This Friday (27th June 2025), we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. This feast reminds us of the great love God has for us and shows us that God has a heart for our holistic wellbeing. I am inspired by the compassionate and Sacred Heart of Jesus for our spiritual reflection today.

Thanks be to God for the existence of the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul. We are an association founded on love, united in love and urged by the love of God to spread the goodness of God. We live to speak the language of the heart, which is love. We live to pour out the depths of God’s love from the innermost part of our being, that is, our hearts. Our world is not in short supply of people who relate with others from places other than their hearts. Most live for selfish interests, for personal gains, for validation, and recognition. We live in “an age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives…” (Dilexit nos, 2). It is no doubt that our world is in a very critical state, hence the indispensability of our vocation!

We bring life when we slow down and lovingly gaze into the eyes of our brothers and sisters in need of our love and our help. We bring life when we sit to listen to the stories of our brothers and sisters who have been through an ordeal. We heal hearts when we speak the language of the hearts by expressing our availability to help our hurting fellows in small and big ways. We heal hearts and restore hope when we tell our brothers and sisters suffering as a result of their personal mistakes, that every day is a new opportunity, that the story of their lives is not over, that every sinner has a future, and that they are dear to God our Father. We bring succor when we mourn and cry with the wounded hearts.

Dear Friends, we are in the minority of those with the precious gift of speaking the language of the heart. May we never allow our voices to fade. May we never be discouraged in speaking this beautiful language in the presence of so much evil, for as St Vincent De Paul noted, “we must content ourselves with using those small powers which He has given us and not be distressed because they are not higher or more far reaching”. Ours is very powerful gift. May we ask God to renew our hearts and strengthen us with His love which never fades.

Fr Kelvin, Spiritual Advisor St Michael Conference