Consecration of the Family to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Who didst manifest to Blessed Margaret Mary the desire of reigning in Christian families, we today wish to acknowledge publicly thy absolute dominion over our family.  We desire to live in future, with Thy life; we desire to let those virtues take root and thrive among us to which Thou hast promised peace here below; we will banish far from us that spirit of the world which Thou didst curse.

Rule, therefore, over our minds through the simplicity of our faith and over our hearts through the wholehearted love with which they shall burn for Thee, the flame of which we shall keep alive through the frequent reception of the Divine Eucharist. 

Deign, O Divine Heart, to preside over our assemblies, to bless our spiritual and temporal enterprises, to dispel our cares, to sanctify our joys and to alleviate our sufferings. If one or other of us should at any time have the misfortune to afflict Thee, remind him, Oh Heart of Jesus, that Thou art good and merciful to the penitent sinner.

And when the hour of separation strikes, when death shall come to cast gloom into our midst, we will all, both those who go and those who stay, be resigned to Thy eternal decrees. We will console ourselves with the thought that a day will come when the entire family, reunited in Heaven, can sing forever Thy glories and Thy mercies.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the glorious Patriarch St Joseph present this consecration to Thee and keep it in our minds all the days of our life. All glory to the Heart of Jesus, our King and our Father. 

Mother Love, 1925

It's been a minute, hasn't it?  With good reason.  Just when I thought I was catching my breath life took a hard left.  We came to realize what was needed was not simply tweaking but a complete reworking of our life.  That is much easier said than done and took all I had in me and a little more.  It involved a fair amount of remodeling, purging, packing, and prayer – not necessarily in that order.  So much work, y'all.  If you have moved long distance, you know this.  We are mostly on the other side of it now.  The dust is settling some.  The boxes are being opened and things are finding new homes in house #18, with eight of the ten children nearby.  It is incredible to me to see so many of my children, big and small, together in one place again.  After all these years spread so far apart, it is a blessing that takes my breath away.  

More than ever, I am taking each day as it comes.  The words, "…sufficient unto the day," have taken on deeper meaning.  So, too, am I certain that,  "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning."  Not that every day is easy, because it is not.  Each day comes with just enough grace for those 24 hours though.  When they are strung together, one after another, we can see progress. 

Today finds us at the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  Tomorrow is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Sts Peter and Paul are on our minds this week.  If you are observing these feasts you may enjoy some of the stories in the June back issue of St Catherine's Gazette.  The girls hope to make one of these fruit plates tomorrow.  Then there will be more boxes to open and furniture to repair. There will be a dog fence to install and a garden to tidy up, appointments and paper work to see to, and with luck some reading and resting and starting over, new every morning. 

Leaving a beautiful prayer that might inspire:

Teach me, my Lord, to be kind and gentle in all the events of life, in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of others, in the insincerity of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside, to think of the happiness of others, to hide my pains and heartaches, so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.

Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden or embitter me; that it may make me patient, not irritable; that it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrow, proud and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence.

No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow traveler in our journey toward eternal life.

As I go my rounds from one task to another, let me say, from time to time, a word of love to You.

May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity.

Amen.

Father John A. Hardon Catholic Prayer Book with Meditations