Sacred Heart of Jesus: Furnace of Love for Us

Let us consider the wondrous effects of the inconceivable goodness and the unspeakable love of the Sacred Heart towards us. Two of these effects which embody many more are here given.

The first is that of having delivered us from the abyss of evils into which sin had plunged us. By sin we were made enemies of God, the object of His wrath and curse, excommunicated from the Most Holy Trinity, anathematized by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, separated from the company of angels, banished from the home of our Heavenly Father; by sin we were driven from paradise, cast into hell, plunged into the devouring flames of eternal fire, subjected to the terrible tyranny of Satan, enslaved by demons, given over to their rage and fury, condemned to the rightful punishments of hell, all without hope of succor or relief.

Exceedingly terrible as are those evils there is yet one which exceeds them all. What is that but sin, which is the evil of evil and the sole cause of all the others on earth and in hell. What an evil is sin! To understand something of its malice, imagine all men who have lived, are now living, and will live upon earth; imagine that each of them possesses the holiness of a St. John the Baptist; imagine also all the angels of heaven as having taken mortal flesh and being joined to the multitude of men. Even if all these men and angels were to shed their blood to the last drop and suffer all the torments of hell for eternity, they would not be able to deliver us from the tiniest venial sin; they would not be able to render perfect and worthy satisfaction to God for the offense done Him, nor consequently to free us from the slightest evil we should have merited by that sin, nor give us that drop of water which the rich man craved so long ago.

If one venial sin is so great an evil, what of mortal sin? What is it to be the slave of that infernal monster, which is more hideous and terrible than all the monsters and dragons of earth and hell?

Such is the pit of evils into which we had been plunged, from which there was no hope of escape, since all human powers and all the forces of heaven and earth were powerless to deliver us. Yet it has transpired, by a boon which we cannot comprehend, that we were liberated! To whom do we owe this? To the most loving Heart of our adorable Redeemer. We were delivered from so many evils by the immeasurable goodness, the infinite mercy, and the matchless love of that divine Heart. What had we done, what service rendered, to constrain Him thereto? Nothing whatever. It was out of purest love that He honored us with such a favor. What did He do to obtain for us so great a blessing? He did and suffered all. The cost to Him was dear, His blood, His life, a thousand torments, and a most cruel and shameful death. What obligations we have to honor, praise, and love that most benign Heart in return for all these benefits!

Suppose a man is a bandit-gunman. He has robbed a wealthy merchant by violence. He is caught, imprisoned, tried, condemned to death, and there he is in the hands of the hangman who is putting the rope around his neck. The merchant arrives at that very moment. By dint of money, the entreaties of friends, and even by the offer of his own life for the culprit, he obtains a pardon for the criminal and sets him free. How great is the bandit's debt to his rescuer!

For our crimes we were condemned to the pains of hell. The only-begotten Son of God, out of the inconceivably abundant goodness of His divine Heart, suffered a most atrocious and shameful death in order to deliver us. Try to estimate how indebted we are to that adorable Heart. An elephant will give itself entirely for the rest of its life to serve a man who had released it from a pit. What shall I give in return to Thee, my Savior, and what shall I do for Thy love of me? Thou hast snatched me out of the frightful jaws of hell as often as ever I have fallen into them by sinning, or would have fallen if the charity of Thy dear Heart had not held me back. Does it take a dumb animal to teach me the lesson of gratitude which I owe Thee for Thy unspeakable mercies?

Such is the first effect, or rather the effect without number or measure of the tremendous love which the Sacred Heart of our Redeemer has manifested in delivering us from immeasurable evils. But it is not enough for him to have freed us from all those punishments; He would likewise shower us with inconceivable gifts. What a favor and fortune it is, not only to be snatched from hell but to be raised to heaven, to be made a citizen of paradise where there is a general exemption from all sorts of evils and where one possesses fully, entirely, unchangeably, eternally all sorts of boons! What a favor and a fortune to be associated with the angels, to be their companion, to be seated beside their throne, to live the angelic life, to be clothed with their glory, to enjoy their felicity, in short, to resemble the angels: "They are equal to the angels" (Lk 20:36).

What extraordinary fortune to be ranked with the children of God, the heirs of the great God, the co-heirs of the Son of God: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God" (1 Jn 3:1). What a remarkable privilege to be kings of an everlasting kingdom and to possess the same kingdom that the Father of Jesus has given to His Son: "And I appoint to you a kingdom, even as my Father has appointed to me" (Lk 22:29). What a blessed invitation to eat at the table of the King of heaven: "that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom" (Lk 22:30). What a great joy to be clothed in the glorious royal robe of the King of kings: "The glory that thou hast given me, I have given to them" (Jn 17:22). What a supreme favor to share the throne of the Sovereign Monarch of the universe: "He who overcomes, I will permit him to sit with me upon my throne" (Rev 3:21). What an incomparable blessing to dwell quietly with our Savior in the bosom and in the adorable Heart of His Divine Father: "Father, I will that where I am, they also whom thou hast given me may be with me" (Jn 17:24). Where art Thou, my Savior? "in the bosom of the Father" (Jn 17:18), says St. John.

