Heart Aflame
In Paray-le-Monial, the Lord Jesus revealed His Heart aflame with the words: "See the Heart that loves so much, but all I get in return is ingratitude........"  The mind thinks but it's the heart that rules; the heart is the seat of all human  emotions: abandonment, betrayal, anxiety, fear, hate, guilt, shame, passion, love,  peace,  joy.....etc.; no wonder it is the heart that gives life or death.
 Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is very appropriate because it connects us to the humanity of Jesus who is both Human and Divine. Like the Burning  Bush  on Mt. Horeb (Ex.3:2-5) where Moses was surprised to see the bush on fire yet not burning, so is the Heart of Jesus on fire but not consumed. Unlike the Burning Bush when Moses was asked not to draw near and to remove his shoes because he was on Holy ground, the Heart of Jesus invites and allows  us to draw near  even to put our hand in His Opened-Side. Even though Holy yet He is on fire with love for sinners to come and find forgiveness,... the weary to find rest,... the thirsty soul to drink from the fountain of love,..... the anxious to find solace,...the rejected to find acceptance, the wounded to find healing,.... the lost  - home and the dead to find  real life, Eternal Life  in Him.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is an ocean of love, whose breadth, height and depth cannot be fathomed. There is no pain on earth that this Heart did not experience for the sake of love for fallen humanity.
 What is the condition of your heart?.... aching with pain, ....confused with emotions,.... yearning for something you don't know...... anxious....... weak/sick..........heavy...... broken........ ?
Come to me all ye who are wearied, you who labour  and heavily burdened,  come to me and I will give you rest. (Mat. 11:28 ff). A hiding place, a shield, a refuge and enabled to listen to His passionate yet gentle heart beat to calm the restless soul. Therefore let us dare approach with confidence, the  Heart that is Aflame with  Unconditional Love for each one of us.
St Augustine puts it beautifully: "Our hearts are restless until they come to rest in You"  
 

The Essence of Love..
The nature of God is love..... God loves each one of us perfectly and infinitely...,,unconditionally...He loves us even if we decide never to love Him.... or do not know Him, acknowledge Him....and that is only one side of the equation. The other side is what is the essence of loving God in return?... Do we or can we love Him in the degree He loves us?.....Are our hearts burning to love Him?.... Are we yearning to be with Him?..... talk with Him?...... listen to Him?.......(all the things lovers do for each other?).....Loving Him despite whatever happens in life and death?....even when He does not seem to answer any of your prayers?....love Him even if you never felt His presence?  love Him through thick and thin?
The essence of loving God is not mainly to get answers to our prayers..... to be become rich...... or healed of an illness....etc. but when we move from what is tangible or visible to our senses...... we can find meaning in loving God for who He is. We can try to love Him because he loved us first..... in loving Him we can develop trust in Him, we can be drawn into Him ..... stay close to Him......depend on Him..... allow Him to lead us.
Love was the purchased price..... His Precious Blood shed on the Cross..... for each one........ We can find meaning in loving Him if we understand  what it cost Him to love us even to the Cross to set us free and restore us to God's friendship
Scripture puts it clearly: "The love of Christ impels us who have reached the conviction that since One died for all, all died. He died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who for their sakes died and was raised up"