‘True to the Heart of Christ’

Celebrating Mass during a state chaplains’ pilgrimage in Connecticut, Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori reflects on Blessed Michael McGivney’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 4, 2026

Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori dedicates a restored statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, believed to have been purchased by Blessed Michael McGivney, outside Immaculate Conception Church in Terryville, Conn., June 4. — Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori dedicates a restored statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, believed to have been purchased by Blessed Michael McGivney, outside Immaculate Conception Church in Terryville, Conn., June 4. The blessing took place during a pilgrimage by Knights of Columbus state chaplains to sites associated with the life and ministry of Blessed Michael McGivney. (Photo by Paul Haring)

Editor’s Note: Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori delivered the following homily at a Mass he concelebrated at Immaculate Conception Church in Terryville, Connecticut, during a pilgrimage by state chaplains on June 4. The pilgrimage took place during the annual State Chaplains Meeting held in Connecticut June 3-6 and included stops at several sites associated with the life of Blessed Michael McGivney, including Waterbury, where he was born; St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, where he served as pastor from 1884 until his death in 1890; and Immaculate Conception Church, a mission church he also served.

At the conclusion of this Mass, I will bless a restored statue of the Sacred Heart that Father McGivney is thought to have purchased for the princely sum of $19. Back in the day, of course, $19 was worth a lot more than it is today. These days you can’t buy a purificator for $19!

I’m told it’s not 100% certain that Father McGivney purchased this statue, but what is 100% certain is that Father McGivney had great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and that he was a priest after the mind and heart of Jesus. In this, he is our exemplar as priests of Jesus Christ and as chaplains of the Order, successors all of Father McGivney.

The Heart of Christ

Many are the descriptions of the heart of Christ. His Sacred Heart is described as “an abyss of charity,” “the temple of God,” “the source of justice and love,” “a heart obedient unto death,” “victim for our sins,” “our peace and reconciliation.” Perhaps Scripture offers yet another way of meditating on his Sacred Heart, one that the Church places before us this morning: the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes depict for us the heart of Jesus better than any artist.

For who was Jesus except the Son of Man with nowhere to lay his head, the Savior who mourned our sins, the Lamb meek and mild before Pilate, the Crucified who thirsted for our holiness as he hung upon the cross, the Good Samaritan who, in his mercy, took pity upon us, the Redeemer, singlehearted in his love for God the Father and us, the one who made peace by the blood of his cross, the Messiah who was mocked and persecuted. The Beatitudes — Jesus’ greatest sermon, his self-portrait — help us to peer into his heart.

There can be no doubt that Father McGivney peered into the heart of Jesus daily. It is true he left behind no journals, no spiritual diary, no books on spirituality. What he left behind was a legacy of priestly love and self-sacrifice. He didn’t so much write about the Sacred Heart as he bore it witness as he went about his pastoral ministry, whether in New Haven, Thomaston or Terryville, and as he fulfilled his responsibilities as the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Like the Lord himself, he was sparing in his use of this world’s goods. He mourned the plight of families bereft from the death of the breadwinner. While strong and purposeful, he never promoted himself, insisting that laymen lead the organization he founded. How he hungered and thirsted for the holiness of his parishioners, including young people, including the men of his parish. Father McGivney’s merciful heart was revealed in the care he gave to Chip Smith, accompanying him to the gallows. Contemporaries attest to Father McGivney’s purity of heart and soul even as he immersed himself in the life of the parishes he led and served.

Father McGivney had to be a peacemaker, for among the first Knights were some strong personalities. And he was persecuted — criticized by fellow clergy — as a dreamer on the one hand and as ambitious on the other. He bore all of this and more with a magnanimous heart.

Formed After the Heart of Christ

Today’s Collect also sums up Blessed Michael’s conformity to the Sacred Heart. In that prayer we gave God thanks and praise for setting Blessed Michael in the Church “to comfort the suffering and the weary, the lonely and the oppressed, with works of charity and a gentle heart.” So too, St. Paul helps us see Blessed Michael’s conformity to Christ’s heart when he exhorts us to conduct ourselves “with humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit.”

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” As we reflect on the legacy of the Knights of Columbus, we glimpse the heart of Blessed Michael. That he made charity the foundation of the Order reflects his own ardent pastoral charity, after the mind and heart of Christ, a pastoral charity that was humble, gentle and patient, as he mastered every situation, not by domination, but by love. As a pastor intent on gathering the flock of God, he put unity and fraternity at the heart of his Order — a unity that flowed from his own union with the heart of Christ, a unity so important, not only in maintaining good order, but in expanding the mission of the Church and the mission of the Order.

In a word, the Knights of Columbus he founded reflects the truth and love of the Sacred Heart that found a home in his priestly heart.

Our Role as Chaplains

As chaplains, we don’t run the Order. True to Father McGivney’s vision, it is lay-led. Yet, like him, we are influencers, ministers, spiritual guides who help to ensure that the Order in our respective jurisdictions remains true to the heart of Christ and the priestly heart of Blessed Michael. Our preaching, celebrations of Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation, the talks we give, the relationships we form with the state council and with our brother priests and Knights in our various states — these surely aim at helping Knights and their families not merely to live abstract principles but indeed to be conformed to the heart of Christ through their participation in the Order.

Perhaps Father McGivney purchased a statue of the Sacred Heart for only $19. What he left behind — for you, for me, and for our brother Knights and families — is priceless.

Vivat Jesus!