He instituted this august Mystery, wherein He treats us as being the Spouse of our sous. In this Sacrament, love impels Him, as it were, to go out from Himself, to live henceforth only in those whom He loves. “In this Banquet, He hath consecrated the Mystery of our union,” says St. Augustine (this TOB back in the 5th century here!!). It is true that by the Incarnation God united Himself perfectly to our nature, but this Hypostatic Union was not the end of Incarnation, whilst the sacramental union was the end attained by the institution of the Holy Sacrament. He united Himself to our nature in order to have a body capable of suffering the pains He willed to endure for us; but He only gives Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist in order to unite Himself intimately to us. By His promises He invites us to this Banquet: Come to Me, all you… and I will refresh you (Mt 11:28). He impels us to it by His threatenings: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you shall not have life in you (Jn 6:54). He commands that we shall be compelled to go in: Compel them to come in (Lk 14:23). Indeed He leaves nothing undone to excite in us a great desire to go to Him, so that He may satisfy His loving desire to come to us and unite us with Himself. Could any proof of greater love be possible? Hast Though then, O my Lord, forgotten the ill-usage Thou didst receive amongst us? Hast Thou not foreseen that to which the excess of Thy love for us exposes Thee? The heart of one who is pure and fervent is an abode well pleasing to Thee, but how many such wilt Though find? Canst Thou endure the coldness of this crowd of lukewarm Christians who will receive Thee – their disdain, their feeble faith, and, above all, the terrible corruption of their hearts? Surely these obstacles seem insurmountable for a Heart that can suffer no spot nor stain, but the might of Thy love overcomes them all.

The greatest Mystery of Love

Let us endeavour, as far as we can, to imagine God’s hatred of sin. It is infinite. And yet it seems, in some sort, outdone by His desire to come to us, since He chooses rather to expose Himself to the sacrileges of the most infamous sinners, than deprive Himself of the delight He takes in uniting Himself closely to those who love Him. So exceedingly does our Saviour show His love for us in this adorable Mystery, that He, God Himself, wills therein to be our recompense: I am Thy reward (Gen 15:1). How great a marvel! But that Jesus Christ Himself should be our Food – My Flesh is meat indeed, and MY Blood is drink indeed (Jn 5:56) – is a miracle of love which passes all bounds, a generosity in which, as it were, our Lord Jesus Christ empties His reassure-house upon us. Such are the effects of the tender and immeasurable love of Jesus.

