Dilexit Nos §166

¹⁶⁶ Jesus spoke of his thirst for love and revealed that his heart is not indifferent to the way we respond to that thirst. In his words, “I thirst, but with a thirst so ardent to be loved by men in the Most Blessed Sacrament, that this thirst consumes me; and I have not encountered anyone who makes an effort, according to my desire, to quench my thirst, giving back a return for my love”. Jesus asks for love. Once the faithful heart realizes this, its spontaneous response is one of love, not a desire to multiply sacrifices or simply discharge a burdensome duty: “I received from my God excessive graces of his love, and I felt moved by the desire to respond to some of them and to respond with love for love”. As my Predecessor Leo XIII pointed out, through the image of his Sacred Heart, the love of Christ “moves us to return love for love”.