Youtube Interviews
In this episode of Roadmap to Heaven, host Adam Wright invites Father Wade Menezes to discuss the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Father Menezes expresses his deep love for the image of the Sacred Heart, which represents a personal offering and remedy for times of trial and distress. He stresses the importance of how God took the form of his creation as Jesus and had a real, live, beating heart.
The episode discusses the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and its representation of God’s love for humanity. Fr. Menezes explains that through the Most Sacred Heart, God loves us with a perfect human heart, consoling and healing our wounded hearts. The devotion is seen as a source of consolation and offers grace throughout our earthly journey.
Father Menezes highlights the significance of honoring the Sacred Heart on Fridays, and specifically on nine first Fridays of the year. He explains that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus originated from a request made by Jesus himself to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. He recites the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart that Jesus communicated to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Father Menezes also addresses a statement issued by the Catholic bishops, calling on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart as an act of reparation for blasphemies against Jesus in the culture. They encourage listeners to join in praying the Litany and provide a link to access it on the Bishop’s website. Adam Wright also emphasizes prayer for conversion and the importance of striving to help each and every soul get to Heaven.
Father Menezes also touches upon the works and devotions performed in the faith, emphasizing that they are done out of love and for the sake of promoting love and charity towards others. He quotes saints to underscore the importance of cooperating with God’s will in our lives.
The episode concludes with a mention of a Catholic family resource website called messyfamilyproject.org which is promoting the Play and Pray Challenge for families during the month of June. The challenge encourages couples and families to spend quality time together, consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and challenge other families to do the same.
Overall, this episode of Roadmap to Heaven explores devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, emphasizing the need for prayer, penance, and devotion to bring us closer to God’s love and mercy.
Adam Wright:
It has been a wonderful string of weeks where we have been talking about feast after feast, after feast, after feast, with Father Wade Menezes of the Fathers of Mercy and host of EWTN’s Open Line Tuesday. And Father, I am excited to say that, one of my favorite solemnities is the subject of our discussion today. It’s how we are going to wrap up, and that’s the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus. In fact, I put this image up on the screen. This is an image we have in our studio. And every day, as I do my radio broadcast, I am looking directly across the studio at the wall, at this image, and I don’t know how many times, I’ve lost count of how many times it has served as inspiration, as hope, as comfort, and more. And I’m just really excited to be talking about the sacred heart with you today.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Actually, Adam, the portrait that you just shared with us that you still have up there on the screen has our Lord pointing with one hand to His Sacred Heart and the other hand extended out to the viewer. How beautiful is that? “Come to me, all you who labor and are weary burdened, and I will give you rest.” And that’s a beautiful lead-in, Adam, to the opening comments that I want to make here about the Sacred Heart devotion. Stop and think about it. God Himself, in His second divine personage, the Son, who took on sacred humanity, who assumed a human nature just like ours in every single way but sin. He had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart. And I mean that literally, not metaphorically. He had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart for some 33 years according to sacred tradition. While he was on Earth, three of those years, the latter three, which were during his public ministry.
Our God is therefore a revealed God, in the real tangible physical world. He’s a revealed God in this sacred humanity. Saint Anthony says God became man precisely so that man may become like God. How beautiful is that? The creator became a creature, in other words. This is like saying that the architect literally became the house, or the potter sitting at the spinning wheel with the clay, the potter literally, not metaphorically, but literally became the cup. When we say that the creator became a creature in his sacred humanity. Our human minds don’t even lend themselves to such imagery. Right? Like, what? The architect becoming the house? The potter becoming the cup? And yet that’s exactly what our God did.
The creator became a creature. Right? Archbishop Fulton Sheen says Almighty God made us in His own image and likeness (referring to Genesis 1:26 through 27) precisely so that one day He might assume and take on our own image and likeness, in the womb of His mother. There’s your pro-life message right there. As a babe in a manger in Bethlehem. Right? Poetically speaking, we know, Adam, that across cultures and across times I might add, the human heart is a profound symbol of the following: such things as love, mercy, forgiveness, faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, loyalty, diligence, passion (meaning the Latin “passio”, which means a love, but specifically a love that is willing to suffer for the other. The epitome of other-centeredness, even willing to lay down your life for the other. “No greater love is there than this than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Right?
The human heart, poetically speaking, across cultures, across times, is also, seen as an anchor. A groundedness, a strong footing, a footer. Think of a strong concrete foundation, of a balanced emotional life. The passions, emotions, and feelings being kept in balance so that the passions, emotions, and feelings don’t go off to vice but rather can progress in virtue. Right? So we need to keep them balanced because the effects of the original sin of our first parents, the two chief effects of the original sin, is a darkened intellect and a weakened will. Before the fall of our first parents, we had an enlightened intellect and a strengthened will. But after the fall of our first parents, that strengthened will became weakened and the enlightened intellect became darkened. So we need to keep the passions and emotions in check to advance and virtue and not advance in vice.
So that’s the kickoff of this devotion that I want to talk about is that, literally not metaphorically, God Himself, the Triune Godhead, in His second divine personage, the Son, who became incarnate, who assumed the human nature, just like ours, in every way but sin, had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart. And when you add to the fact that, poetically speaking, across cultures and across times, the human heart means all those things. It makes perfect sense that that image that you still have up there on the screen has His human heart being pointed to by His human hand, and His other human hand is beckoning others to come to Him.
You know, it’s interesting, the Divine Mercy image from Saint Faustina’s fully approved devotion of the Divine Mercy of our Lord. We don’t see the Sacred Heart, but the two rays, the red ray and the white ray (which are symbolic of Eucharist and baptism respectively, tells Faustina), they’re emanating from His Sacred Heart. Even though we can’t see the Sacred Heart in the traditional Divine Mercy image. I’ve seen other artists’ renditions of the Divine Mercy devotion. He’s in His white baptismal alb, the same position as He is in this Sacred Heart image that you have, and they overlay His Sacred Heart over His white baptismal alb that he’s wearing in the Divine Mercy image, calling all to baptism. But that’s not how our Lord saw Him depicted, but the rays are imitated from His Sacred Heart. And He’s walking towards the person. And again, wanting to draw closer. The Divine Mercy image always has one foot in front of the other of our Lord. Right? And He’s pointing in His Divine Mercy image, towards the rays, and it’s just beautiful. And He beckons us and He calls us.