Reflections

1.    We believe all this, and yet remain cold before this excess of love.
2.    It is astonishing that our Divine Saviour wills to love mankind to this degree; and, oh, how strange that men should not love this Divine Saviour, and that no motive, no benefit, no excess of love can inspire in us any feeling of gratitude!
3.    Ungrateful and unfeeling man! What is there in Him that can repel you? Has He not done enough to win your love? Alas! He has done more than we could have dared to wish, more than we know how to realise, more in a certain sense, than seemed fitting for His Divine Majesty. And we still deliberate as to whether we will respond to such gracious advances, or whether we will continue to despise them.
4.    A token of friendship, an act of kindness, wins a man’s heart: it is only to Jesus, after having done for us, in this Mystery of love, all that can be done, and giving us all that He has to give, even Himself, that men’s hearts remain closed.
5.    Everybody owns that Jesus Christ infinitely loves us, that He is infinitely worthy of our love, that He has done more than anything we could have imagined to make us love Him, and yet how few persons truly love Jesus Christ!
6.    How comes that He so eagerly desires to enter into us, and that we must be urged and constrained to go to Him? It is because His love for us is infinite, and ours for Him is nothing at all.
7.    How is it that we return from Communion as cold as ice, in spite of having been nourished by the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is a living fire? It is because we go to It with a heart wholly taken up with the love of creatures, with a heart shut up and impenetrable to the darts of His love. It is because, however ready His Heart be to enter into ours, our heart remains aloof from entering into His: we should even, so to speak, be displeased to enter therein.
8.    Men would rather give up Communion than their vices. They would be obliged to love Jesus more, to lead a more regular life, were they oftener to partake of the Bread of Angels. The love of Jesus Christ would inconvenience them: they prefer to abstain longer from this Bread of Life, and even condemn frequent Communion, because their heart, in a certain way, revolts against the Blessed Body, and even the Sacred Heart, of Jesus Christ.
9.    With a great desire, our Lord Jesus might say to us, now, I would seek to unite Myself closely to you: With desire I have desired (Lk 22:15). Whence comes it, then that nothing is left undone to render MY desires of no effect? And how am I straitened? (Lk 12:50)
10.    Jesus desires to come often to us, knowing that by this means only an we be rendered less unworthy: and there are Christians, who, under the pretext that they are not worthy, make themselves still more unworthy than before, by withdrawing themselves from Jesus Christ.
11.    If this feeling arose from true humility, it would prove that they possessed the first virtue requisite for the reception of Holy Communion; but it arises merely from the distaste they have for the Sacred Body of Jesus Christ. This it is which makes them hold aloof themselves, and condemn those who approach the altar more frequently.
12.    The mistaken humility of St. Peter, which led him to refuse that our Lord should wash his feet, was so strongly condemned, that it would have been his perdition, had he persisted in it. If I wash thee not, thou shalt not have part with Me (Jn 13:8). How many persons, from pretended reverence and false humility, depart from the path of life, and lose themselves hopelessly, by absenting themselves from Holy Communion.
13.    When Pagans of Eastern lands heard of this Mystery, they exclaimed, in wonder, “Oh, how good a God is this God of the Christians! How beneficent! How gracious!” But what would they have thought had they been told that Christians have so little love for this so gracious God? That, not only have they no inclination for this Heavenly Banquet, but they have an aversion to It, and that there are those who avail themselves of the lowly and hidden state to which His exceeding love impelled Him, to commit the greatest sacrileges and the most hateful profanations?
14.    What must be the feelings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Source of purity, when buried, as it were, in a heart full of uncleanness – in a heart breathing vengeance, in a heart that is an imprecation against the Saviour Whom it receives? But what must be ours? We know with what malice this innocent Lamb is treated, while He keeps silence under insult and contempt, and suffers Himself to be offered a Victim on the altar for our salvation.
15.    Will not such exceeding goodness and so great gentleness speak to our heart? They softened the heart of His judge, they changed the rage and insolence of His executioners into respect and love, they have softened the hearts of the most barbarous peoples. Are our hearts alone to remain untouched?
16.    We shudder with horror at the story of the betrayal by Judas, and of the fury of the Jews. We are, it may be, witnesses, and even accomplices, of insults against Jesus in this adorable Mystery, and it does not affect us.
17.    In Thy sight are all they that afflict me (Ps 68:21). Thou hast before thine eyes those who treat Me such contumely in this Sacrament of love, He says to us by His Prophet, Thou art a witness of their acts of irreverence. My Heart, exposed to so much indignity, patiently suffers their outrages. And I had thought to find at least one who would grieve with Me. But there was no man. And one who, but his love, adoration, and homage, would try to make amends for the insults against My Heart, and the contempt shown for My love. And I found him not.


No, no, my Lord and Saviour! It shall not be said that Thou art forsaken this! I, for one, will hasten to render void these just complaints. Is it thus, O my loving Redeemer, that men repay Thy love? Why hast Thou so loved us? But why do we love Thee so little, and even not at all? What then? Not content to be callous to Thy tenderness and love, indifferent to the outrages against Thee, I myself have chosen to be one of those who committed them! My loving Saviour, Whose Heart is ever burning with love for me, ever open to receive me, ever ready to show me mercy, pardon my forgetfulness of Thee until this moment; pardon my lukewarmness, my feeble faith, my acts of irreverence, and accept the reparation which here I make Thee for them, humbly prostrate before Thy face. In this august Sacrament Thou dost ever remember me, dost ever love me; and then, that I should forget Thee, that I should treat Thee with indifference, that I should be cold and loveless towards Thee there! An, my God! Let me rather cease to live than go on loving Thee so little! Rather reduce my heart to nothingness than let it continue in its deadness to the greatest of all benefactors, even to Thee, O Lord, Who in giving us Thyself has given us all things.

