{"id":9532,"date":"2026-05-09T05:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?p=9532"},"modified":"2026-05-10T16:56:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T20:56:28","slug":"part-1-emptying-our-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/part-1-emptying-our-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 1: Emptying Our Hearts- Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>Consecration to the Heart of Jesus Through the Hearts of Mary and Joseph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the blur of activity, the noise of excessive media, the repeated bifurcation
of our attention through communication technology, our hearts are quickly
cluttered with the good, the bad and the ugly. The world is so much with us. Without losing the good, we set out for the first few days of our consecration to clean up the clutter, to order, transform and purge the bad and the ugly. The reflections and prayers during these days could be fruitfully combined with the asceticism of reducing technology use, regularly recollecting our hearts throughout each day, examining our hearts more thoroughly once or twice a day, and simply opening our hearts to God for Him to help us. In the days\u2019 reflections, we consider the clutter caused by sin, the distractions of our inattentiveness, the importance of meditation, the grace of childlikeness, and the simplicity of heart that opens us to divine wisdom. Let us take these initial days as a time of transition as we slow things down and make room in our hearts for more of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Day 1: Emptying Our Hearts of the Noise of the World and Duplicity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

READING 1<\/strong>
Genesis 3:7-10<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d And he said, \u201cI heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READING 2<\/strong>
From the encyclical Dilexit Nos, on the Sacred Heart of Jesus,<\/em> by Pope Francis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The symbol of the heart has often been used to express the love of Jesus Christ. Some have questioned whether this symbol is still meaningful today. Yet living as we do in an age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives, all of us need to rediscover the importance of the heart. This interior reality of each person is frequently concealed behind a great deal of \u201cfoliage\u201d, which makes it difficult for us not only to understand ourselves, but even more to know others: \u201cThe heart is devious above all else; it is perverse, who can understand it?\u201d (Jer 17:9). We can understand, then, the advice of the Book of Proverbs: \u201cKeep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life; put away from you crooked speech\u201d (Jer 4:23-24). Mere appearances, dishonesty and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam and Eve used fig leaves to hide themselves from God and from each other. They were ashamed because they were naked. Pope Francis observed that we continue to hide our interior lives, our hearts, behind a great deal of \u201cfoliage.\u201d This \u201cfoliage\u201d is composed of our psychological defenses, patterns of avoidance, distraction, compulsion. Our superficiality and freneticism are part of our efforts to protect ourselves, to reduce interior pain and to function in a world made harsh by sin. These are often unconscious and sometimes objectively sinful in themselves. Although we do well to look inside ourselves and to seek to understand ourselves, we often cannot truly see and understand why we do what we do. Part of the process of emptying our hearts is simply surrendering the mystery of what is inside of us to the Lord, asking Him to help us sort out our hidden motives and to heal us in His mercy. What is the foliage that keeps your heart noisy and crowded?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRAYERS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer of Surrender of St. Ignatius
Litany of Penance by St. John Henry Newman<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Dilexit Nos x 2, 6 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

    Copyright \u00a9 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Consecration to the Heart of Jesus Through the Hearts of Mary and Joseph INTRODUCTION In the blur of activity, the noise of excessive media, the repeated bifurcationof our attention through communication technology, our hearts are quicklycluttered with the good, the bad and the ugly. The world is so much with us. Without losing the good, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Dilexit Nos x 2, 6\",\"id\":\"6f05b2de-1b12-45c2-ac94-ea2696d8a90d\"}]","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bfMR-2tK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9927,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/join-me-in-a-consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":0},"title":"Join Me in a Consecration to the Heart of Jesus Through the Hearts of Mary and Joseph","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The United States bishops are consecrating our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, 2026. The choice of this year is in commemoration of the 250th\u00a0anniversary of the founding of our nation. There are resources available for the day of consecration on the USCCB website:\u00a0https:\/\/www.usccb.org\/weholdthesetruthsFor those who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1000007892-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9535,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-1-emptying-our-hearts-of-the-noise-of-the-world-and-duplicity\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":1},"title":"Day 1: Emptying Our Hearts of the Noise of the World and Duplicity","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Consecration to the Heart of Jesus Through the Hearts of Mary and Joseph READING 1Genesis 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9679,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-3-emptying-our-hearts-of-unquiet-becoming-focused-and-intentional\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":2},"title":"Day 3: Emptying Our Hearts of Unquiet; Becoming Focused and Intentional","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"READING 1James 5:11-13 Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9537,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-2-emptying-our-hearts-of-noise-guarding-the-spark-of-gods-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":3},"title":"Day 2: Emptying Our Hearts of Noise, Guarding the Spark of God\u2019s Love","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"READING 1Psalm 131 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great, nor marvels beyond me. Truly, I have set my soul in tranquility and silence. Like a weaned child on its mother, as a weaned child is my soul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9552,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-5-god-reveals-himself-to-those-with-childlike-hearts\/","url_meta":{"origin":9532,"position":4},"title":"Day 5: God Reveals Himself to Those With Childlike Hearts","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"READING 1Matthew 11:25-27 At that time Jesus declared, \u201cI thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 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