St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Second Week of Pentecost

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Thursday – Second Week After Pentecost

Morning Meditation

THE DESPISED HEART OF JESUS

There is no greater sorrow for a heart that loves than to see its love despised; and all the more when on one side the love has been great, and on the other the ingratitude has been great. Jesus Christ has offered for us His sufferings, His Blood, His very life, and we have returned Him ill-treatment, contempt, and injuries.


I.

There is no greater sorrow for a heart that loves than to see its love despised; and so much the more when the proofs given of this love have been great, and, on the other hand, the ingratitude great. If every human being were to renounce all his goods, and to go and live in the desert, to live on herbs, to sleep on the bare earth, to macerate himself with penances, and at last give himself up to be martyred for Christ’s sake, what recompense could he render for the sufferings, the Blood, the life that this great Son of God has given for his sake? If we were to sacrifice ourselves every moment unto death, we should certainly not recompense in the smallest degree the love Jesus Christ has shown us by giving Himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament. Only conceive that God should conceal Himself under the species of bread to become the Food of one of His creatures! But, O my God, what recompense and gratitude do men render to Jesus Christ? What but ill-treatment, contempt of His laws and His maxims,-injuries such as they would not commit against their enemy, or their slave, or the greatest villain upon earth.

O Heart of Jesus, abyss of mercy and love, how is it that, at the sight of the goodness Thou has shown me, and of my ingratitude, I do not die of sorrow? Thou, O my Saviour, after having given me my being, hast given me all Thy Blood and Thy life, offering Thyself up for my sake to ignominy and death; and, not content with this, Thou hast invented the mode of sacrificing Thyself every day for me in the Holy Eucharist, not refusing to expose Thyself to the injuries Thou dost receive, and which Thou didst foresee in this Sacrament of love. O my God, how can I see myself so ungrateful to Thee without dying with confusion! O Lord, put an end, I pray Thee, to my ingratitude, by wounding my heart with Thy love, and making me entirely Thine.


II.

And can we think upon all the Injuries which Jesus Christ has received, and still receives every day, and not feel sorrow for them, and not endeavour by our love to recompense the infinite love of His Divine Heart-this Divine Heart which ever remains with us in the Most Holy Sacrament, inflamed with the same love towards us, and anxious to communicate every good gift to us, and to give Itself entirely to us, ever ready to receive and pardon us whenever we return? Him that cometh to me, I will not cast out-(Jo. vi. 37). We have been accustomed to hear of the Creation, Incarnation, Redemption, of Jesus born in a stable, of Jesus dead on the Cross. O God, if we knew that another man had conferred on us any of these benefits, we could not help loving him! It seems that God alone has, so to say? this misfortune amongst men? that though He has done His utmost to make them love Him, yet He cannot attain this end, and, instead of being loved, He sees Himself despised and neglected. All this arises from the forgetfulness of men for the love of God.

Ah, dear Jesus, remember the Blood and tears Thou hast shed for me, and forgive me. Let not all Thy sufferings be lost upon me. But though Thou didst see how ungrateful and unworthy of Thy love I have been, yet Thou didst not cease to love me even when I did not love Thee, nor even desire that Thou shouldst love me; how much more, then, may I not hope for Thy love, now that I desire and sigh after nothing but to love Thee, and to be loved by Thee. Oh, do Thou fully satisfy this my desire; or rather, this Thy desire, for it is Thou that hast given it to me. Grant that this day may be the day of my thorough conversion; so that I may begin to love Thee, and may never cease to love Thee, my sovereign Good. Make me in everything die to myself in order that I may live only to Thee, and that I may always burn with Thy love. O Mary, thy heart was the blessed altar that was always on fire with Divine love: my dearest Mother, make me like to thee; obtain this from thy Son, Who delights in honouring thee, by denying thee nothing that Thou askest of Him.

Spiritual Reading

CORAM SANCTISSIMO

FIFTEENTH VISIT

I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled?-(Luke xii. 49). Father Francis Olimpio, the Theatine, used to say that there was nothing on earth which enkindled such ardent flames of Divine love in the hearts of men as the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Hence our Lord showed Himself to St. Catherine of Sienna, in the Blessed Sacrament, as a furnace of love, from which issued forth torrents of divine flames, spreading themselves over the whole earth; so much so, indeed, that the Saint, in perfect astonishment, wondered how it was possible that men could live without burning with love for such love on the part of God towards them.

My Jesus, make me burn with the desire of Thee; grant that all my thoughts, and sighs, and desires, and seekings may be for Thee alone. Oh, happy should I be did this Thy heavenly fire fully possess me, and as I advance in years, gradually consume all earthly affections in me!

