Jun 16 – Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart
The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. According to the General Roman Calendar since 1969, it is formally known as the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Latin: Sollemnitas Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu) and falls on the Friday that follows the second Sunday after Pentecost, which is also the Friday after the former octave of Corpus Christi. Some Anglican Franciscans keep the feast under the name (The) Divine Compassion of Christ.
- Wikipedia
Deu 7:6-11
1 Jn 4:7-11
Mt 11:29
“God is love”
The word ‘Love’ is possibly the most misunderstood and overused word in our human vocabulary. Very possibly, we will not get through a single day without using or hearing this word. But when I was growing up, “I love you” was something that was hardly, if ever, expressed to me by my parents.
I believe that I am not the only one, born and raised in Singapore, to whom our parents did not say that they loved us, in an open way. We knew that they loved us, quite often loving us by dishing out ‘tough love’; especially when I came back with a soiled or torn uniform.
This was especially so with my father. I did not feel that he loved me, as he left our family when I was younger. Didn’t he love us enough to stay and work through whatever issues he was facing at that time? He really did leave my mother, my brother and I in a lurch. Growing up without a father figure wasn’t easy at all. For a long time, I did not feel love in my heart for my father at all, even when he appeared 20+ years later. He was just a stranger staying some nights in our home.
Although my earthly father wasn’t with me for more than half my life, God our Heavenly Father is there all the time. We didn’t have much but we grew amidst the hardships. I gained independence, self-reliance and a greater love for my mother, as she really struggled to make ends meet and to feed my brother and I. Looking back now, with the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those life lessons. And the introduction to the faith from my grandmother and mother. They who brought me, sometimes unwillingly, to the Saturday Novenas; and they who always said their daily rosaries at the dining table in the mornings. They provided me with the foundation of faith and helped to develop my relationship with Mama Mary.
I truly believe that Mama Mary really drew me closer to Jesus and for His love to let His love envelop me. It was really through her love for me that I managed to remain in the faith. There were many occasions where I could have left the Church, but the Saturday Novena sessions kept me on the narrow path. And on this narrow path is where I would meet Jesus.
I knew the right words to say and did right actions, but somehow my heart was still not completely open to God the Father. This changed about 8 years ago when I went for the CER. I really thought I didn’t need it. Was I ever so wrong.
The retreat helped me realise that God the Father has been always with me. Like a Hound of Heaven, His relentless pursuit of me never wavered nor stopped. I was too blinded by my own selfishness and self-centredness to know this. At the retreat, my heart and my mind were finally joined and I could feel with my heart the love that God has for me, a love that I had read so much about.
After CER, I was retrenched for a second time. The first time that I was retrenched, I was so angry and bitter. But this time, it was so different. I knew for a fact, that God is with me and when the news was broken to me by my Global VP, I remained very calm. My VP was very surprised as he thought that I would burst out in anger and bitterness. I knew that I remained calm because I know that God loves me and would not let anything untoward happen to me. It was merely a speed bump in my journey with God.
Recently, I was back at CSC for the thanksgiving mass for CER#68. I was really reluctant to stay for mass but I did. It was at mass, that I felt again, the overwhelming love that God has for me and His assurance that He is always with me. It was a timely jolt to my system as I had been feeling rather distant from Him these past few weeks.
God will always pursue us and He will never falter. He will never stop loving us and He wants us to never stop loving Him. Because God is love.
God is GOOD all the time. All the time, God is good.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Calvin Wee)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you constantly show us how to love you, and also show us how to love you always. Your love never fails. Let your love for us enable us to love our neighbours more fully, and in so doing, glorify you in all we do. Amen
Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and continued presence with us in all we do. Thank you for loving us when we don’t love you back. Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on us. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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