Adam Wright:
I think that’s one of the things I love about this image is, in times of trial, in times of grief, in times of distress, that personal offering. It’s almost as if He’s saying through the image, “Adam, I am offering my heart to you as the remedy for everything that life is throwing your way right now. Everything that you are enduring, the cure is to draw near to my heart.” And Father, that’s one of the things I love about this Solemnity, and I’m sure we’ll talk about this, is that this wasn’t just the idea of some man or woman on Earth saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a day that we honored the Sacred Heart of our Lord?” But that He Himself appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and specifically asked for this devotion, that this Friday would be the day that we would honor His Sacred Heart, that has become this month. He also asked for the first Friday. So, when our Lord asks for something, I think that’s a pretty good sign He wants us to pay attention.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah, that’s exactly right. The whole month of June is traditionally dedicated to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the Solemnity of the feast following in the middle of the month. You know, the most Sacred Heart of Jesus assures us that God has eliminated all distance between us and Him, loving us from within our own human nature, which He Himself took on. This is something that cannot be underlined enough. His most Sacred Heart means that a Divine person, God, loves us with a perfect human heart, because ours are imperfect because of the original sin. Consequently, our own wounded human hearts are consoled and perfected by His Sacred Heart. And that’s pretty awesome. We have only to unite our hearts to Christ’s Sacred Heart to receive all that it contains.
Our Lord promised to Saint Margaret Mary that, “Sinners shall find in My heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. And those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My heart, never to be blotted out.” I also want to make these points. The most Sacred Heart of Jesus reveals the merciful love of our Savior, banishing all fear, all shame, and discouragement from our own wounded hearts. He wants to banish fear, shame, discouragement, maybe a wounded past, whatever it is, He wants to heal that.
What are the words we hear at every Mass, right after our Father has prayed? We hear these words from the celebrant, Lord Jesus Christ, who sent your apostles, “My peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give you.” He wants to give us His peace. He doesn’t want us to fall to pieces, right? And I think that’s very, very important. Again, the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus remains one of the church’s greatest treasures, and one of our greatest consolations in our Pilgrim Way while living here on Earth.
The heart of Jesus continues to beat for us in Heaven, pouring out its infinite merits through the sacramental economy, the church, through the sacred administration, and sacred reception of any of the seven sacraments. His Sacred Heart is pouring out to us through the three sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist; The two sacraments of healing: anointing of the sick and confession; And the two sacraments of union: matrimony and holy orders, which are at the service of communion to the entire populaces throughout the world.
So we see His heart still at work, pumping for us, if you will, these graces and these merits that are made possible through a strong sacramental life and a strong devotional life. Our Lord promised Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque that, “Sinners shall find in My heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. And those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My heart, never to be blotted out, never to be erased.” So we say joyfully and fervently, “Oh most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.” It’s a profound symbol, his Sacred Heart, it’s a symbol of the core belief of Christianity. We can say that as well.
That Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, loves each one of us immeasurably and without exception. Although pierced terribly by our sins, the Sacred Heart of our Lord overflows with compassion and love for all of mankind, even when that love is not reciprocated. And it isn’t reciprocated, especially by a very secular culture today.
Therefore, the devotion of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most popular devotions among Catholics, since its inception in the 17th century. It became popular following the apparitions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Catholic nun from France between the years of 1673 in 1675. And during His visits to her, Jesus promised, “To all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months, I will grant the grace of final perseverance. They shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.” And the church dedicates the entire month of June, as we already said, Adam, to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, remembering always, and I mean always, that we are loved first by God, and Catholics strive to venerate and imitate the most generous and Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Lord and bring that heart into our own lives. This is why, for example, consecrating the family home to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is such a beautiful devotion for families. And I’ll talk about that in a little bit as we wrap things up. But this is our Catholic faith. This is one of the strongest devotions in the life of the church, and it cannot be underestimated enough.
Adam Wright:
You know, I was just thinking as you say all of this, and I turned to the computer here to look some things up, did not have enough time. But you often say, Father Wade, that just as the saints were the contemporaries of their time, we’re the contemporaries of our time. So we’re called to live out holiness, but we can learn from them. You know, that we can learn from how they lived in their time as we strive to live in our time, and I look around at this post-modern world that we live in, and all of the ills of society, and I cannot help but think that more than ever in my lifetime, this is the time to be promoting this devotion to the Sacred Heart of our Lord.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s exactly right. I’d like to actually share the 12 promises that our Lord made to Saint Margaret Mary, to those who carry out this devotion of the nine first Fridays. And then I’ll also mention what’s required for the nine first Friday devotion. But first of all, here’s a list of the 12 promises to those devoted to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus as communicated by Christ to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in a private revelation, fully approved by the church in 1675.
Number 1: “I will grant all the graces necessary for their state in life.” So in other words, whether single, married, widowed, a consecrated religious, active or contemplative, it doesn’t matter. “I will grant all the graces necessary for their state in life.”
Number 2: “I will grant peace to their homes.”
Number 3: “I will comfort them in all their afflictions.”
Number 4: “I will secure refuge for them during life and at death.”
Number 5: “I will grant abundant blessings upon all of their undertakings.”
Number 6: “I will grant infinite mercy for their sins.”
Number 7: “Tepid souls shall be made fervent.”
Number 8: “Fervent souls shall mount to a degree of great perfection.”
Number 9: “I will bless every place where a picture or image of my Heart is honored.”
Number 10: “I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened parts.”
Number 11: ” Promoters of this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.”
And number 12: “I will grant the grace of final penitence to those who receive Holy Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays.”
And here are the primary requirements for the nine first Friday devotion. And I want to urge your viewers and listeners at Roadmap to Heaven to go to fathersofmercy.com. And at our homepage, they can click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand corner of the homepage, right after they go to fathersofmercy.com, the homepage comes up. Click on that magnifying glass icon and then a search bar comes up in the middle of the page. And all they have to type in is “nine first Friday devotion” or “nine first Friday”. And it comes right up as one of my blogs, in the blog section of the father’s of mercy website. All these requirements are listed there, along with the promises.
So here’s the requirements for the nine first Friday’s devotion: Receive Holy Communion on each first Friday, in a state of grace obviously, with no known mortal sin on your soul. In other words, go to Mass and receive Holy Communion with the intention of honoring Christ’s Heart. If you are not in a state of grace and thus unable to receive Holy Communion, you will also need to go to confession. The nine first Fridays must be consecutive with no break. And, the nine first Fridays, must be made in honor of and in reparation to our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. This is very, very important. The nine first Fridays must be made in honor of and in reparation to our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. And we want to draw closer to this devotion of His Sacred Heart, just in this way.
So again, they can go to fathersofmercy.com, print out the nine first Fridays blog that I wrote. It’s also listed there next to the five first Saturdays devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which we celebrate this week coming now, after the day after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.
