I Am Here

Our Lord has bestowed upon me a bittersweet grace of sorts in my devotion to His Sacred Heart. He has allowed me to become aware of the coldness and indifference so many have toward Him. There are times I walk into church for Sunday Mass and people are talking amongst themselves or reading a bulletin, and all I can think is: "If they only realized Who it is they ignore in these precious moments before Mass begins." Jesus is there in the tabernacle and so many ignore His presence.
When I first began to notice this, I found myself prone to standing in judgement. Now I just pray for these souls and ask Jesus to allow me to love Him for those who do not. I don't really think it is a case of these people not loving Jesus, but ignorance. Nonetheless, this still wounds His Heart.
This is just one small instance, but one that saddens me. I use it and offer it to Jesus as an interior mortification. There are many in our world though who choose not to love Our Lord and blatantly profane, neglect and outrage Him. It is for these souls too, that we must make reparation to Our Lord's Sacred Heart; those of us who choose to love Him and are devoted to His Sacred Heart must love Him for those who do not.
I came across this beautiful poem on the Sacred Heart Devotion site. It expresses what it is I wish to tell Jesus in response to His plea for love from His people~ I am here.
On this First Friday, let us make reparation for all the outrages, neglect and profanations made against Our Lord's Sacred Heart and let Him know, that we who love Him, are here.

I AM HERE

O Lord of Life,

I have heard You crying day and night

Outside the hearts of Your people. You call out to them and wait for their answer! "See my love for you?" You cry. "Hear my love for you?", You moan. "Open the door of your hearts to Me", You beg. "Without Me you are lost. "Within Me you are found." I feel Your pain echoed in my heart And my heart cries out for You. I am here for You, my Lord. Take me! As You enter my heart My soul is flooded with Your Life. The deep waters of my love stir And as fountains, spring forth In Joy and Peace and Longing. "Where are my people?" You cry to me. "Can they not hear my cries?" I am here, I whisper. "My Love brings them Life", You tenderly cry. "Why is this so Hard?" As Your heart is pierced once again Your tears wash through my soul And spring forth fertile ground. You hand me the keys. "Open their hearts for Me",  Your Sacred Heart sighs. I am here, I whisper.