p. 25The Sacred Heart and the Self-Sacrifice of the Catholic Home

The Christian life is built upon self-sacrifice. The emblem of Christianity is the cross, the symbol of sacrifice. Whoever will be Christ’s disciple must perforce take up his cross daily and follow Him. In proportion, as one is ready to make sacrifices for the love of Christ he draws nearer and nearer to the divine Model, Who was willing to become an entire sacrifice for the love of men and of God.

In our relations with each other, no less than in our dealings with God, we must be forever prepared for sacrifice. This willingness to surrender what is dear to us for the love of God and our neighbor is the basis of charity, as it is also the foundation of friendship and of family love. No household can hold together and be at peace in charity unless its prevailing spirit be that of mutual self-sacrifice. By yielding, one to another, by giving up, one for the other, by assisting one another at the cost of personal loss, and bearing with one another at the cost of personal suffering, the members of a family preserve peace, harmony, and concord. Without this spirit of willingness to sacrifice one’s self for another, there will surely come quarrels, discord, divisions, and bickerings; for it must necessarily be that the interests of one will be different from the interests of another, and that the wishes of one will run counter to the wishes of another. When this happens, either somebody must yield at the cost of personal self-sacrifice or else there will be discord. No great need to dwell long upon the necessity of the spirit of self-sacrifice in the home. Every one realizes it, at least in the case of another.

The want of this spirit of self-sacrifice makes havoc with some Catholic homes. Even where one or two of the members lack the willingness to surrender their personal likes and inclinations, their presence in the family circle is an element of discord. They must be humored and attended to at the expense of the others. The balance of life is destroyed. Things are always in an unstable equilibrium and there may be a crash at any moment.

Those who by nature have but little of this spirit of self-sacrifice may achieve a higher degree of it by the sincere practice of devotion to the Sacred Heart. That adorable Heart is the source and model of supernatural self-sacrifice. The very emblem of devotion to the Sacred Heart is a constant reminder that we should sacrifice ourselves for others as Our Lord has sacrificed Himself for us. That Sacred Heart, wounded for love; surrounded by the thorns of the intense agony which He bore willingly, immolating Himself for us; the cross which surmounts It, reminder of His sacrifice of life itself for our salvation; the flames of love, motive of His self-surrender for our salvation—all these things speak more eloquently to us than words of the willingness of our Lord to sacrifice Himself utterly for the sake of each one of us.

If our devotion to this Sacred Heart is great and deep, it will move us to immolate ourselves for others as He has immolated Himself for us. True love, and true devotion, suppose the faithful imitation of the one whom we devotedly admire and love. The more ardently we are inflamed with affection toward the Sacred Heart, the more we shall wish to imitate the self-sacrifice of our Lord. Since He has pointed to our brethren and bidden us see Himself in them, assuring us that what we do to our brother we do to Him, we shall be moved more and more to sacrifice ourselves for others and to repay our Lord for His sacrifices for us.

Thus the members of the Catholic home who practice true devotion to the Sacred Heart will feel growing within them the spirit of Christian self-sacrifice. Looking on the image of our Lord’s wounded and suffering Heart, they will be willing to be wounded and to suffer for others. And this disposition of self-sacrifice and love in honor of the Sacred Heart will fill the family circle with charity, happiness, and peace.