Parishioners from St. Clare, Our Lady of Fatima, St. John Bosco, Santa Maria Goretti, and Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples gathered for the final night of a Lenten pilgrimage, reflecting on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
On March 26, Archbishop Stephen Hero welcomed the community warmly, drawing them into the mystery of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.
He shared memories of his boyhood in Montreal, where devotion to the Sacred Heart seemed to be everywhere. Roadside shrines displayed Jesus with a flaming heart and outstretched arms, making God’s love visible.
When his family moved to Edmonton at age ten, he initially felt out of place—until he glimpsed a statue outside the Edmonton General Hospital of that same welcoming heart. It seemed to whisper, “We’re home; God is here, and there’s a place for us.”
Archbishop Hero invited the faithful to reflect on the heart of Christ as open, fiery, and welcoming. “Think of the heart of Christ as a cave or a tipi, a tent where we can enter and be with him,” he said. “In a tipi, a fire keeps the family warm. That’s how Jesus’ heart is—open, a place for family, a place of love.” He reminded everyone that faith calls for transformation: “Have a change of heart…taking a new heart really means entering Christ’s heart.”
He described the many dimensions of Christ’s heart: fiery, maternal, compassionate, and welcoming. While His human heart was small, its divine love is vast—“bigger than the whole universe—there is room for all in God’s heart.” Archbishop Hero encouraged everyone to fan the flame of love in daily life through prayer and service to others.
In closing, he extended a personal invitation: “Enter the tent of your heart, invite Jesus in, and let it expand, causing us to love one another.”
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