Jubilee of the Heart of Jesus: Bishop Munilla invites activities for the 350th anniversary of the revelation

The Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla, has recalled the importance of the current Jubilee Year, which celebrates the 350th anniversary of the revelation of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French saint whose feast day is celebrated today.

This commemoration, under the motto “Return love for love“, will conclude on the Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus in 2025 and has as its epicenter Paray-le-Monial, the French commune where the revelation occurred and where the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is today, as well as other sanctuaries dedicated to the Heart of Jesus in other countries.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, Bishop Munilla highlighted that he carries in his pectoral a relic of Saint Margaret, witness and repository of the promises and revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The message of Jesus is read on the relic: “Behold this heart that has loved men so much.” This revelation, according to the prelate, is a sample of God’s infinite love, but also a denunciation of the lack of response that he often receives.

“What a danger God has run when he opens his heart and now sees how we respond to him,” said Mons. Munilla, underlining the need to recognize and correspond to God’s love in this time of grace.

Jubilee celebrations and initiatives

The Spanish bishop assured that this Jubilee Year is an invitation for Catholics around the world to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their parishes and to respond with gratitude to his unconditional love.

During this time, which began on December 27, 2023 – the anniversary of the first main apparition – until June 27, 2025, there will be different moments of pilgrimage, liturgical celebrations and other types of meetings in Paray-le-Monial. Dioceses from France and the world, as well as communities linked to the Sacred Heart, will be invited to make a pilgrimage to the site or hold local events.

Las “Paray meetings”, for example, are spiritual retreats in Paray-le-Monial to rest in the Heart of Jesus. They will be carried out from Thursday, October 31 to Sunday, November 3, 2024with activities such as the Holy Hour, First Friday Mass, Via Crucis, prayer for the sick, a Vigil of Mercy and catechesis. There will also be another date of Thursday, December 5 to Sunday, December 8.

Another initiative comes from the Pope’s World Prayer Network for its 180 years of creation. In July 2025, the group will carry out an international pilgrimage, where the Eucharistic Youth Movement (MEJ) will deepen its pedagogy, connected with this devotion and the Apostleship of Prayer. The dates of the pilgrimage to Paray-le-Monial will be from July 15 to 20, 2025.

The Church in Spain is also organizing an international congress on the Heart of Jesus, called “Cor Iesu, spes mundi” (Heart of Jesus, hope of the world), under the direction of the Archbishop of Valladolid, Mons. Luis Argüello. This event will take place from June 6 to 8, 2025 in that Spanish city.

Furthermore, Pope Francis announced in June who is preparing a document that collects reflections on the Sacred Heart from previous magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures, “to re-propose this cult, full of spiritual beauty, to the entire Church today.”

“I think it will do us a lot of good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love that can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, that say something significant to a world that seems to have lost its heart,” said the Holy Father.