My dear sisters and Sister Elisabeth, thank you for your kind invitation to be here today. I remember now, almost two years ago, when I came for my first visit. Sister Tonette met Bishop Baker and me outside because of the lockdown. Now, I’m happy to meet you in person, see the chapel, and spend time in prayer with you. What a joy it is for me to be here with you today! In the territory of the Diocese of Birmingham, there’s something very special about Cullman, about the Benedictine presence and influence, in both institutes. Cullman seems to be a Catholic focal point here in the heart of Alabama. Indeed, the heart of northern Alabama recognizes the beating heart of Christ – the Sacred Heart for which this house is aptly named. I thank each of you for your ministry and your prayers. Much is accomplished in our parishes and institutions because of the dedication and radiant witness of women religious who have given their all that the name of Jesus be known! On behalf of the entire diocese, I thank you.

I cannot help but reflect on this moment because the Sacred Heart has been such a significant part of my own life in so many different and unique ways. I grew up in Michigan’s UP (Upper Peninsula) in the village of Munising whose parish was Sacred Heart. I attended Sacred Heart Elementary School there, having been taught in large party by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Later I was enrolled in pre-theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. The house I lived in while doing graduate study in Rome (Casa Santa Maria on Humility Street) was occupied by the Visitation Sisters from France before it was turned over to the bishops of the United States. During that time, Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque was declared a Servant of God in the room that was the former chapel and now library.

The heart of Christ is par excellence the heart of love. It is an extraordinary love that reaches each of us in different ways. Above all, it is a heart that so focuses itself on the embrace of God in our lives to the very depths of our being, shoring up our wounds and opening up the amazing wonder of God today.

I still remember one young priest saying that in her wisdom, the Church has a feast day for the Sacred Heart of Jesus (and indeed there’s also one for the Immaculate Heart of Mary). Curiously, though, the Church doesn’t have a feast day for the “sacred brain of Christ.” I suppose that it is because, in the end, only love will remain and not the mere accumulation of degrees and the articulation of esoteric thought in endless debates. It is the providing a cup of water to those in need “because you belong to Christ,” as today’s Gospel gives the rationale.

Over the years here, you have demonstrated a noble history and ministry throughout the Diocese of Birmingham through your essential witness and beautiful charism that provide salt and savor for ministry here. It brings about and puts into relief the image of a God who loves, a God who cares, a God who accompanies, a God who is a presence for each of us. I thank you, and can’t thank you enough, for all you have done in our parishes and institutions here. Through your unique charism of work and prayer, ora et labora, I pray that we will draw closer to the ineffable love, rooted in the very heart of Christ, that God has for us and those we serve as we accomplish God’s work today. May God bless you all.