The Most Humble and Sacred Heart of Jesus: Our Hope That Never Disappoints

I see a rising trend in our society of generalized hopelessness. From disengagement from politics because our vote never changes anything, to self-neglect and self-destructive behaviors because we feel that nothing we do makes a difference and nothing in our lives matter. It even leads to a loss of faith because God seems to not bother, not giving us even a little show of care. Sadly, the youth are the most affected of this happening.

We see this manifest in the rise of self-help books that promises its young readers the ability to cope from daily struggles or books on stoicism that teaches them how not to care about these things. Universities and mental health support groups have doubled down on teaching about psychological and mental health and offering services thereof. Intermittent calls for “mental health breaks” in schools have persisted since the COVID-19 pandemic.

But even with these interventions, we still see a rise in cases of anxiety, depression, and suicide, especially among young people. This pushed the Archdiocesan Family and Life Apostolate, under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Orlando Angelia, DCD, to teach parents about the warning signs of these mental health issues. And a program in 89.9 DXGN Spirit FM called “Dangupanan” has been launched last year to talk about mental health issues.

These, and some more complex global problems, have also urged the late Pope Francis to center the Jubilee on the message of Hope. In Spes Non Confundit, he calls us to be “pilgrims” in a “journey of hope”. He feels the urge to call a Jubilee of Hope because “Signs of hope are also needed by those who are the very embodiment of hope, namely, the young.”

Pope Francis continues to write: “Without the hope that their dreams can come true, they will inevitably grow discouraged and listless. Escaping into drugs, risk-taking and the pursuit of momentary pleasure does greater harm to them in particular, since it closes them to life’s beauty and richness, and can lead to depression and even self-destructive actions. For this reason, the Jubilee should inspire the Church to make greater efforts to reach out to them.”

What most people do not realize is that the last Encyclical letter that Pope Francis left us, Dilexit Nos, leaves us a guide as to how we can be “Pilgrims of Hope”. This last encyclical centers on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. So, what does this have to do with the question of hope?

Well, for Pope Francis, it is the Sacred Heart that nourishes our hope. Rather than relying on our own capabilities and actions, he tells us to look to the Sacred Heart as the means by which we hope. We do not hope because we are sufficient unto ourselves. We are not. Rather, we hope because the love of Sacred Heart of Jesus suffices.

And in a meditation on hope, Pope Francis says: “Hoping is waiting for something that has already been given to us: salvation in God’s eternal and infinite love… To hope is to savor the wonder of being loved, sought, desired by a God who has not shut Himself away in His impenetrable heavens but has made Himself flesh and blood, history and days, to share our lot.”

This complete abandonment of ourselves to the Sacred Heart is exemplified more fully in the prayer of Saint Claude la Colombiere, SJ, that the late pope quoted in his encyclical:

“My God, I am so convinced that you keep watch over those who hope in you, and that we can want for nothing when we look for all in you, that I am resolved in the future to live free from every care and to turn all my anxieties over to you… I shall never lose my hope. I shall keep it to the last moment of my life; and at that moment all the demons in hell will strive to tear it from me… Others may look for happiness from their wealth or their talents; others may rest on the innocence of their life, or the severity of their penance, or the amount of their alms, or the fervor of their prayers. As for me, Lord, all my confidence is confidence itself. This confidence has never deceived anyone… I am sure, therefore, that I shall be eternally happy, since I firmly hope to be, and because it is from you, O God, that I hope for it”.

In this seemingly hopeless world, and like Pope Francis in Dilexit Nos, we must listen to Pope Leo XIII who wrote in Annum Sacrum that: “In that Sacred Heart all our hopes should be placed…” In this Most Humble, Most Sacred Heart of Christ, we find a spes non confundit, a hope that never disappoints. In this Most Humble, Most Sacred Heart of Christ, we may hope against all hopes.

It is in this spirit of complete abandonment to the Sacred Heart that I wish to invite everyone to join the 2025 HUMILITAS March and Conference which aims to promote the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by teaching people how to devote and consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart and how to repair the wounds brought by the sinfulness of man against the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Conference held on June 14 will be at San Pedro Cathedral from 8AM to 5PM. This will be followed by a Sacred Heart Procession called HUMILITAS March from Sacred Heart Parish, Obrero to San Pedro Cathedral on June 15, Sunday, 1PM onwards. For more information, please visit the Humilitas for the Sacred Heart Facebook page.

Together, as pilgrims of hope, let us bring the Sacred Heart back in our streets, back in our homes, and back in our hearts! (Raven Jard Castañeda)