February 15, 2022

St. Claude de la Colombiere, SJ

Psalm 94:12-13a, 14-15, 18-19

Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law,
giving them respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. 

Helping Others To Recognize Jesus’s Voice

Today’s saint, Claude, is mostly known for his association with the French mystic, St. Margaret Mary, to whom Jesus appeared and entrusted the promoting of the devotion to his Sacred Heart. When the other sisters in Margaret Mary’s convent heard about Jesus coming to her in prayer they were suspicious. It wasn’t until she found a sympathetic listener in St. Claude that she got more encouragement that it was indeed Jesus who was speaking to her. From that encounter, both saints began to work hard to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart. Now in so many churches and homes around the world, we can find this image of God’s love and mercy, shown to us by loving us with a human heart. Looking at this heart, we can pray, “Your mercy, Lord, sustains me!”

To whom do I offer a listening ear to hear about their prayer and relationship with Jesus?

—Thomas Croteau, SJ, is a deacon of the Central and Southern Province studying theology in Berkeley, California.

Prayer 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, enkindle in our hearts the fire of your love. Open our hearts to receive your mercy. Show us how much you love our neighbors, so that we may love them as you do. Amen.

 —Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus