Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

symbol of the mystery of His divine person, the “hidden center” and source of His love for our families, and for all men and women. Moreover, the traditional images of the Sacred Heart emphasize the tender, suffering, wounded nature of the love of Jesus for us; this is another reason why His Heart is shown as sur- mounted by a cross, pierced and crowned with thorns. The focus is on His wounded Heart of love : His burning thirst and ardent desire for our love, His call for reparation for our failure to return His love, and the image even suggests that we can console His wound- ed Heart by making a return of love. In short, in the traditional images of the Sacred Heart, Jesus is calling us back to Himself: calling us to love Him back, calling us to make that response of love in which our sanctification and beatitude ultimately consist, in return for all His tender, affectionate, and wounded love for us. Many of the popular Italian “holy cards” of the Sacred Heart reflect these same emphases, even in the prayers which can be found on the back of them; for example: O Sacred Heart of Jesus, filled with Infinite Love, broken by our ingratitude and pierced by our sins, yet loving us still; accept the consecration we make to Thee of all that we are and all that we have. 37 In the Image of The Divine Mercy, on the other hand, the emphasis is not so much on the movement from us to Christ, but more from Him to us. Everything about this image speaks of the risen Christ graciously taking the initiative , and seeking us out in the darkness with the rays of Hismerciful love. In this image Christ is shown walking toward the viewer, coming to find us; the rays of merciful love flowing from His Heart spread out to embrace the viewer, and His hand is raised with a blessing of peace even before we ask for it. As Jesus once said to Sr. Faustina: “Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to Me” ( Diary , entry no. 1485). Here what Christ calls us to do, above all, is simply to receive His grace trustfully: “Jesus I trust in 117 The Sacred Heart and The Divine Mercy