"Love to the loveless shown"

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 3, 2016

Note: I will be on vacation starting this weekend. The next daily reflection will be posted on Monday, June 13.

This is a feast of great depth. There are several things to contemplate:

·         The depth of Jesus’ love, which is far wider and deeper than any of us can imagine. “  “Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven, your truth to the skies.” Psalm 36:5, which we just considered yesterday. Can you imagine a love which reaches that far? His love goes even farther than that. And, of course, He demonstrated that love through His Passion and Cross.

·         The depth of Jesus’ mercy, which again goes deeper than we can imagine, and reaches out to the greatest sinners of all time. If it didn’t, well then, we could put a limit on the depth of Jesus’ mercy. Consider your own situation: can you realize in the depth of your heart, that Jesus’ extends his mercy to you in every aspect and facet of your life, and will continue to do so throughout your life?

·         The depth of Jesus’ pain. Pain not only of body, but also of heart since He experienced His friends betraying Him, abandoning Him, hiding from Him, misunderstanding Him, hearing even those He had healed crying out with the crowd, “Crucify Him!” His pain is so great that we can reach to Him in any pain we have ever suffered or ever will suffer, and we will find in Him a companion in suffering, and in some way that is practically impossible to understand, His pain transforms our pain and gives it meaning.

·         Finally, the depth of the wounds in Jesus’ heart. Unite your woundedness to His; perhaps He will heal you, and even if He doesn’t heal your wounds, as Fr. Anselm Gruen has written, He will transform your woundedness into a gift which you will be able to bestow on others.

Sometime this past year, I wrote a reflection on the hymn verse, “love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.” Consider that over these days. Pray that you, too, may have an occasion to show that love to another, and in Christ, you will become a force for transformation in a world which needs it so badly.

God bless you!