Jun 12 Fri
Does Jesus love me?
Christ's heart, pierced by a spear, speaks to us of God's immense love for everyone.
St. Josemaría: "Jesus on the Cross, with his heart overflowing with love for us, is such an eloquent testimony of the value of people and things that words are inadequate. Human beings, their happiness and their lives, are so important that the very Son of God gave his life to redeem, cleanse, and raise them up."
"Who will not love this heart so wounded? Who will not return love for love? Who will not embrace a heart so pure? We, who are made of flesh, will repay love with love. We will embrace our wounded one, whose hands and feet ungodly men have nailed; we will cling to his side and to his heart. Let us beg him to keep our heart firmly bound by his love and to wound it with a lance, for it is still hard and impenitent."
"These are thoughts, affections, and conversations that souls in love with Jesus have offered him from the beginning. But if we are to understand this language, if we are to know the truth about the heart of man, Christ's heart, and the love of God, we need both faith and humility. We need the faith and humility that prompted St Augustine to write: You made us for yourself, O Lord, and restless will our hearts be until they rest in you."
“Living in Christ's Heart, closely united with him, means we become a dwelling-place for God. 'He who loves me will be loved by my Father', our Lord told us. And Christ and the Father in the Holy Spirit come to the soul and make their home there."
"Even if we give only a little thought to these basic ideas, our whole attitude will improve. We become hungry for God, and we make the words of the Psalm our own: O God, thou art my God, I seek thee; my soul thirsts for thee. My flesh faints for thee as in a dry and weary land where no water is."
"And Jesus, who has encouraged these desires in us, comes to meet us and says: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He offers us his heart, so that we can find both rest and strength there. If we accept his invitation, we will see that his words are true. And our hunger and thirst will increase to the point where we truly desire God to inhabit our soul and never to withdraw his light and warmth from us."
"I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! We have approached the fire of God's love. Let us allow that fire to burn our lives. Let us feed the desire to spread that divine fire throughout the world by making it known to all those around us. They, too, can experience the peace of Christ and find happiness there. A Christian who lives united to Christ's heart can have no goals but these: peace in society, peace in the Church, peace in his own soul, the peace of God that will reach its climax when his kingdom comes."