Oh, wow!
That was my expression after reading an article from the newsletter that landed in my mailbox today. The newsletter came from Fr. Timothy Ring of Heralds of the Gospel. It featured an article titled “King and Centre of Hearts,” which was adapted from an essay that was published in the Heralds of the Gospel Magazine in June 2024. The essay was an excerpt from a 1991 conference whereby Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (1908 -1995), spiritual mentor of Herald’s founder, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP (1939 – 2024) gave a presentation on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
King and Center of all Hearts
The article spoke about the kingship of Jesus, that Jesus is our king – He being the king of all creation. As such, Jesus reigns over men.
But Jesus must also reign in the hearts of all men, the article said.
This is still not happening today because in order for Jesus to reign and be the centre in all hearts, “human will” is required. The human will to recognize the duty to love Jesus, the human will to practice the obligation to love Him (i.e. participate in the act of loving God through the Mass), having the conviction that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the king and center of all wills and therefore has the right to possess men’s love with all might.
Heralds at the feet of a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Caieiras, Brazil. (Photo is taken from the Herald’s magazine.)
“In this regard,” the article said, “it is important that we all have a firm, steely will to accept these things and to put them into action – with all our heart. Otherwise, Jesus is not really in our hearts hence, he is not the center of all men’s heart to this present moment.”
Below are the rest of the contents of the article:
Jesus: Our King by Right
As the Son of God, Jesus is King of all creation. He reigns over heaven and earth, over nations and peoples, over time and eternity.
Yet, His kingship is unlike that of earthly rulers.
Earthly kings govern by authority, but Jesus in His kingship desires more than that—He desires our love.
The Sacred Heart reminds us that Christ wants to reign not only over our actions but also over our hearts. He longs to be the center of our thoughts, desires, decisions, and daily lives.
When Jesus becomes the center of our hearts, our lives begin to revolve around Him. Our priorities change. Our choices reflect His will. Our hearts learn to love what He loves.
And Jesus will always come first in our life – be it in times of peace or trouble.
Citing the Apostles
To explain this – the article cited the incident in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asked His disciples to stay awake and keep watch with Him.
Twice He came to them sweat in blood because of His state of affliction. This should have elicited disciples’ compassion. But their sensibilities were not moved. They awoke, saw Him and went back to sleep.
Sad to say, they didn’t do as Jesus asked.
They went back to sleep
Why?
Because they haven’t yet fully acknowledge Jesus’s kingship. They didn’t love him as much as they should have.
Their failure was not merely one of weakness, but of unwillingness to persevere during a difficult moment.
And so, they did not have the firm will and resolution to keep Him company, to console Him and then to follow Him to the height of Calvary.
The entire lack of a sense of duty (to a king) by the disciples in the peak of Jesus’s Passion shows man’s limited capacity to care when he has only a sensible affection for the Redeemer, and not the strength of will that renders him faithful in both times of dryness and desolation.
Are we less different than the disciples?
No Different from the Disciples
How often do we resemble the disciples?
We promise God our devotion when life is easy, but when trials come, our commitment weakens. Our focus, which should only be directed at Jesus, falters.
The Sacred Heart desires for us to remain faithful even when following Jesus requires sacrifice.
True discipleship means standing with Christ not only during moments of consolation but also during moments of suffering.
This is why the Sacred Heart of Jesus cannot reign and become center of all the hearts of men. Many (if not most) Christians still lack the fortitude to stand up for Jesus at all cost.
But just like the Apostles who later became bold followers of Jesus, and sacrificed their life preaching the Gospel to the whole world, we too can rise above our own lukewarm love for Jesus and boldly let his heart reign at the center of our hearts not only in time of peace but also in time of afflictions.
When will the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Begins?
So – when will the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus begin on earth?
Before we answer this question let us state once again the requirement to having the Sacred Heart of Jesus reign in the center of men’s hearts.
As previously said – for Jesus to reign and be the centre of all hearts “human will” is required.
The human will to recognize the duty to love Jesus, the human will to practice the obligation to love Him (perhaps participate in the act of loving God through the worship of the Mass), have the conviction that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the king and center of all wills and therefore has the right to possess men’s love with all might.
It is important then that we all have a firm, steely will to accept these things about Jesus and to put them into action – with all our heart.
Otherwise, Jesus cannot be the center in all men’s heart.
Secondly, a firm conviction is needed.
Those who lack firm convictions will have no firm will.
One must have an unshakeable faith in the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and one must have an unshakeable faith in the teachings of the Holy Roman Catholic Church so that he will have the capacity to make great resolutions, that is, when time of sacrifice and holocaust appears, one will have no conflict in choosing between Jesus (at all cost) versus choosing other humanly pursuits.
It’s undeniable that whenever life or reputation – such as wealth, social position, health – is threatened, the tendency is to choose those over the truth of the Gospel.
Christ, our King by right, becomes King de facto if we are convinced of the truths of our Faith and ready to surrender ourselves to Him entirely.
So (according to Oliveira during the conference) we need to be as firm or even firmer than our resolutions. One must be able to say to himself: “I have an unshakeable faith, which excludes any doubt that Jesus Christ is my God and Redeemer, that he was on earth and performed all the actions said in the Gospel, among them that of founding the Church. That He taught the doctrine and performed the miracles it describes; that He proved through His Resurrection the truth of everything He is and said, and that he ascended into Heaven.
Totally in confidence of these truths, we are ready to die for Our Lord. And He becomes the center of all men’s hearts.
The Need for Grace: We Can’t Do Them on our Own
But we can’t do these things on our own.
We need grace to become all for God, we need grace to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus reign at the center of all men’s hearts.
Where do we get this grace?
From the Sacred Heart of Jesus itself.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the source from which radiate the graces that make us capable of acquiring that certainty and strength of will which man, is incapable of doing on his own. in relation to supernatural ends; he can only achieve this by the help of grace.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the receptacle full of mercy and love for those who ask these graces of Him. He desires to grant them and is waiting, in the infinity of His riches, for someone to ask Him for part or all of them – depending on the capacity of the recipient – so that He may immediately respond.
But God has given man free will.
And while Jesus constantly attracts men like a magnet.
Men, on the other hand, who are like iron filings surrounding the magnet, maybe blown away by winds hence preventing them from moving towards the magnet.
The wind then scatter them, although the magnet keeps working to attract them.
Let’s say each of the iron filing is endowed with intelligence and free will.
In this case, it can choose between approaching the magnet or going with the flow of the wind distancing itself from the magnet.
Jesus Constantly Attracts Us
It is like this in our relationship with Jesus .
He constantly works to attract us but a wind blows over us preventing us from moving towards Him. And since we have freedom to choose, we can either choose to go close or away from Jesus.
Thus, at every moment of our lives, we are either moving closer or further away from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
At every moment, in every one of our actions, we are either approaching or distancing ourselves from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Who blows this wind that scatters us and tries to draw us away from Our Lord?
Obviously – Satan!
While we must constantly be moving towards the centre, that is, towards God, a force opposing the attraction is exerted by the devil, hence we need great grace to do so.
The victory for which we are striving so much, that is to move towards God, depends primarily on grace. Without grace it will not happen, without much grace it will not happen, without torrents of grace victory it will not happen.
The Reign of Mary, the Reign of the Sacred Heart
How then do we get the grace (we need) to move towards God, which the Devil continues to obstruct?
The answer is – Mary!
Being entirely focused on Christ, Mary’s insistent prayers enable humanity to receive the greatest degrees of sensibility towards the Heart of Jesus, including an extraordinary firmness of will, that even if we have to give our lives fighting on the steps of His throne to defend His Kingdom, we will do it.
In a word, the Reign of Mary is a necessary means for the Reign of Jesus to exist.
Through Mary, an immense grace for humanity, an unfathomable mercy for men will be obtained.
This grace can only come to us through Our Lady, Mediatrix of all graces.
The torrents of graces we need to come to Jesus unhindered (by Satan) depend upon the intercession of Mary.
Thus, the sovereign role of grace, and that of Our Lady in obtaining it from the infinitely merciful Heart of her Son, are decisive in history.
Under these conditions, we should not be so obsessed with human factors and circumstances. The important thing is that God, in His clemency, be favourable to us, which we can achieve by praying to Our Lady.
In other words, the virtue of confidence is both the fruit and the condition for perfect devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
No matter how many setbacks we suffer, no matter how many disasters we seem to be facing, we can trust in Our Lady.
When we turn, then, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us bear in mind that He is the King and centre of all hearts, the King and centre of history, and let us consider the need to possess a firm mind and will, a strong and manly sensibility, which can withstand even the great eclipses of the senses and, in the worst aridity, remain with the unshakeable desire to offer everything to Our Lord through Mary, so that the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus may come, through the Reign of the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God.
Why I Said, Wow!
I was greatly taken aback upon reading this article that it made me say, “Wow!”
I said, “Wow!” because while reading it I was reminded by the non-stop defamation and blasphemies that many people – Christian believers of all people – are directing towards Mary, the Mother of their Savior.
Yet, all the while, Mary is not an optional factor in the soul’s journey towards God. She is
compulsory link to this end.
The Blessed Virgin Mary always leads us to Jesus.
Every authentic Marian devotion draws us closer to the Sacred Heart of her Son.
Mary’s entire mission is to help souls know, love, and serve Christ. As we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, she teaches us to surrender more completely to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
When Mary reigns in our hearts, Jesus reigns there as well.
That is why we, Catholics, confidently turn to Our Lady, asking her to guide us toward deeper faith, stronger conviction, and greater love for Christ.
The Last Reason Why the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Cannot Reign in the World Today
Finally, the last, but most crucial, reason why the Sacred Heart of Jesus cannot reign in the world today is Mary.
Mary has to assume her role as Queen Mother of the King, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many people – who claim to be Christians – reject her queenship and even condemns her motherhood of Jesus. This prevents Jesus from fully becoming the center of men’s hearts and from fully becoming the King on earth.
Mary has the power to obtain the grace that men need to successfully move towards Jesus unhindered through her prayers and intercession.
But, unless men pray to her, and accepts her, she cannot interecede for them.
Thus, Mary’s reign on earth must first be established before the Sacred Heart of Jesus can finally reign on earth.
It is important that God, in His clemency, be favourable to us, and that we can achieve by praying to Mary.
In a Nutshell
The article beautifully compares humanity to iron filings drawn towards a powerful magnet.
Conversely, Jesus is compared to the powerful magnet that continuously attracts humanity.
But hindrances in responding to the call to come close to Jesus exist.
Those hindrances are the temptations to sin that Satan causes man to fall into.
And so, every day, every choice we make either draws us closer to Him or farther away.
Each prayer, sacrifice, act of charity, and moment of obedience moves us toward the Heart of Christ.
But every Sin pulls us away from Him.
That said, we need Mary’s prayers and intercession to help us turn away from Sin, and to resist the temptations of Satan, and so bring us close to Her Son, Jesus.
Mary is totally focused on Jesus. Her prayers and intercession can obtain the grace that people need to be firm in mind and will in moving towards Jesus unhindered.
Saint James said that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16). The most righteous person is Mary, mother of Jesus.
Hence, Mary pleased God so much, and does not say No to her prayers.
And so, the important thing is that God, in His clemency, be favourable to us, and that we can achieve by praying to Our Lady.
Doing so enables Mary’s reign to be established on earth, and consequently establish the reign of the Sacred Heart.
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A Prayer to the Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart of Jesus, King and Center of all hearts, reign in my heart today. Strengthen my faith when I am weak. Help me remain faithful during times of dryness and difficulty. Draw me closer to You in every thought, word, and action. Through the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, teach me to trust completely in Your mercy and love. Amen.
Reflection Question
What area of your life have you not yet surrendered to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
Call to Action
Today, spend a few moments before an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Offer Him your fears, struggles, and desires. Ask Him to become the true King and Center of your heart, and entrust everything to Him through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
