Let LOVE rule

Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all...

The other day, whilst vaguely browsing the display in a shop, I noticed this unpretentious little canvas, rather incongruously surrounded by trinkets and souvenirs. It's a very simple image - but it's precisely that simplicity which enabled me, from first glance, to see layers of meaning. Those multiple hearts: is their movement inward or out? Are they emanating outward from the central heart, like ripples in a pond, or are they moving inward, ever deepening, gaining more substance as they do? Either way, they speak, as the heart always does, of love: a two-way movement giving and receiving; a love which is strong and ever-widening, just as it is also ever-deepening and returning to its source.

And its message is very simple: let the heart - let LOVE - rule! Whether in giving or receiving, widening or deepening, let LOVE rule! Difficult? Oh yes, it can be. Idealistic? Yes, probably. Impossible? No - never!

Sadly, love is not being allowed to rule in the current lead-in to the EU referendum in the UK. Instead, this process - arising from a desire for self-determination and isolation - places before us many concerns and fears around sovereignty and power, and attitudes and behaviour which are all too often unloving and unwelcoming. Debates have become ugly, facts are manipulated and fear, anger and ignorance thrive - all this on the threshold of a momentous decision, whose fallout will reverberate for many years, whatever the result. Last night on TV someone voiced the very real fear that - never mind the political and economic consequences - in the months and years after this referendum the divisions will intensify. And none of this is happening in a vacuum: the politics of fear, hatred and division are terrifyingly strong in so many other countries too.

But this month, dedicated to the Sacred Heart, is an opportunity to re-immerse ourselves in attitudes which are very different; to remind ourselves, too, of a power stronger than fear, exclusion and hatred. Today, Feast of the Sacred Heart, RSCJ around the world, along with the wider Sacred Heart family, celebrate the unlimited, unfathomable love of the ever-open Heart of Jesus - a love which, unlike these debates and politicians, knows no borders. And as we RSCJ renew our vows we re-commit ourselves to live, love and serve in union and conformity with this Heart, making his feelings and preferences our own. May we do so especially centring ourselves and our vision on that of Jesus, whose Heart knows only love and openness, and whose love is the perfect antidote to all hatred. And may we recommit ourselves to letting LOVE rule, in our hearts, our homes and in our relationships and interactions.

Great Heart of all our hearts, whatever befall

May you always be our vision, O Ruler of all...