The Heart That Still Bleeds
Transcript of A Shepherd's Voice - June 2, 2025
Welcome to A Shepherd’s Voice. As we enter the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we explore a mystery that is both ancient and urgent: The Heart That Still Bleeds.
Let us begin with words of sacred Scripture, from the Gospel according to St. John, chapter 19, verse 34:
“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”
This was no ordinary injury. It was the opening of Christ’s very heart – the source of salvation, the fountain of mercy, and the wellspring of love.
During His Passion, Jesus’ Heart was pierced not only by the soldier’s spear but by the weight of all human sin and rejection. His Heart was crushed by sorrow, abandoned by His friends, mocked by His enemies, and burdened with the weight of the world’s brokenness.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully described this suffering:
“There is no wound which grieves the Heart of Jesus more than the blindness and ingratitude of men.”
The Sacred Heart is not just an image or symbol – it is a living, glorified Heart, still wounded, still bleeding, still burning with love for a world that too often turns away.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the center of the Christian mystery. It is not a poetic metaphor – it is the real, beating Heart of the Son of God, now glorified in heaven and present in the Eucharist.
God, in His mercy, has allowed His people to see this truth with their eyes through Eucharistic miracles – real, tangible moments when the Sacred Heart is made visible.
The Church’s recorded Eucharistic miracles powerfully reveal the reality of Christ’s living, beating Heart present among us.
For example:
The Miracle of Lanciano, Italy (8th century): A priest, doubting the Real Presence, saw the host change into living flesh and the wine into blood during Mass. Scientific studies in the 1970’s revealed that the flesh is human heart muscle – myocardium – with blood type AB, matching that of other Eucharistic miracles.
The Miracle of Buenos Aires, Argentina (1996): A consecrated host, found discarded, began to transform visibly into a piece of bloody tissue. Under scientific analysis, it was confirmed to be living human heart tissue – again from the myocardium, under stress, with signs of inflammation, as if from torture.
The Miracle of Santarem, Portugal (13th and 20th Centuries): In the 13th century, a woman took a consecrated host home due to doubts. The host bled onto a corporal, leaving a stain that has remained fresh for centuries. In 1996, another host began to bleed again in the same city – a powerful witness that Christ’s Heart is still among us, still offering Himself, still being wounded.
These are not myths. These are scientifically examined, historically documented, Church-approved Eucharistic miracles that reveal the same truth:
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is alive, and it is present in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart, wrote: “I saw His Heart all on fire with love for men, and I felt it burn with desire to be loved in return.”
St. Gertrude the Great said: “The Heart of Jesus is the most loving Heart that has ever beat in a human breast.”
Pope Pius XII called devotion to the Sacred Heart “a perfect summary of the whole Gospel,” revealing God’s mercy and justice in one.
St. John Paul II said: “The Heart of Christ is the source of mercy and love. It is the open heart of God who embraces the whole world.”
Pope Leo XIII declared: “There is no wound, no sorrow, no pain of the Sacred Heart that is not the measure of God’s love for mankind..”
St. Faustina Kowalska, the mystic of Divine Mercy, wrote that Jesus said: “My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for sinners.”
The Sacred Heart is the meeting place of divine love and human suffering – a Heart still wounded by rejection but ever open and inviting.
Why does the Sacred Heart still bleed?
Because the wounds from Calvary are not simply historical – they continue with every sacrilege, betrayal, and cold indifference.
The Passion of Jesus did not end at Calvary. Its grace remains, yes – but so do its sorrows. Every sin against His love, every rejection of His truth, wounds His Heart.
St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote: “When I think of the Heart of Jesus in His Passion, I find no language to express my sorrow.”
Pope Benedict XVI taught: “The heart of God is the heart of a Father who loves with a love stronger than death.”
Yet this love is wounded most deeply by betrayal and apostasy.
Today, that betrayal is not just personal – it is sometimes systemic. Within the Church herself, Christ’s Heart is pierced anew. We see the wounding today in many ways:
When Catholics receive the Eucharist in a state of grave sin, without confession or true repentance, as if the Body of Christ were ordinary bread.
When Mass is treated casually, with irreverent music, distractions, or even deliberate abuses that obscure the sacred.
When priests or bishops contradict Church teaching on moral issues, leading the faithful into confusion or complacency.
When the truth is softened to avoid offense – and sin is no longer named, but normalized.
When devotions like the Sacred Heart or Eucharistic adoration are dismissed as outdated or sentimental.
When the Real Presence is denied in practice, because tabernacles are hidden, genuflection is lost, and reverence fades.
When division and scandal within the Church cause many to lose faith or walk away entirely.
Each of these is not just a problem – it is a wound in the living Heart of Christ.
And each one strikes at the Heart that still burns with mercy, still longs for holiness, still cries out, “Do you love Me?”
How do we console this wounded Heart?
Through reparation – an ancient, sacred act of love.
Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary for the devotion of the First Fridays receiving Holy Communion in a state of grace on nine consecutive First Fridays, in honor of His Sacred Heart. This is not superstition; it is a path of healing.
St. John Paul II urged: “Make acts of reparation so that the wounds inflicted on the Sacred Heart of Jesus may be healed by our love.”
Simple acts are powerful, such as:
Spending quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament.
Praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart
Offering daily sacrifices or rosaries as reparation
Loving others in fidelity, even when it costs us
These acts pour balm on the Heart that still bleeds and open us to grace and transformation.
Even when ill and suffering, St. Claude de la Colombiere, the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary, offered his life for the Heart of Jesus. He once said:
“What happiness to die in the arms of the Sacred Heart! This Heart, so loving, so faithful, so generous, has never rejected a repentant sinner.”
He died young, but not without purpose. His life of sacrifice and preaching spread the devotion that now spans the world. He knew the cost of love – and the value of offering it back.
So I ask you today: Will you be a John – resting your head upon the Heart of Christ, accepting His love and offering your own?
Or will you be a Judas – turning away, betraying that love through silence or sin?
John stayed. Judas fled and betrayed. One consoled. The other wounded. And the Church today still bears both these faces.
There are faithful hearts quietly loving, adoring, repairing – and there are betrayals that pierce the Sacred Heart again, such as:
Confusion in doctrine
Irreverence in the liturgy
Scandals among the clergy
Coldness in the face of the Eucharist
The abandonment of truth for popularity or comfort
Every indifference, every loss of reverence, every distortion of truth is another kiss of betrayal. And yet, Jesus continues to love. Continues to wait. Continues to bleed.
This June, as we honor the Sacred Heart, consider making a personal act of reparation.
Visit Him in adoration.
Offer a prayer for those who have wounded His Heart.
And remember, the Heart that bled on Calvary still bleeds for you – still loves you – still waits.
Let us close with a prayer of reparation:
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place my trust in You.
Heal the wounds caused by sin,
console Your aching Heart,
and kindle in me a burning love
that will never grow cold.
Amen.
Thank you for listening to A Shepherd’s Voice. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus bless and keep you this month and always.
My heart aches for the indifference and hatred shown to Our Lord. Have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Heartbreaking all the more to imagine what His Blessed Mother feels with each and every wounding