Family Prayer: Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Thank you for taking the Family Prayer Quiz from Catholic Sprouts. It is ESSENTIAL that your family prays – and prays together! But prayer doesn’t just happen. Praying together as a family takes planning, commitment, and a whole lot of grace from God. So, great job on taking this important step!
According to the quiz, prayerfully consecrating your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus would be an awesome thing for your family to do–and we want to help you make this happen!
WHAT IS CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS?
To be consecrated means to be set apart for a specific work. For example, the altar in your parish has been consecrated; it is set apart for a specific and holy work, and it would be inappropriate to use the altar for anything other than the Sacrifice of the Mass.
In the same way, when we consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are formally and publicly dedicating our wills, desires, plans, and very selves to Jesus and His heart. We surrender our past, present, and future to Him, fully trusting that His love is all we need.
Will we be perfect after consecration? Will we effortlessly live out this promise? No. Instead, it is something we strive for and recommit to every day. When we consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we promise to strive to receive His love and share it with others.
HOW DO I CONSECRATE MY FAMILY TO JESUS’S HEART?
The first step to consecration is preparation. The Church encourages us to spend time in prayer and preparation before consecration. Jesus desires your consecration right now, but so that your family might give yourselves fully to Him, you need to better understand why He loves you, the obstacles you have placed between yourselves and His Heart, and how He desires to transform you.
When we consecrate ourselves to Jesus and His Heart, we need to offer Him our entire selves. The 33 days of preparation help us do this. Consecrating ourselves to Jesus and His Sacred Heart demands we commit everything to Jesus…but preparing to do so only asks for 10 minutes a day.
Our guide for consecrating your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Write Our Name on Your Heart, offers 33 daily reflections. We strove to write reflections that are interesting and meaningful for all ages. The reflections are short and should take less than 5 minutes to read. Next, each day, your family will complete a brief challenge. Finally, we have included a 4-line prayer to conclude each day’s study. Then, after 33 days, we will show you exactly how to consecrate your family to Jesus and His Heart.
HOW HAS CONSECRATION BLESSED OTHER FAMILIES?
I love meeting Catholic Family “success stories”. You know, people who grew up Catholic and can honestly say that their parents effectively shared the Faith with them. Often, these “success stories” are marked by the fact that each of the children remained Catholic, a few of the siblings realized a call to religious life, and to this day, the Faith is central to who they are as a family.
When I encounter a family that fits this description, I always ask, “Okay, what was THE THING your parents did that made the greatest impact on your family?” The answers vary, and sometimes they are unable to point to one single thing, but a few months ago, I found someone who knew the answer instantly. Without missing a beat, he told me, “Without a doubt, THE THING my parents did was consecrating our family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
Consecrating their family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was also THE THING for two amazing Italian families: the Beretta Family (the childhood family of St. Gianna) and the Quattrocchi Family (both parents have been declared Blessed, and a daughter is venerable). So, needless to say, consecrating your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a powerful and important thing to do!
OUR GIFT TO YOU
Catholic Sprouts is determined to help you lead your family in prayer. We have created tools to assist you in this work and want to remove all obstacles to prayer in your home. Therefore, for the next five days, you can enjoy 20% OFF any product in our Family Prayer Collection (including our guide to consecrating your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus). This discount code will be sent to you via email following your completion of the Family Prayer Quiz.
Look for that discount code, and head here to stock up on family prayer items.
Once again, thank you for investing in family prayer. God called us to be parents, to raise saints, and to transform our homes into little Domestic Churches. May He bless us in this work and bring us into His glory one day.
In Christ Jesus,
Nancy