The heart of Jesus is called the Sacred Heart because it has perfection and holiness that can never be paralleled. There has never been anything in the universe to this day that could be compared to the heart of Jesus and be found more pure, more holy and more perfect. Neither will there be anything to the end of the ages that can be even compared to the heart of Jesus. There can never be a comparison to it because it is abounding in love; love for the entire humanity. It is full of love for humanity that it begins to overflow into the hearts of the human beings. The flow of God’s love begins from the heart of Jesus and then through the hearts of people flow into the families, relationships, communities, nature and into the whole universe. There can be no better source of love than that of the sacred heart of Jesus.
God is the source of love
Love has its source in God. The act of creation of the universe from nothing is but an expression of His love for the universe. As the scriptures put it, “God created humankind in his image; in the image of God he created them” (Genesis 1:27). The act of creation, especially creating the human beings in his own image and likeness is but a loud proclamation that he loves the humanity beyond our imagination. God is the source of all love; be it the love between human beings or be it the love between God and human beings. He loved us, loves us and will love us ineffably. God loved and showed the world how to love Him and the fellow human beings.
Love flows from the heart of Jesus. That is why the heart of Jesus is the source of love. The heart of Jesus that was pierced while lying on the cross was but the heart of God himself that was pierced and blood and water oozed out of the side. That water and blood are but the love of God in tangible form. By getting that blood and water into our lives, we become mediums of God’s love into lives of our dear and near ones and into the entire human hearts. It was the heart of Jesus that was pierced on the cross. Now it has to be our heart that is broken to love others and to save them. It is then that the source of love, God becomes active in us.
God’s love for the mankind
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). In the entire Scripture probably one cannot see any better expression of God’s love in words than this. The love God has for the humanity is beyond words can narrate or deeds can prove. His love is paralleled only by his love. There hasn’t been any love in the world that could better the love of God. He has proved his love for the entire humanity from time immemorial. The sacred scriptures tell us how God went behind the wretched human beings who went far away from him time and again. It was his love for the human beings that in spite of seeing them going away from him, he kept on loving them. This is what makes the love of God different from that of the human beings. We love others with conditions. When the other fulfills the conditions, we proceed to love them. God does not propose conditions. He loves freely. Anyone on earth is worthy of his love, sinners, sick, oppressed, downtrodden, etc. etc.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, the model for our hearts
The heart of Jesus is the best model for us to imitate in our lives. Imitate it to show love and compassion for the people who are in need. The heart of Jesus was full of love and compassion. He loved everyone without any barrier, without any differentiation. He had compassion for people who were in trouble, be it people of any cast and creed. He loved people without looking at their face, without looking at their iniquities, without looking at their infirmities. The love of God challenges us today; to love like God loved; to love after the fashion of God. The fashion of God was giving up himself for the sake of those whom he loves. It is a challenge for us because it is an all giving love. We as mere human beings cannot go out giving everything to those whom we love. God could and that is why there is no parallel to his love. We need to be like him, giving ourselves totally for those whom we love.
The world today is hungry for love as St. Teresa of Calcutta puts it. People are looking for love from every corner. They are in search of people who could love them, care for them. It is becoming more and more difficult to find people who love genuinely and unconditionally. What the world needs today are people like Jesus who can love beyond telling; who can love without conditions; who can love the other beyond the weaknesses and infirmities. Let us be people after the model of Jesus loving and caring for the entire human kind.
Fr. Rajesh P.