The Catholic Church is blessed by an abundance of devotions that enrich the lives of believers, but my personal favorite is the feast we celebrate today: the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

When we look upon the image of the Sacred Heart, we see a heart split open by Longinus’ lance, encircled by piercing thorns, impaled by the wood of the cross, and bursting with flames.

The Sacred Heart is a visual declaration of Jesus’ burning love for you and me. Every laceration, every deathly wound, was endured for love of us.

When Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, he spoke of his overflowing love for humanity, whose response is coldness, ingratitude, and contempt. He said, “I feel this more than all that I suffered during my passion. If only they would make me some return for my love.”

When Jesus took on human flesh to suffer and die, it was for a rescue mission. He carried the crushing burden of his cross up the hill of Calvary to rescue his beloved; He offered his heart to be pierced to save her life. He aches for her to respond in love.

When I first prayed The Liturgy of the Hours, I was arrested by its translation of Proverbs 31:11: “Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize.” In some depictions of the Sacred Heart, Jesus holds his heart in his hand, extending it in offering to us. The Church is the Bride of Christ, and Jesus the Bridegroom entrusts his heart to us.

But there is more! The husband of Proverbs 31 has an unfailing prize in the spouse who receives his heart. Today, let’s enter into that stunning mystery. Let’s make a return for his love. Let’s receive his heart.