Then I want to close with just some traditional, short, fervent aspiration prayers that we make and and honor the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. And you were telling me before we started taping this interview, that your children’s school has popular one that they say. Maybe you could share that with our viewers as well, but these are just some of the more traditional ones: “Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to your most Sacred Heart.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may love thee more and more.” That’s a very popular one. “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in thee.” I love that one because it kind of combines the Sacred Heart devotion with the Divine Mercy devotion. Again, “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in thee.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in thy love for me.” “Jesus, meek, and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy kingdom come.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying, and deliver the holy souls in purgatory.”
So just some of the more fervent traditional, aspiration prayers that we can say to rekindle in our mind and heart, the presence God, especially in the Sacred Heart devotion, what I call the “POG”: the presence of God, throughout the day. Why are the short, fervent, aspiration prayers so great for that? Because they’re short and they’re fervent. And you can just pick one and stick with that one throughout the day, or pick several and say them throughout the day. They help us practice the presence of God throughout the day.
Adam Wright:
We’ve been adding the one that my daughters taught me to our morning offering here on the show throughout the month of June. “Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me.” In fact, this week, we had a conversation with Sister Colleen Mattingly, who’s an Apostle of the Sacred Heart, talking about the importance of saying that. “I believe in Your love for me” and how that can be one of the most challenging aspects of this devotion sometimes. It’s easy to say, “Oh Father Wade, our Lord loves you. Oh, friend who’s going through a rough time, our Lord loves you” but to look in the mirror and say, “Our Lord loves me.” That can be a very challenging thing.
Now before we move on, Father, I do want to ask you a question. Perhaps I could have called in to Open Line on Tuesday to ask this, but when we talk about these promises, the 12 promises of our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. We hear in James that faith without works is dead, and sometimes I worry that we approach the opposite. That we just go to works without faith and say, “Well, our Lord said to do these things, so I’m just gonna do these things.” And I guess it’s like a contract or a transaction. “Adam, you do this. I’ll do that. And I like what he’s offering. So I’ll just go ahead and do this.” Could you talk a little bit about it – I’m making an error in saying that, I feel. But I don’t know how to articulate why it’s not just a transaction or an exchange of goods, that this is really about deep relationship.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Absolutely. It’s all based on love, which again, poetically speaking, the human heart is a profound symbol of, right? So we never do the works – carrying out the nine first Friday requirements or the five first Saturday devotional requirements, in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We never do those works for the works themselves. That would be foolish. That would be prideful. That would be pompous. That would be, demented religion. Right? We do them for the charity they help prosper one human person to another human person. One human person who carries out the devotion to all of his fellow human persons, to his love for humanity, to wanting to make a world a better place, a more virtuous place. This is why we carry out the works because of the love they help prosper. We never do the works for the works themselves.
And any love that we’re able to help prosper because we’ve done the works, is only made possible by God’s being the primary mover in the life of grace. His sanctifying grace, His actual grace to get us moving. “Without God, I can’t, but without me, God won’t.” -Saint Catherine of Siena. How about Saint Augustine’s quote? “The God who willed to create you without you, does not will to save you without you.” Right? Two great reminders from two great Doctors of the Church: a great female Doctor of the Church, Saint Catherine of Siena, and Saint Augustine.
So we want to carry out such devotions, coupled with our Sunday worship. You know, even Sunday worship, whether you’re a Catholic Christian going to Mass or a Protestant Christian going to a service. That’s a work. But it’s got to be done from love and out of love and for love, right? God is always the primary mover in the life of grace. So Father Wade has the faith, a very strong faith that God wills to save Father Wade. Faith tells Father Wade that God wills to save Father Wade. But faith also tells Father Wade, that God, while the primary mover, doesn’t want to do all the work on His own. God wills as the primary mover, always first in the life of grace, that Father Wade be a real, active, co-operator with Him and moving himself, Father Wade, to a life of grace. This includes the strong spiritual life. This includes any charitable works. This includes any devotional works. So they’re done for love. They’re not done for the sake of the works themselves. Does that kind of help you out?
Adam Wright:
It does. I often use the analogy that it’s like that muscle flex we were talking about a few weeks ago. That it’s a natural consequence. You know, if my son were to say to me, “Dad, how do I get good at riding a bike?” And I say, “We’ll go out and ride your bike for an hour every day.” The natural consequence of devoting an hour a day to that ride is he’s going to be a very good bike rider, much better in two weeks than he is today. Much better in two months than he is today, etcetera, etcetera. So, I love this promise, “Tepid souls shall become fervent” and then the next promise, “Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.” Well, if you’re fostering devotion to our Lord, that’s just a natural consequence that you would be striving for this great perfection and asking him, “Lord, please perfect me”, and he’s going to want to do it.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah, amen. Absolutely. I want to mention, a website for your listeners to go to, all of our Roadmap to Heaven listeners and viewers, a great Catholic family resource website. It’s called messyfamilyproject.org. I love the title. Mike and Alicia Herndon founded this organization. It’s just a great resource site, but listen to this. For the month of June, messyfamilyproject.org is promoting an upcoming event, which we’re now currently in the midst of, the Play and Pray Challenge for families.
It has four elements to it. Number 1: Go on a date, Mom and Dad. Renew the well between the two of you. Remind yourselves that before you are a mom and dad, you are first a husband and wife, and that relationship is where it all begins. Number 2: Have a family day. Set aside a day where you celebrate family life with your kids. Show them you are willing to step into their lives, do things they enjoy, and have some lighthearted fun with them. The best thing that a set of parents can do to show their children love is to let their children see that they, the mom and dad, love each other. That cannot be lost sight of. Okay? Number 3: Enthrone Jesus as King of your home through the Sacred Heart Enthronement. Use our simple ceremony to enthrone an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in your home. Renew it every year to keep it fresh in your family culture. Jesus promised that when families enthrone Him, He will shower them with grace, bless, and protect their home, and give them the strength to live out their vocation. Each of us wants our entire family to get to heaven together. The surest way we can do this is by relying on the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Number 4: The fourth point for Play and Pray Challenge at messyfamilyproject.org is challenge others to carry out these three steps. Challenge other families to do the same thing. Ask your friends, neighbors, and relatives to join the June 2023 (and beyond) Play and Pray Challenge. Share our flyer in your parish and in your small group.
So again, if you go to messyfamilyproject.org and at the home page, just scroll down to “Upcoming Events”. It’s the first option listed at “Upcoming Events”. The Play and Pray Challenge. And that’s what we want families to do. We want them to play together, pray together, enthrone their home to the Sacred Heart, consecrate their family and family members, so that the blessings and the showers of God’s many graces can come down on the family.
