Last week, the bishops of the United States renewed the consecration of our nation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. As I reflected on that beautiful act, my thoughts immediately turned to my mother.

As a young boy growing up in Denver, I remember her lifelong devotion to the Sacred Heart. At the time we lived right next to Sacred Heart Parish downtown, and images of the Sacred Heart were not decorations in our home, they were reminders that Christ’s love was real, personal, and present. My mother treasured her Sacred Heart badge, a simple sacramental she wore with faith through joys, hardships, illnesses, and the ordinary struggles of life. After her death, that badge became more than a keepsake; it became a witness to a life lived under the loving gaze of Jesus.

This Sunday’s Gospel speaks directly to that confidence:

“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
(Matthew 10:31, RSV-2CE)

Jesus tells His disciples not to be afraid. He knows that life will bring uncertainty, suffering, rejection, and even persecution. Yet His answer is not a strategy or a program. His answer is Himself. The One who knows every hair on our heads is the same Lord whose Heart was pierced for our salvation.

We often walk beside people carrying heavy burdens, we carry them. The temptation is to focus on the darkness. The Sacred Heart reminds us to focus on the One who has already overcome it. His Heart still burns with love for His people.

When I look at my mother’s worn Sacred Heart badge, I see a simple lesson she taught without many words: trust Him. Not only when life is easy, but especially when it is not.

May this renewed national consecration draw each of us closer to the Heart of Jesus, where fear gives way to confidence, anxiety yields to hope, and every disciple discovers once again that he is deeply known and deeply loved.

My mother’s sacramentals

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice