Every year, we observe the solemnity of the most sacred heart of Jesus.  This is ultimately a feast about Jesus' love for us, as Father John Croiset writes in his book on the devotion, because the human heart is a symbol of love.  So it is no surprise, then, that today's scriptures have this thread of love running throughout.

 

The first lesson (Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9) was written during a dark period, when the Northern Kingdom of Israel had its decline, and ultimately its fall, under the Assyrian empire.  Despite the darkness, the theme of this book is God's gracious love, which we see in Hosea's use of the parent/child metaphor.  God cares for us as we care for our children. 

 

We also have the passage from the Gospel (John 19:31-37) that gives us the story of Christ dying for us on the cross.  This is the height of God's love and sacrifice for us.  Family is implicit in this passage, for reflection on the cross reminds us that God sent his only Son to die for us, so that we might become God's children.  The link to the first passage is seen partly in the fact that God already has always loved us as his children, but in sending Jesus, we are asked to realize and recognize how incomprehensible that love is.

 

Finally, the second reading (Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19) continues with the the theme of love, the idea that we Christians can only do what we do because we are rooted and grounded in love for Christ.  Here, too, Paul discusses family relationships.  God is the Father of all families on earth; we humans are all so fully surrounded by God's gracious love and we are called to live out that love so that we can "comprehend with all the holy ones" the most incredible height and breadth and length and depth of God's love for us.

The analogy between family and love is an important one.  Family at its best is the place where people learn to love each other - and everyone is part of a family.  Family does not only mean husbands, wives and children, though the Church has great, great respect for them.  Family also means all the ways in which Christians care for each other in their households, so that we can name a range of kinds of families: adult children caring for aging people, and adoptive parents, single parents raising their children and so on.  We Christians gathered together as church also count as family, as brothers and sisters of each other (as Paul calls us all in his letter) such that we are called to treat each other as family.

 

Though I am sure we can all name times when families (biological or even church families) fail us, and perhaps we can even name times when we have failed our families - we also know that this is not what what is hoped for. Today, as we reflect on the great love of God, let us also pray for the grace to act as more loving members of all the families to which we belong.