Adam Wright:
Alright Father, I’ve been asking everybody on the show this week because one of the things I love about our Catholic faith is that we pray like Catholics, but we also party like Catholics. So, how will the Fathers of Mercy be celebrating?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
How come you’re asking me about partying, Adam? That’s what I want to know.
Adam Wright:
Well, you know, Father, I’ve been in your company before. It can be a fun time to celebrate with Father Wade. But how will the Fathers of Mercy be celebrating the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on Friday?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
You know, that’s a great question. It’s mentioned by name, the Solemnity, in our constitutions, because our founder, Jean-Baptiste Rauzan, did his dissertation on the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the mercy of God. And so it’s a very precious Solemnity for us. In fact, there’s constitutional requirements that we carry out, for our deceased parents and confreres and benefactors. The Mass and either a Rosary or evening prayer. So it’s very dear to our hearts. And all other non-priest members of the Fathers of Mercy, like our professed brothers, offer their Holy Communion for deceased parents and relatives and benefactors. So this is very important for us as Fathers of Mercy. And we always have a beautiful evening meal together, where even a little wine is served, how about that? And we also chant vespers solemnly with our chant. So, it’s just a great day for those who happen to be at the main general at house here in Auburn, Kentucky. To be able to celebrate together as confreres.
Adam Wright:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but because Friday is a Solemnity as well, our Friday abstinence is waived? We can have a nice steak, if you like to, on Friday to celebrate the Solemnity.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right. You can forego meat, if that’s your normative practice, which it is in the Father’s of Mercy, to give up meat on Fridays. In fact, I saw, just last evening in the kitchen, a huge Butterball turkey that our house superior Father Joseph informed me that was for Friday’s coming meal. So I have a feeling it’s gonna be a Thanksgiving-style meal, with a big Butterball right there. So we’re looking forward to that.
Adam, I also want to mention, and if giving up meat isn’t your traditional every Friday of the year penance – With the exception of Good Friday, of course, and Ash Wednesday when we have to give up meat through abstinence and also carry out a penance, fasting and abstinence. The other Fridays of the year we give up meat on Fridays. – But for those who don’t do that, it’s a day to still celebrate and honor our Lord in a very special way because it’s the highest level of feast day, it’s a Solemnity. And it falls on a Friday annually every year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus because Friday, traditionally it celebrated, precisely because that’s the day that our Lord died, on Good Friday. When His Heart was pierced and blood and water, gushed forth for the life of the world. Again, the Divine Mercy devotion, the blood and the water. A symbolic of the Eucharist and baptism. So this is why it’s always celebrated on a Friday. So we rejoice in that fact.
So we treat it as a Solemnity. You forego penances, whatever penance is normally on a Friday. Because every Friday of the year is a day of penitential observance. Now it may be fasting and abstinence you choose to do on all the Fridays of the year. But on Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, you have to fast and abstain. There’s no choice there. But for the other Fridays of the year, it may be meat you give up, or it may be television you give up, or it may be an act of charity, prayer, fast, and almsgiving you do. Whatever it is, we celebrate in a special way on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Adam, I’d love to read also, our bishop statement for this coming June 16th, 2023, that came out on June 12th earlier in the week, for the great Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. I’d like to read this statement that they just issued last evening. Catholics are invited to pray an act of reparation on the Solemnity, the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, precisely by praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Listen to this: On June 16th, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Most Reverend Timothy, Broglio of the Archdiocese of the military services USA and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the USCCB), and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, joined by Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles have called on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart and make an act of reparation. That is to say, an act offered to the Lord with the intention of repairing the spiritual damage inflicted by sin.
The bishop’s invitation to the faithful now follows: “Catholic Christians traditionally recognized June as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During this time, we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart, and we pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people. This year on June 16th, the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a professional baseball team had shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere. It is blasphemy. It has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of goodwill stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them. We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16th, offering this prayer as an act of preparation for the blasphemies against our Lord that we see in our culture today.”
Again, that’s the official statement from the USCCB, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued June 12th, 2023, for this coming great Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16th. So let us all join together. Pray for holiness. Pray for virtue. Pray in reparation. All the while offering up the specific prayer of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It’s found there at the bishop’s website. In fact, they have the link right to it in that statement to go directly to the Litany of the Sacred Heart, so people can pray it online or print it out and pray it as a family. So I want to encourage your listeners to do just that. All of our wonderful listeners of Roadmap to Heaven, to be faithful to our bishop’s calling, for this Friday.
Adam Wright:
Might I add, to also pray for conversion. I read a great quote last week, by the way. I’ll bring a quote to the table: “Every soul you encounter is going to end up in one of two places, ultimately.” And so we always must pray for the conversion, because we don’t want anyone to go to Hell. We want everyone to go to Heaven. Well, Father, I will say this too. We had a guest on the show a few years ago talking about first Fridays and that in his home, they like to take their image of the Sacred Heart that they’ve enthroned, move it to the dining room table, and his wife sets up a lovely temporary throne. They have dinner by candlelight, and they really make it a very special occasion with the children. And I think you might have to put a cover over the dish to keep the flood warm, but before you eat, perhaps as a family, gathered around the dinner table, stand up and not just pray that blessing before meals, but what a wonderful time that would be to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart, especially with the image there.
I think you’ve given us so many wonderful encouragements today, especially the Pray and Play challenge, and I’m always grateful for this time to dive deep into these feasts. And what a great way to wrap up our several weeks together talking about the wonderful feasts that we’ve been celebrating going all the way back to Easter Sunday.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right. And, you know, we’re in ordinary time. So, now we’ve celebrated Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi, and now the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all these follow fall during ordinary time. Let’s make ordinary time extraordinary in the life of our one Holy Catholic and Apostolic faith and how we live whether single, married, or a consecrated religious, contemplative or active, widow or widower. Let’s really make our ordinary time extraordinary.
Adam Wright:
I love it. Well, Father, you know I’m going to ask you to close out our time together with a prayer.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Sure. You bet, Adam. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, descend upon all of our Roadmap to Heaven listeners and also, all of our Covenant Catholic Network listeners in general and remain with each and every one of you this day and always. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. And Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Adam Wright:
Well, Father, I know your preaching schedule is going to make that we’re not going to be able to have you on the show again until the fall. But friends, if you want to hear more of Father Wade right here on Covenant Network every Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM Central, you can hear him on Open Line Tuesday with Jack Williams. It’s a wonderful program, and I know so many of you call in. If you have a question for Father Wade, I would encourage you to call in. There’s great answers on Open Line. In the meantime, Father, you have a wonderful, wonderful summer, and we look forward to the next time you can be with us on Roadmap to Heaven.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thank you so much, Adam. God bless you. Take care now.
Adam Wright:
It has been a wonderful string of weeks where we have been talking about feast after feast, after feast, after feast, with Father Wade Menezes of the Fathers of Mercy and host of EWTN’s Open Line Tuesday. And Father, I am excited to say that, one of my favorite solemnities is the subject of our discussion today. It’s how we are going to wrap up, and that’s the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus. In fact, I put this image up on the screen. This is an image we have in our studio. And every day, as I do my radio broadcast, I am looking directly across the studio at the wall, at this image, and I don’t know how many times, I’ve lost count of how many times it has served as inspiration, as hope, as comfort, and more. And I’m just really excited to be talking about the sacred heart with you today.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Actually, Adam, the portrait that you just shared with us that you still have up there on the screen has our Lord pointing with one hand to His Sacred Heart and the other hand extended out to the viewer. How beautiful is that? “Come to me, all you who labor and are weary burdened, and I will give you rest.” And that’s a beautiful lead-in, Adam, to the opening comments that I want to make here about the Sacred Heart devotion. Stop and think about it. God Himself, in His second divine personage, the Son, who took on sacred humanity, who assumed a human nature just like ours in every single way but sin. He had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart. And I mean that literally, not metaphorically. He had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart for some 33 years according to sacred tradition. While he was on Earth, three of those years, the latter three, which were during his public ministry.
Our God is therefore a revealed God, in the real tangible physical world. He’s a revealed God in this sacred humanity. Saint Anthony says God became man precisely so that man may become like God. How beautiful is that? The creator became a creature, in other words. This is like saying that the architect literally became the house, or the potter sitting at the spinning wheel with the clay, the potter literally, not metaphorically, but literally became the cup. When we say that the creator became a creature in his sacred humanity. Our human minds don’t even lend themselves to such imagery. Right? Like, what? The architect becoming the house? The potter becoming the cup? And yet that’s exactly what our God did.
The creator became a creature. Right? Archbishop Fulton Sheen says Almighty God made us in His own image and likeness (referring to Genesis 1:26 through 27) precisely so that one day He might assume and take on our own image and likeness, in the womb of His mother. There’s your pro-life message right there. As a babe in a manger in Bethlehem. Right? Poetically speaking, we know, Adam, that across cultures and across times I might add, the human heart is a profound symbol of the following: such things as love, mercy, forgiveness, faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, loyalty, diligence, passion (meaning the Latin “passio”, which means a love, but specifically a love that is willing to suffer for the other. The epitome of other-centeredness, even willing to lay down your life for the other. “No greater love is there than this than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Right?
The human heart, poetically speaking, across cultures, across times, is also, seen as an anchor. A groundedness, a strong footing, a footer. Think of a strong concrete foundation, of a balanced emotional life. The passions, emotions, and feelings being kept in balance so that the passions, emotions, and feelings don’t go off to vice but rather can progress in virtue. Right? So we need to keep them balanced because the effects of the original sin of our first parents, the two chief effects of the original sin, is a darkened intellect and a weakened will. Before the fall of our first parents, we had an enlightened intellect and a strengthened will. But after the fall of our first parents, that strengthened will became weakened and the enlightened intellect became darkened. So we need to keep the passions and emotions in check to advance and virtue and not advance in vice.
So that’s the kickoff of this devotion that I want to talk about is that, literally not metaphorically, God Himself, the Triune Godhead, in His second divine personage, the Son, who became incarnate, who assumed the human nature, just like ours, in every way but sin, had a real, viable, pumping, bloody, human heart. And when you add to the fact that, poetically speaking, across cultures and across times, the human heart means all those things. It makes perfect sense that that image that you still have up there on the screen has His human heart being pointed to by His human hand, and His other human hand is beckoning others to come to Him.
You know, it’s interesting, the Divine Mercy image from Saint Faustina’s fully approved devotion of the Divine Mercy of our Lord. We don’t see the Sacred Heart, but the two rays, the red ray and the white ray (which are symbolic of Eucharist and baptism respectively, tells Faustina), they’re emanating from His Sacred Heart. Even though we can’t see the Sacred Heart in the traditional Divine Mercy image. I’ve seen other artists’ renditions of the Divine Mercy devotion. He’s in His white baptismal alb, the same position as He is in this Sacred Heart image that you have, and they overlay His Sacred Heart over His white baptismal alb that he’s wearing in the Divine Mercy image, calling all to baptism. But that’s not how our Lord saw Him depicted, but the rays are imitated from His Sacred Heart. And He’s walking towards the person. And again, wanting to draw closer. The Divine Mercy image always has one foot in front of the other of our Lord. Right? And He’s pointing in His Divine Mercy image, towards the rays, and it’s just beautiful. And He beckons us and He calls us.
Adam Wright:
I think that’s one of the things I love about this image is, in times of trial, in times of grief, in times of distress, that personal offering. It’s almost as if He’s saying through the image, “Adam, I am offering my heart to you as the remedy for everything that life is throwing your way right now. Everything that you are enduring, the cure is to draw near to my heart.” And Father, that’s one of the things I love about this Solemnity, and I’m sure we’ll talk about this, is that this wasn’t just the idea of some man or woman on Earth saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a day that we honored the Sacred Heart of our Lord?” But that He Himself appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and specifically asked for this devotion, that this Friday would be the day that we would honor His Sacred Heart, that has become this month. He also asked for the first Friday. So, when our Lord asks for something, I think that’s a pretty good sign He wants us to pay attention.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah, that’s exactly right. The whole month of June is traditionally dedicated to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the Solemnity of the feast following in the middle of the month. You know, the most Sacred Heart of Jesus assures us that God has eliminated all distance between us and Him, loving us from within our own human nature, which He Himself took on. This is something that cannot be underlined enough. His most Sacred Heart means that a Divine person, God, loves us with a perfect human heart, because ours are imperfect because of the original sin. Consequently, our own wounded human hearts are consoled and perfected by His Sacred Heart. And that’s pretty awesome. We have only to unite our hearts to Christ’s Sacred Heart to receive all that it contains.
Our Lord promised to Saint Margaret Mary that, “Sinners shall find in My heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. And those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My heart, never to be blotted out.” I also want to make these points. The most Sacred Heart of Jesus reveals the merciful love of our Savior, banishing all fear, all shame, and discouragement from our own wounded hearts. He wants to banish fear, shame, discouragement, maybe a wounded past, whatever it is, He wants to heal that.
What are the words we hear at every Mass, right after our Father has prayed? We hear these words from the celebrant, Lord Jesus Christ, who sent your apostles, “My peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give you.” He wants to give us His peace. He doesn’t want us to fall to pieces, right? And I think that’s very, very important. Again, the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus remains one of the church’s greatest treasures, and one of our greatest consolations in our Pilgrim Way while living here on Earth.
