The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated each June on the first Friday after the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (June 16). It is also designated by the church as “World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests” who are to have hearts filled with love like the Lord’s own Sacred Heart. 

Although devotion to the Sacred Heart can be traced back to antiquity, it was St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who made this devotion widespread in the life of the church. As part of the Lord’s appearances to her between 1673 and 1675, St. Margaret Mary was asked to share the wonders of his love and the treasures of his goodness with all the world. 

Jesus told St. Margaret Mary, “Behold the heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify to its love.” 

In the Bible, the heart is the very center of a person. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of the depths of Jesus’ love for us. The Lord so loves us that he underwent his passion and death to save us from sin. His heart is aflame with love for us and waits for us to receive his love and return it in kind. We can see this in the depiction of the Sacred Heart, a heart pierced by a lance, wrapped in the crown of thorns and surmounted by the cross but also burning with his desire to save us. 

As we ponder the Sacred Heart of Jesus during the month of June I invite you to allow the Lord to transform your hearts.  As this popular devotion enjoins us to pray, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine!” 

+Bishop Peter