O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I Place my Trust in Thee

Dear Parishioners,

In the Catholic Church, the month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I think it is no mere coincidence that the secular world puts an emphasis on something contrary to Christ and the teaching of His Church. Rebellious human beings would rather act defiant to God’s design and try to tell God how they should be allowed to live and act. The first deadly sin—pride—once again rears its ugly head.   

For fourteen years of my life I had worked at a high school named for Our Lord’s Sacred Heart. The motto of the school was: Fac Cor Nostrum Secundum Cor Tuum. (The translation of the Latin:  Make our hearts like unto Thine or Make our hearts like Your Heart.)

The image of the Sacred Heart centers on a devotion to Jesus’ physical heart as representing His Divine Love for all humanity. The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light. It is bleeding, pierced by the lance-wound, surrounded by a crown of thorns, and surmounted by a cross. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of Christ’s love.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. She entered the Visitation Convent in 1671 and six years later Christ appeared to her in a vision in which she said: "I could plainly see His heart, pierced and bleeding, yet there were flames, too, coming from it and a crown of thorns around it. He told me to behold His heart which so loved humanity. Then He seemed to take my very heart from me and place it there in His heart. In return He gave me back part of His flaming heart."

In all, there were four revelations, during which the now-familiar Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart were made:

1.       I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

2.       I will establish peace in their homes.

3.       I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

4.       I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.

5.       I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.

6.       Sinners will find in my Heart the source and an infinite ocean of mercy.

7.       Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

8.       Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

9.       I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.

10.   I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11.   Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.

12.   I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment. 

The last of these promises is responsible for the nine First Fridays’ devotion. Also requested by Jesus was the establishment of a feast in honor of His Sacred Heart. We now celebrate this Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on the first Friday after the octave of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. This year it falls on June 27, 2025. Additionally, we honor the Sacred Heart every first Friday of the month. It is also a Catholic tradition to have an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus enthroned in the family home.

Now that you have a brief history, what truly matters is whether or not we are becoming more Christ-like and whether our hearts reflect Christ’s love for us.

The simple prayer said — Make my heart like Your Heart — should remind us of the task in front of each of us.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Jesus Asleep in the Boat

Dear Parishioners,

If you feel like me at this point in our Catholic Church’s history, you are probably, at a minimum, confused and frustrated. What’s going on here? Our spiritual leadership often appears out of sync with well-established tradition and theological history. Silence and seemingly contradictory actions do not help to clarify matters. Preciseness is woefully lacking on various moral issues and theological teaching. Help!  

To me, this is indeed a diabolical spiritual crisis of the greatest proportions. How do we deal with a spiritual crisis of such magnitude? Let me remind you of today’s Gospel passage:

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mk. 4: 37-38)

Is Jesus once again sleeping while the ship (the Church) seems to be sinking? Remember how quickly things change at the word of His command:

“Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” (Mk. 4: 39-40)

In addition, I recall a story from Jesus’ ministry where the disciples could not cure someone and they looked to Jesus for the reason why they could not perform the miracle:

“I brought [my son] to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”  Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?  How long will I endure you?  Bring him here to me.”  Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.  Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”  He said to them, “Because of your little faith.  Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.”  (Mt. 17: 16-20)

It was the lack of faith that Jesus pointed out as the reason for their inability to act. “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8) We seem to be living in a time where supernatural faith is missing-in-action. At a time of spiritual warfare, this is certainly not a good situation. Faith must be nurtured before it is lost entirely.

Our faith tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, continues to remain with the Church He established. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)  He is truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist, in the Sacred Scriptures, in all the Sacraments, and in His Mystical Body, the Church.

Undoubtedly, there will continue to be tribulations now as there was from the very moment when Jesus established His Church on St. Peter, the Rock—who had denied Him three times! Need we also be reminded that eleven of the twelve Apostles were missing from the foot of the cross, and Judas—one of Christ’s hand-picked twelve—turned traitor? Clearly, supernatural problems require supernatural solutions. Prayer and fasting are a must. Praying the Rosary daily has been continually requested by Our Lady:

The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families . . . that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.  Sister Lucia dos Santos (Seer of Fatima)

The Blessed Mother’s intercession is absolutely essential to the solution:

Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.  St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)

I believe that the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph in the end.  Getting to that point, however, is definitely not for the faint of heart and for those without a strong faith!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor