YOU are a part of the love story
What do you think of when you hear the word HEART?” asks Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, in his reflection for the feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated this year on June 24. “In the Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of God’s love for us, and so the feast of the Sacred Heart is a celebration of a love story…how are WE going to tell OUR part of this love story?”
Click here or on the image above to view Fr. Vien’s one-minute video message.
Fr. Vien is provincial superior of the US Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians). Besides the video message above, Fr. Vien also sent feast-day greetings to SCJs, and to our coworkers and other collaborators:
Letter to coworkers and collaborators
“We, the Priests of the Sacred Heart, are grateful for your participation in our mission of spreading the devotion and love of the Sacred Heart in souls and societies and of responding to God’s infinite love by being attentive – with open hearts – to the pain and sorrow of others,” writes Fr. Vien to those who join us in prayer and ministry. “As we celebrate this patronal feast, we are reminded that our love for God in the Sacred Heart unites us with Jesus and one another and enables us to return love with love.”
CLICK HERE to read the full letter to coworkers and collaborators
Letter to fellow SCJs
In his letter to members of the community, Fr. Vien shared the responses of several students at SCJ schools to the question: “What do you think of when you hear the words ‘Sacred Heart?’”
“When I hear the words ‘Sacred Heart,’ I think of Jesus and His heart of kindness which He wants every person in the world to have,” wrote Sydney Nathan, who recently graduated from Sacred Heart School in Southaven, MS. “I go to a school named Sacred Heart, where I learn to practice three things: knowledge, respect, and integrity. Jesus helped the less fortunate, knew how to solve each problem before him, and treated all, even those who hated him, with kindness and respect. At school, we learn to stay true to ourselves and others, help others with work or feelings, and be kind to each other, just like Jesus. I’m at the end of my time here at Sacred Heart. When I move to high school, I’ll remember these three things and have a heart like Jesus.”
CLICK HERE to read the full letter to SCJs.
Message from the General Administration
In his 2022 letter for the Feast of the Sacred Heart Fr. Carlos Luis Suarez Codorniú, SCJ, superior general, writes about the need to not only exercise to maintain physical health, but to also “train” our hearts to be in good spiritual shape.
“Prayer, just like healthy exercise, weakens arrogance and strengthens trusting abandon,” writes Fr. Carlos. “In prayer the disciple prepares himself in the most disarming way possible for what the Father wishes to happen in his life, in his community and in everything he does. Nothing else! For this reason, when we stop to contemplate the Heart of the Savior, we are invited to celebrate his life forged in weakness and in the renunciation of any other power than that of being son, brother and servant of all. It is in Him that we recognize the genuine model of availability in love, without conditions, at the service of the Kingdom.”
CLICK HERE to read Fr. General’s letter in full.
