Behold This Heart that So Loves Us!

When Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the Chapel of the Visitation Convent in Paray-le-Monial , France in 1675, exposing His Heart, He said to her, “Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, to prove to them its love.” Last year, 2025, we celebrated the 350^th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart. This year as are celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the founding of our nation, the US Bishops will consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of our Savior.  

As we look back at these very significant events, celebrating their importance, recognize that we live in a time when technology, the media, and communication exert tremendous influence in our lives and our culture. Often images and words that go viral serve as a means of forming or deforming the human mind and heart.  Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, recently promulgated his first encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas, on AI, technology and its capacity to affect profoundly and possibly to erode human dignity in various ways. He has expressed great concern about the tremendous global and personal changes that technological progress precipitate. 

While we may feel a combination of excitement and anxiety over the cultural shift that we are experiencing at this time, we should strive to remain grounded in what addresses the truth of our life and identity.  We live in a world that forms and teaches us in a visual manner. We should remember that the Church has been teaching us visually for 2,000 years. From the early days of the Church, the truth of the Catholic Faith has been communicated by the beauty of icons and soundbites of Our Lord’s teaching even before the New Testament was penned. Later sculpture, church architecture, stained glass, paintings, and illuminated pages continued the visual approach. In preaching, “soundbites” of quotations from Sacred Scripture or the saints brought forth salient points to ponder. As we use and evaluate the way AI and other technology communicate and influence us, we should reflect on the manner in which words and images have aided the Church in past times. That is to say, we should look to the ways that images and words have proclaimed the truth and preserved the dignity of the human person.

This brings us back to the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that has been so popular in Catholic liturgical and devotional life since the apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1675.  The image of the Sacred Heart and the accompanying message of His love for us are a beautiful example of a communication that should serve as a standard for the technology of today. It is one of beauty and truth and promotes the identity and the dignity of the human person in relationship to God and to others.

As we face the many challenges today in the realm of technology, AI, economics, social changes, global strife, and bioethical issues, we should go forth with needed caution but firm confidence in the grace and wisdom of God.  After all, every gift comes from Him. We should use them for His greater honor and glory and the good of all people.  Isn’t that what His Sacred Heart says to our hearts?
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh