As the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our country, the bishops of the United States are solemnly preparing today to consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It will take place at the Basilica of Our Lady Queen of the Universe in Orlando, where the bishops have convened for their spring meeting.
To consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus means to prayerfully entrust its present and future to Jesus’ sacred humanity and to the divine and human love symbolized by his burning and crucified heart.
The consecration was originally proposed to take place tomorrow, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the conclusion of the bishops’ spring plenary assembly. But a motion was made during the bishops’ meeting last November to celebrate the consecration the day before, on June 11, so that bishops might return home to their dioceses on the solemnity to consecrate their dioceses to the Sacred Heart.
Little attention was given at the time to the significance of the date of June 11 for the consecration. But there are two great reasons
