Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  During this month as we celebrate the end of the Easter season, Pentecost, the Holy Trinity, and the Body and Blood of Jesus, we reflect also on the great mystery of the love of God symbolized by the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the last Friday of June.  It is always on a Friday as on Friday we are to spend time remembering the great sacrifice of love that Jesus made for us when He died on the cross.  It is through this sacrifice of love that we have been freed from our sins and offered the eternal life of Heaven.
The heart symbolizes for us the very core of our being.  We often use expressions such as, “I love you with my whole heart” or “he spoke from his heart” or “let your heart guide you.”  In these and many other similar expressions, we are referring to something that is the deepest or truest part of ourselves.  The heart is an expression of that which makes us what we are.
When we talk about the heart of Jesus, we are expressing the great mystery of God’s love for us. We are using it as a concrete image for something which we cannot possibly comprehend or understand, but which we must communicate and make known even in a very clouded way.
The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a heart surrounded with a crown of thorns, and fire and light coming out of it.  To describe that Heart in words can sound rather ordinary or fanciful.  But when we think of the powerful feelings of love in our own lives, the visible symbol takes on a much more powerful reality.  The love of God is greater than even our strongest experiences of any human love.
As we celebrate the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we fall back on the language of the heart. We pray that the Sacred Heart of Jesus will fill our hearts with love for Him.  May our heart be a reflection of His Heart.
Msgr. Cox