Dear Parishioners and Friends,
In a closing gesture of the Synod in Rome, on October 24, Pope Francis issused a new encyclical letter, his fourth, titled Dilexit Nos (“He loved us”). In this document, Pope Francis reminds us of how devotion to the Sacred Heart is a profound expression of faith, and an encounter with the unending love of God. I wish to share some comments about the encyclical published online by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development.
The document is part of ongoing celebrations marking the 350th anniversary of the first apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The celebrations began on 27 December 2023, the anniversary, and are scheduled to end on the feast of the Sacred Heart, 27 June 2025.
The Sacred Heart represents the love of Jesus as both fully human and fully divine. Although it has Biblical and early Christian roots, it became a widespread and popular devotion after 1673, due to the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Christ appeared to the French nun four times, showing her his heart and affirming his love for all people.
Pope Francis believes that devotion to the Sacred Heart has the power to “illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, but also to say something significant to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”
Pope Francis has frequently talked about the importance of encounter. In Dilexit Nos, he explains how our lifestyle today, with its frenetic pace and its emphasis on consumerism, means that we are not paying enough attention to the heart. He returns to his theme of the dangers of individualism, telling us that this stops us from having a true encounter with our neighbor. This leads to the realization that an authentic personal relationship to Christ, strengthened by devotion to the Sacred Heart, cannot be separated from loving our neighbor.
Pope Francis particularly mentions the need for us to work for unity and peace in our world – a unity and peace that can only be brought about by love. He condemns the complicity, tolerance or indifference of other countries during the outbreak of new wars and speaks powerfully of the effect of conflict on the human person, evoking the image of elderly women who have lost their homes and are forced to mourn for their children and grandchildren.
Pope Francis also reiterates his call for us to care for our common home, saying: “For it is by drinking of [Christ’s] love that we become capable of forging bonds of fraternity, of recognizing the dignity of each human being and, of working together to care for our common home.” (#217)
We are reminded that God’s love for us is never-ending and that, filled with this love, we are also called to share it with others, when he says: “We need once more to take up the word of God and to realize, in doing so, that our best response to the love of Christ’s heart is to love our brothers and sisters.” (#167)
Pope Francis’ new letter speaks to our hearts, reminding us that it is in Christ’s heart that “we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn to love” (#30). As we approach the 2025 Jubilee Year, we can find renewed hope that “amid the devastation wrought by evil, the heart of Christ desires that we cooperate with him in restoring goodness and beauty to our world.”(#182)
The pope previously expressed his hope that the document will “illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal” and speaks here of the Church needing the “gratuitous love of God that liberates, enlivens, brings joy to the heart and builds communities” (#219).
In the light of this encyclical’s invitation to respond to the love of Christ’s heart by loving our brothers and sisters, we can make manifest the love of Jesus in the world.
Blessings on your week ahead!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor