‘You are so loved’: New film reveals enduring power of the Sacred Heart
New film "Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End" will open in U.S. theaters June 9–11 and June 14 after a box‑office success in Europe, selling nearly 1 million tickets. The docudrama retells Christ’s apparitions to 17th‑century nun St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, using testimonies, Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis and reenactments to explore the Sacred Heart’s burning love for humanity. Directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film‑Makers, the film was inspired by personal testimonies from Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the filmmakers’ own consecration at Notre‑Dame du Laus in France. Steven Gunnell’s background as a former pop‑star who experienced a dramatic conversion after a near‑suicidal crisis is highlighted as part of the film’s backstory.
4 months ago
‘Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End’ is a docudrama that dramatizes Christ’s apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and explores the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The film, directed and produced by Steven and Sabrina Gunnell of KREA Film‑Makers, opened in U.S. theaters June 9‑11 and June 14 after a successful European run that sold nearly one million tickets 1 2.
The movie combines testimonies, accounts of Eucharistic miracles, historical analysis, and reenactments to depict the moment Christ revealed his heart to humanity. It retells the 17th‑century story of the French nun who received the Sacred Heart image and emphasizes the “burning love” of Jesus for the world 1 2.
Steven and Sabrina Gunnell conceived the project after hearing testimonies from two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at the Marian sanctuary Notre‑Dame du Laus in France. They interpreted recurring images of the Sacred Heart in their daily lives as a divine sign to make the film. “Sacred Heart” premiered in Europe in October 2025, becoming a box‑office hit, and was scheduled for a limited U.S. theatrical run in early June 2026 1 2.
Steven Gunnell, 51, shares a conversion story linked to the Sacred Heart. Raised by a mother who left the Church, he pursued a career as a pop‑star in the boy band Alliage before falling into depression and suicidal thoughts. After a night spent praying in a church, he felt “rested in the Holy Spirit,” recovered his faith, and later encountered a statue of the Sacred Heart in a chapel of St. Rita, where he experienced a profound encounter with Jesus. This personal miracle inspired his later work in faith‑based filmmaking 1 2.
Sabrina Gunnell adds that the film aims to convey that “the love of God is more powerful than every evil thing in the world,” hoping viewers leave the cinema feeling loved and motivated to share that love 1 2.
The filmmakers hope the movie will remind audiences of life’s brevity and encourage a return to Christ, urging viewers to spend time before the tabernacle and the Eucharist. They also seek to spread the message that every person is deeply loved by God 1 2.
In Europe, the film’s release attracted close to one million ticket sales, indicating strong interest in the Sacred Heart devotion. Its U.S. release is positioned as a limited‑run event to reach American Catholics and broader audiences 1 2.
Investigate how the Sacred Heart devotion shapes Catholic identity
The devotion to the Sacred Heart shapes Catholic identity by forming a distinctly Christ-centered “way of seeing” the world: God’s saving plan is read through Christ’s pierced love, received in liturgy and sacraments, and expressed through trust, reparation, humility, and concrete love of neighbor.
Within Catholic spirituality, devotion to the Sacred Heart is not merely an emotion or a private preference. The Church presents it as a devotion whose “object” is the whole mystery of Christ—his person and saving love—contemplated “in its most intimate essential.”
So, identity is shaped at multiple levels:
The Directory on Popular Piety explains that “Sacred Heart of Jesus” denotes not only Christ’s physical heart but “the entire mystery of Christ… [his] person considered in its most intimate essential.”
The “Heart” is the Word Incarnate whose charity is an “infinite divine-human love” for the Father and for his brothers.
This matters for Catholic identity because it anchors devotion in who Christ is. Catholic spirituality, therefore, forms believers to interpret life through the reality that Christ’s love is both genuinely human and truly divine.
The same Directory teaches that devotion is a “cultic form of the prophetic and evangelic gaze” upon Christ who was pierced.
It explicitly connects this gaze with the Johannine symbolism of Christ’s side being transfixed by a lance, from which “blood and water” flowed—interpreted in Catholic life as a sign tied to the Church’s sacramental life (“the ‘wondrous sacrament of the Church’”).
That is identity-shaping: Catholics are trained to see the Cross and sacramental meaning as inseparable from love. Even the visual spirituality that arises from the devotion points back to Scripture and Christ’s salvific sacrifice.
The Catechism states that the Sacred Heart “is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol” of the love by which the divine Redeemer “continually loves… without exception.”
This grounds devotion in the Church’s worship, confession, and hope: Catholic identity is not primarily defined by religious activity in general, but by belonging to a living relationship with Christ who gives himself.
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart “on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost.”
