Heart of the Home

A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law got married on the feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the rehearsal the day before was the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus). That makes this month the month of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. I was a bridesmaid and for jewelry, she gave us a necklace that consisted of a heart with many small hearts within it. She said that the big heart was Mary's (could also be Jesus's) and the small hearts were all of ours.

A Catholic tradition for families is to do a Sacred and Immaculate Heart Enthronement of the home. A priest or group, such as the Legion of Mary, comes in and prays certain prayers with the family and consecrates an image or images of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. It is a beautiful devotion for a family to take part in. In our house, have a beautiful painting of the Sacred Heart by my father. It is huge and is easily viewed from outside the sliding glass door of the patio. It is interesting to see people peering in at the painting as they walk by. Hopefully they have an encounter with Jesus as a result.

"The Heart of Jesus is always in search of souls to save, to free from the snares of sin, to wash in His blood, to feed with His Body. The Heart of Jesus is always living in the Eucharist to satisfy the hunger of all who long for Him, to welcome and console all those who, disillusioned by the vicissitudes of life, take refuge in Him, seeking peace and refreshment." -Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

As homemakers, our vocation is to be the 'heart of the home' but I think the only way that is truly possible is if we have the hearts of Jesus and Mary as the center of our hearts. Sometimes it is hard to maintain this focus, as lay people living in the world bombarded by so many other voices and temptations. I know for me, it is always a temptation to compare my situation with that of others. I tend to get negative about how I don't have the gifts that other women have and it becomes almost a competition. This quote struck a particular chord with me:

"Every human person is a unique creation of love and has his or her irreplaceable function within God's glorious plan of love. There is no such thing as competition; it is senseless to compare this one with that. Each vocation is totally unique, and temperament, circumstances, all that elements that go to make up my life are directed towards the shaping of that particular "form" which is to receive God's love and express His beauty in a way unique to itself, thus becoming a living praise of the glory of His self-bestowing Love" -Sr. Ruth Burrows, O.C.D.

In order to stay focused on this truth, we must hide ourselves in the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. Only then can we truly live our vocations as homemakers within the world without distractions that only bring us strife and division.

"We must become aware that God dwells within us and do everything with Him, then we are never commonplace even when performing the most ordinary tasks, for we do not live in these things, we go beyond them. A supernatural soul never deals with natural causes but with God alone" -Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!