In a world which in so many ways lacks the virtues of respect, acceptance and tolerance, according to our faith one thing among many others has not changed. Today's passage from Ephesians affirms: through Christ Jesus our Lord," we can speak freely to God, drawing near to him with confidence."

The usual statue of the Sacred Heart does not artistically appeal to everyone's taste, and may often indeed be an obstacle to true devotion. That is a great pity but it is inevitable, because taking a highly theological idea, the infinite and unconditional love of God, and trying to express it in concrete forms widely accessible to the great variety of believers is no easy task.

Some images depict Jesus' heart surrounded with flames or pierced with a dagger or crowned with thorns. These images intend to express God's compassion, for God's love for us in Jesus is a compassionate love, a love that is understanding, accepting and never recriminatory.

Ephesians also speaks of the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ's love - an attempt to express in spatial terms the enormous wonder of God's love and the enormous expanse of the doctrine inherent in the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.