As a child, I vividly remember entering my grandmother’s San Francisco home. Dominating the entrance doorway was the enshrined image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One hand pointed to his heart. Another hand gestured a sign of peace toward the guests entering the home. There was also another image of the Heart of Jesus in my grandmother’s bedroom. In one of her trips to the Philippines, my grandmother gave me a similar image. As you can see, this devotion to the Heart of Jesus has followed me throughout my life. I did not think about it as much then as I do today, reflecting on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Over the next nine days, I will reflect on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, drawing on insights from Pope Francis’ letter Dilexit nos, leading up to the feast day on Friday, June 12.

Pope Francis released Dilexit nos in October 2024. This letter focuses on Jesus’s human and divine love in his Sacred Heart. Pope Francis opened his letter with a provocative statement. He says that God’s love proves that nothing can separate us from him. Pope Francis articulates that in today’s consumeristic world, we often forget about matters of the heart. We end up running aimlessly in life. We need a return to the heart, more specifically to the heart of Jesus.

Throughout history, we have understood the heart as the center of all our emotions, affections, sincerity, and vulnerability.

In the first eight paragraphs of his letter, Pope Francis speaks about the fragility of our hearts. Our hearts are often covered with foliage. I have often thought about having a wall around my heart, but the idea of foliage makes more sense.

Some leaves surround my heart, nurturing the future life that springs after an emotional winter. I can remove foliage around my heart to support growth. To understand our true selves in the image of God, we must return to the heart.

Let us pray. Lord, I come to Your tender Heart today,  to You who have words that set my heart ablaze,  to You who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,  on those who suffer, and on all human miseries.  I desire to know You more, to contemplate You in the Gospel,  to be with You and learn from You  and from the charity with which You allowed Yourself  to be touched by all forms of poverty.  You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure  with Your divine and human Heart.  Grant all Your children the grace of encountering You.  Change, shape, and transform our plans,  so that we seek only You in every circumstance:  in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine.  From this encounter, send us out on mission, a mission of compassion for the world  in which You are the source from which all consolation flows.Amen.