June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Not pride.
The Sacred Heart represents Jesus’ ultimate humility. Ironically, the exact opposite of pride. How ironic that they choose to celebrate one of the 7 deadly sins and the polar opposite virtue that this month is meant for.
This matters. A lot.
And no, not in a performative “let’s fight the culture war with a themed snack” kind of way. I mean it matters because our homes are being formed by something. Our children are always being catechized by something. Books, magazines, YouTube, TV commercials, billboards, the display at the front of the local Target, the menu at a restaurant, the grocery store sale paper, and more. The question is not whether they are learning, but who is having the biggest impact on them? You or the world?
The Church, in her wisdom, gives us June as a month to turn our eyes toward the Heart of Christ. And that is exactly where our eyes need to be.
Fighting the culture war starts at home, in your domestic church. It’s easier than you think to make a big impact on your kids that will offset the garbage the world throws at them.
Here are some ideas of how you can do that month:
What does the Sacred Heart of Jesus represent?
As a convert, I always thought the Sacred Heart of Jesus looked weird and almost gruesome. One of the best things about converting though is all the things I’ve had the ability to research and learn more about which honestly gives me a deeper appreciation for things. I feel like so many important Catholic topics are taken for granted by cradle Catholics because they learned it as a child and “already know it.” But there is something really special about learning something brand new as an adult like the symbolism behind the Sacred Heart and getting that “wow, that’s so amazing!” moment that might have otherwise been missed.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a visible reminder of the gravity of Christ’s love for us.
The Sacred Heart shows us the love of Jesus as it really is: burning, wounded, merciful, sacrificial, and still offered to us even when we are ungrateful, distracted, stubborn, and busy doing literally anything else.
- The flame reminds us of His burning love.
- The cross reminds us of His sacrifice.
- The crown of thorns reminds us that our sins wound His Heart.
- The rays remind us of His mercy and light.
It is such a beautiful devotion for children to learn about too because it gives them something concrete. They can see it. Color it. Build it. Touch it. Ask questions about it.
And honestly, some of us adults need that too. I know I did!
When is the Feast of the Sacred Heart?
This year (2026), the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is Friday, June 12th.
It is celebrated on the Friday after Corpus Christi. First, the Church turns our attention to the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Then she turns our attention to His Heart.
The Eucharist and the Sacred Heart belong together! And it’s not about pride, it’s about humility.
Don’t forget, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity, which means it is one of the higher feast days of the Church. So if your family normally abstains from meat on Fridays, this is one of those Fridays when the Church invites us to feast. So go ahead and plan a big celebration if you feel like it! Or just make a heart-shaped pepperoni pizza and call it a day. Your choice!
I do not make the rules, but I am happy to benefit from them. 😂
1. Download our FREE Sacred Heart Printables Pack
If you want an easy way to celebrate the Sacred Heart with your children, I got you!
Our free Sacred Heart Printable Pack includes:
- Sacred Heart craft
- Coloring pages
- Mazes
- Dot marker page and letter tracing
- Anatomy of the Sacred Heart pages
- Prayer page
- Art prints
- Sacred art study
- Sacred Heart Acrostic Poem
- Copywork
- And more!
It is free for email subscribers and it was made to help you bring this devotion into your home without turning it into a giant production.
I know that most moms do not need one more thing to plan out or expensive printables that all look the same. They need something affordable, beautiful, and ready to print while someone is asking for a snack and another child is looking for their pants. That’s why I make our liturgical printable packs for free!
2. Make a Sacred Heart feast day treat
This is one of the easiest feast days to celebrate with food because hearts are not exactly hard to work with.
You can make:
- A heart-shaped cake
- Heart-shaped cookies
- Heart-shaped watermelon for fruit salad
- Heart-shaped pancakes
- Heart-shaped pizza for dinner
There is a recipe for mini heart-shaped pizzas inside the freebie pack too! 😉
And because the Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity, it is a real feast day. Not a “quietly acknowledge it while eating leftovers over the sink” kind of day. Although if that is where you are this year, I respect it.
But if you can, make the day feel different. Light a candle, print out the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from our freebie pack, and make it feel special! Tell your children what you are celebrating and why. These little things count and make the best core memories.
They really make a difference!
And yes, the Feast of the Sacred Heart falls on a Friday this year (2026). Fridays are normally days of penance for Catholics, and many families choose to abstain from meat on Fridays even outside of Lent. But the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a solemnity, which means it is one of the highest feast days in the Church. When a solemnity falls on a Friday, the usual Friday abstinence does not apply, so this is a day to go all out!
