Christendom College President George A. Harne, Ph.D., has released a new episode of the Christendom Conversations podcast featuring a thoughtful discussion with professor, author, and President Emeritus Dr. Timothy O’Donnell. Together, they explore the profound theological richness of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“When we look at devotion to the Sacred Heart, I think it’s taking us into the core of Jesus’ being, and in the core of Jesus’ being we find that threefold love,” says O’Donnell. “There is the love that He has as the second person of the Blessed Trinity, which is infinite, almost incomprehensible. But then there’s also, since He has a fully human soul, there’s also the divine love of the Holy Spirit, which was infused into His human soul, the same life that we have when we’re in a state of grace. That’s why we can look to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but also as our Brother, because we have the same divine life that He has.”
During the conversation, Harne and O’Donnell trace the roots of this devotion in Sacred Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers, examining how this devotion reveals the depths of Christ’s love for humanity. Dr. O’Donnell explains the significance of Christ’s threefold love over the course of the discussion, the role of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in spreading the devotion, and why the Sacred Heart remains a powerful response to secularism, indifference, and attacks on human dignity.
Dr. O’Donnell is the President Emeritus of Christendom College, where he served as president for over 30 years. He was the first layman to receive both his licentiate and doctoral degrees in Ascetical and Mystical Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. He is a Knight Grand Cross in the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, served as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family, and is the recipient of the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, one of the highest honors granted to clergy and laity by the Holy See. A respected author and lecturer, including the popular book Heart of the Redeemer, a theological investigation and spiritual guide to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Dr. O’Donnell has also filmed many programs for EWTN.
This marks the seventeenth episode of Christendom Conversations, following May’s episode with Dr. Douglas Flippen, in which Harne and Flippen explored St. Thomas Aquinas’s enduring significance for the Catholic Church and his insightful approach to complex philosophical and theological questions.
Christendom Conversations is part of Christendom College’s expanding podcast network, which offers listeners and viewers rich engagement with the Catholic intellectual tradition. Through in-depth interviews with Catholic scholars and cultural leaders, the podcast explores timeless questions and enduring truths. New episodes are released monthly.
Watch the latest episode below:
