From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
June 20, 2025
There’s good news out of Youngstown, Ohio!
On June 13, 2025, Bishop David J. Bonnar, the bishop of Youngstown since 2021, issued a pastoral letter entitled, “Take Heart! Do Not Lose Heart! Behold the Sacred Heart!” It is worthy of a read. Apparently inspired by the last encyclical of Pope Francis on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (“Dilexit nos”) and looking toward the conclusion, on June 27, 2025, of the Jubilee of the Sacred Heart, which has marked the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Lord Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1673-1675), the bishop has published an easily accessible and very attractive twenty-page booklet: https://doy.org/pastoral-letter-behold-the-sacred-heart/ .
By means of this pastoral letter, the bishop not only draws close attention to the rich heritage of devotion to the Sacred Heart in his diocese, but also announces his intention to deepen that heritage by means of an enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the bishop together with his priests at an upcoming convocation of the clergy, and, on September 28, 2025, an enthronement in every church in his diocese. With this collective act of the entire Diocese of Youngstown, Bishop Bonnar hopes to foster the following:
“I pray that the life and love that flows from the Sacred Heart will empower us to be a more loving and unified Church. It is my hope that this long, intentional gaze at Jesus and his Sacred Heart will engender more vocations to the priesthood, consecrated life and married life. I also pray that our commitment to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will enliven us to open our hearts more to one another in a spirit of empathy, compassion, and forgiveness so that we ourselves embody the heart of Jesus. May this prayerful act, which will soon be ritualized throughout our diocese, help us to take heart and resist the temptation to lose our heart as individuals, and or, as a faith community.”
Kuddos to the bishop of Youngstown! And for the many who are not members of his flock, let us also deepen our devotion to Jesus as we approach the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, June 27, 2025. We might find encouragement to do so by remembering the 12 promises of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary for those who do:
(1) "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
(2) I will establish peace in their homes.
(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
(4) I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
(5) I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
(6) Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
(7) Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
(9) I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
(11) Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.
(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."
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