The Sisters Of the Visitation of Tyringham

Live + Jesus

THE SACRED HEART: REFINING FIRE OF GOD'S LOVE

by Sister Miriam Rose

August 2008

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"Our God is a consuming fire." [Dt. 4:24]

Dear Friends of the Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart aflame reminds us of God's all-consuming love for us. It can also symbolize a very different action--that of burning, purifying us from all that can hinder a closer union with God. It can be the flame of refining fire; the purifying flame that acts to prepare us for the ultimate, intimate union with Him. It is with a love overflowing with mercy and compassion that He purifies our hearts.

It is one of the paradoxes of life that such a great love can also at times cause pain! The human condition is filled with paradoxes: "Oddly enough, the paradox is one of our most valuable spiritual possessions, while uniformity of meaning is a sign of weakness. Hence a religion becomes inwardly impoverished when it loses or waters down its paradoxes; but their multiplication enriches because only the paradox comes anywhere near to comprehending the fullness of life." (C.G. Jung: Psychological Reflections)

We see examples of this kind of paradox daily in our own lives. A simple example is in disciplining a child: we must protect them from serious harm and mistakes, but at the same time, we must let the child make choices for himself; to experiment with climbing the tree, gaining awareness of his strength and abilities, choosing the right limb to cling to. There is often a fall, a mishap, but it is the very thing that teaches for the next time. Our love is greatest when we watch the child progressing, soothe the hurt, encourage him to try again, even forgive the disobedience. God, too, has the greatest love for us when we are troubled, ill, struggling to make the right choices. It is again paradoxical that just when we feel that God is so distant because of the pain we are feeling, he is nearest to us in his compassion and love. St. Catherine of Siena wrote to one of her followers: "I wish that your despondency would consume itself and vanish away in trusting in the blood of Jesus and in the fire of the ineffable love of God."

Each of us must experience the paradoxes of life if we are to be aware of the journey into the heart of God. We must all enter the wilderness of the human condition and become fully integrated human persons so that the true meaning of life may be experienced. Augustin Belisle, OSB states in his book, INTO THE HEART OF GOD, "Our hearts require a hollowing before we can hope for the hallowing of our lives. The inner conflicts, confusions, and obsessions have to be purged from our hearts before true humility can have the ground in which to grow. . .This hollowing of heart makes space for the breath of God to animate the movement of our journey." God's ways become clearer with the light of the Holy Spirit, who becomes more available as personal sanctity and prayer increase.

These purifying moments may be large and dramatic like the loss of a loved one or total devastation from a natural disaster, a crisis of faith, or more often, they are small and even monotonous; the simple daily grind like the drop of water on rock. Over the years, a cup is formed in the flat, hard surface, a hollowed out place in the soul that is formed to receive the grace and love and gratitude of God for the hidden sacrifice of love. A Carthusian monk once wrote: We purify ourselves by self-denial only in order to make ourselves fit to draw nearer to infinite Holiness."

But it is all according to our state in life. In married and family life, our giving of self to those we love and care for purifies us. This happens hourly in most of our lives; we don't have to think about it, but it enriches us when we offer these moments to God and acknowledge his presence and love as we accept the struggles of the day. It then ultimately purifies us when we allow it to, helping us to move forward in our journey to God, if we do not let it be a stumbling block by hanging on to it. We may often need to complain or store away the hurt. When we do that, we fill the space with junk, causing very little "space" for God!

When we begin to realize the great love God has for us as individuals, we also see the need for the refining fire, the need to be rid of the imperfections of our souls in order to draw closer to the Lord. Padre Pio once said, "The Lord would shake me and beat me like the grain, that I may become pure." Our own Founder, St. Francis de Sales wrote: "Love is like fire, which is of clearer and fairer flame as its matter is more delicate."

What redeems us is not the suffering as such but suffering as a manifestation of the greatest love. It is in this great love that we see the meaning of our suffering--a suffering of purification. "It is in this way that we enter into the life-giving stream of salvation, into the redemptive work of Jesus. Accepting and sharing in this stream of human and divine love in the heart of Jesus, we become a part of redeeming solidarity." (Bernard Haring)

Our society today provides us with many means to alleviate suffering, both physical and mental. We are told that anxiety can be relieved with a pill, a relationship, a vacation, a drink. We are told to look everyplace for a solution, except to look to God. We have been provided with so many distractions to entertain us, to move our minds and hearts in many directions, but isn't it just like bandaging an infected finger? The problem remains, but the wound is out of sight for now. We need to remove the cause of infection of course, before true healing can take place. This may cause us temporary pain, but in this we understand its necessity.

A certain amount of tension is necessary in life to accomplish a task. When the task is so large that the tension crosses over into anxiety, we need to take a second look at the situation. Have we made the right choices? Are we letting God also work within us, or are we once again struggling on alone, feeling that we must be the only one working.

The work of the soul is to keep the fire burning within the heart, and through devotion and aspiration to let it burn so strongly that it burns away the veils of separation. This, at times, can be very difficult and painful. Some have referred to the devotion to the Sacred Heart as "the arrow of love" coming from Jesus' heart and piercing our heart. It is a flame of love that wounds and, at the same time, heals the heart.

Our Lord said to St. Margaret Mary, "My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for men, and for thee in particular that, being unable any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning Charity, I must spread them abroad by thy means, and manifest Itself to mankind in order to enrich them with the precious treasure which I discover to thee. . . "[Autobiography] Then Our Lord took the heart of our Saint and placed it in His. Upon returning it, St. Margaret Mary felt the burning pain of the flames of love.

Many other saints have experienced the highest union of hearts, putting into symbolic imagery the utterly inexplicable experiences. St. John of the Cross, in his poem and commentary, "The Living Flame of Love" writes:
O living flame of love!
that tenderly wounds my soul
He comments that: "The flame previously oppressed the soul in an indescribable way, since contraries were battling contraries: God, who is all perfect, against all the imperfections of the soul. God does this so, by transforming the soul into himself, he might soften, pacify, and illumine it, as does fire when it penetrates the log of wood." And in the second stanza:
O sweet cautery!
O delightful wound!
He speaks of: ". . .a fire of love that, being of infinite power, can inestimably consume and transform into itself the soul it touches . . . it does not consume and destroy the soul in which it so burns. And it does not afflict it; rather, commensurate with the strength of the love, it divinizes and delights it, burning gently within it." [ Collected Works of John of the Cross ]

These, and many other saints have had this wonderful ultimate union of hearts. It is therefore important to be able to see the loving hand of God in all that occurs in our lives. We can often blame: ourselves, another, society, even God, for the difficulties we are facing. In God's inscrutable Will, these very problems are the stuff that purifies, if we are again willing to accept them and use them to strengthen our faith, hope, and love. These events are the "bitter pill" that we must swallow in order to move ahead in our healing journey. A friend once showed me a three-fold card she had created. 1: the road I chose! (A wide, smooth highway under a blue sky.) 2: the road I received! (a rocky, rutted path under a menacing sky) 3: the road waiting for me! (a jet stream in a brilliant sky).

In actuality, the road waiting for me is before me now; the kingdom of God is within and the path to God is quite short. But we must choose God's path, the path of acceptance and purification. It is filled with love and compassion, mercy and forgiveness, and all of the ingredients that will make for a perfect everlasting life.
We can choose to allow the purgation of our souls by willingly accepting and working with, rather than against, the providential events in our lives, keeping our eyes on the living, loving flame of the Sacred Heart.

This presentation was given at the Monastery of the Visitation of Tyringham, MA on Friday August 1, 2008

God be Praised