Through the centuries, the Christian community has consistently tried to capture its developing understanding of Jesus Christ in word and image. This is a never ending challenge – to portray the Mystery of the love of God made visible in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, who went about doing good and eventually laid down his life for us. Each First Friday of the month, the Society of the Sacred Heart sends an email prepared by an RSCJ, colleague or friend of the Society, with a reflection on the meaning of the Sacred Heart in our lives today. To sign up to receive the First Friday emails, Sign up for e-news here or at the bottom of any page on this site.

During our bicentennial celebration between 2017 and 2018, First Friday emails suspended in place of our Year of Prayer weekly reflections. Click here to access the entire Year of Prayer

Photo by Julie Siderfin, Associate

First Friday Reflection for March 2017

Lent has begun: our journey with Christ in suffering, death and resurrection. This old weathered statue looks over a corner of Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis and reminds us of the gift of his heart. It shows Christ with arms outstretched, fingers broken and heart exposed to the world.

Photograph by Linda Behrens

First Friday Reflection for September 2016

“The thoughts of His heart are to all generations to rescue them from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”  This is the Introit for the Mass of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and I’ve always loved it as the opening salvo to the Feast and First Fridays. It speaks of the Heart of God being with us, holding us in ever-present consciousness, young and old, all of us, all generations, past and present. And that holding is about “rescuing us from death” and “keeping us alive in famine.”  God’s heart knows where we are even when we don’t want to admit it.

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