Part 1 of this article looked at how our pagan, secular society promotes sexual disorder by celebrating so-called Pride Month. This promotion profanes God.
Catholic families need to be counter-cultural in June. They should push-back against the godless culture and celebrate the month with a form of worship pleasing to our Lord.
One way to blot out so-called pride month from your family’s life each June is for you and your kids to refuse to patronize businesses that have embraced perverted sexuality. Through their “rainbow-marketing” these businesses are telling devout Christians, “You don’t matter to us.”
Good Christians should shun “Pride Month” by directing their energies toward bringing back the specialness of June as the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Focusing on the Sacred Heart is a form of devotion to Jesus, and especially to His love represented by His heart. The heart is the symbolic center of feeling and emotion, and it represents Jesus’ deep love and affection for us.
We can, of course, practice devotion to Jesus’s Sacred Heart all year long, but the Catholic Church designates June as the month specially dedicated to this practice. The dedication can take on many forms, such as saying a prayer to the Sacred Heart every day in June. A good prayer intention might be the conversion of all sinners promoting sexual deviancy.
Try a Novena
If remembering to pray for 30 straight days in June to the Sacred Heart is something you question being able to faithfully do, how about something more attainable? A novena just might be the ticket.
A novena is a Catholic tradition where one prays the same prayer for nine days straight. Set your cell phone alarm to go off at the same time for nine straight days in June. When the alarm goes off, stop and pray a novena prayer in praise and thanksgiving for Jesus’s love for us, as represented by his Sacred Heart.
You can find various novena prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus online. Here is one that I find comforting to pray:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
To your most Sacred Heart I confide this intention: (mention your intention here).
Only look upon me, and then do what your Sacred Heart inspires. Let your Sacred Heart decide; I count on it, I trust in it. I throw myself on Your mercy, Lord Jesus! You will not fail me.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your Kingdom come.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors, but I earnestly implore this one. Take it. Place it in Your open, broken Heart; and, when the Eternal Father looks upon it, covered with Your Precious Blood, He will not refuse it. It will be no longer my prayer, but Yours, O Jesus.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You. Let me not be disappointed.
Amen.
Even children can recite a daily prayer as simple as the following throughout the month of June. A good time is either before bed or at the dinner table as part of grace: “O Sacred Heart of Jesus, burning with love for me, inflame my heart with love of Thee.”
So What Does It Mean?
I have a consistent devotion to the Sacred Heart, not just in June but all year long. Ironically, when I was a kid I attended Sacred Heart School (in Bellevue, WA,) and yet I never recall anyway teaching me back then what Sacred Heart meant. None of the teachers or our pastor ever explained the significance of naming the school and parish in honor of Jesus’s loving heart.
It was just a name of a building/school to me that I somewhat actually resented. When our school’s team played CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball and baseball games against other schools, the opposing players would always taunt us with jeers of “You play for Sacred Fart!”
As an adult, after I became a Catholic school teacher, I finally understood the significance of the phrase “Sacred Heart of Jesus.” And I only understood it because I had to learn about it to teach it. I had to study up on its meaning so I could teach it to the middle school class of students I was teaching about religion.
When I educated children about Jesus’s Sacred Heart, I showed them an image and pointed out the various symbolisms. This is something parents can do with their own kids this month.
- The red color used in the Sacred Heart image recalls the blood Jesus poured out for us. Red also signifies the impassioned love of Jesus which is why he laid down his life for us.
- The heart typically is encircled with the crown of thorns that Jesus’s executioners placed on his head. The piercings represent the cuts caused by our sins and reminds us of how Jesus suffered on our account.
- A proper Sacred Heart image will show a gash on the lower portion of the heart. This gash is a remembrance of when the soldier thrust his lance into Jesus’ side to prove He was dead.
- Some images depict blood droplets flowing from the wound, reminding us that he underwent a painful, horrific death. The droplets also recall that Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.”
- The Sacred Heart of Jesus will have flames emitting above the upper, center of the heart. These flames symbolize the intense warmth of Jesus’ love.
- There is also a cross displayed in the midst of these flames. It is on the cross where Jesus most definitively proved the love in His heart for us.
- Finally, many depictions of the Sacred Heart will have rays of light beams radiating from the heart. The rays remind us that Jesus is the light of the world and His love enlightens the world.
Be Counter-Cultural In June
This month, the left-meaning members of society, and many of the major influencers of kids – media, celebrities, athletes, sports leagues, social media apps – will again promote so-called pride month. But you – as an authentic Christian – can counter this debauchery by displaying the image of the Sacred Heart in your home. Gather your family in front of this image to pray in thanksgiving for the burning love in Jesus’s heart for us.
Furthermore, pray for forgiveness and mercy from our Lord for the sins of those engaging in sexual deviancy and promoting the evil of so-called gay pride.
