Drawn Deeper by Jesus’ Sacred Heart
Father Joe Laramie, SJ, has more than the typical Jesuit devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He is the author of two books that tie together the Sacred Heart and the Spiritual Exercises, was for five years the director of a global apostolate charged with promoting the devotion, and is now the director of a Jesuit retreat house named for the centuries-old image of the heart of Jesus given out of love for humanity.
“The Sacred Heart just draws us deeper into communion with Christ. He’s got a beating heart. I have a beating heart. It becomes a kind of lens to look at the world around me,” he said. “It’s so alive and so crucial to our world today.”
The new director of Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House in Sedalia, Colorado, Fr. Laramie sees his work as a new way of inviting people into deeper relationship with Jesus.
“I like to listen. I love meeting people growing in faith together,” he said.
In Sedalia, Fr. Laramie leads Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House in both practical and spiritual matters. The only Jesuit retreat house in Colorado, Sacred Heart offers space for retreatants to participate in individually directed and group retreats.
Father Laramie hopes to share the gift of the Spiritual Exercises with more people in Colorado and beyond by reinvigorating the model of a Jesuit retreat house focused on offering preached weekend retreats in Sedalia.
“Come to Sacred Heart Retreat for a weekend. You know you can grow in faith, you have some quiet in this place of beauty, and then you’re going to return to your daily life, refreshed and renewed to serve the Lord each day,” he said.
The one-on-one work of spiritual and retreat direction isn’t so different from his previous work, he said.
“For sure, there’s continuity with my previous assignments. In my previous job, as the director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network USA, I was traveling around the country, giving talks and retreats, meeting some wonderful people,” said Fr. Laramie. The challenges of travel and collaboration bore fruit in the common mission, united in Christ, of the Church in all her members. And the work was “extra special” as it involved collaborating with – and meeting – the first Jesuit pope.
“It’s just a real joy to be part of this global mission,” he said.
This year, Fr. Laramie celebrates his 25th Jesuit Jubilee, the anniversary of his entrance into the novitiate in 2000. He also celebrated the profession of his final vows in the Society of Jesus this May, an occasion of “great joy” and confirmation of his vocation.
“It is like a deepening call with Jesus that is centered on him, but also flows out into ministry and service,” he said. Recalling his homily at the Mass, Fr. Laramie applied Jesus’ questioning Peter – “Do you love me?” – to his own Jesuit vocation.
“I talked about it as, ‘Peter, do you love me personally? Me, Jesus, in prayer? Do you love me in the Church, the body of Christ? Do you love me in the Eucharist? For me, I think in my current ministry, that’s a great image of love for Jesus, love for the Church, love for the Eucharist,” he said.
After 10 different missions in more than two decades, Fr. Laramie is most grateful for the relationships that have reminded him of God’s loving relationship with each of us.
“God has led me to good relationships in every city I’ve been in this past 25 years,” he said. Those relationships have consoled him and allowed him to meet the people he serves with open-hearted accompaniment. “I’m blessed to have been part of the journey of several young guys who have entered the Jesuits or who have entered diocesan seminaries,” he said.
“Truly, God provides through relationships, through that touching of hearts that Jesus brings us,” said Fr. Laramie.
Consider supporting Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House with a gift in Fr. Laramie’s honor. Visit the Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House website to donate. Follow Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, and his work at www.joelaramiesj.com.
Featured photo: Father Provincial Thomas P. Greene, SJ, receives Fr. Joe Laramie’s final vows in the Society of Jesus in 2025.