Hear, Israel, what the Lord requires of thee (Deut 10:12). Listen, O Christian soul, to that which the Lord asks of thee: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart (Deut 6:5). He asks that thou shouldst love Him. He only asks thy heart. What? And hast Thou need, then, my Lord God, to ask for my heart, when Thou hast so long ago given me Thine own? Yes, it has come to this, that, not only I make Thee wait to ask for it, but I even refuse it to Thee, whilst I daily lavish and waste it upon creatures! Ah, my most loving Jesus, if now I offer it to Thee, wilt Thou indeed deign to accept it? A contrite and humble heart Thou wilt not despise (Ps 50:19). Lord, it is contrite, it is humbled. I may trust therefore that it cannot fail of being pleasing unto Thee. Receive it then; this heart which, with all the movements of which it is capable, I offer Thee, to honour Thee and love Thee for the remainder of my days. Most of the years of my life are passed away and wasted, because I have not loved Thee; but my happiest years are still to come, for I will love Thee from henceforth. I will love Thee, O adorable Heart of my most loving Jesus: I will love Thee, O Sacred Heart, pierced upon the Cross by my sins, wounded with love of me in the Holy Eucharist, diligam te. For the rest of my life I will honour Thee, and to Thee do I consecrate the residue of my days, Thee will I take as my rest, my dwelling-place, and my refuge (Ps131:14)). Let none seek me elsewhere, for, from this time forth I will only be found in the Heart of my loving Lord and Saviour Jesus. His Heart is my chosen abode; it is the Food of my soul; it is my rest in all my weariness; and, burning with one flame with His, the fire which He has kindled, it will be with Him and in Him that I will love Him, my Redeemer and my God.

Concluding Prayers

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Heart of Christ, inflame me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the Side of Christ, cleanse me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesu, hear me.
Within Thy Wounds, hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me.
And bid me come unto Thee;
That with Thy saints, I may praise Thee, for all eternity.
Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, by an ineffable miracle of Thy love, hast been pleased to give Thy most Sacred Body as the Food of our souls, to compel men to love Thee, hear our humble prayers, and pardon our transgressions. Graciously look upon us with the eyes of Thy mercy; guard us with Thy love, so that we may detest with all our souls the opprobrium, contempt, and sacrilege committed against Thee in all the world, in order that we may render Thee, in this holy Mystery, the worship due to Thee, may be inflamed with Thy love, and may, with heartfelt and acceptable thanksgivings, acknowledge the unspeakable loving-kindness of Thy Divine Heart towards us; Thou Who lives and reignest with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for evermore. Amen.

Interior Recollection - a necessary disposition for obtaining a loving devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ

So it's First Friday today, and I usually have a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But today, I found myself so pre-occupied! I got too busy for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - which is like... ritual for me on a First Friday.

And it caused me to reflect on the concept of Interior Recollection.

I have this beautiful little red book all about Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, written by Father Croiset, S.J. who was Rector of the Jesuit College at Lyons and about whom St. Margaret Mary Alacoque claimed: "By means of a book of Father Croiset, a Jesuit,devotion to the Sacred Heart shall everywhere be spread."

He neatly prepares his pupils for devotion to the Sacred Heart by describing the disposition we must be, in order to obtain this devotion. The first disposition, is a great horror of sin. The second is a lively faith. The third is a real desire to love Jesus Christ. And the Fourth, I shall share with you here: Interior Recollection. Fr. Croiset S.J says:

"The Fourth Disposition in which we ought to be if we are to taste the full sweetness of this devotion, and obtain all its fruit, is that of interior recollection. It is not in a state of disturbance that God makes His presence felt: and a mind habitually dissipated by a crowd of idle thoughts is not in a likely state to hear the voice of Him Who does not communicate Himself to the soul, nor speak to the heart, except in solitude.

This interior Recollection is the foundation of the entire spiritual edifice of souls; so much so, that without this it is impossible to rise towards perfection and attain to a closer union with God, Who dwells only in peacefulness of the spirit and in the retirement of a soul freed from the entanglement of external affairs. And it may be asserted that the commonest source of our imperfections is this want of recollectedness, and that a man little given to interior reflection is never very devout. "Whence comes it," said a holy man, "that so many pious persons, who have such good intentions, who devote themselves to good works, and who appear to be doing all that is necessary to make themselves saints, nevertheless get so little profit from their prayers, Communions, and reading, and after so many years' practice of all the exercises of the spiritual life [by this Fr. Croiset means the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises], rarely show that they have at all benefited by them? How is it that their passions are still so strong, and that their defects are just what they always used to be? The only reason is their want of interior recollection. These persons are too unreserved, too anxious to talk about themselves and their feelings. Hence, countless faults escape their notice, a thousand thoughtless speeches, spurts of ill-temper, unrestrained impulses, and acts whose motive is purely natural. All this would not befall them, did they but keep a constant watch upon the regulation of their interior conduct, with a view to uproot their passions and self-love."

