The Sacredness of the Sacred Heart.
The Sacredness of the Sacred Heart.
By Joseph Livingston
Many will know the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur at Montmartre, standing out as it
does like a shining sentinel on the Paris skyline. Less well known is that this
magnificent consecration to the Sacred Heart was funded entirely from money
donated by the faithful during the time of the atheistic French Third Republic.
Remarkably, an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament has been maintained there
permanently ever since 1855. For many, at that time, France’s humiliating defeat in
the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had been understood as a warning of the need for
reparation for the state rejection of religion over the ninety years since the
Revolution. One person who would have no difficulty in understanding that is Joe
Livingston from Glasgow. After a life of routine faith Joe underwent a powerful
religious experience in April 1993, nine months after reading Pray with your Heart by
Fr Slavko Barabarić. On that fateful day he issued a challenge to God which resulted
in an immediate Damascene response where a voice told him: ‘You are mine now’.
In Joe’s own words, this propelled him to become a ‘Christian Evangelist of the
Catholic Persuasion’ and there can be little doubt since of his total response to his
calling. A man who previously described himself as a ‘fire insurance Catholic’,
admitting to having scarcely ever read a book, has since led a mission of healing and
public evangelism in countries throughout the world. Living in Scotland myself, I
would underline that it is a very symbolic recognition of his impact that as an openly
devout Roman Catholic he was even invited to address the Scottish Parliament.
Whilst it would be an insult to reduce the breadth of Joe’s message to one idea, we
might say that, as in the France of 1870, he urgently calls us to challenge the values
of the so-called post-Christian world that we now feel obliged to accept. In this book
he bids us to re-ignite the tradition of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which
for some reason has become quietly de-emphasised over the past sixty years.
Joe’s most recent short book is thus The Sacredness of the Sacred Heart, in which
he brings our attention to a devotion previously re-emphasised by Saint Margaret
Mary Alacoque in late 17th Century France. Like Joe, Saint Margaret Mary underwent
a series of powerful conversion experiences, in her case at the Visitation Convent in
Paray-le-Monial, starting in the December of 1673. She received a series of visions
focussing on the importance of the reception of Holy Communion, Eucharistic
Adoration and in particular attention was drawn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The
aim was to provide an objective focus to help us to understand the diffusion of the
divine love, with Our Lord charging Margaret Mary to make this known to the whole
of humanity. Joe repeats this message for us by pointing out that small but
manageable change can only start from within our own hearts. He reminds us that
although the heart is small in size, it is still the most powerful and dynamic organ in
the human body. As the heart circulates blood throughout the whole body, it is by our
own devotion to the Sacred Heart, we ourselves will be able to contribute to the
diffusion of the indwelling graces throughout the whole world. For Joe, the key word
here is Love. In everyday language love is generally symbolised by the heart. If we
then add to this the Great Commandment that we should love the Lord Our God with
all our hearts and all our souls and furthermore that we love our neighbour as
ourselves, it is only a short step to understanding how the Sacred Heart can open up
this cosmic potential. In his book Joe sets out the devotion in its historical context
and bids us to become involved. In the final chapters he tables a poignant question:
Can we still afford to separate the many difficulties our world is currently facing from
the determination of so many to exclude God from their lives? This is a short book
that makes no attempt to be a theological treatise, maintaining instead a lively
motivational conversation with the reader. Of course, we all have our own role to
play but as one overmuch submerged in academic analysis, I am left feeling humbly
grateful for the vital apostolic energy that people like Joe bring to our Church.
