This is how our hearts are moved when we are truly devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We begin with an awareness of our own hearts. God the Father created our hearts and shaped our hearts from the first moments we were formed in our mothers’ wombs.
My heart! My heart is a living image of God’s love for me. My heart beats quietly and faithfully all day, every day. My heart brings life and strength to every part of my body. With every beat, my heart draws blood from my fingers and toes and knees and elbows– refreshing this blood as it passes by my lungs. In the next beat, my heart sends this blood back out to my body, giving me new life and energy. This is the Father’s love. Like my heartbeat, often it is quiet yet powerful and life-giving. So, too, I can see in my heart an image of the Heart of Jesus.
His Heart! His Sacred Heart is filled with love for me at this very moment. His Heart is on fire with love for me and the whole human race. I can pray to unite my heart with His Heart. Jesus desires to make my heart more like His Heart. My heart may need His healing and mercy. Jesus may wish to stretch and strengthen my heart so that it is able to receive love and share love more fully.
All hearts! Then, united with the Heart of Jesus, He sends me out to touch many hearts through prayer and service. Truly, with Christ, I ask that He may bring all hearts into closer communion with Him. With Him, I seek to touch ‘all hearts’ that I meet today with His compassion– in my family, my school, and my work.
Fr Joe Laramie SJ has served as national director of the Pope’s Prayer Network since 2020. Fr Phil Hurley SJ will begin as the new national director in July. In August, Fr Joe will be moving west for a new assignment, as director of Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat in Sedalia, CO.