Can you earn love?

If you have to earn it, it isn’t love! Can you imagine a parent looking at their child and saying, “I’m not going to love you until you obey me.” How terrible would that be? Most children would not get any love until they were 7 or 8 years old!

It’s love for their children that helps parents care for their children and teach them obedience. Love does not depend on how well the children behave.

It’s the same with God. God’s love and mercy for us do not depend on our own moral perfection. Sometimes we can forget that we do not need to be perfect before we can experience God’s mercy.

In the late 1600s, a heresy called Jansenism started spreading throughout Europe. Jansenists taught that God only offers grace to some people, not to everyone. This caused many people to despair that they would never be good enough to receive God’s love!

Thankfully, the Catholic Church condemned the Jansenist heresy. But even better, Jesus Himself helped the Church in this moment! The devotion to the Sacred Heart is a response to this heresy. It helps us trust God’s infinite mercy, instead of trying to earn God’s love! Quoting St. John Paul II, Pope Francis writes in Dilexit Nos:

“Devotion to the Sacred Heart, as it developed in Europe two centuries ago, under the impulse of the mystical experiences of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, was a response to Jansenist rigor, which ended up disregarding God’s infinite mercy…” (Dilexit Nos §80)  

The Sacred Heart is Jesus’s answer to our fears that we are not good enough!

PRAY WITH US AT 7 PM CT

Tune in tonight at 7pm CT for the Family Rosary Across America and join us in offering our hearts to Jesus!

And now, you can also join our Family Rosary Across America text group by texting “PRAY” to 914914 for updates and reminders to pray with us during this novena.

See you at the Rosary!