Sharing the heart of Jesus

Karla Kramer just wants people to know how much Jesus loves them.

That’s why she’s “ecstatic” that the U.S. bishops are preparing to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11.

“We’re so excited to see God working in our country — with the Eucharistic Revival, and all that growth in understanding, and now we’re consecrating the country to the Sacred Heart,” she said. “…It’s not just about Him being with us in the celebratory good times, but I think it’s important that we know He wants to be with us maybe even more at the difficult times. That’s how much He loves us. He wants to be with us always.”

Kramer, a parishioner at St. Clement of Rome in Des Peres and mother of eight, founded the St. Louis-based Sodality of the Most Sacred Heart in 2016. The Sodality is an association that aims to foster a deep understanding of Jesus’ love, mercy and longing to be in relationship with all people, and to increase the awareness that all are created with great purpose and infinite worth to love and be loved.

It started with a core group of 12 people and has grown to close to 300 members.

“We just want people to know how greatly loved they are by God and how precious they are, because that’s really what I receive: how He sees our hearts,” Kramer said. “He sees us through and beyond all that brokenness, and you have no idea how beautiful you are and how God sees you.”

Loving and longing

Kramer’s deep love for Jesus started in childhood, but she didn’t have a name for the devotion to the Sacred Heart until she learned about the Catholic faith.

After growing up with a Methodist mother and atheist father, then marrying into a large Catholic family, she and her husband, Tony, landed at St. Clement of Rome. The late Msgr. James Pieper took her under his wing as she went through RCIA classes, but she had some lingering doubts.

She can still recall how she felt sitting in the pew before Holy Thursday Mass in 2005.

“I was praying before that service, and I just felt in my heart the Lord saying to me, ‘Karla, you want to fix my Church from the outside. I want you to come in,’” she said. “It was convicting.”

After Kramer entered the Church, she got involved in a Bible study and made some close Catholic female friends. She started going to daily Mass; then, she decided to check out her parish’s eucharistic adoration chapel. Another friend introduced her to the Liturgy of the Hours. She picked up a book of Catholic devotions at the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary auction and learned how to pray the Rosary.

On Oct. 16, 2013, she went to daily Mass and then to the adoration chapel. As she started praying the first Glorious Mystery of the Rosary — the Resurrection — she offered up the intention of her father and brother, both nonbelievers, to find the Risen Lord.

“I was kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, and I just had this experience of our Lord before me, but not with my eyes. It’s very strange to talk about, but He was there with His Sacred Heart extended before Him, and He said…into my heart: ‘I ask you to pray, not only for your father and brother but for all souls that are far from me, for I love them and long for them,’” she said. “It still brings tears to my eyes, because in that experience, it’s like I could feel His heart — there are no words to express the amount of love and care but this immense longing.”

The Lord gave her an image of a dark and cloudy place with figures of people, wrapped and bound. Jesus was so close to them, but they couldn’t see. “He just wanted them to see Him and know He was there,” she said.

As she walked out of the church, she called her brother-in-law, Father Mark Kramer, SJ, who had been a source of support for her as she became Catholic and grew in her faith. She told him what she had experienced, and he connected her to two fellow Jesuits, Father Chris Collins and Father James Kubicki, who were involved in the Apostleship of Prayer network dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

Oct. 16, she learned, was the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the 17th-century French nun who received visions of Christ revealing His Sacred Heart and instructing her to spread devotion to Him.

With the priests’ help and encouragement, Kramer developed what would become the Sodality of the Most Sacred Heart over the course of the next three years.

“From that experience, and in prayer, what I received is that consoling of our Lord’s Sacred Heart,” she said. “When you know the love of Him, you can’t help but try to fulfill His heart’s greatest desire, and that’s that all people would come to Him and that He could love them and be loved by them.”

Sodality members are encouraged to pray daily the Morning Offering and Angelus, devote time to mental prayer, attend daily Mass when possible, examine their conscience in the evening, go to confession monthly and participate regularly in corporal works of mercy.

