Faithful, Merciful, and Always Seeking Us

Homily for Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque gives us an opportunity to reflect on one of the most beloved images in our Catholic tradition: the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For St. Margaret Mary, the Heart of Christ was a revelation of who God truly is. In Christ she encountered a love that is faithful, merciful, and always seeking us.

The Sacred Heart is the Church's way of speaking about the personal and enduring love of Christ revealed in today's Scriptures.

That understanding resonates deeply with today's reading from Ephesians. St. Paul tells us that we have been chosen by God and sealed with the Holy Spirit. Before we ever sought God, God sought us. Before we ever loved, we were loved. The Sacred Heart reminds us that divine love is a gift, flowing constantly from the heart of Christ.

In the Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples against hypocrisy, against living with divided hearts. "Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed." The invitation is to place our trust in God's love enough to be honest. The Heart of Jesus is open before us. We are called to be open before him, bringing our strengths, our wounds, our failures, and our hopes.

Then Jesus offers words that have comforted believers for centuries: "Even the hairs of your head have all been counted." "Even the hairs of your head have all been counted." For some of us, that counting takes considerably less time than it once did. Yet the point remains the same: God attends lovingly to every detail of our lives. The Sacred Heart is not a distant love. It is a personal love. It knows each of us and cherishes each of us.

For the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, this feast carries a special resonance. The charism entrusted to this community begins in the conviction that the love of Christ's Heart is not simply something to be admired; it is something to be shared. Every act of kindness, every moment of prayer, every work of care entrusted to others becomes a reflection of that love.

As we celebrate this memorial, let us ask St. Margaret Mary to help us trust more deeply in the love of Christ. And may the Heart of Jesus teach us to live with undivided hearts, confident that we have been chosen, known, and loved beyond measure.