What a fortune, moreover, to share all the good things that God possesses! He who has God shall enjoy all the manifold glory, happiness and wealth of God: "Amen I say to you, he will set him over all his goods" (Mt 24:47). What a blessing to be wholly transformed into God, to be clothed, filled, penetrated with all the perfections of God, more perfectly than the iron in the midst of the furnace is penetrated by the qualities of the fire! Finally, what a blessing to be united to God: "That all may be one, even as thou, Father, in me and I in thee" (Jn 17:21). What a privilege to be by grace and by participation what God is by nature and by essence!

What created mind can understand these surpassing gifts? Could all the tongues of men and angels express the least part of them? Is it not true what St. Paul says, that all those blessings are so great that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor 2:9).

Now, to whom do we owe all those blessings? To the boundless generosity and infinite love of the most kind Heart of our lovable Savior. Hence, what honor, what praise, what thanksgiving we must render Him, and with what devotion we must celebrate the solemnity of that most august Heart! Suppose that the aforesaid merchant who was robbed not only delivered the gunman from the hands of the executioner and from the shameful death he was ready to suffer, but also gave him half of his goods. How would that criminal ever be able to repay such goodness?

Our divine Savior has done more for us. Not only has He delivered us from eternal death and all the tortures accompanying it, but He has also heaped upon us a superabundance of unspeakable blessings. Indeed, He has given us all His blessings without reserve.

What shall we give Him in return? "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?" (Ps 115:3). If we had the hearts of as many Seraphim as there are stars in the sky, atoms in the air, blades of grass on the earth, grains of sand and drops of water in the sea, and if we devoted them solely to love and glorify Him, it would be as nothing compared with the love He has for us and the obligations we of have of consecrating our hearts to Him.

Yet what are we and the great majority of men doing? Is it not true that we treat this adorable Redeemer as ungratefully as if we had never received any boon from Him? Is it not true that we treat Him as if He had done us all the evil in the world? But is it not true that He has neglected nothing, that if it came even to all His glory and His own safety, He would not have been able to do more than He has done for love of us? "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?" (Is 5:4). If it were possible, He says to St. Bridget, that I should suffer all the torments of My Passion as many times as there are souls in hell, I would most gladly suffer them, for charity is as much aflame in my Heart now as it was then.

Even so, is it not still true that the majority of men on earth treat that loving Savior as if He were their enemy? What insults, what crimes, what cruelty and abuse could they practice against Him that they do not already practice? In short, what more despicable thing could they do than to crucify Him every day? Yes, crucify Him; for anyone who mortally offends Him crucifies Him, "they crucify again for themselves the Son of God" (Heb 6:6), and commits a greater crime than did the Jews, for they did not know Him.

Let us detest and recoil from such ingratitude and such abominable wickedness. Let us open our ears to the voice, or rather the voices of our Savior. I say "voices," for all the evils from which He has delivered us and all the blessings without number that He has given us are so many voices crying out to us: "God so loved us" (Jn 4:11). Therefore let us love Him who so loves us. If a man of no account, the weakest and lowest of all men, should manifest some kindliness towards us, we could not help loving him. Nay, if even a dumb animal, a mongrel, for instance, attaches itself to us and does us some slight service, we love it. Why then should we not love God who is our creator, our preserver, our ruler, our king, our most faithful friend, our most loving father, our treasure, our glory, our supreme good, our life, our heart, our all? He is all heart and soul and love for us.

O my Savior, I know not if I have yet begun to love Thee as I ought… I now mean to love Thee with all my heart with all my soul, and with all my strength. I renounce forever all that is contrary to Thy holy love. Let me die a thousand deaths rather than ever offend Thee. I give Thee my heart; take full and absolute possession of it; destroy in it everything not pleasing to Thee, and rather destroy it itself than to allow it not to love Thee… But am I giving Thee anything in giving Thee my empty heart? O my Lord, if I had the hearts of as many Seraphim as Thy omnipotence could create, with what joy would I consecrate them all to Thee! I offer Thee the precious heart of Thy most worthy Mother, who has more love for Thee than all hearts that have been, are, or shall be. O Mother of Jesus, love Thy Adorable Son for me. O good Jesus, love Thy sweet Mother for me. O all ye citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, love Jesus and Mary for me, and unite me with your great love, now and eternally.

The preceding excerpt is taken from St. John Eudes, The Sacred Heart of Jesus, P. J. Kenedy and Sons, 1946, pages 25-30, and edited by the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, at www.heartsofjesusandmary.org. The Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary is a contemplative community of lay and religious dedicated to serving the Hearts of Jesus and Mary through Eucharistic Adoration, contemplation, and corporal works of mercy.