Feast of the Sacred Heart, Friday – 16th June 2023 – Deut 7,6-11; Mt 11,25-30
Passionate Choice to Love
The solemnity of the Sacred Heart is a moveable feast, always celebrated on the third Friday after Pentecost. It is a feast that gives importance to love – the key characteristic of a divine relationship; an essential quality of God which demonstrates God’s desire to be in relationship with all of us. At the same time, God desires that we be in relationship also with others. Love is not necessarily the warm and gushy emotion that one person has for another. Love is the choice to do whatever is best for another without counting the cost to oneself. God did not have to create the universe and humanity, but God chose to do so for our Good. God did not have to save us when we failed to return love to God, but God made the decision to send the Son to share life with us, to teach and heal us, and to die for us. That’s how God loves us. If God cares for us so much, must we not care for one another in our world? In our dealings with others, we are called to imitate the love which Jesus showed to humanity right from his incarnation until his death and resurrection. Today, Let us have a passionate choice to love our neighbour, even though it may be hard and painful in practice.