The heart of Jesus continues to beat for us in Heaven, pouring out its infinite merits through the sacramental economy, the church, through the sacred administration, and sacred reception of any of the seven sacraments. His Sacred Heart is pouring out to us through the three sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist; The two sacraments of healing: anointing of the sick and confession; And the two sacraments of union: matrimony and holy orders, which are at the service of communion to the entire populaces throughout the world.
So we see His heart still at work, pumping for us, if you will, these graces and these merits that are made possible through a strong sacramental life and a strong devotional life. Our Lord promised Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque that, “Sinners shall find in My heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. And those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My heart, never to be blotted out, never to be erased.” So we say joyfully and fervently, “Oh most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.” It’s a profound symbol, his Sacred Heart, it’s a symbol of the core belief of Christianity. We can say that as well.
That Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, loves each one of us immeasurably and without exception. Although pierced terribly by our sins, the Sacred Heart of our Lord overflows with compassion and love for all of mankind, even when that love is not reciprocated. And it isn’t reciprocated, especially by a very secular culture today.
Therefore, the devotion of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most popular devotions among Catholics, since its inception in the 17th century. It became popular following the apparitions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Catholic nun from France between the years of 1673 in 1675. And during His visits to her, Jesus promised, “To all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months, I will grant the grace of final perseverance. They shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.” And the church dedicates the entire month of June, as we already said, Adam, to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, remembering always, and I mean always, that we are loved first by God, and Catholics strive to venerate and imitate the most generous and Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Lord and bring that heart into our own lives. This is why, for example, consecrating the family home to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is such a beautiful devotion for families. And I’ll talk about that in a little bit as we wrap things up. But this is our Catholic faith. This is one of the strongest devotions in the life of the church, and it cannot be underestimated enough.
Adam Wright:
You know, I was just thinking as you say all of this, and I turned to the computer here to look some things up, did not have enough time. But you often say, Father Wade, that just as the saints were the contemporaries of their time, we’re the contemporaries of our time. So we’re called to live out holiness, but we can learn from them. You know, that we can learn from how they lived in their time as we strive to live in our time, and I look around at this post-modern world that we live in, and all of the ills of society, and I cannot help but think that more than ever in my lifetime, this is the time to be promoting this devotion to the Sacred Heart of our Lord.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s exactly right. I’d like to actually share the 12 promises that our Lord made to Saint Margaret Mary, to those who carry out this devotion of the nine first Fridays. And then I’ll also mention what’s required for the nine first Friday devotion. But first of all, here’s a list of the 12 promises to those devoted to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus as communicated by Christ to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in a private revelation, fully approved by the church in 1675.
Number 1: “I will grant all the graces necessary for their state in life.” So in other words, whether single, married, widowed, a consecrated religious, active or contemplative, it doesn’t matter. “I will grant all the graces necessary for their state in life.”
Number 2: “I will grant peace to their homes.”
Number 3: “I will comfort them in all their afflictions.”
Number 4: “I will secure refuge for them during life and at death.”
Number 5: “I will grant abundant blessings upon all of their undertakings.”
Number 6: “I will grant infinite mercy for their sins.”
Number 7: “Tepid souls shall be made fervent.”
Number 8: “Fervent souls shall mount to a degree of great perfection.”
Number 9: “I will bless every place where a picture or image of my Heart is honored.”
Number 10: “I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened parts.”
Number 11: ” Promoters of this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.”
And number 12: “I will grant the grace of final penitence to those who receive Holy Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays.”
And here are the primary requirements for the nine first Friday devotion. And I want to urge your viewers and listeners at Roadmap to Heaven to go to fathersofmercy.com. And at our homepage, they can click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand corner of the homepage, right after they go to fathersofmercy.com, the homepage comes up. Click on that magnifying glass icon and then a search bar comes up in the middle of the page. And all they have to type in is “nine first Friday devotion” or “nine first Friday”. And it comes right up as one of my blogs, in the blog section of the father’s of mercy website. All these requirements are listed there, along with the promises.
So here’s the requirements for the nine first Friday’s devotion: Receive Holy Communion on each first Friday, in a state of grace obviously, with no known mortal sin on your soul. In other words, go to Mass and receive Holy Communion with the intention of honoring Christ’s Heart. If you are not in a state of grace and thus unable to receive Holy Communion, you will also need to go to confession. The nine first Fridays must be consecutive with no break. And, the nine first Fridays, must be made in honor of and in reparation to our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. This is very, very important. The nine first Fridays must be made in honor of and in reparation to our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. And we want to draw closer to this devotion of His Sacred Heart, just in this way.
So again, they can go to fathersofmercy.com, print out the nine first Fridays blog that I wrote. It’s also listed there next to the five first Saturdays devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which we celebrate this week coming now, after the day after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.
Then I want to close with just some traditional, short, fervent aspiration prayers that we make and and honor the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. And you were telling me before we started taping this interview, that your children’s school has popular one that they say. Maybe you could share that with our viewers as well, but these are just some of the more traditional ones: “Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to your most Sacred Heart.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may love thee more and more.” That’s a very popular one. “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in thee.” I love that one because it kind of combines the Sacred Heart devotion with the Divine Mercy devotion. Again, “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in thee.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in thy love for me.” “Jesus, meek, and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy kingdom come.” “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying, and deliver the holy souls in purgatory.”
So just some of the more fervent traditional, aspiration prayers that we can say to rekindle in our mind and heart, the presence God, especially in the Sacred Heart devotion, what I call the “POG”: the presence of God, throughout the day. Why are the short, fervent, aspiration prayers so great for that? Because they’re short and they’re fervent. And you can just pick one and stick with that one throughout the day, or pick several and say them throughout the day. They help us practice the presence of God throughout the day.
Adam Wright:
We’ve been adding the one that my daughters taught me to our morning offering here on the show throughout the month of June. “Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me.” In fact, this week, we had a conversation with Sister Colleen Mattingly, who’s an Apostle of the Sacred Heart, talking about the importance of saying that. “I believe in Your love for me” and how that can be one of the most challenging aspects of this devotion sometimes. It’s easy to say, “Oh Father Wade, our Lord loves you. Oh, friend who’s going through a rough time, our Lord loves you” but to look in the mirror and say, “Our Lord loves me.” That can be a very challenging thing.
