Each month our Holy Father offers and communicates a prayer intention that we might take up and carry as we pilgrimage the journey of faith. Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of June is “that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from His Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.” As the month of June ends, and we honor the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27, it is good to draw near to the Heart of Jesus and understand the sanctity of God’s love for each one of us; the treasure of that love; and the gift we are given to return that same divine love to one another.

When I meet you in the parishes I visit, I come to know the great love of God though you as your smiles light up the narthex of the church with God’s grace. Our Holy Father is telling us that the expression of God’s love goes beyond the walls of the church building. Within the parish church building, we are gathered with believers — those with whom we know believe as we do, in our triune God. Once we leave the sacred space of the church building, we walk out into another sacred space; that of God’s earth. Here, like the sheep described by the prophet Ezekiel, we become scattered. We live next to neighbors who might not have faith; or the people with whom we work may have faith born out of different religions; or our friends may express anger and disappointment. Yet, as God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel, He says that He will seek out the lost, bring back the strayed, and heal the sick. You are God’s shepherds on this earth. You are the ones He calls upon to give the sheep — His people — their rest.

God gave us Jesus the Eucharist and as we receive Him each time we participate in the celebration of Mass, we are called to renew our faith; to take up the staff of the Shepherd and serve the people. You don’t have to leave your neighborhood to do this. You know people who are alone. Write a “hello” card and bring them God’s smile with a short visit. When one of your friends shouts out in anger, place yourself next to him or her and speak quietly to offer restful waters. Suggest that you pray together about what is bothering your friend. Think of members of your own family who recently became ill. Text that family member to offer your prayers and check in on that family member regularly. You might sign up for a ministry at your parish to assist those who are hungry or without shelter or visit parishioners at the hospital. Forgive the person whom you have deemed unforgiveable.

Then there are those about whom we hear in the news, stories of murders and fires and automobile accidents. When you hear the news, pray for the victims and their families. Pray for those who committed any crime and their families. Pray for the first responders and the reporters who tell us about this devastation.

My brothers and sisters, St. Paul tells us, “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5b). Pope Francis told us, “The eternal Son of God, in his utter transcendence, chose to love each of us with a human heart. His human emotions became the sacrament of that infinite and endless love” (Dilexit Nos 60). At Baptism, our heart beats the measure of God. How are you serving as God’s Shepherd?

Let us pray the unique prayer Pope Leo XIV offered to accompany thoughts for the month of June:

Lord, I come to Your tender heart today,

to You who have words that set my heart ablaze,

to You who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,

on those who suffer, and on all human miseries.

I desire to know You more, to contemplate You in the Gospel,

to be with You and learn from You

and from the charity

with which You allowed Yourself

to be touched by all forms of poverty.

You showed us the Father’s love

by loving us without measure

with Your divine and human Heart.

Grant all Your children the grace of encountering You.

Change, shape, and transform our plans

so that we seek only You in every circumstance:

in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine.

From this encounter, send us out on a mission,

a mission of compassion for the world

in which You are the source

from which all consolation flows.

Amen.