Review by Roderick Campbell Guion
Editor-in-Chief’s note: In his book Joe mentions that Pope Francis allowed General
Absolution for the whole world which, strictly speaking, didn’t happen. Pope Francis
offered an extraordinary blessing on the whole world “Urbi et Orbi” on March 27th
2020, in response to the global pandemic and allowed General Absolution under
certain circumstances like someone dying from COVID-19 and the priest not being
allowed in to hear Confession. Another thing of note here is when Joe talks about
heart transplant donor recipients experiencing characteristics of the donor after the
operation. I questioned Joe about this and here is what he said:
“My brother had a Heart Transplant 20 years ago (I mention this in my book You
Are Mine Now;
He told me that he noticed changes to his character and emotions after the
transplant.
He spoke to the Heart Surgeon about this, and he told my brother Frankie - Yes this
can happen, it seems the Heart contains some characteristics of emotion from the
donor.
Therefore, we can see from this how powerful the Heart is not only in a physical
sense, but emotionally too.”
Interesting stuff!
By Joseph Livingston
Many will know the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur at Montmartre, standing out as it
does like a shining sentinel on the Paris skyline. Less well known is that this
magnificent consecration to the Sacred Heart was funded entirely from money
donated by the faithful during the time of the atheistic French Third Republic.
Remarkably, an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament has been maintained there
permanently ever since 1855. For many, at that time, France’s humiliating defeat in
the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had been understood as a warning of the need for
reparation for the state rejection of religion over the ninety years since the
Revolution. One person who would have no difficulty in understanding that is Joe
Livingston from Glasgow. After a life of routine faith Joe underwent a powerful
religious experience in April 1993, nine months after reading Pray with your Heart by
Fr Slavko Barabarić. On that fateful day he issued a challenge to God which resulted
in an immediate Damascene response where a voice told him: ‘You are mine now’.
In Joe’s own words, this propelled him to become a ‘Christian Evangelist of the
Catholic Persuasion’ and there can be little doubt since of his total response to his
calling. A man who previously described himself as a ‘fire insurance Catholic’,
admitting to having scarcely ever read a book, has since led a mission of healing and
public evangelism in countries throughout the world. Living in Scotland myself, I
would underline that it is a very symbolic recognition of his impact that as an openly
devout Roman Catholic he was even invited to address the Scottish Parliament.
Whilst it would be an insult to reduce the breadth of Joe’s message to one idea, we
might say that, as in the France of 1870, he urgently calls us to challenge the values
of the so-called post-Christian world that we now feel obliged to accept. In this book
he bids us to re-ignite the tradition of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which
for some reason has become quietly de-emphasised over the past sixty years.
Joe’s most recent short book is thus The Sacredness of the Sacred Heart, in which
he brings our attention to a devotion previously re-emphasised by Saint Margaret
Mary Alacoque in late 17th Century France. Like Joe, Saint Margaret Mary underwent
a series of powerful conversion experiences, in her case at the Visitation Convent in
Paray-le-Monial, starting in the December of 1673. She received a series of visions
focussing on the importance of the reception of Holy Communion, Eucharistic
Adoration and in particular attention was drawn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The
aim was to provide an objective focus to help us to understand the diffusion of the
divine love, with Our Lord charging Margaret Mary to make this known to the whole
of humanity. Joe repeats this message for us by pointing out that small but
manageable change can only start from within our own hearts. He reminds us that
although the heart is small in size, it is still the most powerful and dynamic organ in
the human body. As the heart circulates blood throughout the whole body, it is by our
own devotion to the Sacred Heart, we ourselves will be able to contribute to the
diffusion of the indwelling graces throughout the whole world. For Joe, the key word
here is Love. In everyday language love is generally symbolised by the heart. If we
then add to this the Great Commandment that we should love the Lord Our God with
all our hearts and all our souls and furthermore that we love our neighbour as
ourselves, it is only a short step to understanding how the Sacred Heart can open up
this cosmic potential. In his book Joe sets out the devotion in its historical context
and bids us to become involved. In the final chapters he tables a poignant question:
Can we still afford to separate the many difficulties our world is currently facing from
the determination of so many to exclude God from their lives? This is a short book
that makes no attempt to be a theological treatise, maintaining instead a lively
motivational conversation with the reader. Of course, we all have our own role to
play but as one overmuch submerged in academic analysis, I am left feeling humbly
grateful for the vital apostolic energy that people like Joe bring to our Church.
