Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart

Photograph of the widow in our Chapel of the Sacred Heart by Michael Hoyt, used with permission and gratitude.

When the Lord asks "What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?" we have no record of a response from his audience. We are so accustomed to this parable, however, that the Lord's response may not strike us in the same way it struck his hearers the first time the story was told. No one in his right mind would leave ninety-nine sheep to search for the lone stray. If he did, he would probably lose many more sheep -- to say nothing of his job! Such a practical concern never plagued the mind of the Good Shepherd; his only concern is love. To show the expansive love of his Most Sacred Heart, our Lord uses this most extraordinary example of his care of each member of his flock. Not a single one of us is beyond the reach of His care and His grace.

"Let us be charitable and humble in our thoughts as well as in our words. If we are more faithful to this, the Sacred Heart will be more liberal of His graces than He has ever been."
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque