The Meaning of the Sacred Heart

It is a love that is more than a feeling.  His is a love that is willing to sacrifice; it is not just sentimental but he is willing to give himself totally because he loves.  Look at the crown of thorns.  The thorns remind us of our little difficulties, those little unpleasant events.  But love bears it; love more than bears it because it knows that this is part of loving.

See the wound in the Heart.  How did Jesus get this wound?  When he was on the cross, a spear was thrust into his Heart.  He did not run away.  This is love!  His love is more than just a good feeling; love exists when we are wounded.  Our Lord said, "My Heart is open," open to all those who wish to come in, or go out, and come in again.  This is so much part of loving.  Parents do this with their children.  How many times children hurt their parents...and they come back.  And their parent's heart is always open to them.

There is one more characteristic of love, the cross.  When would a parent say to their child, "That's it!  Enough!  No more!"?  Even if they say it, they don't mean it.  How much our Lord loves us!  He does not say, "I love you a lot, but not that much."  Rather he said, "I love you a lot, even if it costs me my life."

What is hate like?  It is the opposite of love.  You shrink, you pull away from everyone.  If you love, you expand, you give, and you attract; you cannot keep it to yourself.  The flames of love represent that outgoingness of love: love which gives warmth, comfort, and consolation to everyone who comes near.  The enemies of Jesus could do many things to Jesus, but one thing they could not do was to make him hate or to give up loving us or to say, "This is enough!  You are worth a lot but not this much!"  No!  We were worth everything for our Lord.  That generosity comes from his Heart and it is ours for the asking.