Set our Hearts Ablaze

The symbol of the heart is really prevalent in our society.  Whether it’s the various heart emojis on our phones that can be used when texting and in social media posts, the hearts found in greeting cards, or hearts that are incorporated into logos or billboards, we see heart images everywhere.  The symbol of the heart is used to express and represent love.  But there is one heart that stands out above all others, and that is the heart of Jesus.  In the Catholic Church, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  This month helps us to dive deeper into this beautiful devotion, which shows us what love is.

We’ve all seen the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, either in statue form, in a picture on the wall, or on prayer cards.  It is one of my favorite images of Jesus, because it reveals so well who Jesus is and helps us to reflect on how much He loves us.

We cannot know what love is or begin to understand what it looks like without knowing the heart of Jesus.  Until we have an encounter with His Sacred Heart, our own hearts are cold and hard.  When we feel our own hearts beating and acknowledge the blood pumping through our bodies, we must recognize that it is Christ’s love for us that is holding us in existence in every moment.

In the image of the Sacred Heart, we see that the heart is on fire.  Jesus’ love for us burns intensely and the flames never die out.   His heart is also surrounded by a crown of thorns and pierced with a lance.  We so often wound Him with our sins and reject Him and His love.  Yet, His heart is filled with mercy and He continues to offer His heart to us anyway.  Do we allow the fire of Christ’s love to penetrate our own hearts so that we can learn how to love?
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Jesus, thank you for loving us and giving us your heart.  Help us to love you in return.  Give us the grace to reject the false ideas of love that our culture shows us and point us towards your Sacred Heart, burning with love for us.  Draw us closer to your heart, so that we would never forget your desire for us.  Make our hearts like yours.  Set our hearts ablaze.  Amen.