St. Clare, St. Joseph & Sacred Heart

06/07/2026

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Day 5
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness
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The devotion of the wounds of Christ as the fountain of life and holiness dates to the earliest Christians. The Church Fathers interpreted the blood and water flowing from Christ’s side as a profound mystery, fulfilling His promise to provide living water (John 4:13–14; 7:37), which symbolized the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on the Church and the cleansing waters of baptism. We see an early correlation to the heart of Jesus
in the words of Origen of Alexandria, who said, “Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water” (In Num. homil. 12, 1: PG 12, 657). In the 13th century, St. Bonaventure connected the salvation that flows from the pierced heart of Christ to the sacramental life of the Church, reflecting that the price
of our salvation flows “from the hidden wellspring of his heart, enabling the Church’s sacraments to confer the life of grace” (Lignum Vitae. De mysterio passionis, 30). Pope Francis encouraged the devotion of the pierced heart of Christ as the fountain of life for the Church’s mission. The Holy Father taught that “in contemplating the pierced heart of the Lord, who ‘took our infirmities and bore our diseases’ (Mt 8:17),
we too are inspired to be more attentive to the sufferings and needs of others, and confirmed in our efforts to share in his work of liberation as instruments for the spread of his love” (Dilexit Nos, no. 171).

06/06/2026

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Day 4
Heart of Jesus, patient and full of mercy
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The merciful heart of Jesus is at the center of his ministry, both in Scripture and throughout the history of the Church. St. John Paul II reflects that when we draw close to the heart of Christ, it is revealed that the “merciful love of the Father...constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man” (Dives in Misericordia, 1980). To this point, St. Gregory the Great instructs us to “learn the Heart of God in the words of God;” and we see the heart of God revealed when Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea to the Pharisees, saying, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13). The earliest saints of the Church took Christ’s command seriously, preaching that
our response to the words of Jesus must be to live our faith by showing mercy to others. In the third century, St. Gregory of Nazianzus taught, “The Lord of all asks for mercy, not sacrifice... Let us then show him mercy in the persons of the
poor and those who today are lying on the ground, so that when we come to leave this world they may receive us into everlasting dwelling places” (Oratio XIV, 40: PG
35, Paris 1886, 910).

06/05/2026

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus -- Day 3
Heart of Jesus, worthy of all praise
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Pope Francis reflects in Dilexit Nos that it is in the Eucharist that the ever present love of the Sacred Heart invites us into union with Christ. At the same time, the Holy Father warns that in the frenetic pace of today’s world, “we forget to nourish our lives with the strength of the Eucharist;” therefore, he
recommends that we spend an hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament every Thursday. Pope Francis goes on to say, “When we carry [adoration] out with devotion, in union with many of our brothers and sisters and discover in the
Eucharist the immense love of the heart of Christ, we ‘adore, together with the Church, the sign and manifestation of the divine love that went so far as to love, through the heart of the incarnate Word, the human race’” (no. 85).
In St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we see the light and fire of the Lord of life who transforms our human hearts. One such vision occurred in meditation before the Blessed Sacrament, when St. Margaret
sees Christ’s paschal mystery in all its splendor: “Once, when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, Jesus appeared, resplendent in glory, with his five wounds that appeared as so many suns blazing forth from his sacred humanity, but above all from his adorable breast, which seemed a fiery furnace. Opening his robe, he revealed his most loving and lovable heart, which was the living source of those flames” (Autobiography, no. 55).

06/05/2026

06/04/2026

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Day 2
Heart of Jesus, source of justice and love
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who reflected on the Sacred Heart wrote, “I received from my God excessive graces of his love, and I felt moved by the desire to respond to some of them and to respond with love for love” (Autobiography, no. 55). Both Pope Francis in Dilexit Nos and Pope Leo XIV in Dilexi Te teach us that our encounter with the love of Christ’s heart allows us to build up God’s kingdom in this world. Pope Leo emphasizes that “God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest” (Dilexi Te, no. 16). For centuries, the Church has established missions centered on the love of the heart of Christ, such as the Society of the Sacred Heart founded in 1800. The Society states in its constitution: "Caught up as we are in the desires of the heart of Jesus, we want people to grow in dignity, as human beings and as children of God. Our starting point is the Gospel, with all that it demands from us of love, forgiveness and justice, and of solidarity with those who are poor and rejected by the world”
(Constitutions of 1982, 7).

06/04/2026

"Today, the Social Doctrine of the Church is a legacy of wisdom, where we find princples for thought, criteria for discernment and judgment, and concrete guidelines for action. Founded on Sacred Scripture and Tradition, and in engagement with the sciences, it helps us clearly interpret the challenges of the present and identify appropriate ways for living out a clear Christian witness, with joy and in service to the world," wrote Pope Leo XIV in his encyclical "Magnificata humanitas"

06/03/2026

What or who you put in your will is a statement of your values. We invite you to consider including a faith-based organization or ministry in your estate plan, sharing that your faith is important to you.

06/03/2026

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Day 1
We invite you to pray to the Heart of Jesus, which is aflame with love for us.
While reflections on the heart of Jesus date to the earliest writings of Christianity, the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart began in 17th century France when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received visions of Jesus revealing his heart burning with love for humanity. In this revelation, Jesus expressed his desire to be honored in a special way through his Sacred Heart. This devotion grew when Pope Pius IX
extended the observance to the universal Church in 1856, and later when St. Mary of the Divine Heart urged Pope Leo XIII to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which he did in 1899 through his encyclical, Annum Sacrum.

06/02/2026

Join St. Clare, St. Joseph, Sacred Heart in praying a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus beginning tomorrow in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then, on June 11, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Why? It's a way to recognize the kingship of Jesus, to infuse the spirit of the Gospel into our communities, to move us to mission by attending to the needs of those who are suffering, poor, and vulnerable. Through the novena and consecration, may we come to see more deeply the face of Christ in each person.

06/02/2026

What do Catholics celebrate on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi?
A) The birth of the apostles
B) The Ascension of Jesus
C) Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist
D) The creation of the sacraments
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Answer: C) Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist
Explanation: Corpus Christi (“Body of Christ”) honors the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The feast highlights the gift of the Eucharist given at the Last Supper.