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Jesus made this quite clear when He appeared to St. Margaret Mary in the 17th century and said, “Behold this Heart that has so loved men… Instead of gratitude, I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude. This I feel more deeply than all that I suffered in My Passion. If they would return Me love for love, I should think but little of all that I have suffered for them, and should wish, if it were possible, to suffer still more. But instead of love, I meet with coldness and repulses on every side in return for all My eagerness to do them good. Do you at least console Me, by supplying for their ingratitude as far as you art able.” (Rev. A. Biskupek, S.V.D., The Litany of the Sacred Heart, p. 2.) The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is essentially a devotion of reparation. At Fatima, the Angel of Portugal requested reparation to God for the hatred of the irreligious, the indifference and ingratitude of sinners, and the irreverence and sacrileges that profane the Blessed Sacrament. The world is filled with pagans, heathens, skeptics, militant atheists, along with countless world-minded and carnal-minded people. Never before in history has there been so many sacrileges, so many blasphemies uttered against God, nor has there ever been so much contempt for His loving invitations and so great infidelity from those who call themselves Catholics. However, before we condemn others we must examine our conscience and look at our own lives. We ourselves must implore God’s pardon for our abuse of grace, our own unfaithfulness and our long delay in loving Him. It is truly incomprehensible that despite the unique graces He has repeatedly offered to us, we are still so materialistic, so worldly, so tepid in the service of God! How patiently Christ knocks and waits at the door of our hearts and, sadly, how often He is ignored and met with hardheartedness. Each of the Fatima children had a special mission in life. Lucy was called upon to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Jacinta was to make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. Francisco’s mission was to make reparation and to console God. Francisco said, “‘Jesus is so sad because of so many sins! In order to comfort Jesus, we must never sin.’ One day Lucy asked him, ‘Which do you like the most: to console God or to convert sinners so that they will not go to Hell?’ At once Francisco answered, ‘I want to console God. Just last month, didn’t you notice how the [Blessed] Virgin became sad when she said that mankind should not offend God, Who is already so much offended? I want to console God first, and then convert mankind so that they won’t offend Him any more… What a pity He is so sad… I like to pray by myself so that I can think about God, Who is so sad because of… [so] many sins…”’ (Daughters of St. Paul, Boy with a Mission, pp. 51-52.) In practicing the spirit of reparation, as modeled by Francisco, one should offer all his sacrifices with the intention of making reparation for his own sins and the sins of others. Sacrifices that seem small in themselves can become true acts of reparation because of the intention for which they are offered. The more fervent our intention, the more value our actions have to console God for the sins and coldness of the greater part of mankind. The best way that we can offer reparation to God is by avoiding sin, living in union with Him and constantly striving to be His faithful and loving children. Our Lord told the penitent, St. Mary Magdalen, “Thy sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7: 48) Her contrition was expressed by acts of faith, hope and charity, sorrow for sin, a firm purpose of amendment, etc. Yet she was not satisfied with these consoling words. For the remainder of her life she strove to make reparation for the sins she had committed and the evil she had done. After Christ ascended into Heaven, St. Mary Magdalen lived alone in a solitary cave where she practiced acts of rigorous penance to atone for her past sins. Acts of reparation atone for our offenses against God and repair for the evil done. There are two results from every sin: guilt in the soul and punishment for that guilt. When we go to confession and receive absolution, the guilt of our sins is forgiven. However, “the punishment due to sin is not always entirely remitted at once by God... [because] after the guilt and the eternal punishment have been taken away by the absolution of the priest, temporal punishment very often must be undergone.” (Adolphe Tanquery, A Manual of Dogmatic Theology vol. 2, p. 331.) Our repentant First Parents, Adam and Eve, were forgiven by God, yet were condemned to death and suffered many consequences. After being pardoned for their lack of faith, Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter the Promised Land in punishment for their sins. Although God forgave King David, he was punished by the death of his son. These punishments were imposed by God as a chastisement for sin. According to the words of Holy Scripture, God demands satisfaction to atone for the temporal punishment due to sin. “Do penance for all your iniquities.” (Ezech. 18: 30.) “Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning.” (Joel 2: 10.) “Remember thou thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor.” (Daniel 4: 24.) “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance.” (Luke 3: 8.) Christ said that we cannot be saved unless we take up our cross and do penance for our sins: “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13, 5.) At the Council of Trent, the benefits derived from acts of reparation were clearly expressed: “Without doubt these satisfactions greatly refrain from sin, and as a kind of rein, act as a check, and make penitents more cautious and vigilant in the future; they also remove the remnants of sin and destroy vicious habits acquired by living evilly through the contrary acts of the virtues. Neither was there ever in the Church of God any way considered more secure for warding off impending punishment by the Lord than that men perform these works of penance with true sorrow of soul.” (session 14, chap. 8: D. B., 904.) “It is certainly fitting that God, as Legislator and Ruler, should not remit offenses without temporal punishment, so that in the future His laws might be better obeyed by penitents, that others might be deterred from evil and that thus the good of society might be promoted; finally, that the laws not only of mercy but also of justice might be preserved—in as much as this can be.” (Adolphe Tanquery, A Manual of Dogmatic Theology vol. 2, p. 330.) Through sin we offend Almighty God. Through acts of reparation and penance we make compensation for our offenses against Him. St. Cyprian said that sins are washed away and healed by these satisfactions. In this way, the Eternal Judge is appeased. In addition, penance may preserve us from sinning in the future for “a man does not readily return to sins which have brought down punishment upon him.” (Adolphe Tanquery, A Manual of Dogmatic Theology vol. 2, p. 332.) Anything painful or laborious can be “offered up” as a sacrifice to God. “‘Offer it up!’ is a stock phrase that will bring a smile of recognition to anyone who has ever gone to a Catholic school. It was a little phrase that in childhood could transform everything from a lost prize or a skinned knee to a dose of bitter medicine or the teasing of a trying companion. With older years and the sophistication of our age it is easy to forget that life’s biggest, sorest, bitterest crosses can be ‘offered up’ in union with our suffering Lord just as successfully as the smaller trials of childhood. Furthermore, they can be endured cheerfully, not just as a medical measure to help our cure, but as a coin for heaven.” (Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P., The Carrying of the Cross, p. 40.) Acts of reparation and self-denial will not harm us if undertaken with prudence under the guidance of our spiritual director. Many of the saints who lived austere lives lived to a ripe old age: e.g., St. Hilarion lived 80 years, St. Jerome 100 years and St. Antony of the Desert 105 years. Our acts of reparation will not make our lives miserable. “On the contrary, St. Jerome, amid his penances, seemed as in Paradise. St. Francis Xavier cried, ‘Enough, O Lord,’ in the joy he felt in penance.” (Canon Howe, Sermon Plans, p. 171.) St. Therese of the Child Jesus said, “Since I never seek myself, I live the happiest life in the world.” The happiest and most joyful people I have met have been fervent, self-sacrificing Religious. “The three children [of Fatima] heeded the request of the angel and made sacrifices of all things. Their everyday actions were offered to God through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They bore their sufferings with [patience and] joy. When the civil administrator put them in jail with the hardened criminals, they offered their suffering in reparation for the sins of the world. When Jacinta was undergoing great agony on her death bed, she murmured through her pain: ‘It is for love of You, my Jesus. Now you can convert many sinners, for I suffer much.’” “But offering their everyday actions and their sufferings to Jesus was not enough for Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. They were constantly thinking up voluntary sacrifices to offer in reparation. When they went out to tend the sheep, they gave their lunches to children poorer than themselves, and they ate unripe olives. Under their clothes they wore [rough] ropes which chafed their skins. Our Lady said to them, ‘God is content with your sacrifices but does not wish you to sleep with the rope. Wear it only during the day.’ The children of Fatima set the example for all of us to follow. Each one of us should ask himself: ‘Am I making as many sacrifices as God wishes me to make?’” (Don Sharkey, Mary’s Message, p. 46.) During the summer months, God is often offended by so many trends in the secular world, including the wearing of indecent clothing, so many lustful looks and desires, so many acts of debauchery and immorality, so many evil actions, and so many sins of sacrileges—the mistreating of sacred persons, places and things. Our Lord was very explicit when He condemned those who give scandal, especially those who scandalize and corrupt children. “Whoever causes one of these little ones to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of scandals!... woe to the man through whom scandal does come!” (Matt. 18: 6-7.) Commenting on these verses, Cornelius a Lapide has written, “It were better to be sunk in the sea than to scandalize little ones... because drowning is the death of the body, but causing a scandal is the death of the soul, both your own and the souls of those whom you cause to stumble and lead into sin... [St. Jerome stated that when Jesus] “says it were better for him that a very heavy millstone [so heavy that it could only be moved by a horse] were hung about his neck, He is speaking according to the custom of the country: for this was a method of punishing very great criminals among the ancient Jews, that a heavy stone should be tied to them, and that they should be sunk, in a deep place...” (The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide—The Holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew Volume II, pp. 191-192.) Cornelius a Lapide continues, “Great and dreadful evils, both present and future, impend over... [people] of the world, on account of God’s wrath because of scandals... For they who cause others to stumble by their ambition, or by the example of their evil life, are liable to punishment in Hell. And they who are scandalized, and follow the evil examples of others, are condemned as their followers and associates, and both alike are punished and perish. The world is full of scandals, because it is full of wicked people and libertines, shameless and avaricious people. In order that they may satisfy their lusts, they cause all to stumble. Therefore, the larger part of mankind is damned because of scandals...” But woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. Because he deliberately and freely, in this or that particular wicked or indiscreet action, gives scandal to the little ones, and so sins mortally, and so makes himself liable to Gehenna.” (a Lapide, 192-193.) In closing, now is the time to obtain God’s mercy by our prayers, acts of reparation, penances, almsgiving and virtuous actions. We must pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. Many people think they will be around forever. Time is shorter than people think. Just like in the time of Noah, no one paid attention and so many died when they least expected. After death, your immortal soul will be immediately judged by God. Many people believe in a second chance, in reincarnation, but it is a lie. As we look at the current state of the world, it is likely that all Hell will break loose on the earth. Scripture foretells that Antichrist will rear his ugly head and people will bow down to the beast. Live a virtuous life, receive the sacraments frequently and devoutly, make reparation for sin, practice self-denial, be faithful to your daily prayers, and pray the rosary as often as you can so that you will not be deceived.
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Queen of Angels Catholic Church is located in Santa Clarita, California and draws parishioners to the Traditional Latin Mass (Tridentine Mass) from all over Southern CA and the Greater Los Angeles areas.
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