Dear Family,
It has been way to long since I have written to you all. Mea Culpa! Yet, I hope and pray that the beginning of summer time fun has been a joyous one! One of my goal this summer is to keep the plants watered and alive on the back deck of the rectory! My faithful companion, Boone, is already reminding me to feed him! Although, he is a picky eater!
June is the month that is dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus! Every year the first Friday after the Feast of Corpus Christi is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year being June 24th. Christ’s heart is often depicted as a pierced flaming or burning heart with a cross and a crown of thorns around it. This devotion to the Sacred Heart started because of a French nun, St Mary Margaret Alacoque (her feast day is Oct 16), who had a vision of Christ in 1673. He asked her to have a feast day dedicated to His Heart on that particular Friday. He also desired that adoration to take place on Thursdays, the day in which the last super and the institution of the Holy Eucharist takes place! Extraordinary! The feast day finally appeared on the Church calendar for the universal Church in 1856. The day after the Sacred Heart is the Immaculate Heart of Mary which is also depicted with a flaming or burning heart, yet is pierced with a sword, and wrapped with a crown of roses.
So what is the meaning behind all of this? The devotion to Christ’s Heart is out of our gratitude for Christ’s love for us. While the devotion of Mary’s Immaculate Heart points us that we should have the desire to emulate the way in which Mary loves Jesus! I love having Mary stand before the tabernacle here at Holy Family because it reminds me that I need to love Christ like she did! To Jesus through Mary!
The video below is about an hour and it is about a young priest journey to the priesthood. It is a documentary on Fr Stephen Gadsberry journey to becoming a priest. This priest is very inspiring and someone who has a heart of Christ. A good video to watch during the month of the Sacred Heart.
I hope and pray that during this month we can be more devoted to His Sacred Heart and love like Mary’s Immaculate Heart!
Have a wonderful week!
In Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,
Fr Cooper
