Interlude for the Sacred Heart.
Lessons from cycle II of the feria, according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite:
I Corinthians 4: 1-5.
Psalm 37: 3-6, 27-28, 39-40.
Luke 5: 33-39.
The Twenty-Second Friday of Ordinary Time.
The First Friday of the Month.
A Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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 3:03 PM 9/5/2014 — As Chapter Four of First Corinthians opens in today's Apostolic lesson, the Blessed Apostle takes this issue of the divisions among the Corinthian Christians that he introduced for us the day before yesterday, and elevates it from a local concern to an ecclesiastical one: in other words, this isn't just a problem for the Church in Corinth; this is problem for the Church everywhere, for no Church, not even in the great city of Corinth, stands alone. A lack of unity within the Church of Corinth threatens the unity of the entire Church of Jesus Christ; and, if the Corinthian Christians can't keep even their own local Church from splintering apart, how can any of them claim to be members of the One Church that Christ, himself, established?
Unfortunately, today's Apostolic lesson is only the introduction to this theme; he doesn't really get to the meat of the issue until tomorrow's lesson, which complicates things for us because tomorrow we're hosting the Marian Festival for the Nativity of the Mother of God, even though it's not the day of the feast, and the Mass for that celebration tomorrow begins at 1:00, not at Noon as indicated on the Shrine schedule. My intention was to ask Father Paul to offer the Mass at Noon, leaving me free to assist the Marian Festival people upstairs; but it's clear now that Father Paul will not be able to do that, and Deacon Ray is also under the weather and will not be around at all this weekend. So, here are my intentions at the moment: I will offer a Mass at Noon here for our regular attendees, but there will be no Holy Hour or confessions afterward in spite of it being First Saturday, because they have asked me to expose the Blessed Sacrament and lead the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary upstairs. Of course, there will be Eucharistic Adoration following the 1:00 Mass upstairs, which I would encourage you to join.
As for today, because there is no Memorial of a saint today, we are free to offer the Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart, and we will have our Holy Hour afterward, during which I will be available for confessions in the office. Since Deacon Ray is not here, the Holy Hour will be mostly a silent one; after exposing the Blessed Sacrament I will ask you to join me in reciting the Litany to the Sacred Heart, after which the rest of the time will be yours to converse with our Lord. And so that you can make your plans accordingly, regardless of what time this Mass is over and the Holy Hour begins, we'll end the Holy Hour with Benediction precisely at 1:30.
To assist you with your prayers during the Holy Hour, let's just review the promises made by our Blessed Lord to St. Margaret Mary for those who honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:
“I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
“I will establish peace in their families.
“I will console them in all their difficulties.
“I will be their assured refuge in life and most espcially at death.
“I will pour out abundant benedictions on all their undertakings.
“Sinners will find in my heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
“Tepid souls shall become fervent.
“Fervent souls shall advance rapidly to great perfection.
“I will bless the houses in which the image of my Sacred Heart will be exposed and honored.
“I will give to priests the power of moving the most hardened hearts.
“Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names inscribed in my Heart, and they shall never be effaced from it.”
And, finally, “I promise thee, in the excess of the mercy of my Heart, to grant to all those who receive Communion on the First Friday of every month, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance and that they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments, and my Heart will be their secure refuge at the last hour.”
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