Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Fr. Michael Gaitley

Consoling the Heart of Jesus is a book that will forever change your life. There is a reason that I have gifted it to every catechumen I have sponsored over the past four years. There is a reason that every time someone asks me for a spritual reading recommendation I instantaneously share this title. And there is also a reason that I have held off for the past seven months on sharing it until now. And that reason is retroactive consolation, which is, I think, most acutely appreciated during Lent.
All too often we can forget that God is not limited by the confines of linear time as we experience it. Part of the mystery of the Eucharist is that we are not merely commemorating Jesus' passion but in fact experiencing Christ's sacrifice from thousands of years ago in the present moment on the altar. Calvary and the eucharistic table of every Catholic Church meet through bread and wine transformed to our Lord's flesh and blood. This gives us the opportunity for Christ not just to come be with us in 2024 but for us to be with him in His suffering on the cross in the early years of the first century. For us to kneel before Him and, with our Blessed Mother, Mary Magdalene, and John, be a source of strength and comfort for Him as He completes His mission of destroying death and darkness. Fr. Gaitley, in this beautiful and rich book, offers a spiritual retreat inspired by the Spiritual Exercies of St. Ignatius and using the writings of St. Margaret Mary, St. Therese, and St. Faustina to help us break down the obstacles in our own hearts that prevent us from drawing near to Christ and beholding Him not only as our Savior but as the intimate Lover of all, particularly in this moment. His vivid guided reflections which invite you to commune with Jesus in his final minutes on the cross and provide solace to His suffering heart will move you to tears, especially when he shares the words of our Lord to St. Faustina but meant for all of us: "My beloved friend, seeing your great confidence and love, I wish I could suffer even more." In these final days of Lent, let the Lord lead your heart and your prayer life to the Cross with Him. I promise, reading this book as you journey through the Triduum will unlock new intimacy with the Lord through which your prayer life will never be the same!