Thursday Week 28 OT Margaret Mary Alacoque September 29, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville
People have often said that I’m intelligent. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the intent behind that compliment, but I have to say that it’s not my favorite. Why not? It’s a nice thing to say, right? Especially when it’s true. Yes. So why not just accept it? Well, I do accept it. But here’s why it’s not a big deal: being smart is just a natural quality. It doesn’t say anything about the kind of person someone is. Smart people can be wicked or lazy or have a whole host of other bad habits. When you add intelligence to those vices, it actually makes things worse.
The compliments that matter most are ones that touch on who we are and the good that we’ve done. Saying “that’s a nice outfit” says “I see you tried to dress well and you succeeded, so I’m acknowledging your effort and thoughtfulness.” Saying “good game” to an athlete is saying “I can see that you worked hard and it paid off.” Now, sometimes when someone says “you’re smart” what they really mean is, “wow, I see that you studied hard and thought about this and it shows in the way you talk and act.” If that’s what you mean, okay. But the mere fact that someone is born with a high IQ… it’s not a bad thing, but being smart does not, by itself, make someone a good person.
So yeah, the compliments that matter most are ones that focus on virtue. Remember, virtue is a good habit, a capacity to do good, the result of practicing something good. Being virtuous matters way more than being smart or attractive or anything other kind of lucky genetics.
Why say this? Because Jesus isn’t impressed by smart people, attractive people, rich people, or powerful people. Jesus wants only one thing for people: he wants them to be good. And goodness comes from faith, it comes from grace, and yes, it comes from good old fashioned hard work. I put those in that order for a reason. The fact is that we cannot be good without God. You cannot earn heaven. You cannot earn faith. Faith is a gift. Grace is a gift. That’s why Jesus is so nice to sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes – he’s offers the gift of faith and grace and they are eager to receive it. Once you receive the gifts of faith and grace, however, you do have to work hard to make use of them, to become good and, above all, holy.
That is also why Jesus is so mean to the scribes and pharisees. People say “Jesus is nice.” Not quite. He is kind. He is loving. But he is also stern and demanding and sometimes downright harsh. Jesus is the most tender, compassionate, kindest person ever. But he’s also got lots of tough love. Jesus is mean to the pharisees because he wants them to wake up, get over themselves, and accept the gifts of faith and grace.
Why, though? Why don’t the pharisees and scribes accept Jesus? It says right here that they are trying to hurt him, to trap him. Eventually, they will kill him. Why? Because the scribes and pharisees are too caught up with how smart they think they are. Most of them were lucky enough to be born intelligent and well-connected. They think knowing the laws makes them better than everyone else. It doesn’t. In fact, because they know better, they are held to an even higher standard. They “do” all sorts of good things, but they do them like robots, all head and no heart. And they get all judgy towards other people who don’t know what they do. That’s why Jesus accuses them of “taking away” the “key of knowledge.” Ironically, because of their pride, they actually don’t know as much as they think.
Sadly, we’ve always had this temptation: to separate heart and head. We need both. That’s one reason why, in 1673, Jesus started appearing to a nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque in France. He talked to her about his heart. This is where we get the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through these visions, Jesus wanted the world to rediscover the importance of loving God and our neighbors.
Now then, do not tell your teachers I said intelligence is unimportant. Don’t tell your parents you don’t need to study because I said you don’t need to know anything. No, we should all be lifelong students who study hard and are always learning about God and the world he created. But the reason we should do that is love. Use whatever intelligence you have – big or small – use that for good, use that to love.
Jesus emphasizes his heart because the human heart is the place of connection and of integration. It’s not that our heart is all feelings and our head is all thoughts. It’s that the human heart is the place of identity, the place of willing and loving, the place where thoughts and desires become actions and actions become virtues. The heart is where being “smart” becomes “studiousness” and “thoughtfulness.” The heart is where being strong becomes “disciplined” and “hard-working.”
God is perfectly fair. He is perfectly Just. He wants everyone to go to heaven. Not just smart people. Not just healthy people. Jew, Gentile, White, Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, Smart, Simple, Healthy, or Sickly… God offers all of us the way to heaven. That means that God doesn’t judge whether or not you are intelligent. He judges whether or not you use your intelligence well. Are you lazy? Do you use it to look down on others? Or do you work hard so your intelligence benefits others? The same goes for being tall or naturally strong or any other genetic trait. What matters is not talent, but the goodness. We all have different natural qualities, but whatever we start with, the goal is to use our hearts to make them into virtues. Wherever you fall on the genetic lottery, do you use what you have to build virtue?
And all of that is especially important for you teenagers. As you figure out who you are and what you’re doing with your life, watch out for the lies and the traps. Don’t let the world, the devil, or even your friends put you in a box. Don’t fall for the trap of putting your identity in how smart you are, how fast you are, or anything else that’s really just a gift given you. You are not those things. You are a son of God, a daughter of God the Father. As his son or daughter, you may or may not have certain talents, but that’s not why he loves you and that’s not what he cares about. He cares about you in all your uniqueness, even when you sin and make mistakes and reject him, he cares about you.
And what God is looking for, the reason Jesus’ Sacred Heart is on fire is because he burns with love for you, with a desire to see you in heaven with him forever. And getting to heaven isn’t a test of intelligence, beauty, or power. It is a gift that is accepted in humility and practiced with love. In some ways, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wasn’t a “successful” nun. She was kind of bad at her job and she was very weird. But she was kind and she was patient and she was loving because she was humble, accepted the gift of faith and of grace, and she tried to use both her gifts and her weaknesses as ways to practice love.
You are loved. That’s your identity: beloved son, beloved daughter. Accept that and then live that whether it means you use your intelligence to become a scholar, or use your talents to praise God, or even better, you strive to love God and neighbor even in the stuff your bad at because you know his power is made perfect in your weakness. What matters is not strength, intelligence, and talent, but faith, hope, and love. And those gifts are available to all who ask for them, to all who have the humility to seek them from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So, we pray: Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto thine.