It is a truism to say that converts to the faith are often more serious, zealous and committed to the Church than those who regard membership of it as their unquestioned birthright. That is why we need them: to constantly remind us of the mercy of God in founding a Church to provide us with the sacramental means to become holy and thus fit us for heaven.
I make these remarks having read a large book, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum (Angelico Press), by one such convert as I have just described: Roger Buck. Translated as “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus”, Buck’s title is a deliberate reference both to the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque at her convent in Paray-le-Monial between 1673 and 1675 and to the once-popular Catholic devotion of consecrating one’s home to the Sacred Heart.