That fact alone shapes identity: the devotion is not isolated from the Church’s public worship, but inserted into the yearly rhythm of salvation history and Eucharistic life.
The Directory insists that devotions must be harmonized with liturgy. Regarding “first Fridays,” it acknowledges that the devotion historically helped renew use of Penance and Eucharist, but warns that, “even if practised correctly,” it “may not always lead to the desired spiritual fruits” unless accompanied by “constant instruction” and active faith.
It also states that the faithful must be reminded of the “absolute preeminence of Sunday,” the “primordial feast,” marked by “full participation… at the celebration of the Holy Mass.”
So Sacred Heart devotion shapes identity by disciplining religious zeal: it trains Catholics to let private practices serve the Church’s center—the Mass and sacramental life—rather than compete with them.
The Directory also warns that popular piety tends to associate a devotion with its iconographic expression, which is “normal and positive,” but can lead to “inconveniences,” including sentimental images that fail to express the “robust theological content.”
It notes that more recent images sometimes represent the Sacred Heart at the moment of crucifixion (pierced side; blood and water), which is the “highest expression” of Christ’s love.
Identity is thus protected from reduction: Catholics are formed to interpret Sacred Heart imagery theologically—through Christ’s Cross and sacramental meaning—not merely aesthetically or emotionally.
The Directory lists devotional practices explicitly recommended by the Apostolic See, including personal consecration. It quotes Pius XI describing personal consecration as “undoubtedly the principal devotional practice used in relation to the Sacred Heart.”
Identity here becomes covenantal: the believer is not only thinking about Christ’s love but entrusting oneself to it as a guiding commitment.
The Directory also presents “family consecration to the Sacred Heart,” explaining that the family—because of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony already participating in the mystery of “unity and love of Christ for the Church”—is dedicated to Christ so that he “might reign in the hearts of all its members.”
That is a direct way devotion shapes Catholic identity: it sanctifies everyday relationships by connecting them to Christ’s sacrificial love and ecclesial unity.
Among approved practices, the Directory highlights “the act of reparation,” in which the faithful, “mindful of the infinite goodness of Christ,” implore mercy for offenses committed against his Sacred Heart.
This is distinctive: Catholic identity includes solidarity with Christ’s wounded love, not only personal regret. It frames sin and repair in terms of the Heart’s infinite goodness and mercy.
Pius XI likewise explains that when Christian charity was “growing cold,” divine charity itself was set forth for special worship in the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart, described as a widespread manifesting of love.
The identity formed is therefore affective and moral: devotion works to rekindle charity and respond to coldness with worship and reparation.
The Directory notes that during modern times, when Jansenism proclaimed “the rigours of divine justice,” devotion to the Sacred Heart served as an “antidote,” arousing love and “trust in his infinite mercy symbolized by his Heart.”
That is identity-shaping in an ecclesial-historical way: it preserves Catholics from portraying God primarily as inaccessible judgment by emphasizing Christ’s merciful love.
The Directory explicitly points to St. Francis de Sales adopting “humility, gentleness… and tender loving mercy” as a model of life and apostolate—“all aspects of the Sacred Heart.”
So the devotion forms identity not merely in thought but in character: meekness and humility become recognizable marks of Catholic life.
Pope Francis (in Dilexit nos) describes Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s experience as a “personal and challenging invitation to entrust our lives to the Lord,” emphasizing that the knowledge of being loved and confidence in that love “in no way lessens our desire to respond generously, despite our frailty and our many shortcomings.”
This shapes Catholic identity as realistic yet hopeful: sin and weakness do not cancel trust; instead they increase reliance on Christ’s merciful love.
Pius XII describes St. Margaret Mary Alacoque as holding the “most distinguished place” among those who fostered devotion, and he stresses that she sought to establish the devotion’s “real meaning,” marked by “special qualities of love and reparation.”
This is important: Catholic identity is shaped by the Church’s saints who teach the devotion’s theological center, preventing it from sliding into misunderstandings.
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s summary presents Margaret Mary as marked by intense love for the Blessed Sacrament and preference for silence and prayer, later called to a mission of the Sacred Heart devotion.
It also describes her obedience, humility, charity amid criticism and trials—an identity lesson: devotion to the Heart forms steadfastness in suffering rather than escapism.
It further notes that she was inspired to institute the Holy Hour and to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday each month, explicitly connecting devotion to Eucharistic life.
Sacred Heart devotion shapes Catholic identity by teaching believers to:
In short, the Sacred Heart devotion forms Catholic identity by turning the believer toward Christ’s mercy—then turning that mercy outward into worship, sacraments, and lived charity.