Today is June 10, Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
We read in the Gospel at today’s Mass, “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Mt 5:13-14).
In these days following the great feast of Pentecost, we find ourselves in the season of mission. The Easter season has come to its climax — the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And what does the Holy Spirit do? He sends. As Jesus said, “As the Father sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21).
That sending — that outward motion — is exactly what the Sacred Heart of Jesus symbolizes. If you look closely at nearly every image of the Sacred Heart, you’ll see it ablaze with fire. That flame isn’t just decorative; it represents the burning, outward-driving love of Christ, a love that must go forth.
‘The love of Christ impels us’
As St. Paul wrote, “The love of Christ impels us.” Love, by its very nature, cannot stay hidden. It is diffusive of itself, meaning it spreads, it radiates, it seeks to be shared. The Sacred Heart teaches us that real love demands mission.
We see this reflected in the second image from today’s Gospel: light. Jesus says that no one lights a lamp only to hide it. Light, like love, exists to be seen. It’s meant to shine. Likewise, our faith is not meant to be buried or guarded jealously — it’s meant to be shared, lived out boldly and radiated joyfully.
This is the missionary power of devotion to the Sacred Heart. To venerate Christ’s Heart without carrying his love into the world would be to miss the point entirely. The pierced Heart of Jesus, from which blood and water flowed, is not static. It is active, always giving, always sending.
So today, we’re invited to ask: Does my life radiate the love of Christ? Do my actions show others the compassion and fire of his Heart?
Let us pray,
O God, from whom all good things come, grant that we, who call on you in our need, may at your prompting discern what is right, and by your guidance do it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
