The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a constant reminder of God’s unfathomable love towards humanity. It is in the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we find the unconditional and unlimited love that accepts and forgives even those who betray and reject Him.

St. John defines God as love (1 Jn 4: 8). Even though we are sinners, God, who is love itself, never rejects or abandons us. In the book of Genesis we come across the depth of God’s love for the first time. When our first parents Adam and Eve committed sin, God didn’t abandon them; instead He came in search of them calling out their name (Gen 3: 9). When Mary Magdalene, in utter desperation, kept weeping in front of the tomb of Jesus, the Risen Lord appeared and comforted her calling her by name (Jn 20: 16). When the disciples went back to their old ways of life after the death of Jesus, he came to them calling them ‘my dear children’ and prepared breakfast for them (Jn 21: 5). In the book of Isaiah we read: “The mountains may depart and the hills may be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you” (Is 54: 10).

If the good Lord loves us so much, we have a great responsibility to respond to His love through a virtuous life. When Jesus met Peter, who had denied him three times, the only question Jesus asked him was: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” (Jn 21: 15). Jesus appeared to St. Margareta and told her: “Here is the Heart which has loved men so deeply; it has spared nothing and has consumed itself to show them my love; but in return all I receive from the majority of them is ingratitude.”

“If my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up” (Ps 27: 10). Even if everyone on this earth forsakes or rejects us, the Sacred Heart of Jesus will never abandon us. This realization will comfort and strengthen us when we go through the labyrinth of life. ‘Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.’ May this prayer be always on our lips.

Fr Prince Chakkalayil CST