The Sacred Heart and the Love of God

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There are two parts to the love of God – loving God for our own good – so that we get to heaven and perfect happiness. That is what we call hope. But we can’t just use God as a means to our happiness. Shouldn’t we love God because we care about Him, because we love Him, for his sake. That is charity. It can be very difficult for us tiny, weak creatures to love God for His own sake. Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart to help us love Him for our good and grow in Hope; and to love him for his good and grow in charity.

On December 27, 1673 Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, revealing to her His Sacred Heart.

While I was praying before the Eucharist, she writes, Jesus presented Himself to me, all resplendent with glory, His Five Wounds shining like so many suns. Flames issued from every part of His Sacred Humanity, especially from His chest, which resembled an open furnace and disclosed to me His most loving Heart, which was the living source of these flames…

“My divine Heart,” he told me, “is so passionately fond of the human race...that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you and reveal my Heart to the world, so as to enrich mankind with my precious treasures. I’m letting you see them now; and they include all the graces of salvation needed to snatch men from the very brink of hell.”

Next, he asked for my heart. I begged him to take it; he did and placed it in his own divine Heart. He let me see it there—a tiny atom being completely burned up in that fiery furnace. Then, lifting it out—now a little heart-shaped flame—he put it back where he had found it. “There, my well-beloved,” I heard him saying, “that’s a precious proof of my love for you, hiding in your side a little spark from its hottest flames. That will be your heart from now on; it will burn you up—to your very last breath; its intense heat will never diminish…

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Jesus revealed that His Sacred Heart was on fire for the love of us:

i. Again, Margaret testifies: “From all parts of His Sacred Humanity there issued flames, but especially from his adorable chest, which was like a burning furnace of love. Opening it, He showed me His loving and lovable Heart as the living source of those flames.

ii. “Then he revealed to me all the unspeakable marvels of His pure love, and the excess of love He had conceived for men from whom he had received nothing but ingratitude and contempt.”

b. Then Jesus said, “This is more grievous to Me than all that I endured in my Passion. If they would only give Me some return of love, I should not reckon all that I have done for them, and I would do yet more if possible. But they have only coldness and contempt for all My endeavors to do them good.”

c. Then He said to St. Margaret Mary: “You, at least, can give Me the happiness of making up for their ingratitude, as much as you can.”

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Whom are we naturally inclined to love? Those who are generous to us, and those who need us.

a. There’s a natural impulse to love those who love us, who are kind and generous to us.

i. When your wife does something thoughtful for you – something you know you don’t deserve

ii. When a colleague goes out on a limb at work to defend a decision you made

iii. When your kid hugs you and says, “I forgive you” after you were totally unjust or selfish or just plain wrong.

How do you not respond to that with gratitude? With love?

b. And there’s a natural impulse to love those who need our love

i. When you hold your little child in your arms for the first time, and you realize that if you do not love this child, it will be irreparably scarred – damaged

ii. When a friend calls crying, and asking if we can come over, because something terrible just happened

iii. How do you not respond to their need with love, with eagerness to do whatever we can to help them, to support them?

c. We are made to love those who are generous to us, and to love those who need our love.

i. And unbelievably, the image of the Sacred Heart is an Image of a God who has been generous to us, and who is longing desperately for our love.

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How generous has the Lord been?

i. We think of God the Creator as someone who just snaps His fingers and can give us whatever we need when we need it.

ii. But the Sacred Heart shows us a God who bleeds out individual drops of blood for us; who gasps out, in horrible agony, individual breaths for us – until all the blood is gone and He’s taken His last breath.

1. Jesus in the Sacred Heart pulls His heart out of His chest, He sinks to His knees, and He stretches out the hand with His heart in it, and He says, “Here! This is all I have! What else can I give you? This is all I have, all I am! It’s everything – My love for you cost me everything. What is it going to take for you to notice me? To care about Me?”

2. How can you not respond to that? How can you not respond to someone who has been so generous to you, at such a cost?

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How much He needs us

i. Jesus says that the torture of our indifference is worse to Him then the agonies on the Cross.

ii. So He’s begging us – you and me – for a little love.

1. Would you ignore your kid if they asked you for a hug?

2. Would you ignore a crying friend if they asked you to come over because something terrible just happened?

3. Would you ignore the God who’s telling you that His feelings have been hurt because nobody cares about Him, even after He’s tried so hard to love them.

a. Don’t ignore Him. Tell Him you love Him, tell Him you’re sorry you’ve been so distracted. Ask Him how you can show Him you love Him. Ask Him what you can do to help.