From the Heart of the Shepherd

From the bulletin for The First Sunday of Lent (2026 February 22)

Feb 22 - 1st Sunday Lent

In the Pledge of Allegiance, we recognize this land as “one nation, under God, indivisible, with justice for all.” We are forced, of course, to acknowledge that is more aspiration than reality: we live in a time when the oneness and indivisibility of the USA are under a severe test. And the degree to which the nation is or ever has been under truly the dominion of the God of Heaven, and so able to ensure that degree of justice one can hope to enjoy in this life to each one, is debatable. But ideals can be approximated, even if they are never fully attained. 

“Under God.” Whatever the diverse minds among the founding fathers believed, we know that the true God is the one revealed by Jesus Christ: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The same Father who has handed over “all authority on Heaven and earth” to His incarnate Son (Mt 28:18), who conquered this world and its former prince on the tree of the Cross. 

Truly, Christ is King. He calls Himself one in the parable of the sheep and the goats: “Then the king will say to those on his right…” (Mt 25:34). Yet His kingdom is not of this world. Rather, it is an everlasting kingdom; it is the Kingdom of Heaven whose advent He came to both announce and bring about. It is a Kingdom that comes wherever the Father’s will is “done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

At St. Mark’s, we a blessed to have two woodcarvings of Our Lord in the main church: one of Christ the Teacher with His Sacred Heart exposed (“learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart”), the other of Christ the Priest and King, reigning above the tabernacle. The two images aptly express Our Lord’s humility and majesty; His nearness and His transcendence; His justice and His mercy. He is the King, but He is the King of Love; He is meek and humble, but He also “lives and reigns forever and ever.” He is a man like us, but He is also Mighty God.  

To aspire that our nation be under God is therefore to aspire that it be subject to the reign of the meek and humble Heart of Christ the King; that it form a part of His Kingdom, recognize His Lordship, and belong to His dominion. As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, perhaps it is time to ask, how can that aspiration be made reality? 

Nothing can replace conversion of heart, which brings about the entrance of a nation’s citizens themselves into the Kingdom of God. But when it comes to a nation, something more is required. A formal act, as it were, whereby the nation, or at least its leaders, collectively and in virtue of their authority dedicate their country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pledging it to His kingship. In practice, this act is known as national consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Pius XI praised this custom a century ago when he established the Solemnity of Christ the King: “The kingship and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom, practiced by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; not only families have performed this act of dedication, but nations, too, and kingdoms” (Quas primas, 26). 

It would be hard to imagine our civil leaders uniting to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart anytime soon. So, on the occasion of the nation’s semiquincentennial, its bishops will do it instead. This June, US bishops will unite in dedicating the United States of America to the Divine Heart of our Lord. (For precedent, think of how Our Lady of Fatima requested that the pope and bishops consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart–surely without the cooperation of the communist government of that country, and likely without the involvement of the Russian Orthodox bishops either.)  

As members of the nation, we want to do our part. This year’s Lenten Speaker Series will focus on preparing us to participate in the national consecration. I invite you to join us there each Friday, that starting with the bit of its soil that each of us is, this nation might be more perfectly placed under God’s loving dominion, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

From the Heart of the Shepherd: The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time