“Who shall not return love to Him who thus loves us?
Who of the redeemed shall not love Him,
and choose in that Heart
his eternal abode?”
(Hymn of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)
What a wonderful invitation is addressed to us by this hymn intoned on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! Indeed, if we look at it from the perspective of the spirit and of love, it is difficult to resist the Lord’s invitation.
Where else should we go? (cf. Jn 6:68). We will never find a heart that loves us more or calls us more tenderly: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). We will never find another heart whose doors are as open to us as that of our Redeemer. We will never find a heart that can satisfy our longing for truth and love more than that of our Redeemer.
No one else will come to us, sent by the Heavenly Father, to deliver us from the power of darkness and break all our chains. No one else will stand by us, even when we refuse His invitation, waiting for us to be converted, at least before our death.
We will never find another heart that can fulfill what the Redeemer assured St. Matilda of Hackeborn:
“I tell you that there is no sinner so bad that, if he is truly converted, I will not at that very moment forgive him all his faults and incline my heart toward him with as much grace and sweetness as if he had never failed”.
How can we be grateful for so much love? Let us also accept in our lives the invitation and exhortation that Jesus addressed to St. Matilda:
“This, my vineyard, is the Catholic Church, in which I worked for thirty-three years with much effort. Work with me in my vineyard!”