Now before we move on, Father, I do want to ask you a question. Perhaps I could have called in to Open Line on Tuesday to ask this, but when we talk about these promises, the 12 promises of our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. We hear in James that faith without works is dead, and sometimes I worry that we approach the opposite. That we just go to works without faith and say, “Well, our Lord said to do these things, so I’m just gonna do these things.” And I guess it’s like a contract or a transaction. “Adam, you do this. I’ll do that. And I like what he’s offering. So I’ll just go ahead and do this.” Could you talk a little bit about it – I’m making an error in saying that, I feel. But I don’t know how to articulate why it’s not just a transaction or an exchange of goods, that this is really about deep relationship.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Absolutely. It’s all based on love, which again, poetically speaking, the human heart is a profound symbol of, right? So we never do the works – carrying out the nine first Friday requirements or the five first Saturday devotional requirements, in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We never do those works for the works themselves. That would be foolish. That would be prideful. That would be pompous. That would be, demented religion. Right? We do them for the charity they help prosper one human person to another human person. One human person who carries out the devotion to all of his fellow human persons, to his love for humanity, to wanting to make a world a better place, a more virtuous place. This is why we carry out the works because of the love they help prosper. We never do the works for the works themselves.
And any love that we’re able to help prosper because we’ve done the works, is only made possible by God’s being the primary mover in the life of grace. His sanctifying grace, His actual grace to get us moving. “Without God, I can’t, but without me, God won’t.” -Saint Catherine of Siena. How about Saint Augustine’s quote? “The God who willed to create you without you, does not will to save you without you.” Right? Two great reminders from two great Doctors of the Church: a great female Doctor of the Church, Saint Catherine of Siena, and Saint Augustine.
So we want to carry out such devotions, coupled with our Sunday worship. You know, even Sunday worship, whether you’re a Catholic Christian going to Mass or a Protestant Christian going to a service. That’s a work. But it’s got to be done from love and out of love and for love, right? God is always the primary mover in the life of grace. So Father Wade has the faith, a very strong faith that God wills to save Father Wade. Faith tells Father Wade that God wills to save Father Wade. But faith also tells Father Wade, that God, while the primary mover, doesn’t want to do all the work on His own. God wills as the primary mover, always first in the life of grace, that Father Wade be a real, active, co-operator with Him and moving himself, Father Wade, to a life of grace. This includes the strong spiritual life. This includes any charitable works. This includes any devotional works. So they’re done for love. They’re not done for the sake of the works themselves. Does that kind of help you out?
Adam Wright:
It does. I often use the analogy that it’s like that muscle flex we were talking about a few weeks ago. That it’s a natural consequence. You know, if my son were to say to me, “Dad, how do I get good at riding a bike?” And I say, “We’ll go out and ride your bike for an hour every day.” The natural consequence of devoting an hour a day to that ride is he’s going to be a very good bike rider, much better in two weeks than he is today. Much better in two months than he is today, etcetera, etcetera. So, I love this promise, “Tepid souls shall become fervent” and then the next promise, “Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.” Well, if you’re fostering devotion to our Lord, that’s just a natural consequence that you would be striving for this great perfection and asking him, “Lord, please perfect me”, and he’s going to want to do it.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah, amen. Absolutely. I want to mention, a website for your listeners to go to, all of our Roadmap to Heaven listeners and viewers, a great Catholic family resource website. It’s called messyfamilyproject.org. I love the title. Mike and Alicia Herndon founded this organization. It’s just a great resource site, but listen to this. For the month of June, messyfamilyproject.org is promoting an upcoming event, which we’re now currently in the midst of, the Play and Pray Challenge for families.
It has four elements to it. Number 1: Go on a date, Mom and Dad. Renew the well between the two of you. Remind yourselves that before you are a mom and dad, you are first a husband and wife, and that relationship is where it all begins. Number 2: Have a family day. Set aside a day where you celebrate family life with your kids. Show them you are willing to step into their lives, do things they enjoy, and have some lighthearted fun with them. The best thing that a set of parents can do to show their children love is to let their children see that they, the mom and dad, love each other. That cannot be lost sight of. Okay? Number 3: Enthrone Jesus as King of your home through the Sacred Heart Enthronement. Use our simple ceremony to enthrone an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in your home. Renew it every year to keep it fresh in your family culture. Jesus promised that when families enthrone Him, He will shower them with grace, bless, and protect their home, and give them the strength to live out their vocation. Each of us wants our entire family to get to heaven together. The surest way we can do this is by relying on the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Number 4: The fourth point for Play and Pray Challenge at messyfamilyproject.org is challenge others to carry out these three steps. Challenge other families to do the same thing. Ask your friends, neighbors, and relatives to join the June 2023 (and beyond) Play and Pray Challenge. Share our flyer in your parish and in your small group.
So again, if you go to messyfamilyproject.org and at the home page, just scroll down to “Upcoming Events”. It’s the first option listed at “Upcoming Events”. The Play and Pray Challenge. And that’s what we want families to do. We want them to play together, pray together, enthrone their home to the Sacred Heart, consecrate their family and family members, so that the blessings and the showers of God’s many graces can come down on the family.
Adam Wright:
Alright Father, I’ve been asking everybody on the show this week because one of the things I love about our Catholic faith is that we pray like Catholics, but we also party like Catholics. So, how will the Fathers of Mercy be celebrating?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
How come you’re asking me about partying, Adam? That’s what I want to know.
Adam Wright:
Well, you know, Father, I’ve been in your company before. It can be a fun time to celebrate with Father Wade. But how will the Fathers of Mercy be celebrating the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on Friday?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
You know, that’s a great question. It’s mentioned by name, the Solemnity, in our constitutions, because our founder, Jean-Baptiste Rauzan, did his dissertation on the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the mercy of God. And so it’s a very precious Solemnity for us. In fact, there’s constitutional requirements that we carry out, for our deceased parents and confreres and benefactors. The Mass and either a Rosary or evening prayer. So it’s very dear to our hearts. And all other non-priest members of the Fathers of Mercy, like our professed brothers, offer their Holy Communion for deceased parents and relatives and benefactors. So this is very important for us as Fathers of Mercy. And we always have a beautiful evening meal together, where even a little wine is served, how about that? And we also chant vespers solemnly with our chant. So, it’s just a great day for those who happen to be at the main general at house here in Auburn, Kentucky. To be able to celebrate together as confreres.
Adam Wright:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but because Friday is a Solemnity as well, our Friday abstinence is waived? We can have a nice steak, if you like to, on Friday to celebrate the Solemnity.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right. You can forego meat, if that’s your normative practice, which it is in the Father’s of Mercy, to give up meat on Fridays. In fact, I saw, just last evening in the kitchen, a huge Butterball turkey that our house superior Father Joseph informed me that was for Friday’s coming meal. So I have a feeling it’s gonna be a Thanksgiving-style meal, with a big Butterball right there. So we’re looking forward to that.