Review by Roderick Campbell Guion
Editor-in-Chief’s note: In his book Joe mentions that Pope Francis allowed General
Absolution for the whole world which, strictly speaking, didn’t happen. Pope Francis
offered an extraordinary blessing on the whole world “Urbi et Orbi” on March 27th
2020, in response to the global pandemic and allowed General Absolution under
certain circumstances like someone dying from COVID-19 and the priest not being
allowed in to hear Confession. Another thing of note here is when Joe talks about
heart transplant donor recipients experiencing characteristics of the donor after the
operation. I questioned Joe about this and here is what he said:
“My brother had a Heart Transplant 20 years ago (I mention this in my book You
Are Mine Now;
He told me that he noticed changes to his character and emotions after the
transplant.
He spoke to the Heart Surgeon about this, and he told my brother Frankie - Yes this
can happen, it seems the Heart contains some characteristics of emotion from the
donor.
Therefore, we can see from this how powerful the Heart is not only in a physical
sense, but emotionally too.”
Interesting stuff!
You Are Mine Now
The book called "YOU ARE MINE NOW" details Joe's life and Spiritual Journey.
Joseph Livingston's whole faith journey is entirely dependent on the immense love of God the Father. Exploding like a volcano in March of 1993, his path towards Jesus and Mary was greatly illuminated, and this glow allowed his heart, mind and soul to flourish.
Joe shows, even those with a tiny grain of faith, how to harness and empower their spiritual journey, leading to a more peaceful and fruitful journey of faith.
"Thought provoking and interesting." Bishop Joseph Toal, Motherwell Diocese, Scotland.
Book Price is £11.45 and can be found on Amazon UK and Amazon Kindle here and book shops.
Review:
Joseph Livingston is not the typical evangelist, nor is he a typical Catholic. His story began in the usual way, but he experienced God-inspired moments along the way until he realized God was speaking to him. Born and raised in Scotland, Joe was hit by a car (miraculously with no injuries) and spent most of his teens and young adult life leading an adventurous life, working as an engineer, practicing the martial arts, and travelling all over the world. As he grew older and more mature, he began hearing God’s voice, then he visited Jerusalem and Medjugorje. Really, Joe’s journey is every Christian’s journey: to be closer to God and to give our lives to God.
You Are Mine Now is a collection of seven short volumes about Joe’s life and his journey to becoming a faithful Catholic. It is interesting and compelling and at the same time, Joe’s unique narrative makes me feel like I’m sitting beside -- and listening to -- a great storyteller.
I highly recommend You Are Mine Now. It’s easy to read in short spurts. If you ever questioned your relationship with God or you know someone who is questioning their relationship with God, I highly recommend giving them a copy of this powerful book.
Ellen Gable Hrkach
Award-Winning Author, Editor, Publisher, Book Coach, NFP Teacher, Speaker
Review:
I felt this book was a real gift when God placed this book in my path and after
reading it I have a real conviction that Joe Livingston’s “You are Mine Now” is one
of the most important books I will ever read on my own faith journey. I am convinced
that this will become one of Catholicism’s classic texts and have an important part to
play in our Church’s history. This is a story of how God dramatically intervened in
Joe’s life, an ordinary soul, and changed it forever. This single conversion
experience transformed Joe from an ordinary working man into one of the most
prominent evangelists and disciples of Jesus working for the Glory of God in this day
and age, now able to heal and cast out evil spirits with the help of the God’s Grace.
As I read through this work I felt like I was sitting at the knee of a wise man
steeped in the Spirit of God who was passing on the gifts he had been Divinely
bestowed, sharing his journey, insights and wisdom, all crafted and formed in the
crucible of a life lived in faith. Walking closely beside Jesus, in close communion with
the Holy Trinity, Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Mother Church Joe learned how
to live a more authentic faith directly from Christ and is here sharing that story.
