Part Twelve: Consoling the Heart of Jesus

So far in this series, we have been reflecting on how the light of human reason, and the light of God’s revelation through the Scriptures and the Gospel story, can help light the way for us through dark and troubled times. The objective truths provided for us by reason and revelation are something we can cling to in our darkest hours to help us make sense of things, even when we don’t see how God is working in a particular, painful situation, and when we don’t feel Him present with us at all. In that sense, the light of truth is a guiding light in the darkness for us, a light that helps trust in God and keep moving forward, and not get stuck in dismay and despair.

In addition to all this, we have seen one way that God can be calling us to bring good out of our trials and afflictions: namely, by offering them up, in union with the Cross of His Son, to obtain graces for the good of souls.

Still, everything we have said so far in this series pertains to our needs: our need for greater understanding, for stronger faith, for interior consolation in the midst of affliction, and for ways to help bring good out of the struggle with human misery and suffering. But there is one person whose “needs” so to speak, have so far not been mentioned at all. I am speaking, of course, about Jesus Himself: the “thirst” of His Heart to do good for souls, His passionate longing to sanctify and save us, and the consolation that He receives whenever we are able to help Him accomplish this. After all, if He loves us so much that He was even willing to be born in a stable and die on a Cross in order to win our hearts for His own, shouldn’t the quenching of His thirst and the consoling of His Heart be our first priority? As Christians, aren’t we supposed to be involved in this “religion” stuff primarily for His sake, rather than just for our own?

Saint Faustina mentions the "Heart" or "Merciful Heart" of Jesus more than 200 times in her Diary, and within the context of her devotion to the merciful Heart of Jesus, we find the notion of giving solace to His Heart. This is one of the principal themes of her Diary, and often she discerned a special request from Jesus Himself about this. For example, on the day when St. Faustina offered herself, with all her sufferings and works of piety, as an oblation to God to make amends for souls that do not trust in His mercy, she heard Jesus ratify this offering with the words: “I am giving you a share in the redemption of mankind. You are solace in my dying hour” (Diary, 309-310). The idea here seems to be that Jesus saw her in the depths of His soul even when He was dying on the Cross, and this gave Him consolation at that hour.

One time St. Faustina had a remarkably vivid vision of the scourging of the Lord Jesus, and when she responded to this with sorrow and compassion, Jesus said to her: "I see the sincere pain of Your heart, which brought solace to My Heart" (Diary, 445-446). On Good Friday in 1937, Jesus said to her, "My host, you are refreshment for my tormented Heart ... Beloved daughter of My Heart, you are My solace amidst terrible torments" (see 1056-1058).

At other times, Jesus spoke of His Heart as it is now, in heaven, and how her works of mercy could console Him even there. For example, He told her how much comfort it brings to Him when souls visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, and leave Him free to pour His graces out upon them:

My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls and especially for poor sinners ... I desire to bestow my graces upon souls [from the tabernacle] but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as you can and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console my Heart. (Diary, 367)

 Saint Faustina also learned that nothing brings solace to the Heart of Jesus Christ more than souls who trust in Him and receive His mercy. That is why Jesus encouraged St. Faustina to devote her life to the spread of the message of Divine Mercy and the conversion of sinners. Jesus said to her:

My daughter, do not tire of proclaiming My mercy. In this way you will refresh this Heart of Mine, which burns with a flame of pity for sinners ... The loss of each soul plunges Me into mortal sadness. You always console Me when you pray for sinners (Diary, 1521 and 1397).

The theme of consolation stands out most prominently in the popular "Novena to the Divine Mercy" (Diary, 1209-1229). In the directions He gave to her for that Novena, our Lord asked her to bring into His Heart a different group of souls each day, to immerse them in His mercy. Jesus thereby showed that His Heart is given joy, consolation, and refreshment by every of act of faith and love that is marked by His grace, including intercession for the conversion of sinners (day one of the Novena), the devotion of all faithful Christians (days two and three), the conversion of unbelievers, heretics and schismatics (fourth and fifth days), the humility of souls (sixth day), those who propagate and venerate His mercy, and perform works of mercy (seventh day), prayers and indulgences offered for the relief of the suffering souls in purgatory (eighth day), and the rekindling of fervor in lukewarm souls (the ninth day).

This notion of consoling the Heart of Jesus has sometimes been presented in a way that makes our Lord seem overly effeminate, as if He is emotionally fragile or filled with self-pity. What He revealed to St. Faustina, however, is that He sorrowed in the Garden and the Cross, and in a mysterious way sorrows from compassion even now, in heaven, not out of unrequited love as such, but because He foresaw (and sees now) that by refusing to accept and return His love, souls are thereby harming themselves. In other words, the Lord Jesus has sorrow not for His own sake but for ours, for all the blessings that He wants to pour out upon us that we are missing, and throwing away:

The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! ... How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! ...

The graces of My mercy are drawn by the means of one vessel only, and that is trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of my graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts (Diary, 1074, 1076, 1578).

 In short, what St. Faustina's Diary shows us is that our Lord's desire for consolation for Himself is actually an expression of His selfless, self-giving love for us. What causes Him sorrow is simply our refusal to receive all the mercy and grace that He longs to shower upon us.

What an awesome Savior we have! Not only His teachings and His deeds, but even the affections of His Heart are manifestations of His pure and boundless love for His heavenly Father, and for each one of us!

Robert Stackpole, STD

Mere Christian Fellowship

Next Time: Wrapping Up: Our Amazing Privilege