Members gather on first Friday evenings at St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood for Mass, Sacred Heart devotions, dinner, a talk and children’s activities. A group also meets at the Old Cathedral at mid-day on first Fridays, and some participate in a Holy Hour on Wednesday mornings at St. Clement of Rome.

“We have a component of reparation, definitely, but we try to treat (first Fridays) like a celebration,” Kramer said.

Laura and Andy Mack and their three children, ages 5, 4 and 2, were introduced to the Sodality of the Most Sacred Heart about two years ago through their parish, St. Mary Magdalen. The Macks (including baby number four, due in November) also attend the Oratory of Sts. Gregory and Augustine in Richmond Heights.

Even before finding the Sodality, Laura Mack had felt herself being pulled toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she said. She experienced some health problems during her third pregnancy, and amid the suffering, she was searching for a consoling love and hope.

“You look at Jesus, and you think of all of the sufferings that He went through to redeem us. So, when you think of the hard times in your life, you think: There’s still that resurrection, there’s still that beauty, all that love and good to come,” she said. “It’s that beating heart, the beauty of His Sacred Heart, knowing that He holds me close, that I can actually reach out and I can touch His heart and use it for myself so that I can be more compassionate, more loving, more merciful to others.”

In October, the Macks were officially enrolled in the Sodality. They attend first Friday events, pray with their children every night and remind their kids throughout the day: “Jesus’ Sacred Heart is loving you right now.”

“It’s amazing what God can do when you start to recognize all of the love that He gives to us,” Mack said. “A way I’ve seen it spill over is just having more peace, a little bit more patience with my children when they’re screaming. I see it in the little moments — it’s opened my eyes to see those little God moments in your life.”

Set on fire

You have to know Jesus and experience His love before you can share it with others, Kramer said.

“The Lord gives us holy Scripture, the word of God, the sacraments,” she said. “You have to actively be doing those things, and once you have that experience and you receive, then you can give, because you have something to say. It’s your experience with God (the Father) and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and how it’s blessed your life and excited you.”

The Sodality invites families to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart and “enthrone” a blessed image of the Sacred Heart in their homes by placing it in a prominent position. It’s a reminder for the family members throughout the day, but it’s also an opportunity to spark conversation with people who come into your home and see the image, Kramer said.

“It’s a way of committing oneself to the Sacred Heart and declaring, I want to be devoted to you and live my life as a response to your love for me,” she said. “I want my heart to be filled with the thoughts and feelings of your heart. I want our two hearts to beat as one. So as I go through my day, I will live in such a way that our hearts will be set on fire with the love of your heart in me.”

Sodality members are also encouraged to fast and pray for the intentions of the Sacred Heart, especially for those souls who are far from the Lord. Often, you don’t see the fruit of those efforts, the slow work of God in someone’s heart.

But sometimes you do. After years of prayer, Kramer’s formerly atheist brother and father were baptized and received into the Catholic Church.

“I definitely believe that nothing is impossible with God,” she said.

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

All are invited to join the Sodality of the Most Sacred Heart to celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart on Friday, June 12, at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2618 S. Brentwood Blvd.

• 4 p.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, adoration, reconciliation and Rosary for the sanctification of priests
• 5 p.m. Eucharistic procession with Benediction and National Consecration to the Sacred Heart prayer
• 5:30 p.m. Mass, followed by dinner in church lower level
• 7 p.m. Reflection by Father James Kubicki, SJ, and activities for children including pony rides, petting zoo, snow cones and face painting.

For more information, visit mostsacredheart.net.

Consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart

On June 11, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The national consecration — at Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica in Orlando, Florida — will be livestreamed via the USCCB homepage on June 11. Learn more at usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus.

Join the U.S. Church from June 3-11 in praying a Novena to the Sacred Heart, which will conclude with the nationwide consecration. The novena draws its daily devotions from the Litany of the Sacred Heart, and each day reflects on the wisdom of saints and popes on the Sacred Heart and offers opportunities for prayer and action, framed by Pope Francis’ encyclical “Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us)” and Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te (I Have Loved You).” Find the novena prayers at usccb.org/novena-sacred-heart-jesus.