“An Act of Hope”: Bishops Consecrate US to Sacred Heart

Yesterday, the Bishops as a group consecrated the US to the Sacred Heart. Today, many of them will repeat the consecration in their cathedrals.

From Aleteia

By Theresa Civantos Barber

On June 11, as part of the America 250 celebrations, the U.S. bishops formally consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On June 11, 2026, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops formally consecrated the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is June 12 this year.

Parishes around the country were encouraged to join the bishops in celebrating the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart with their own Masses, Holy Hours, novena prayers, and other devotions. 

The special Mass and prayer of Consecration took place Thursday afternoon in the midst of the plenary assembly of the bishops, underway through June 12 in Orlando, Florida. The Mass and all public assembly sessions were recorded and can be seen on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. 

The consecration took place with a special prayer, read all together, during the Mass, right after the Prayers of the Faithful.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore delivered the homily, declaring this Consecration of the U.S. to be an “act of faith,” a witness that history is “the story of God's faithful love at work in the world.

And he declared it an “act of hope” for the nation’s future, a reminder that “the future belongs to God.”

Read the full text of his remarks below:

Brother bishops, dear priests and deacons, women and men in consecrated life, faithful lay women and men, dear friends in Christ all: What a remarkable moment of grace we are privileged to share. On the threshold of our nation's 250th anniversary, we gather not first to celebrate ourselves, but to consecrate, to entrust, to place the Church in the United States—and indeed to place our whole nation—into the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. 

Why do we do this? Because consecration is an act of faith. It is an acknowledgement that history is not simply the story of what human beings can accomplish. It is the story of God's faithful love at work in the world. 

We give thanks for the blessings of these past 250 years, but we do so with a humble faith, recognizing that every nation stands in need of God’s mercy, wisdom, and guidance. We consecrate our nation, not because it is perfect, but because it is beloved by God. 

We entrust to the heart of Christ our achievements and our failures, our hopes and our anxieties, our present challenges and our future aspirations. We ask him to heal what is working, strengthen what is good, and guide us towards the future guided by justice, peace, freedom, and respect for the dignity of every human person—especially the unborn, the immigrant, the poor, and the vulnerable. 

Consecration is also an act of hope. It is a declaration that the future does not belong merely to political movements, economic forces, or human plans. The future belongs to God. And so we place into His heart, not only ourselves, but generations yet unborn—all those who will inherit the Church and the nation we leave behind. 

In a culture that prizes independence and self-reliance, we gather publicly to acknowledge that our deepest identity and our truest hope come not from ourselves but from the Lord. That is why this afternoon's Gospel is so fitting. Jesus says, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” The Sacred Heart is the visible sign of that love. It is not an abstract devotion. It is a revelation of God's love in the flesh, a heart that has known joy and sorrow, friendship and betrayal, suffering and sacrifice. 

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us something else that is extraordinary. He says, “I have called you friends.” The Sacred Heart reveals a Savior who desires not merely our obedience, but our friendship; not simply our service, but our communion with Him.

To consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart is ultimately to accept Jesus's invitation to remain in His love, and to allow that love to shape every aspect of our lives, public and private. In my recent pastoral letter, In Charity and Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture, I reflected on the certainty that truth and love are never opposed: They meet perfectly in the heart of Christ. 

Jesus tells us, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” To love as Christ loves is the true measure of Christian discipleship, and it is the true measure of our humanity. Yet, if we are honest, we must acknowledge that neither our nation nor the Church has always reflected that love. Indeed, it is sometimes obscured almost beyond recognition. To be sure, there have been moments of extraordinary witness and holiness, but there have also been moments of failure, division, and sin. Consecration requires the humility to acknowledge both. We cannot come to the heart of Christ while pretending we have no need of His mercy. To consecrate ourselves and our nation is to place our wounds, our shortcomings, and our sins through the one whose love is greater than them all. 

Jesus also says in today's Gospel, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last.” Those words describe the Church's mission throughout our nation's history. Catholics have contributed immeasurably to the life of this country through faith, sacrifice, education, charity, and service. We give God thanks and praise for that legacy and commend to His love—the love of His heart—those who have gone before us in faith. 

Yet consecration is not merely about remembering the past. It is about accepting responsibility for the future. 

To consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart means remaining in Christ's love and carrying that love out into the world. It means building communities, ecclesial and civil, where the truth is proclaimed clearly and charity is practiced generously. It means resisting the temptation to define ourselves by division, ideology, or resentment. The Sacred Heart does not divide, it reconciles. It does not harden hearts, it transforms them. It does not simply invite us to receive love: It sends us forth to share it. 

My brother bishops, this Gospel speaks to you and me in a particular way. “I chose you.” Those words should fill us with humility and gratitude. Our ministry is not something that we have earned. It is a gift entrusted to us for the service of God's people, and for the wider community.

And to all the faithful, this consecration is not something the bishops do for you. It's something we do together. The renewal of the church and the renewal of our nation will not come through declarations alone. It will come through disciples who remain in Christ's love and bear the good fruit of holiness in families, parishes, communities, and in their day-to-day lives. 

As we approach this great anniversary of our nation, we may be tempted towards nostalgia for the past or anxiety about the future. Today, we choose something better: Trust. 

Today we place the Church of the United States, and these United States of America, into the Sacred Heart of Jesus—not because we have figured everything out, but because we know the One whose love endures forever. 

In this Heart we find gratitude for the past, strength for the present, and hope for the future.

While the U.S. bishops consecrated America to the Sacred Heart, the French blockbuster Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End is now playing in U.S. theaters June 9 - 11 and 14. This docudrama tells the story of St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart’s meaning and message. Families, parishes and schools can draw closer to this historic consecration by going to see this film that brings to life the spiritual movement.