Twenty-sixth Day. the Heart of Jesus in the Tabernacle
The home of Jesus is the tabernacle. Our dear Lord and Saviour dwells among the poor as well as among the rich. He lives in the noisy, crowded city, as well as in the lonely, quiet country; in magnificent cathedrals, as well as in the poorest churches and the most dilapidated chapels. There He remains, that all may be able to come to His dwelling-place, to lay before Him all their wants, to converse with Him and to obtain from Him all the graces they need, whether for soul or body. Can we imagine anything more loving or generous? The soul that truly loves Jesus need not go far to find Him. He can be found in every church in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept, and there the King of kings, Our Lord and Saviour, is content to remain, shut up in a tabernacle of wood, with no one to keep Him company. Well has He been called a “Prisoner of love.” O sweet Heart of Jesus, because Thou art always with us, we forget Thee; because we are accustomed to Thy continual presence we heed it no more. Because Thou never leavest us, we grow tired of Thee and value Thee not. O loving Heart of Jesus, what ingratitude! Yet surely it ought not to be difficult to visit Thee and to converse with Thee. How many afflictions, how many troubles of mind and body, are there to tell Thee; how many graces and blessings to supplicate; how many sins and transgressions are there to weep for; how many acts of love and thanksgiving to be poured forth for all Thy numberless mercies; how many petitions ought to ascend for the conversion of those who neither know nor love Thee! O compassionate Jesus, grant that we may ever remember Thee in Thy loving Sacrament, and let Thy dear words ever sound in our ears: “Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavily burdened, and I will refresh you.”
Prayer.
I adore Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, the joy, the satisfaction, and the supreme Ruler of all hearts. With the same loving kindness that led Thee to take the hand of St. Thomas, and carry it Thyself into Thy side, make my heart seek no joy but in Thee, O Sacred Heart. May my heart be ever subject to Thy gentle sway, for out of Thee it will find but labor and tribulation, and all the consequences of its unhappy bondage. Amen.