Joe encounters God in many mystical experiences and witnessed many
graces and miracles that at first appear hard to fathom, however, all his work has
been authorised by Bishop Joe Toal from the Diocese of Motherwell who gave
approval to Joe’s ministry.
Joe demonstrates himself the many confirmations he
received from God for his work, so as you walk beside Joe on his journey the
authenticity of that which he writes is undeniable.
This book, although steeped in truth, is not a chronological, historical account,
as such. It is Spirit led and so does dart from time to time, place to place. If you
approach this book knowing that it is a lot easier to follow. I didn’t realize this at first
so came across some initial confusion. I would suggest having sticky notes or a note
pad beside you as you read so that when Joe suggests prayers that can be used
daily in your faith you can either write them down or at least note the page number.
Now this is a vast book divided into 7 volumes, but it is an easy read as Joe is
not an academic or scholar. You can easily read a page or two daily and still be
given many spiritual riches. He does not call himself a theologian, but here I would
beg to differ. Theology can be learned in two main ways; one, from education and
reading (from scholarship) and two, from God Himself (from experience). In Joe’s
own words
“My perspective is very much “feet on the ground” stuff...”
(Livingston 2019: Page 398)
Joe learned his theology through experience of a life lived in close Communion with
God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit again leading to a more authentic
theology. Joe writes about someone he knows well and as such can communicate
easily about things that at times can be difficult to grasp. This is one of the many
reasons I would highly recommend this book.
As a book reviewer I am supposed to summarize and give a flavour of what
lies between the covers, however, I feel the task too great. Not because it is such a
vast book, but because this story is about something so precious and Divine I feel I
couldn’t do it justice. However, it all starts with a conversion experience in April 1993
(Volume 1 Chapter 12):
“Exactly one week later, I was going through my normal daily routine. At
8am in the morning of the 14th April 1993 at exactly the same spot where I had
shouted at God the week before (Joe had shouted at God in despair shouting at
God “is this all there is?!!”), something beautiful and powerful happened that changed
me forever.
"A tremendous wave of energy swept through my whole body, it was
instantaneous as if a supernatural wave of ecstasy engulfed my whole body from the
tip of my toes to the top of my head...”
(Livingston 2019: Page 32)
From this experience Joe’s whole faith life changed from something dull and lacking
in lustre to a faith alive with Love and meaning.
What followed on from this were more miraculous experiences, insights and
tremendous understanding developed about our Catholic faith which he willingly
shares. His ministry moved into giving talks which he is now doing nationally and
internationally, to healing and deliverance of evil spirits, an extension of his healing
ministry. At every point in writing this book you can see Joe asking the Holy Spirit to
guide and lead his writing and at the end of each section Joe shares revelations of
the words which have come directly from Christ Himself.
As an example of how extraordinary Joe’s story is I will share one of Joe’s last
stories in his book, a last confirmation from the Holy Spirit. Joe was invited to attend
a conference on reconciliation in Phoenix, Arizona to talk on that subject and his
extraordinary experiences. As he stepped out of the taxi in Downtown Phoenix on his
last day in Arizona, he stepped on a small, pink-coloured piece of paper and on it
was a reading from Isaiah 40:31
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”
This book I would recommend to any person wanting to learn about the basic
tenets of faith again or even those who are encountering our faith for the first time.
Joe goes into detail of roughly every aspect of our faith and how we should be acting
as Catholics and more importantly, why. He helps us see how Jesus feels about our
lack of devotion and irreverence – the hurt it causes Our Saviour. Joe also
demonstrates how we should be living a genuine Christian spirituality by giving us an
example of a disciplined spiritual life and what precisely that contains. He shows a
discipline in prayer is essential to good spirituality and an openness and willingness
to help continue Jesus’ mission here on earth.
