June – The month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When I ran across this I thought to myself why didn’t I know this? But then the more I thought about it I realized that I did know this from my childhood. Why is it that some things we readily remember and others slip away maybe never to be retrieved or if we do retrieve them it is only with a not so gentle reminder? I don’t expect an answer to that just my mind rambling….

The Feast of the Sacred Heart has been in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday. This make the feast day a moveable feast, but for the most part it always falls in June so that is why June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year the date is June 27.

The name Sacred Heart of Jesus expresses what we know about Jesus. It represents the mystery surrounding Him, the sum of His being. We know his is the Son of God, the Word Incarnate and our Savior. Pope Benedict explained it like this: The Sacred Heart is a symbol "of the Christian faith that is especially dear, to ordinary people as well as to mystics and theologians, because it expresses the 'good news' of love in a simple and authentic way, encapsulating the mystery of Incarnation and Redemption." The Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus is truly man and truly God.

“The heart is the center of a person, the place from which he/she makes the choices which will affect the world within them and around them. Devotion to the Heart of Jesus reminds us that it is in His Sacred Humanity that we find the pattern for becoming fully human ourselves. In His Incarnation, saving life, death and Resurrection, we receive both the pattern - and the means - to become more like Him. The Feast of the Sacred Heart reminds us of our mission in a Culture which has forgotten God. Let us spend the month of June in Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, lifting up our Nation, indeed the whole world, to the One in whom we place all of our trust. He will not disappoint; His Heart still beats with Mercy and Love for the world.” Taken from: http://www.catholic.org/homily/yearoffaith/story.php?id=51278 I found this on Catholic.org and it explains it way better than I can.