June: The Month Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I love the month of June and finding ways to make Ordinary Time special after all of the celebration of Easter! In June the month is dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we also have three really special feast days that we celebrate within the Church! First, we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi on June 7th, followed by the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 12th, and finally the Immaculate Heart of Mary on June 13! It is such a wonderful time to focus on God's love for each of us, especially through the gift of the Blessed Sacrament. As the month begins it is important to look for fun activities and ideas to help draw each of us closer to Jesus, and also to teach our children about these important feast days.

The Feast of Corpus Christi on June 7th honors Jesus's institution of the Holy Eucharist. With this feast day the tradition of a Corpus Christi Procession began back in the 14th century. My hometown has a beautiful Corpus Christi Procession which you can learn about here with a great video which explains, "processing through the community with the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is a venerable Church tradition. The procession is an outward demonstration of Catholic faith and belief in the real presence of the risen Christ, under the appearance of the Consecrated Host." Make sure to take the time to see if your town has a Corpus Christi Procession  that you could attend, and if not, try to find some extra time in Adoration to appreciate the gift that Jesus gave to us in the Holy Eucharist.

As the month of June continues we are able to celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary! The Catholic Company explains that "In 1672, Christ appeared to a French Visitation nun, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Over a series of visits, Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary the importance of devotion to His Sacred Heart. He asked that His heart, wounded on the cross and continually wounded by ingratitude of men for his sacrifice for them, be venerated and adored as an embodiment of His Divine mercy and love." We can help show our love and dedication to Jesus by frequently receiving the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confession.

To help celebrate these feast days Catholic Icing has a lot of great ideas for crafts and other activities. In our home we will talk about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, do a fun craft and make a yummy dessert from the ideas over at Family at the Foot Of the Cross as well! Some of their delicious dessert ideas include the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts Fruit Dessert and the Strawberry Sacred Heart Cake.

If you are looking for something personally to help draw yourself closer to Jesus and enhance your prayer life, June is the perfect time to start the Do-It-Yourself retreat of Consoling the Heart of Jesus. This beautiful retreat is very inspiring and is filled with fantastic insights and great resources.

"In the Sacred Heart, every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden.  In that Divine heart beats God's infinite love for everyone.  For each one of us individually."
~Bl. John Paul II~