By Jessica Easthope
The Diocese of Brooklyn took a powerful step of faith Friday, officially consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is part of a national movement by U.S. bishops as the country prepares to mark its 250th anniversary.
Inside the sacristy at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James sits a chair dating back to the diocese’s founding. On it is an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the center of a clock. It’s said the image symbolizes that every hour of the day should be devoted to the Sacred Heart. That’s exactly what Althea Forde-Jobe does. She attended the Mass of Consecration in Downtown Brooklyn on June 12, the feast of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“I do a lot of praying to Sacred Heart. We do need God and His son to bring the country as it should be, because it’s not getting better every day,” Forde-Jobe said.
The vicar general of the Diocese of Brooklyn, Monsignor Joseph Grimaldi, celebrated the special Mass. He said the country is in the midst of a modern crisis, with people losing their humanity in the age of AI, but that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the living answer.
“Our hearts have been infused with the love of God. And it is that love of God in us that makes human knowledge different. It’s only the human heart that can show compassion. It’s only the human heart that can show empathy, not artificial intelligence,” Monsignor Grimaldi said.
Jim Connell, a parishioner at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Brooklyn Heights, said what the country needs now more than ever is a kind of unity and grace we can only get through Christ.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for us to give thanks for God’s love for us. As a country, we’ve been endowed with so many good gifts, but also to take the time to ask forgiveness for those times in our history where we haven’t lived up to what God’s love means to us,” Connell said.
In a letter to Diocese of Brooklyn priests, Bishop Robert Brennan encouraged them to promote special devotional practices, specifically the corporal works of mercy, as part of the country’s 250th anniversary year.