3. Enthrone your home to the Sacred Heart
Image Source: Library of Congress 1874, free for public use
If your family has never enthroned your home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June is a beautiful time to learn about it.
Enthronement is a way of honoring Jesus as King of your home and family. It’s basically saying that your home belongs to Christ. Our work, our rest, our homeschool, our marriage, our parenting, our meals, our messes, our failures, and our starting over again tomorrow all belong to Him.
You can place an image of the Sacred Heart in a visible place in your home, pray together as a family, and ask Jesus to reign over your house and family. Having your priest over for dinner and having him enthrone your home and bless your image or icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is ideal. And no, your home does not need to be perfectly clean first. (I promise, your priest will not judge you!)
If Jesus waited to be welcomed into homes with clean floors, most of us would be in serious trouble.
Catholic Family Crate has a Sacred Heart Enthronement Kit on their website as well as some beautiful Sacred Heart Greeting Cards you could use this month.
4. Set up a simple Montessori-style Sacred Heart tray
For younger children, make a small hands-on tray with objects that represent the Sacred Heart.
You could include:
- A paper heart
- A small cross
- Red, orange, or yellow felt flames
- A brown pipe cleaner or twig for thorns
- Gold paper rays
- A Sacred Heart prayer card, printed image, or greeting card
Let your child build the Sacred Heart while you talk about what each part means. (We have an anatomy of the Sacred Heart and labels inside the freebie pack that you can use for this activity!)
Children remember more when they are using their hands. They remember what they build. They remember the things that become part of home life, not just the things we explain at them while they stare into the middle distance.
Ask me how I know. lol
5. Make a Sacred Heart sensory bin
For little ones, you can make a Sacred Heart sensory bin with red or gold dyed rice, dried kidney beans, felt hearts, paper flames, small crosses, silk flowers, scoops, bowls, and tongs. You can even use any leftovers you have from Valentine’s Day (C’mon, it just makes sense!)
Let them pour, sort, scoop, touch, feel, and create.
You can keep it very simple:
- “Can you find the heart?”
- “Can you put the flame above the heart?”
- “What does the cross remind us of?”
- “Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.”
Not every Catholic sensory play activity needs to be a 45-minute lesson with laminated cards and a full theology lecture. Liturgical living is a way of life, not a trendy add-on.
Sometimes it is red beans on the table and a toddler holding a paper flame. As long as you are talking about Jesus and having open conversations with your kids, it counts and it’s making a difference!
6. Pray a simple Sacred Heart prayer all month
You do not have to do something elaborate every day of June. Honest!
You can, but you don’t have to. If you want to make June special, commit to saying the Sacred Heart Prayer every day.
Simply place an image of the Sacred Heart somewhere your family will see it and pray:
“Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You.”
Or:
“Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.”
Say it in the morning, before bed, or whenever the day starts going sideways and everyone needs a reset, including you.
This is how devotion grows in family life. Not through dramatic spiritual moments, but through small repeated acts of love.
A prayer.
A candle.
A picture on the wall.
A feast day meal.
A child asking, “Why does Jesus have a heart like that?”
There it is.
Formation.
Let June belong to the Sacred Heart
I get it. The mainstream culture is loud in June. Very loud. I was discouraged to go to Google something at 1am to find that Google had changed their logo out for a rainbow disco ball for “Pride Month”. I cringed.
We are surrounded by a world that celebrates sin so we need to make an extra point to teach our children about HUMILITY this month. Catholic families do not have to let the culture decide what our homes will honor. It’s time to quietly, faithfully, and stubbornly choose something else.
Be rebellious against the mainstream. Choose the Sacred Heart!
Choose humility over pride.
Reparation over self-worship.
Mercy over noise.
Christ over whatever the world is insisting we celebrate this month…
And we can do it without being weird and frantic. We can just live differently. Set a good example in our lives, in our homes, and most importantly, in front of our children. Like I’ve said before, they will remember what we did and how we made them feel, not necessarily what we said.
So drop everything and go put an image of the Sacred Heart where they can see it. Make sure they know June belongs to Jesus, not pride and rainbows.
Make the cake.
Print the craft.
Tell them Jesus loves them with a Heart that was pierced for them.
Let June be shaped by Him. That is how Catholic culture is built in the home. These little things count and they make a big difference. This is how you raise saints!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
