The Love of Christ

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart points us to the tender, active love Jesus has for us. His love is not mere sentiment or fleeting emotion. Rather, it is a love expressed in action—a love that reflects the eternal communion of the Trinity and is offered to us as both gift and model.

Jesus explains this in a simple but profound parable. He asks the scribes and Pharisees: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4). He is not concerned with sheep—he is concerned with us. We are the ones who have gone astray. We are separated from God by sin, but Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does not abandon us. He seeks us out with patient, persevering love. He leaves behind even the righteous to pursue the lost. How can we not rejoice at such mercy? How can this divine election not fill our hearts with joy?

But this is more than compassion. It is fulfillment. Christ brings to completion the promises God made through the prophet Ezekiel: “I myself will search for my sheep... 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” (Ezekiel 34:11,16). The leaders of Israel failed in their shepherding, so God declared that He Himself would tend His flock. Jesus is that promise made flesh. He heals the broken, restores the wounded, and leads us back to the Father.

What gratitude we owe! “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). He leads us all our days. His love for us is beyond comprehension. Who am I that the Lord of all would stoop down to lift me up? And yet He does. The cross reveals the depths of that love. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Not when we were worthy. Not when we had turned to Him. But when we were dead in our sins, estranged from Him—He came to save.

What do we have to boast of? Nothing but the love of God. A love that defies all expectation. A love that offers itself without counting the cost. That is the love He has for us, the love He models for us, and—by His grace—the love He calls us to imitate.

What do we have to boast of? Nothing but the love of God. A love that seeks us. A love that saves. A love that sends us out to do the same.

Will you let Him find you? And will you love others as He has loved you?