June is the month of the Sacred Heart, when we celebrate the passionate Heart of Jesus bleeding in a deep desire to be united with each of us in those moments of struggle, those moments where we experience a particular passion in our lives. It is in these moments that we meet Jesus in a deep and profound way, realizing that life does not come despite the Cross, but exactly in the experience of the Cross.

Because without Jesus, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5). Therefore, whatever leads us to Jesus, especially those things that lead us to Jesus while He hangs on the Cross, leads us to life. For with Jesus, there is life, there is peace, there is purpose.

In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we find all these things. In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we find our true identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Father; and it is in this identity that we find true peace, true fulfillment.

June is, however, also Pride Month, during which so many other competing factors seek to claim our identity and our purpose. Through an idea of “freedom,” Pride Month seeks to express the human person solely in sexual terms, terms that will always fail to express the entirety of the human person and the human experience. Instead of bringing freedom, these expressions bring imprisonment and chains.

I know this because, for the last twelve years, I have been blessed to serve the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as a chaplain for Courage International. And for the last eight years, I have also served as a member of the Executive Board for Courage, even serving a short time as its interim executive director.

For those unfamiliar with Courage, it is a support network for those who experience same-sex attraction and seek to live in the teachings and bounds of the Church. We also support family members and loved ones of those who are in the “lifestyle” via EnCourage (see more at www.couragerc.org).

It was through my work for Courage that I received the call of a lifetime: the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, asked to meet with us regarding this ministry and to hear the experiences of chaplains and members of Courage and EnCourage. This past February, four leaders of Courage, including myself, discussed this vital ministry with the Holy Father and it was a blessed encounter in every way.

What struck me was both the Holy Father’s awareness of Courage’s mission and importance and his message of finding life with Jesus Christ via the Cross. He displayed a great tenderness in seeing the person who has the experience of same-sex attraction and their family members.

In our conversation, the Holy Father recalled the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35). He noted that, for a time, Jesus walked in the wrong direction with Cleopas and his companion. In Luke’s account of the Gospel, the Temple is the focal point. Yet, here at the end, Jesus was walking away from it. But He did so to eventually bring these two lost and hurting souls back to Himself, as He slowly stoked the flame of faith back to life in the deep recesses of their hearts.

The work of Courage and EnCourage—ministering to persons who experience the Cross in a real way—is simply this: to walk with people until that little flame of faith is back alive and burning brightly, so that we can all recount how the Lord has walked with us along the way and made Himself known in the breaking of the bread.