Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments.

God didn’t choose to create us and offer us His blessings and graces because we are powerful, but rather because of our weakness. He wants to be our strength for goodness, for love, and for mercy. He wants to lead us out of our slavery to sin and our inclination toward evil to a better life founded on faith, hope, and love. He ransomed us from our sins because He wants us to love Him as He loves us with His Most Sacred Heart. He asks us to keep his commandments because they set our lives on the right path toward imitation of His Love and Mercy. All these things mold us into good and faithful servants shaped in His Divine Image, which is founded on the love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

How do we thank God for creating and blessing us? How can we more faithfully follow Him? What can we do to make the Image of God manifest in our every thought, word, and work?

O Lord, thank you for your merciful covenant.

Amen.