Joe starts every volume by asking the holy Spirit to direct his writing and ends
by saying:
“My journey would be nothing without Jesus.” (Livingston 2019: Page 372)
This is a book you will read over and over again and get something new from it every time
because it is steeped in the Spirit of God. When I read it I was reminded very much, but in a
different way, of St Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul and Julian of Norwich’s Revelations
of Divine Love because it is a work of great Mysticism so I feel this has a place among the
great Mystics of our Tradition. I am sure as time goes by we will be hearing a lot about Joe
Livingston a retired Engineer from Glasgow.
Thank you Joe for sharing your story for the love of God and His Kingdom!
Kathy Bishop, Managing Director, "The Faith Companion" Magazine
Oasis of Peace
New Childrens Novel by Joseph Livingston and Tony Fitzpatrick. (for 6 to 10year olds, but any age will be interested)
The Title of the book is "Oasis Of Peace" (Olympia Publishers, London)
Book Price is £7.99 and can be ordered through Amazon here and Book Shops. Available on Kindle.
Tony Fitzpatrick and Joe, got together to write the story after being drawn
together by their Christian Faith.
Many hours of fun ensued whilst writing the book, until finally it was snapped up by a London Publisher.
Tony is well known as an ex professional footballer, and became the youngest Scottish Captain ever appointed.
Sir Alex Ferguson his manager at the time, built his team around Tony, who was only 17yrs of age at the time.
Tony also won the Scottish Cup with Saint Mirren and is now the CEO.
Tony has also written 2 Previous Books, dedicated to his son. The Babakoochi Bear Series is set to
continue, and Tony intends to continue writing more books on the same theme.
Joe is an International Speaker who experienced a very powerful Religious Conversion in April 1993.
Retired from Engineering, Joe now spends his time travelling the world as a Christian Evangelist.
He speaks on a lot of topics including Forgiveness and Reconciliation. He also talks on the dangers
of the New Age especially the Martial Arts. Joe was a former Martial Arts Instructor and was a member
of the PBA (Professional Bodyguard Association) and this extensive knowledge of the Martial Arts
helped him in his quest to Warn people of the Dangers of the various forms of dark self defence methods.
The Title of the book is "Oasis Of Peace" (Olympia Publishers, London)
Book Price is £7.99 and can be ordered through Amazon here and Book Shops. Available on Kindle.
Tony Fitzpatrick and Joe, got together to write the story after being drawn
together by their Christian Faith.
Many hours of fun ensued whilst writing the book, until finally it was snapped up by a London Publisher.
Tony is well known as an ex professional footballer, and became the youngest Scottish Captain ever appointed.
Sir Alex Ferguson his manager at the time, built his team around Tony, who was only 17yrs of age at the time.
Tony also won the Scottish Cup with Saint Mirren and is now the CEO.
Tony has also written 2 Previous Books, dedicated to his son. The Babakoochi Bear Series is set to
continue, and Tony intends to continue writing more books on the same theme.
Joe is an International Speaker who experienced a very powerful Religious Conversion in April 1993.
Retired from Engineering, Joe now spends his time travelling the world as a Christian Evangelist.
He speaks on a lot of topics including Forgiveness and Reconciliation. He also talks on the dangers
of the New Age especially the Martial Arts. Joe was a former Martial Arts Instructor and was a member
of the PBA (Professional Bodyguard Association) and this extensive knowledge of the Martial Arts
helped him in his quest to Warn people of the Dangers of the various forms of dark self defence methods.
This is Joe's latest book .
It is a Sci Fi / Fantasy Novel called THE TAKUS / ICED FIRE
It is released officially on 29th March 2020
To book a copy , please go to ;
https://www.authorhouse.co.uk.-https://www.facebook.com/1289129381221829/posts/1962546150546812
To all my web-site readers , please spread the word about my new book
(more to come)
Blessings , Joe .
