If you stop to think about it, it’s incredibly beautiful that we have a month dedicated to honoring Jesus’ immense love for us. That’s certainly worth a celebration!
Why is the month of June dedicated to Jesus’ Sacred Heart? It’s because the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart usually falls in this month; this year it’s June 16.
The universal Church has officially celebrated this feast since 1856, and ever since then the month of June has been focused on devotion to the Heart of Jesus and his divine love for humanity.
Here are 3 ways to celebrate this feast day with the children you love.
1Explain to the kids why we celebrate
Kids might find it confusing that we are celebrating Jesus’ heart, so take a moment to explain that this feast is a celebration of God’s great love for us.
When I explained this feast day to my kids, one of them said, “If God didn’t love us, we wouldn’t be here!” Wow, I hadn’t quite thought about it that way, but what a reminder of why we celebrate.
2Read a book or watch a video
For my preschoolers, I like to read this book Found: Psalm 23 by Sally Lloyd-Jones to honor this feast. It’s about a little sheep and the Good Shepherd’s never ending love, a perfect visual representation of the relationship that this feast celebrates.
Older kids can read the story of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who did so much to promote the devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart in recent centuries. A great book for older readers is St. Margaret Mary and the Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
You could also look up a short online video about this feast to share with your kids. HOLY KIDS! The Sacred Heart of Jesus suggests making Sacred Heart pancakes for the feast, and Teach Catholic Kids About The Sacred Heart includes a suggestion for making Holy Family puppets. Both videos explain what the feast day is all about in kid-friendly words.
3Choose a craft or recipe to do together
I spent years skipping liturgical crafts because my kids were too little to enjoy them, but now my older kids love crafts and don’t need help to make them, so we’ve started to do more of them.
I’m a big believer in doing things with your kids that you enjoy and skipping things you don’t. If liturgical crafts and activities are your thing, here are a few sweet suggestions for this feast day. And if they’re not your thing, skip ‘em with zero guilt!
Sacred Heart activities:
- Sacred Heart Jell-o cake from Catholic All Year
- Sacred Heart pancakes
- Sacred Heart puppets
- Sacred Heart coloring pages
- Sacred Heart banner
My kids made the Sacred Heart banner from Lazy Liturgical and it was a big hit!
However you celebrate, let’s rejoice together in God’s infinite love for us. Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart!
And today we celebrate...