Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, gave a 16-minute homily on Sunday, June 14.

We’ve entered into the last glimmers of the Easter season. The Sacred Heart feast is very important. God has a heart. Only the Christian God has a heart for every person on the planet. We know this because He suffered. Remember the Wizard of Oz? The Tin Man got a heart from the Wizard. When Dorothy was going back to Kansas, the Tin Man said, “I know I have a heart now, because it is breaking.”
Our Lord breaks open His heart for us on the cross.
The first fruits of His opening His heart to us include the Immaculate Heart of His mother, who stood under that cross.

We fought a war 250 years ago to get out from under a king, but we still long for a kingdom. The most sold book in English after the Bible is about the return of a king to his kingdon – The Lord of the Rings. We really do want a king – a just sovereign. But there is only one just king, Jesus Christ.

Saul became Israel’s first king. Most of Israel’s kings were unfaithful and duplicitous.
Because the leadership was weak, Israel was conquered.

Our Lord made 12 shepherds, 12 apostles, each one of them with strengths and weaknesses. All but one of them died a martyr. Ten of them are buried in Rome. There have been some bad popes and bishops. So Jesus says pray to the Master of the harvest for workmen who will carry out the Master’s orders. We must pray for many holy priests. When I was younger and more handsome, people said, Father you should have been married. Priesthood is fatherhood. Priests should be other Christs. We have three men in our parish discerning the priesthood right now. Pray for them.