After a successful launch of my new sword and sorcery fantasy adventure, I’ve decided to start something slightly different with the blog on Sundays.
As you may know if you follow my blog, I am Catholic, and for 9 months back in 2019 I even discerned religious life as a postulant with a great monastic community.
I’ve studied theology on the graduate school level, though I left my program to enter religious life. I’m no theologian, but I do love reflecting on spiritual topics and the Word of God.
I want to start devoting Sundays to faith-based reflections. If that’s not your thing, feel free to skip the Sunday posts.
THE SACRED AND IMMACULATE HEARTS
We celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus this past Friday, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Saturday.
It got me reflecting on my personal consecrations to Jesus through Mary and to Divine Mercy. I remembered an experience I had some years ago praying with the Scriptures.
I was reflecting (in a rather Ignatian style) on the Passion of Jesus by imagining myself in the crowd at the moment when Pilate led Jesus, crowned with thorns and scourged, out on the balcony and proclaimed, “Behold the man!”
I just wanted to console the heart of Jesus. I imagined myself standing with Mary, and she leaned over and whispered, “I can’t give Him a sinner’s heart.”
And I realized that was TRUE. Jesus, of course, is Mary’s savior as much as anyone else’s, for Mary is fully human. Mary IS, however, the New Eve. Jesus applied the merits of the Cross to her in such a way that she was immaculately conceived and never sinned.
Her heart is the Immaculate Heart. It knows no personal, or even original, sin. She offers her whole heart in every moment to God, utterly and completely. But she cannot give Jesus the heart of a sinner, for which He longs so much. She doesn’t have the heart of sinner.
I realized, though, that I do have a sinner’s heart. You do too. Only we can give Jesus the consolation of forgiving and healing the bruised, broken, hurting heart of a wretched sinner.
Imagine yourself there, in the crowd in front of Pilate’s Praetorium. Jesus is standing there on the balcony, exhausted, bloody, hurting, broken. Misunderstood, rejected, blasphemed.
His eyes meet yours. He is thirsting for the love of the heart of a repentant sinner.
The worst things you’ve ever done, He wants to forgive and heal them. The worse those things are, the greater the joy you can bring Him by giving them to Him and trusting Him to forgive you.
He offers you forgiveness. He offers healing. He offers intimacy in prayer, a new beginning, the Sacrament of Confession.
Will you give him your sinner’s heart?
(For a limited time, my YA fantasy new release The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope will have a 99 cent Kindle edition. This is only through today, Sunday 4/18, so make sure you check it out!)
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 
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