“Sacred Heart Of Jesus”

One of the promises to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673 was that , “I will bless every place where an image of my Sacred Heart is exposed and honored.” When I  grew up, it was common that Catholic families had a picture of the Sacred Heart displayed. As a young child I was drawn to the painting of the Sacred Heart displayed in our home. I would often just sit and look at it ….. hopefully saying a prayer. Years later my mother had it reframed and gave it to me as a gift. It now is displayed in my home. 

This particular depiction was painted by Charles Bosseron Chambers (1880-1964), who was known as the “Norman Rockwell of Catholic art”. Between 1920 and 1950 millions of Chambers religious paintings were reproduced and widely displayed. My wife’s family from Louisville, KY. had the Chambers painting in their home, my neighbor from Michigan had it in their home, another friend from Chicago had this painting.  

I did a quick research on Chambers and discovered that “he was born in St. Louis on May 13, 1880. He was brought up in a devout Catholic household. The youngest of several children, Charles was sent to local schools and was graduated from St. Louis University.  Chambers studied art for six years under Louis Schultz of the Berlin Royal Academy and then with Aleis Hrdliczka at the Royal Academy of Vienna. He also studied for six years with Johannes Schumacher in Dresden…”.  I probably wouldn’t have mentioned his background except that we are both from St. Louis, are graduates of St. Louis University, and are both famous… he for his paintings and me for my BLOG and my occasional Smiley Face sketches.

I can feel this BLOG drifting out to sea, so I better try to bring it to a conclusion. Dave, what is the point of this BLOG? Well to be honest over the years, I haven’t thought too much of the promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary. Yet I do know that The Lord does tell us that I will honor those who honor me. (1Sam. 2:30). I believe that he has been guiding our family over the years … especially as we have approached our time to die. My father went to confession a week before he suddenly died… my mother received the sacraments before she died… my brother received the sacraments right before he died. My other brother and I have had conversions back to the faith in Christ. It’s pretty amazing, because we all hit some pretty rough streaks during our life. 

I don’t want to be too dogmatic about how all of this works. It does seem that the Lord provides many channels for each of us to draw close to him and experience his saving love…. look at how he’s snagged men and women throughout salvation history. 

So, let’s just keep our eyes on the Lord and do what he calls us to do. May all our prayers and devotions over the years bring about many blessings as we continue to love and serve the Lord. And that would be very good news.