p. 38The Sacred Heart and Loyalty to the Church

Those who are truly devoted to the Heart of our Divine Lord seek to imitate that perfect Heart in affections, in desires, and in friendships, so as to make their own heart as like as possible to the Heart of their Divine Friend. This is really a condition of the true love of the Sacred Heart—that we desire what Christ desires, love what He loves, and disapprove of and resist whatever is offensive to Him. Friendship with the God-man, to be real and genuine, requires the whole being. Our Lord, Himself, warns us of this, for on one occasion He told His apostles and disciples: “He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth” (St. Matthew, xii. 30). At another time He declared to them: “He that is not against Me is with Me.”

Thus, everyone has to take sides with or against Christ, and those who do not take sides with Him are not His friends. Too many of those who claim the name of Catholic seem to hope to be able to serve two masters, God and mammon. Here again, our Blessed Lord has warned us solemnly that such a double service cannot be maintained. “No man,” He says, “can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (St. Matthew, vi. 24). We must sacrifice our own preferences at times and must give up our personal interests and material gain to be true followers of Christ.

One of the great desires of the Sacred Heart of our Lord is that we should love His Church and be loyal to her and to those who rule over her. The Church is the spouse of Christ, spotless and immortal, and He loves her both for her own beauty and holiness and because it is the will of His Heavenly Father that He should cherish her as His own. Indeed, the holy sacrament of marriage is a symbol and a figure of the union which exists between Christ and the Church.

Then, too, the Church is the mystical body of Christ, of which He is the Head. He is joined to the Church as the head is joined to the body, and all who are members of the Church are one with Him through the marvelous bonds of sanctifying grace. Thus, the Sacred Heart of Jesus cherishes and loves the Church as part of Himself, given to Him by His heavenly Father. It is impossible for us to imagine or to conceive of the immense and profound love and devotion which flames in the Heart of Christ for His Holy Church.

We, who are devoted to the Sacred Heart, must imitate Him in this love and loyalty to the Holy Church. In thought, word, and deed, we must be her faithful servants, consecrated to her service, brave in her defense, loyal to her interests, and steadfast to her principles. We should think with the Church, work for her, pray for her, defend her in our own heart, in our own mind, and in outward speech, remembering always that Christ died to bring her into being, that she sprang from His wounded side, and was born in His Sacred Heart. We cannot love Him truly, unless we also love and cherish His Holy Church.

There are three great divisions of the Church: the society of the faithful on earth, who form the church militant; that of the souls in purgatory, who form the church suffering; and the glorious assemblage of the blessed in heaven, who form the church triumphant. All these great groups of His beloved followers are most dear to the Heart of our Lord. To the church militant we owe obedience, loyalty, and faithful service. We have become members of this Church by baptism, a most blessed privilege and one which makes us children of God and heirs of heaven. From the Church we receive the holy ministrations of the sacraments. Through her we are enabled to assist at Holy Mass and to receive Holy Communion. She instructs us, she guides us, she warns us against evil, and encourages us to do good. What a great blessing, an ineffable favor of the Heart of Christ to be a member of His true Church—one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Out of loyalty to our Lord, no less than from regard for our salvation and sanctification, we should try to be really good Catholics, and worthy members of the Holy Church.

It is the individual members of the Church who determine, by their own fidelity to her principles and by the consistently Catholic lives they lead, the degree of Christlikeness which the Church presents to the world. Everyone who is a member of the Church must either help or hinder the esteem in which she is held among mankind. To be a really good Catholic is to raise by just so much the sum total of praise, service, and love which the Church pays to our Lord and to console by just so much the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the other hand, to be an indifferent or a bad Catholic is a grave injury to the honor of the Church, a deep grief to the Heart of Christ, and a disloyalty to that Divine Heart. Such thoughts as those ought to make us desirous, for the love of the Sacred Heart, to be good Catholics.

By reason of the communion of saints, we can also bring consolation and deliverance to the suffering souls in purgatory. This part of His Church also must be most dear to the Sacred Heart of our Lord. The poor souls have been His faithful servants on earth, they have died in His friendship, and they are destined to everlasting happiness with Him in heaven. But alas, they are not worthy yet to enter the mansions of His glory. First, the stains which sin has left upon their souls must be cleansed away, for nothing defiled can enter heaven.

It is a blessed solace, therefore, to the Heart of Christ, to pray and offer up our good works and sufferings for the poor souls in purgatory. This is a pious service we so often forget. Is it want of realizing faith that makes us neglect to pray for the poor souls, when we know their great need, their pitiful suffering, and how easy it is for us to deliver them? The Heart of Christ yearns over them, but His justice will not release them unless we make use of the means He has provided, or unless they pay the slow penalty of suffering in purgatory.

Then there are the glorious and triumphant hosts of the blessed in heaven, led by our Lord Himself and His holy Mother, the multitudes whom no man can number, of all tribes and tongues and ages and places, who have been washed in the blood of the lamb and who enjoy the endless and tranquil delights of eternity. These are the dear friends of the Sacred Heart and He wishes us to reverence them, to love them, to pray to them, and to imitate their virtues. The honor which the Church pays to the blessed in heaven is most dear to the Heart of our Lord. It is for His sake that we reverence His friends, for His sake that we give them glory. Do you love the saints as Christ desires? Are you interested in them, desirous of reading their lives, of pondering on their words and actions? Do you give them due honor, whom the Sacred Heart delights to honor? This also is a part of our service to that most loving Heart.

Thus, all the three great divisions of the Church offer to us a field of loyalty and service to the Sacred Heart of incomparable value. By doing our part, our little part, we shall please Him and console Him for the neglect and outrages of mankind. Soon, very soon, the Church militant and the Church suffering will both be gathered into the Church triumphant. Only for a little while do our present opportunities remain for gaining merit by our willing and loving service and loyalty to the Church, for love of the Sacred Heart.