Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, our parish namesake. We celebrate what St. Bonaventure identified as the source of the fountain fullness of love poured into our hearts. Our hearts, in Latin the word is “cor” from which is derived the English word, “core” as in the core, the center of being, the center of prayer and hope, the center of our moral compass, and center of the stories that matter to us.
And today we also celebrate Father’s Day and honor the men in our lives whose presence shaped and formed us, passing on the Faith, passing on a moral compass, and letting us know where we stand in the world. All done through their experiences and passed on to us in wisdom and stories. I think we can all tell stories and recount sayings from our fathers. One of my favorite expressions from my father was “the main thing is making sure the main thing remains the main thing.” As I said, we all have our own stories. Continue reading
These days, there are four words that are a sure way to get a reaction: “make America great again.” What kind of reaction? The “whys” “whats” and “wherefores” of the reaction, well, that is for another time and place. Like many slogans it is meant to point to some narrative beyond itself, to a larger story, to provide meaning, purpose, and destiny to this life.
The Franciscan friars of Holy Name Province have served at Sacred Heart in Tampa since 2005. The friars assumed pastoral leadership from the Jesuits of the Southern Province who had well served the people since 1882. The Jesuits and their tradition continue for the citizenry of Tampa through their ministry at Jesuit High School. The Jesuits have left their mark in downtown by the amazing edifice that is our church. Their legacy also is appropriately displayed in their motto, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, “to the greater glory of God,” which adorns the arch over the transept/sanctuary. 
Many years ago I received a letter. It was a letter that I wished, snow or rain or heat or gloom of night could have stayed that courier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds. It was a heart-breaking letter from my father, letting me know he had inoperable cancer. “Heart-breaking” is one of the expressions we use invoking the heart. We use expressions such as, “I know that by heart,” we do things “to our hearts content,” and we “cross our hearts” to verify we are telling the truth. Some folks “wear their hearts on their sleeves,” at times are burdened with “a heavy heart,” or blessed with a “heart filled with joy.” Sometimes our “hearts are broken.” It is the poetic expressions that are closer to the heart of the Bible. 
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