Dear Friends,

The month of June (dedicated to the two hearts: The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary) is coming to an end, but God's Love has no end! May the Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.

The heart is one of the symbols that is to be found throughout the world. It is a symbol of love.

The love of God that flows from the heart of Jesus is celebrated two weeks after Pentecost Sunday and immediately after we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I am so privileged to celebrate this moment with you, and I love each and every one of you.

The word ‘love’ can have many meanings today. It often refers to a strong emotion. However, the divine love, the love of God, that we celebrate is more than an emotion. It shows itself in deeds of loving service. It is the love of the shepherd who gathers those who have been scattered and brings them home, who feeds them in rich pasture, who bandages the wounded and makes the weak strong, who watches over all, including ‘the fat and the healthy’. This divine love found its fullest expression in Jesus.

Like the shepherd in the parable of the Gospel according to Luke 15:3-7, Jesus seeks out the lost and joyfully brings them home, home to God, home to others, and home to themselves. Jesus, now risen Lord, continues this work of gathering the lost today, because his searching love endures forever. His loving heart seeks us out and draws us to himself, so that we may have life and have it to the full.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this love of God, this love of Jesus’ heart, has been poured into our own hearts through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who makes our hearts like the heart of Jesus, who empowers us to love one another with the love of the Lord. In celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart, we are also celebrating our own calling to gather the scattered, to include the lost, to bandage the wounded, and to strengthen the weak. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and to kindle in us the fire of the Lord’s love.

A prosperous shepherd was asked the secret of his success. In response, he said, “I love each sheep. When one wanders, I don’t rest. I climb cliffs, walk through valleys, and search until I find it.” This statement resonates very much with the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a celebration of a relentless love. The Lord refuses to let us go, no matter how lost, broken, or unworthy we may be.

When the leaders of Israel chose to exploit the flock instead of shepherding them, God intervened with a powerful message: “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out…I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…” (Ezek 34:1,16). It was a statement expressive of the relentless love of God.

This love is demonstrated further in Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8). The point here is that we are loved —just as we are, *not* when we get better. This explains the attitude of the shepherd in Luke 15:3-7. He leaves the ninety-nine in search of the wanderer. And when he finds it, he says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep!” (Lk 15:6). Both the sinner and the saint are beneficiaries of divine love.

Grace is accessible and available to all. Those who embrace this love are transformed by it. In the dead of the night, when we feel lost in the woods, the Lord calls us by name. He calls us not to punish us but to bring us to experience the warmth of his Sacred Heart. At the core of the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an invitation to allow ourselves to be loved by God through Christ. Stop doubting your worth. Heaven rejoices over you. You don’t find God; He finds you.

PRAYER: Loving Shepherd, you seek us when we go wrong and redeem us at the cost of your own Son. Drawn by your grace, may we live as people found and forgiven, rejoicing in your relentless love. Grant this through Christ our Loving Savior and Brother. Amen.

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