August 3, 2025 — Pompeo Batoni’s 1767 painting of the Sacred Heart was on display at St. John Paul II Catholic Church for a short time in the beginning of August as part of the Knights of Columbus Pilgrim Icon Program. Launched in January 2025, 300 blessed icons are traveling through the Knights of Columbus jurisdictions.
This coincides with the 350th anniversary of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s vision of the Sacred Heart, which culminated in June 1675 with Christ’s request for a feast in honor of his heart.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart is ultimately about a relationship – not just a pious practice, but a spirituality rooted in the person of Jesus. This spirituality has developed over centuries and includes many expressions, but Pope Francis entrusted the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network with a specific path to help people grow in this relationship. It’s called “The Way of the Heart,” and it’s based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The Way of the Heart is a nine-step spiritual itinerary. The first three steps focus on the heart – the heart of God who loves us; our own hearts, with all our desires and distractions; and the heart of the world, with its suffering and longing. Steps four to six focus on the heart of Christ – how he loves, how he preaches, how he calls us his friends and sends us forth. And the final three steps center on the mission – how we are called to participate in Christ’s own mission of compassion.
Excerpts above taken from Knights of Columbus monthly publication, Columbia, June 2025, pages 18-21.
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