Mental Prayer for the First Friday of November

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Greatness of the Sacred Heart's Love for Us

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: To grasp something of Christ's great love for me.

Mental Picture: A few years ago in the war (WWII) an American patrol was surprised by an enemy hand grenade landing between their feet in the muck of the road. For an eternal split-second they froze, paralyzed by surprise and fear. Instantly one man leaped forward; there was a muffled blast. No one was touched but the man on the ground. He had dived on the grenade like a football player covering a fumble. He was dead. "Greater love than this no man has, than he give his life for his friends."

My Personal Application: Christ gave His life no less for me. If that generous soldier had known about his heroic split-second choice an hour before could he have made it? He would have been even more of a hero if he did. Christ knew about His death all His life. He actually felt the agony of its torture the night before. He could have stepped back at any instant between the garden and Cal­vary. Every step, every blow, each fall, each nail, was a new split-second choice he made. He made them to save me, to save me from hell. Theolo­gians say that Christ would have undergone His entire Passion for one sinner if there had been only one. So I can truly say that He suffered all of it for me.

I Speak to the Sacred Heart: I believe you suffered this for me. Perhaps I could realize and not for­get so quickly if I had seen your pain and known it was for me. I also shy away from your great suffering when I am ashamed of my sins and ashamed that I ignore you so much. Help me see there are no conditions on your love. You saw all my sins, all my forgetfulness, all my neglect, before you suffered. You don't even mention them now. Teach me to love you simply and sincerely as you have loved me.

Thought for Today: "Greater love than this no man has, than he give his life for his friends."
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)