His Heart is Beating

“O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still.” St. John Henry Newman

It took me two years to get pregnant with my first child. When I finally did, I almost had a miscarriage. I didn’t even know I was pregnant. I was hopeful, because I was a few days late with my punctual monthly visitor, but I had not even taken a home pregnancy test. When the bleeding began, something from within prompted me to call the doctor. He saw me right away and confirmed what I had been praying for. I was pregnant. However, there was a chance that I had already miscarried. He put me on bed rest and told me we would need to do an ultrasound to check for a heartbeat. He told me the earliest we would be able to see this was when I was five to six weeks pregnant. He told me that I was probably about three weeks, therefore, I had to wait another three weeks to know for sure.

Those weeks were the longest three weeks of my life. When the date finally arrived, I went with my husband to the ultrasound appointment. I was praying to God with everything I had for good news, but I was so scared that I didn’t want to get my hopes high. I laid on the examination table, the technician put gel on my belly, and she then began to move a probe over my belly while we looked at the screen. She pointed to a small round object and explained that it was the gestational sac. I could also clearly see within the sac a flickering movement, like a tiny pulse. The sonographer pointed to it and said, “That is your baby’s heartbeat. His heart is beating.” Those were the most beautiful words.

I am currently doing a 33-day consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One of the meditations that has touched me the most is the one about Jesus’ heart beating in the Blessed Sacrament. Just like I couldn’t see my baby’s heartbeat in the first four weeks of pregnancy, we cannot see Jesus’ heartbeat in the Blessed Sacrament. This doesn’t mean it is not there. It’s just hidden from our eyes. As a matter of fact, in all the Eucharistic miracles where the host has turned into flesh, it has been proven that the flesh is a piece of heart tissue from the left ventricle. Jesus’ Sacred Heart is alive within the Sacred Host and it is beating for each one of us.

Last week, I stopped at the chapel of my parish church where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed twenty-four hours a day. I had spent the day running errands so I only stayed for a few minutes. As I knelt in front of the monstrance, I visualized the Sacred Heart of Jesus beating within the consecrated host. His Heart is beating with love for us.

As I was driving home, I felt very ashamed. I had spent over an hour having lunch with my mom and two hours at the beauty salon, but I only set aside five minutes to spend with Jesus. I thought to myself, “If I can make time for everything else, why can’t I spend more time with my King? He gave it all for me, what am I doing for Him?” I looked within, and I realized that my priorities were out of order. I was putting the momentary pleasures of the world ahead of the Eternal Treasure. Right then and there, I made the decision that I was going to make a weekly appointment to spend a Holy Hour visiting the Sacred Heart in the Blessed Sacrament. As soon as I got home, I took out my calendar, and I wrote down the date, the time, and the place.

Just like the ultrasound technician said, “His heart is beating” when we witnessed the flickering pulse in the tiny sac thirty-seven years ago, I know that Jesus’ Sacred Heart is beating in the Blessed Sacrament for each one of us. He thirsts for us. What are we doing to quench His thirst? Just like I don’t miss my weekly nail appointment, I will not miss my next appointment with Jesus because it is in His Sacred Heart where we will find eternal life.

Copyright © 2025 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.