Today is June 12, Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
We read in the Gospel at today’s Mass, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:23-24).
Before we offer worship, we must first be reconciled with our brother. This teaching isn’t a minor detail of discipleship; it’s a fundamental part of the Christian life. And it’s especially relevant as we continue our devotion to the Sacred Heart during this month of June.
A central theme of the Sacred Heart devotion is reconciliation — not only with God, but with one another. The love that flows from Christ’s pierced Heart restores not just our relationship with the Father (the vertical dimension), but also invites healing and peace among our human relationships (the horizontal dimension).
Pope Francis, in his encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Dilexit nos, puts it beautifully: “Reconciliation and peace are born of the heart. The heart of Christ is ecstasy — openness, gift and encounter.”
The Sacred Heart is a model of love that extends outward. In it, we learn how to relate to one another in “wholesome and happy ways,” as Pope Francis says — ways that build up a true civilization of love and justice.
Practicing humility
One striking insight from the encyclical is this: “Part of the spirit of reparation is the custom of asking forgiveness from our brothers and sisters.”
That sounds simple. But we all know how difficult it can be. Asking for forgiveness requires humility. It demands that we swallow our pride — a phrase that’s as visceral as it is accurate. To ask for pardon is to bow the head, to make ourselves vulnerable. And yet, Pope Francis reminds us that doing so is an act of great nobility, a rare strength among human weaknesses.
Why is reconciliation so noble? Because it breaks our natural tendency. Our instinct is to be generous with ourselves — excusing our faults, rationalizing our needs — but to be harsh and exacting with others. True reconciliation overturns that pattern. It asks us to extend the same mercy to others that we so freely give ourselves.
So today, let us ask: Where in my life do I need reconciliation? Whom do I need to forgive — or ask forgiveness from? With the love of Christ, reconciliation is possible, even when it feels impossible. His Sacred Heart is our strength.
Let us pray,
God, from whom all good things come, grant that we, who call on you in our need, may at your prompting discern what is right, and by your guidance do it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
