Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This falls under the category of idea feasts, a liturgical commemoration of some aspect of Christ but not a particular event in His life such as is Christmas, Easter, Ascension, etc. This particular feast celebrates the Jesus’ Sacred Heart which is a symbol of His divine love.

My siblings and cousins are the first generation in our family to be born in the U.S. As you can imagine, sometimes the American culture we were being raised in conflicted with the Indian culture of our family. And as any normal kids, our parents accent and ideas were a source of amusement to us. I remember when we were teenagers and, of course, talking about who was “in love” with whom, one uncle asked us (please read this with an Indian accent to get the full amusement out of it) “What is this love? What is this falling in love you Americans talk about. How do you FALL in love?” We just laughed because everyone knows what it means to fall in love, right?

The question is less amusing to me now – indeed, what is love? I have come to learn that real love is less about warm fuzzy feelings and more about how that love is put into action. What is this love God has for us? I think Scripture answers it best when it says “…God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)”

We have all sinned and falled short. None of us loves God as we should. And yet, and yet, God loves me and Jesus died so that I might have eternal life with Him AND They sent the Holy Spirit to be with me always. And they do that for all of us and each of us. THAT, my friends, is LOVE.

I wish everyone a most blessed Feast of the Sacred Heart!