HEARTSPEAKS
Bishop Broderick Pabillo
October 4, 2012
I remember when I was a kid studying in a Catholic school, every First Friday, we all go to Confession. We have a school Mass and we receive Holy Communion. That was my first encounter with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Today, when I think of the image of Jesus, what comes to mind is the tender image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The devotion is not about our love to Jesus. It is about the LOVE OF JESUS TO US. Jesus does not love us because we are devotees of the Sacred Heart nor does He love us because we are good. He loves us because we are sinners. He came for us, sinners.
To grow in the devotion, we must first recognize that love of Jesus for us. It is only when we recognize Jesus’ love for us that we are able to share His love to others. We are challenged to love not the lovable but those who are difficult to love; the dirty beggars and the street children, the farmers, the lowly workers, those who are marginalized, those who have less in life, those who are voiceless in society.
Even if we have no money to give, a beggar will appreciate it if we give respect to his or her dignity as a person. That is what the devotion of the Sacred Heart is all about, the LOVE OF JESUS TO US and how we share that love to the least of our brothers and sisters.
