Whereas, on June 11, 2026, as we celebrate America’s 250th year of independence, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops consecrated our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus;

Whereas, throughout the month of June, Catholics throughout the United States celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus;

Whereas the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the actual Heart of Christ and the visible sign of the eternal love of God, who is Love;

Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus and adores the incarnate Word and His Heart, which, out of love for mankind, He allowed to be pierced by our sins;

Whereas the Sacred Heart reveals the mystery of Christ crucified, whose side was opened on the Cross and from whose pierced Heart flowed blood and water, the signs of mercy, redemption, and sacramental life;

Whereas Saint John Paul II taught that the Sacred Heart has given us everything: redemption, salvation, sanctification;

Whereas, on October 20, 1672, Saint John Eudes celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart for the first time;

Whereas Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun in Paray-le-Monial, received revelations of Christ’s Sacred Heart, in which Our Lord manifested the flames of His ardent charity and called the faithful to Holy Communion, Eucharistic adoration, reparation, and devotion to His Heart;

Whereas, in 1818, Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne founded the first American convent of the Society of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, Missouri, established a school, and later became known to the Potawatomi Indians as the woman who prays always;

Whereas, on July 4, 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II addressed those gathered to celebrate the canonization of this great American saint, calling her a valiant pioneer of the Gospel;

Whereas devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has taken deep root in American Catholic life, enshrined in countless schools, hospitals, and parishes across the nation, including the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, West Virginia;

Whereas the Gospel proclaimed on this solemnity records the words of Our Lord: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;

Whereas the humility of the Sacred Heart stands as the divine antidote to pride, self-exaltation, and disordered love of self;

Whereas Christ, though he was in the form of God, did not grasp at equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbling Himself unto death, even death on a Cross;

Whereas the month of June should be marked by renewed devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, acts of reparation for sin, prayer for priests, and public witness to the kingship of Christ over persons, families, communities, and nations;

Whereas the Christian family is called to enthrone the Sacred Heart in the home, recognizing the rule of Christ over domestic life and consecrating all joys, sufferings, labors, and duties to His love;

Whereas, in an age that often exalts pride as a virtue, Catholics are called to proclaim the truth that humility is not weakness, but conformity to Christ, who is meek and humble of heart; and

Whereas the Sacred Heart of Jesus remains the furnace of divine charity, the refuge of sinners, the source of mercy, and the sure remedy for the wounds of a world disfigured by sin: Now, therefore, be it