God’s Love Revealed Through The Sacred Heart Of Jesus
[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”B003CIIUVS” locale=”us” height=”375″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Xt7u32kAL.jpg” width=”300″]On Friday last, the Holy Roman Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To help us better appreciate this feast, I’d like to throw a question out to you. Have you ever wondered where is the center of the universe? With all the exploration man has been making to “boldly go where no one has gone before”; what will we find at the center of the universe? In past times, many scientists thought that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was the center of the universe. Needless to say how disconcerting it was when astronomers discovered that the earth – but a very minute star – was revolving around the sun which was many time larger than the earth. In fact, the diameter of the sun is about 109 times that of the earth and get this; the earth can fit into the sun at least 1 million times!
The more scientist and astronomers probed the stars, the more they discovered how very microscopically small the earth is when compared to the grandeur of other planets and stars and the universe. Earth, the only planet known to have life form is so very small and seemingly insignificant when compared to the solar system and all that really is. This brings me back to my question; if we were able to go there, what would we find at the center of the universe?
If we consider the center of the universe in terms of size and geography, then heaven alone knows what is there. We may never be able to get there if for no other reason but the incomprehensible distance to get there. If however, we think of it in terms of meaning and importance, ahh, then the answer becomes quite clear.
If the question is asked, “what is the most significant point of the universe?” then we must look to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the answer, for in Jesus, heaven and earth are joined. God and man are united in one person – the person of Jesus Christ, and Jesus’ Sacred Heart expresses the true meaning of this union. So there in the centre of the universe – at the center of God’s universe – we do not find coldness nor emptiness nor a black-hole nor desolation. We don’t even find the largest of the most magnificent star or planet. Rather, we find unmerited, boundless and unimaginable love of God. Isn’t its amazing, mind-bugling that God Of All Creation should give us the attention that HE does. It was not to Mars nor to Venus nor Saturn that God sent His Only Son. It was to earth – that speck of dust in the scheme of all HIS creations – that HE sent Jesus HIS SON.
It is this love that is written about by the prophet Isaiah,
“Thus says the LORD: When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.”
Many think that the bible is just an old book of rules – of thou shall and thou shall not – and there is nothing further from the truth than this. The bible contains an incredible love story – a love story between God Of All Creation and mankind His creatures. In spite of our infidelity, God remains faithful and steadfast in His love towards us; “I have loved you with an everlasting love and so I still maintain my faithful love for you.” Jeremiah 31:3.
The gospel reminds us that His heart, His Sacred Heart was pierced for us all and that from if flowed blood and water; blood symbolizing life and water symbolizing cleansing of Baptism. It is through the waters of baptism that we are made “new creations” that we are made clean, that we become sons and daughters of God. It is through the blood of Jesus that we are united in Him when we receive His Body and His Blood.
I said before that the Bible is not just a book of do’s and don’ts – it is a love story. For that love story to be complete, love should be returned. We should love God in return. For very many people, love is a problem. We are imperfect beings, and even in the best of us, we struggle to love God in return. The beautiful thing; the absolutely amazing thing about this Love God has for us is that He gives us the grace to love Him in return. All we need do is ask for the grace to love Him in return.
