(Photo by Ron McGuire) Taken in Drogheda, Ireland
We are each part of the Mystical Body of Christ. He is our Head, we are the "members". What about those that we love who are straying from the path of righteousness? Are they still part of the Mystical Body of Christ?
The Sacred Heart of Jesus, in His Love, has addressed this question, in a conversation with Saint Gertrude the Great. This vision of hers may bring us encouragement and consolation as we pray for those we love:
"One day, as St. Gertrude was praying for some miscreants who had caused great harm to her monastery, Our Lord appeared to her. His Arm was painfully bent and distorted, and the sinews appeared quite broken. He said to her: 'Those who pray for the conversion of those unfortunate men pour a soothing balm upon My Suffering Arm, and with a delicate hand bring back little by little the muscles to their proper place.'...
"'Most sweet Lord, how can you call such men Your Arm, unworthy as they are of such an honor?'
"'I call them so in truth, because they are members of the Body of that Church of which I glory to be the Head. Therefore, the state of their souls causes Me unspeakable anxiety. My Heart has an intense desire for their conversion.'"
~ Very Rev. Andre Prevot, "Love, Peace and Joy: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus according to St. Gertrude", imprimatur 1911.
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