The Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! So many people often think that the Sacred Heart is an antiquated devotion, but I've found devotion to the Sacred Heart to be ever more relevant in this day and age. In today's fast paced world, there's a tendency to become overstressed over certain things....I'm certainly guilty of that at times. Conversely, there can also be a tendency to go at too slow of a pace and not do enough. This lack of balance can affect all areas of life, whether it be work, prayer, or our personal lives. I've found that praying to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a wonderful way of trying to get back in balance. After all, if you think about it, a heart cannot function if it beats too slowly and it will experience problems if it beats too rapidly....why not rely on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the perfect heart, to give us the pace that we so very need? For that purpose, I've included a prayer to the Sacred Heart written by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:

I, N... N ... give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being, save to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart. This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him. I therefore take Thee, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death. Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God Thy Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in Thee, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness and bounty. Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will; let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart, that I shall nevermore be able to forget Thee or to be separated from Thee; may I obtain from all Thy loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happiness and all my glory, living and dying in very bondage to Thee.

Written by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque