Shalom

June 2015

NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART

How to Pray the Novena

This Novena Prayer ends on Friday 12 June 2015, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

You may pray the Novena privately or in the family, in a religious community or with your neighbours or friends.

A Novena prepares us over a short period of time to receive the graces of God special to a feast.

In the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the grace we pray is to know personally the love of God in the Heart of Christ.

Read the reflection and meditate slowly, pausing when something strikes you. A prayer takes up the theme of the day, and you end with the Novena Prayer.

NOVENA PRAYER (to be said each day)

Lord Jesus, the needs of your people open your heart in love to each of us. You care for us when we are lost, sympathise with us in loneliness and comfort us in mourning; you are closest to us when we are weakest. You love us most when we love ourselves least; you forgive us most when we forgive ourselves least; you call us to spread your love in whatever way we can.

Lord Jesus, your heart is moved with compassion when we are suffering, when we need your help and when we pray for each other. I ask you to listen to my prayer during this novena, and grant what I ask (make your request silently). If what I ask is not for my own good and the good of others, grant me always what is best for me, that I may build up your kingdom of love in our world. Amen.

Day 1 - Thursday June 4 - What do you desire? How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. (Jn. 1:35-37).
Meditation:	Jesus addresses the same question to you at the beginning of this novena 'What do you want?' St Augustine said that all our desires are really a longingfor God in disguise; where there is real desire, there is payer. So, be at peace in your desire, you are already praying!
Prayer:	Lord, I come to you at the start of this novena with a muddle of desires. Give me courage, to listen to what you want to say to me about these desires and give me the strength to accept your loving desires for me and for my loved ones. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 2 - Friday June 5 - What does God desire? How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	'So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches find, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Lk. 11:9-10).
Meditation:	St Augustine said, 'For yourself you have made us, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you'. I love a change a modern theologian has made in those lines - he writes, 'Your heart is restless until we rest in you'. Our God is vulnerable to our free response hands and side. He encourages them to listen to what the scriptures say about him and then to go and preach the Good News that He is Risen.
Prayer:	Lord, I come to you full of needs. But my deepest need is to become more convinced of your love for me. Help me to believe that you are with me today, tomorrow and always. Amen. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 3 - Saturday June 6 - When I find prayer difficult How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes wtih sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:26-28).
Meditation:	Therese of Lisieux (1873-97) once said that love was her vocation in life. Never was this vocation tested more than in the last nine months of her life as she lay dying with tubeculosis. She wrote a note to her sister Celine, 'Here is great love, to love Jesus without feeling the sweetness of his love - that is love pushed to the point of heroism.'
Prayer:	Jesus, I believe. Help my unbelief. Jesus, you are the real bedrock of my hope. Help me always to rely on you, especially in times of doubt and trouble. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 4 - Sunday June 7 - How do we look at each other? How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	Mk 10:21-22 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Meditation:	A Dominican theologian once wrote, 'A person is enlightened not when they get an idea but when someone looks at them.' How we look at another has tremendous consequences for self-esteem. The Sacred Heart looks at each one of us with deep love, understanding and compassion. We are called to look at others in the same way.
Prayer:	Jesus, you look at the rich young man with love and yet he could not respond to your call. Help our prayer to become our looking at you and you looking at us and smiling with love so that we will not run from the love that you offer. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 5 - Monday June 8 - Has no one condemned you? How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	Jesus straightened up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned ou?' She said, 'No one, sir.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.' (Jn. 8:10-11).
Meditation:	I read something recently which went like this: 'You do not have to be good before God will love you; you do not have to repent before you will be absolved by God. It is all the other way around. If you are good, it is because God's love has already make you so; if you want to be forgiven, that is because God is forgiving you.'
Prayer:	Prayer: Jesus, as I reflect upon your Sacred Heart, help me to have a deep felt knowledge that you have already forgiven and long to forgive all my sins. Your Sacred Heart is love made visible. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 6 - Tuesday June 9 - Honesty in prayer How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' (Jn. 11:17-24).
Meditation:	St Ignatius Loyola said that we should always speak to Jesus in prayer just as one close friend would speak to another. Don't be afraid to express your real feelnigs to Jesus - anger, hurt, joy, sorrow, etc. When you've made your complaint or expressed your joy, don't forget one thing Listen for God's response! It may come in surprising ways.
Prayer:	Jesus, I have to be honest and tell you that there've been times when I've been angry with you and I feel that you've let me down. Help me to trust that you really do have a loving plan for me and for everyone, a plan that most times I find hard to fathom. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 7 - Wednesday June 10 - What strange friends you have, Lord! How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	'But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (Lk. 6:27-28).
Meditation:	You know the old saying, 'Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are? Well, Jesus had the strangest set of friends - Levi (a hated tax-collector) Simon the Zealot (a revolutionary); women in prostitution and other 'public sinners'. Maybe I'm not such bad company for Jesus, after all!
Prayer:	Jesus, you once said, 'I've come not to call the virtuous but sinners to repentance.' During your ministry, you sat and ate with sinners. This practice of yours gives me great hope that your love will bid me welcome too! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 8 - Thursday June 11 - Peace be with you! How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, 'Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.' (Lk. 24:36-39).
Meditation:	Peace; Look; Listen; God Jesus greets the apostles with that soothing word, 'Shalom' (Peace) - it means I wish you the fullness of well-being of mind and body and soul. He then invites them to look at his hands and side. He encourages them to listen to what the scriptures say about him and then to go and preach the Good News that He is Risen.
Prayer:	Lord, you see my poverty and you love me better than I can love myself. Supply my wants according to your mercy. Help me to accept your will without seeking to understand disappointments. Help me to resign myself entirely and absolutely to you. Amen. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.

Day 9 - Friday June 12 - Thank you, Jesus! How to pray the Novena

Scripture:	Then Jesus asked, 'Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? (Lk. 17:17-18).
Meditation:	Did you know that in the Old Testament the word 'praise' has only one object - God! In the psalms, to praise is to live; not praising is the same as not living, not living the life which is God's gift, to be returned in praise. A Jewish rabbi has written, 'It is difficult to feel depressed when you remember fairly constantly that life is a gift. Faith teaches us to make a blessing over life. Making a blessing over life is the best way of turning life into a blessing.'
Prayer:	I want to say 'thank you, Jesus' for these nine days of prayer, of talking and listening to you more closely than usual. Thank you, especially for all the things in my life that I just take for granted every day, forgetting that they are pure gift. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
End:	Say the Novena Prayer.