Enthrone the Sacred Heart in Your Home Using the Messy Family Project’s Play + Pray Challenge.

My son and his wife have a stunning image of Jesus cupping his own Sacred Heart in his hand and offering it to us. Jesus’ eyes speak eloquently: “Will you take it? It is for you.” My son and daughter-in-law placed a kneeler before this image and two candles on either side of it. When my grandson was a baby, his mother would often carry him to that picture and say, “Look, Jesus loves you; he is giving you his heart.” 

Introducing children to the Sacred Heart of Jesus impresses upon them who Jesus is, cementing in their minds the fact that he wants to be in a relationship of love with them. Later, when children learn more about Jesus’ death on the cross, they will more readily understand that he sacrificed himself out of love for them.

Extra-Extra-Read-All-About It… the Bishops Consecrate the U.S.

In June 2026, as our country prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

It is a perfect time for Catholic parents everywhere to consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart as well. If you want some guidance, the Messy Family Project (MFP) has a program in place to help families do this very thing. 

I am a huge fan of the Messy Family Project. Mike and Alicia Hernon, who founded MFP in 2018, are experienced parents who have lived the call to Catholic family life and have a gift for distilling the essentials and providing younger families with excellent resources and authentic community. Their Play + Pray Challenge is a great introduction to MFP. 

The Play + Pray Guide Will Get You Started.

In the free Play + Pray download, you’ll read brief, personal stories and explanations that will help you understand why playing and praying with your family strengthens family bonds and help dads and moms lead their children to heaven. 

Also in the Play + Pray download you’ll find:

• Ways you and your family can have a blast on your special family-fun day. Mike and Alicia have many suggestions for family-fun day. Even though our kids no longer live with us, I think a planned family-fun day would be a great way to enjoy time with our adult kids next time we get together. One of MFP’s suggestions is to make a movie together—why have we never tried that before?
• Ideas for a date night on any budget. Both my husband and I are such homebodies, it is good for us to have a list of activities and say, “You pick one and I’ll pick one, then we will do both.” I know we’ll have fun if we can just get moving. (And if we don’t, we can just blame it on Mike and Alicia!)
• Prayers and a simple ceremony to enthrone Jesus in your home. Many Catholic parents want to pray with their kids, but they don’t know where to start. This consecration takes you by the hand and shows you.
• A printable image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. An unframed, somewhat dog-eared image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary were tacked to the wall of my bedroom when I was a kid. I lay in bed and looked at those images many times, and I know they impacted my young imagination and stirred my devotion to God.

Don’t Delay! June is Upon Us!

Download the Play + Pray Challenge and start making plans for your family. You can do the challenge anytime, but June is traditionally the Month of the Sacred Heart. Mike and Alicia will send you a few email reminders during the month of June and some extra support to keep you on track.

“Playing” with your family builds bonds of love and trust. It communicates to your loved ones that they are worth your time. 

“Praying” as a family is the solid rock upon which you can build a united, mission-oriented family. When hard times come, your family will face them together. Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Let’s pray together, now: 

Lord Jesus, thank you for having a purpose and a plan for us as individuals, as married couples, and as a family. It is so exciting to be on Team Jesus! We place our trust in you, knowing that you are in the midst of us, offering us your heart and inviting us to go on mission to bring your heart to others. We humbly submit ourselves to you…we want to learn to love and serve you better. Jesus, you are our King!

Christine Hanus’ lifework is to glorify God at all costs and to encourage others to do the same. As a Catholic writer, she contributes to several online organizations and is the author of Everyday Heroism: 28 Daily Reflections on the Little Way of Motherhood. (You can find her also on Substack at awkward4jesus.com.) She and her husband, Patrick, raised five children and recently moved back to their college town of Steubenville, OH.