By Teresa Tomeo
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Recently, as I was catching up on the latest news, a popular song from the sixties kept running through my head: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” Those lyrics, originally sung by Jackie DeShannon, seem just as meaningful now as they were in the turbulent sixties—an era that included the Vietnam War, the Detroit riots, and other conflicts that divided our nation. Many of the problems we grappled with then are unfortunately still with us today.
We’re still in need of love and not just any kind of love. The love of God, in our hearts and toward our fellow man, is and always has been the thing we need more of in this world. If we’re looking to spread God’s Fatherly love, we should look to the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which, not coincidentally, occurs close to Father’s Day. Could there be any better way to contemplate love, especially that of our Father in heaven, than by reflecting on the beautiful Sacred Heart of Christ?
Our Catholic faith teaches us that the solemnity of the Sacred Heart stems from the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in seventeenth-century France. The image of the Sacred Heart is closely associated with the blood and water that poured forth from Christ’s heart as He was dying on the Cross. Nothing but pure, sacrificial love emanates from that divine image. It’s the Father of all fathers saying, as we heard in Matthew’s gospel, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Prayer: Father, today I come to You weary from my burdens. Grant me the rest You promise in Your divine love. Amen.
Respond to His Call: Today, make a point to tell those you love that you love them.
This excerpt from Called by Name: 365 Daily Devotions for Catholic Women is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.
