The Heart of the King

As we approach the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we must think about Jesus’ reign in our lives and in our world. He reigns as a loving and merciful King who loves us with an intimate and merciful love, cor ad cor, heart to heart. This is a truth that our Holy Father Pope Francis teaches us in his recent encyclical letter on the Sacred Heart, Dilexit Nos, “He Loved Us”.  This letter is written to commemorate the 350^th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.  
            
We live in a world that stands in dire need of love that can only come from the Heart of the Savior. When we accept this tremendous love from the Heart of Jesus, our hearts will be transformed and we will become beacons of that love as we love one another as Jesus taught us to love by His laying down his life for us. Our own time can benefit greatly from a renewed love and devotion to the Heart of Christ that was pierced for us to allow the sacrament life of the Church to be poured upon all the world. This anniversary of His appearing to St. Margaret Mary should be a wake-up call to grow in holiness, to love Him above all things, and then to share this love with all the world. We should go before His Sacred Heart truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament and allow Him to transform us as we go out to transform the world by His unconditional love.
            
Interesting to note is that the Sacred Heart requested through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque of King Louis XIV that he consecrate himself and his realm to the Sacred Heart and that he adorn all the flags of his kingdom with a coat of arms with an image of the Sacred Heart. This request was left unheeded by Louis XIV and his son Louis XV as well. It was not until 1792 that Louis XVI made a private consecration of himself and his kingdom to the Sacred Heart. He was at that time a prisoner of the French Revolution in his own palace. It was too late, for in 1789, exactly 100 years after the request was made by Our Lord the French Revolution toppled the monarchy and brought tremendous damage to the Church. He and his family were murdered on the guillotine in 1793.  
            
It is never too late for us to consecrate ourselves the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to bring the love He pours out upon us to the whole world.
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh