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BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Hoping to bring unity to families, members of the Alliance of the
Two Hearts (ATH) in Georgia are encouraging others to consecrate their homes
and become devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of
Mary.
In addition to the consecration of homes, the alliance’s mission
encourages devotion to Jesus and Mary in vigils on the first Friday and
Saturday of each month. The weekend vigil held at area churches addresses Our
Lady of Fatima’s request for Communions of reparation on first Saturdays
to help bring about peace and unity where there is division. First Fridays are
a traditional day of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Father Kevin Peek, parochial vicar at Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City,
encourages the first Friday and Saturday vigils.
“The idea of putting in a whole night of prayer in front of the Blessed
Sacrament requires a certain amount of discipline and sacrifice,” he said.
“When we have that discipline and sacrifice, we tend to be more
appreciative of what we’re sacrificing for. Also, it is an act of
reparation for sin and that’s something that needs to be expounded upon in
this day and age.”
During these vigils, family members receive the sacrament of reconciliation,
participate in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary, one Mass in
honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday evening, and another Mass after
midnight in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The next will be held March
5 at 8:30 p.m. at St. Thomas More Church in Decatur.
Diane Guesman, coordinator in Georgia of ATH and a member of St.
Andrew’s Church, Roswell, first learned of the alliance during a 1994
pilgrimage that she took around the world. She met brothers of the Oblate
Apostles of the Two Hearts, who were encouraging this special devotion in
response to Pope John Paul II’s call for family unity.
The ATH hopes to achieve its goals through a “house-to-house
evangelism,” which reintroduces families to the basic tenets of the faith
through recitation of the rosary, attendance at Mass, reception of the
Eucharist, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation and adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament.
“This is nothing new,” Guesman said. “We know that we have to
make some sacrifice if we want to get the family back together.”
Guesman and several others have been consecrating homes to the two hearts of
Jesus and Mary since 1996, when the Alliance of the Holy Family presented an
informational seminar in the archdiocese.
Last October, Father Peek, Father Michael Campbell, parochial vicar at St.
John Neumann Church in Lilburn and Father Jorge Christancho, parochial vicar at
St. Michael’s Church in Gainesville, attended a seminar in Rome, Italy,
with 500 priests from around the world, to learn more about the ATH.
Father Campbell said that he was inspired by the speakers.
“Our Holy Father has said that the family is the center of Christian
life and if you have holy families, then you have a holy church,” he said.
Father Campbell said he has consecrated over 30 homes to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“I really like doing it,” he said. “It’s also a chance
for priests to visit homes and I think people like knowing that a priest is
interested in them.”
When a home is consecrated, or enthroned, a priest or an ATH member blesses
the family’s Bible and a cross. Then the family receives a picture of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary to put in a prominent
place in their home. Families are encouraged to make Jesus and Mary the king
and queen of their homes, to pray the rosary and read the Bible together and to
go to monthly confession.
Pat Denton, a member of the ATH and a parishioner of St. John Neumann, said
that the consecration of the home encourages families to make Jesus the center
of their lives.
“Some people think that it’s about having their home blessed and
not having to think about it again,” Denton said. “But it’s a
commitment to Jesus and Mary. They come into your home and become members of
your family and, in turn, we have to go to Mass as often as possible, pray the
rosary as a family and go to reconciliation as often as possible. These are
tools given to us by heaven and it’s up to us whether or not we use
them.”
Denton said that the alliance helps families to prioritize.
“Unless we make room for Jesus, there won’t be room,” she
said. “We have to make Jesus and Mary a priority or they end up getting
squeezed out of our family’s lives.”
Guesman had her family’s home enthroned in 1996 and said that their
lives have changed.
“My family is no different than any other family. We have our ups and
downs like everyone else,” she said. “I have found a lot more peace
since Mary and Jesus were brought into our home. It’s like having great
confidence in our Lord and that gives you eternal peace.”
Father Peek’s home was enthroned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus when he
was a child.
“I really encourage people to enthrone their home,” he said.
“Anytime you walk in the house and you see the pictures and the
devotionals, it creates an environment that makes you pause and at least ponder
the beyond.”
Father Campbell said that one of his goals is to make the ATH an official
ministry of St. John Neumann.
“This helps to unify the family in prayer and in self-giving of each
other within the family,” he said. “Rooting out selfishness and
becoming more respectful and loving of each other is what the Holy Father is
asking us to do.”
For more information about the Alliance of the Two Hearts, contact Guesman
at (770) 993-1846.
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