O, Divine Word! O, my own Jesus! I see Thee all sacrificed, all annihilated, and so to say, destroyed on the Altar, for my love. It is, then, but right that, as Thou sacrificest Thyself as a Victim for love of me, I at least should consecrate myself wholly to Thee. Yes, my God and my sovereign Lord, I now sacrifice to Thee my whole soul, my entire self, my whole will and my whole life. I unite this poor sacrifice of mine, O Eternal Father, to the infinite Sacrifice of Himself which Jesus, Thy Son and my Saviour, once offered to Thee on the Cross, and which He now offers to Thee so many times every day on our Altars. Accept it, then, through the merits of Jesus Christ; and grant me the grace to renew it every day of my life, and to die sacrificing my whole self to Thy honour. I desire the grace granted to so many Martyrs, to die for Thy love. But if I am unworthy of so great a grace, grant, at least, my Lord, that I may sacrifice my life to Thee, together with my entire will, by accepting the death which Thou sendest me. Lord, I desire this grace; I desire to die with the intention of honouring and pleasing Thee thereby; and from this moment I sacrifice my life to Thee; and I offer Thee my death, when or wheresoever it may take place.


AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that Thou art truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love Thee above all things, and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace Thee as already there, and unite myself wholly to Thee; never permit me to be separated from Thee.


VISIT TO MARY

Allow me also, my most sweet Queen, to call thee, with thine own St. Bernard, “the whole ground of my hope,” and to say with St. John Damascene, “I have placed my whole hope in thee.” Thou hast to obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins; thou, perseverance until death; thou, deliverance from Purgatory. All who are saved obtain salvation through thee: thou, then, O Mary, hast to save me: “He will be saved whom thou willest,” says St. Bonaventure. Will, then, my salvation, and I shall be saved. But thou savest all who invoke thee; behold, then, I invoke thee, and say:

Ejac. O salvation of those who invoke thee, save me!


Concluding Prayer

Most holy Immaculate Virgin and my Mother Mary, to thee, who art the Mother of my Lord, and Queen of the world, the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I have recourse today I, who am the most miserable of all. I render thee my most humble homage, O great Queen, and I thank thee for all the graces thou hast conferred on me until now, particularly for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved. I love thee, O most amiable Lady; and for the love which I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always, and to do all in my power to make others love thee also. I place in thee all my hopes; I confide my salvation to thy care. Accept me for thy servant, and receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of Mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or rather obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of thee I ask a perfect love of Jesus Christ. From thee I hope to die a good death.

O my Mother, for the love which thou bearest to God, I beseech thee to help me at all times, but especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech thee, until thou seest me safe in Heaven, blessing thee, and singing thy mercies for all eternity. Amen. So I hope. So may it be.


Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

XXVIII.-HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST SEEKS TO DETACH HIMSELF FROM EVERY CREATURE


I.

When the heart is detached from creatures, Divine love immediately enters and fills it. Moreover, St. Teresa said: “As soon as the evil occasions are removed, the heart forthwith turns herself to love God.” Yes, for the human heart cannot exist without loving; it must either love the Creator or creatures: if it does not love creatures, then assuredly it will love God. In short, we must leave all in order to gain all. “All for all,” says Thomas a Kempis. As long as St. Teresa cherished a certain affection, though pure, towards one of her relations, she did not wholly belong to God; but when afterwards she summoned courage, and resolutely cut off the attachment, then she deserved to hear these words from Jesus: “Now, Teresa, thou art all Mine, and I am all thine.” One heart is quite too small to love this God, so loving and so lovely, and Who merits an infinite love; and shall we then think of dividing this one little heart of ours between creatures and God? The Venerable Lewis da Ponte felt ashamed to speak thus to God: “O Lord, I love Thee above all things, above riches, above honours, friends, relations!” for it seemed to him as much as to say: “O Lord, I love Thee more than dust and smoke and the worms of the earth!”


II.

The Prophet Jeremias says that the Lord is all goodness towards him who seeks Him: The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh him–(Lam. iii. 25). But he understands it of a soul that seeks God alone! O blessed loss! O blessed gain! To lose worldly goods, which cannot satisfy the heart and are soon gone, in order to gain the sovereign and eternal Good, which is God! It is related that a pious hermit, one day while a king was hunting through the woods, began to run to and fro as if in search of something. The king, observing him thus occupied, inquired of him who he was and what he was doing; the hermit replied: “And may I ask your majesty what you are engaged about in this desert?” The king made answer: “I am going in pursuit of game.” And the hermit replied: “I, too, am going in pursuit of God.” With these words he went his way. During the present life this must likewise be our only thought, our only purpose, to go in search of God in order to love Him, and in search of His will in order to fulfil it, ridding our heart of all love of creatures. And whenever some worldly good presents itself to our imaginations to solicit our affection, let us be ready with this answer: “I have despised the kingdom of this world, and all the charms of this life for the sake of the love of my Lord Jesus Christ.” And what else are all the dignities and grandeurs of this world but smoke, filth, and vanity, which all disappear at death? Blessed he who can say: “My Jesus, I have left all for Thy love; Thou art my only Love; Thou alone art sufficient for me.”