This disspation of pious souls is often the result of one of the most cunning wiles of the devil, who turns to his own account their practice of good works, by obliging them to fritter their energies abroad, and for this purpose to quit the trenches, so to speak, where they were sheltered from his darts. A soul, drawn by a certain inexplicable gratification to be found in the throng of exterior actions, beguiled by the specious pretext of doing much for God, wastes her strength and insensibly loses that union with God, and that sweet sense of His presence, without which we may toil so much, but make so little way. A dissipated soul (a soul that allows itself any number of disctractions), is like a lost and wandering sheep, which soon becomes a prey to the wolf. It is not easy for us, after this vagabondage, to re-enter into ourselves, fo besides that the preference for God is a grace not always at our own disposal, the soul is no longer able to rid herself of the numberless exterior objects which absorb her attention; she has lost the taste for spiritual things by too long a sojourn, as it were, in a foreign land.

My God! What does not a soul lose by incessantly wasting herself abroad, on exterior things! what inspirations and what graces she renders unavailing, and of what favours does she not deprive herself, by a want of interior recollection! "I must," says a great servant of God, "choose one of two things: either to become an interior man, or else lead an impotent and useless life." Without this recollectedness, far from fulfilling God's designs, we shall not even know what they are; and we shall never reach the degree of holiness our state of life demands, much less attain perfection.

In fact, a man who is not of a recollected spirit, wanders hither and thither, nowhere finding repose; seeks eagerly all sorts of things, without finding satisfaction in any; whereas, were he to re-enter within himself, he would find God in the stillness; he would enjoy God, Who by His presence would replenish hiim with such abundance of good things that he would no more wander elsewhere, seeking wherewith to fill the void of his desires. This, with regard to interior persons, is what we can daily see. We imagine their fondness for retirement, their unwillngness to live outside of themselves as it were, to be the result of melancholy. It is nothing of the kind. It is because of the delight they take in their inward converse with God; and, the unspeakale sweetness with which they are filled, makes the amusements and pleasures the world has to offer appear so paltry and so wearisome, that they regard them with disgust. To those who have once tasted what God is, and what spiritual things are, everything that suggests the bondage and contagion of flesh and blood appears insipid; and it may be affirmed that none but interior persons have a true delight in God, and know by experioence what is meant by the sweetness of virtue. They possess Faith, Hope and Charity, in so sublime a manner, that nothing is able to disturb these virtues, within them. Insensibly they find themselves raised above all human creatures, and remain always in the same equal state of mind, immovable in God. From all that they see and all that they hear, they take occasion to rise towards God; and it is God alone Whom they see in His creatures, even as they, who from long gazing at the sun, seem still to see it, whatever may be the objects which afterwards meet their eyes.

And it must not be supposed that this recollectedness has the effect of making people idle. A truly interior man is active, and renders more services to the Church in a single day, than a hundred persons who are not so could render her during many years, although they possessed more natural talents than he; not only because disspation of mind is a check to the fruits of zeal, but because a man who is not at all interior, and nevertheless labours much, is, at best, a man who works for God, whereas, by means of recollection, it is God Himself Who works in the inward man: this man working only by God, and in accordance with the influence and guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Being occupied with external things is no hindrance to inward recollection, provided that these things are of obligation; and we may very well maintain recollection during action. The greatest saints, who have had the most communication with God, and who, in consequence, have been most recollected, have often been the most unsparing of their trouble in regard to outward matters. Such were the Apostles and apostolic men who have laboured for the salvation of their fellow-men; and, provided that our employments are the fittest means of promoting our constant union with God. 

But we must only, as it were, lend our mind to these outward occupations; not give them our heart. God alone must be the spring and groundwork of all our actions, and it is a sign that we are doing them for God, if we can quit them without reluctance, if we continue them without anxiety and chagrin, and if we can bear to be interrupted in them without anger or impatience. This, I repeat, is a sign that we are doing them for God, and not from motives of self-love.

But, in our actual conduct, how different are our intentions from such purity as this! If we dislike what we have to do, how many false reasons we find for dispensing ourselves from doing it; how many excuses for putting it off and then, with what apathy and indifference we accomplish it! If, on the other hand, it fits in with our liking, we feel a delight which at once produces dissipation. The mere dread of not succeeding makes us anxious and unhappy. "
Fr Croiset then goes on to describe 11 means of obtaining interior recollection.