“HE WHO LOVES IS BORN OF GOD AND KNOWS GOD” (1 John 4:7)

⏰Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus C (23 June 2017)

????Deut 7:6-11; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 10 (R.v.17ab); 1 John 4:7-16; Matt 11:25-30

My dear, in the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate love. The Heart of Jesus is the heart of love. Jesus is God and God is love (1 John 4:16). It then means that Jesus is love.

In his apparition to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in France, Jesus said, pointing to his heart, “Behold this heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing to testify its love for them, even to the exhausting and consuming of itself for their sake.”

The height of the expression of this great love is seen on the cross when he declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And to make that love ever available, a soldier pierced his side, just beneath his heart. From there flows always, as long as his heart continues to beat, blood and water, symbols of life and purity (cf. John 19:34).

Meanwhile, that expression on the cross means that your problems and troubles and worries are finished. The devil has no power over you. Jesus has won the victory and won the salvation for you and me out of love. With him by your your side, you shall always enjoy his mercy which is everlasting for those who who hold him in fear (cf. Ps 103:17) and as the First Reading informs us, he is always faithful.

In that regard, he calls on us in the Gospel to come to him with all our troubles and worries so that he could help us to resolve them. A loved one always works to alleviate the difficulties of the beloved. In Jesus, all problems have their bus stop!

Now, remember that his love for us is a sign of what he wants us to do for others (see John 13:15) and it is only by loving we show that we are his disciples (John 13:35). That is why the First Reading tells us that he who does not love does not know God.

We must not forget that this love is better expressed in our love for others: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ while he hates his brother, he is a liar. How can he love God whom he does not see, if he does not love his brother whom he can see?” (1 John 4:20).

Lord, teach us always to love as you love and may your love be upon us at all times as we place all our trust in you. Amen.

I wish you a lovely celebration of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus today. Peace be with you dear.