Adam, I also want to mention, and if giving up meat isn’t your traditional every Friday of the year penance – With the exception of Good Friday, of course, and Ash Wednesday when we have to give up meat through abstinence and also carry out a penance, fasting and abstinence. The other Fridays of the year we give up meat on Fridays. – But for those who don’t do that, it’s a day to still celebrate and honor our Lord in a very special way because it’s the highest level of feast day, it’s a Solemnity. And it falls on a Friday annually every year, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus because Friday, traditionally it celebrated, precisely because that’s the day that our Lord died, on Good Friday. When His Heart was pierced and blood and water, gushed forth for the life of the world. Again, the Divine Mercy devotion, the blood and the water. A symbolic of the Eucharist and baptism. So this is why it’s always celebrated on a Friday. So we rejoice in that fact.
So we treat it as a Solemnity. You forego penances, whatever penance is normally on a Friday. Because every Friday of the year is a day of penitential observance. Now it may be fasting and abstinence you choose to do on all the Fridays of the year. But on Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, you have to fast and abstain. There’s no choice there. But for the other Fridays of the year, it may be meat you give up, or it may be television you give up, or it may be an act of charity, prayer, fast, and almsgiving you do. Whatever it is, we celebrate in a special way on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Adam, I’d love to read also, our bishop statement for this coming June 16th, 2023, that came out on June 12th earlier in the week, for the great Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. I’d like to read this statement that they just issued last evening. Catholics are invited to pray an act of reparation on the Solemnity, the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, precisely by praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Listen to this: On June 16th, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Most Reverend Timothy, Broglio of the Archdiocese of the military services USA and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the USCCB), and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, joined by Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles have called on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart and make an act of reparation. That is to say, an act offered to the Lord with the intention of repairing the spiritual damage inflicted by sin.
The bishop’s invitation to the faithful now follows: “Catholic Christians traditionally recognized June as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During this time, we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart, and we pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people. This year on June 16th, the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a professional baseball team had shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere. It is blasphemy. It has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of goodwill stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them. We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16th, offering this prayer as an act of preparation for the blasphemies against our Lord that we see in our culture today.”
Again, that’s the official statement from the USCCB, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued June 12th, 2023, for this coming great Solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16th. So let us all join together. Pray for holiness. Pray for virtue. Pray in reparation. All the while offering up the specific prayer of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It’s found there at the bishop’s website. In fact, they have the link right to it in that statement to go directly to the Litany of the Sacred Heart, so people can pray it online or print it out and pray it as a family. So I want to encourage your listeners to do just that. All of our wonderful listeners of Roadmap to Heaven, to be faithful to our bishop’s calling, for this Friday.
Adam Wright:
Might I add, to also pray for conversion. I read a great quote last week, by the way. I’ll bring a quote to the table: “Every soul you encounter is going to end up in one of two places, ultimately.” And so we always must pray for the conversion, because we don’t want anyone to go to Hell. We want everyone to go to Heaven. Well, Father, I will say this too. We had a guest on the show a few years ago talking about first Fridays and that in his home, they like to take their image of the Sacred Heart that they’ve enthroned, move it to the dining room table, and his wife sets up a lovely temporary throne. They have dinner by candlelight, and they really make it a very special occasion with the children. And I think you might have to put a cover over the dish to keep the flood warm, but before you eat, perhaps as a family, gathered around the dinner table, stand up and not just pray that blessing before meals, but what a wonderful time that would be to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart, especially with the image there.
I think you’ve given us so many wonderful encouragements today, especially the Pray and Play challenge, and I’m always grateful for this time to dive deep into these feasts. And what a great way to wrap up our several weeks together talking about the wonderful feasts that we’ve been celebrating going all the way back to Easter Sunday.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right. And, you know, we’re in ordinary time. So, now we’ve celebrated Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi, and now the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all these follow fall during ordinary time. Let’s make ordinary time extraordinary in the life of our one Holy Catholic and Apostolic faith and how we live whether single, married, or a consecrated religious, contemplative or active, widow or widower. Let’s really make our ordinary time extraordinary.
Adam Wright:
I love it. Well, Father, you know I’m going to ask you to close out our time together with a prayer.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Sure. You bet, Adam. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, descend upon all of our Roadmap to Heaven listeners and also, all of our Covenant Catholic Network listeners in general and remain with each and every one of you this day and always. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. And Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Adam Wright:
Well, Father, I know your preaching schedule is going to make that we’re not going to be able to have you on the show again until the fall. But friends, if you want to hear more of Father Wade right here on Covenant Network every Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM Central, you can hear him on Open Line Tuesday with Jack Williams. It’s a wonderful program, and I know so many of you call in. If you have a question for Father Wade, I would encourage you to call in. There’s great answers on Open Line. In the meantime, Father, you have a wonderful, wonderful summer, and we look forward to the next time you can be with us on Roadmap to Heaven.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thank you so much, Adam. God bless you. Take care now.
In this episode of Roadmap to Heaven, host Adam Wright invites Father Wade Menezes to discuss the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Father Menezes expresses his deep love for the image of the Sacred Heart, which represents a personal offering and remedy for times of trial and distress. He stresses the importance of how God took the form of his creation as Jesus and had a real, live, beating heart.
The episode discusses the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and its representation of God’s love for humanity. Fr. Menezes explains that through the Most Sacred Heart, God loves us with a perfect human heart, consoling and healing our wounded hearts. The devotion is seen as a source of consolation and offers grace throughout our earthly journey.
Father Menezes highlights the significance of honoring the Sacred Heart on Fridays, and specifically on nine first Fridays of the year. He explains that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus originated from a request made by Jesus himself to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. He recites the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart that Jesus communicated to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Father Menezes also addresses a statement issued by the Catholic bishops, calling on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart as an act of reparation for blasphemies against Jesus in the culture. They encourage listeners to join in praying the Litany and provide a link to access it on the Bishop’s website. Adam Wright also emphasizes prayer for conversion and the importance of striving to help each and every soul get to Heaven.
Father Menezes also touches upon the works and devotions performed in the faith, emphasizing that they are done out of love and for the sake of promoting love and charity towards others. He quotes saints to underscore the importance of cooperating with God’s will in our lives.
The episode concludes with a mention of a Catholic family resource website called messyfamilyproject.org which is promoting the Play and Pray Challenge for families during the month of June. The challenge encourages couples and families to spend quality time together, consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and challenge other families to do the same.
Overall, this episode of Roadmap to Heaven explores devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, emphasizing the need for prayer, penance, and devotion to bring us closer to God’s love and mercy.
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