The Holy Father, Pope Francis has explained that in the Devotion to the Sacred Heart, what we contemplate and adore is the whole Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, represented by an image that accentuates His Heart. He made this assertion in his fourth encyclical of his so far 11- year pontificate entitled, “Dilexit nos” (“He loved us”), unveiled at a media conference penultimate Thursday by Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, Italy and Sr. Antonella Fraccaro, leader of the Disciples of the Gospel, an Italian institute of Consecrated life.
Pope Francis said, “Devotion to the heart of Christ is not the veneration of a single organ apart from the Person of Jesus. Instead, what we contemplate and adore is the whole Jesus Christ.” According to the Holy Pontiff, ‘Dilexit nos’ is a document that brings together the valuable reflections of previous magisterial texts, writings of saints and his fellow Jesuits, as well as a long history dating back to the sacred Scriptures to re-propose to the whole Church the devotion, he termed ‘full of spiritual beauty’. Since 1889, there have been four papal encyclicals and numerous papal texts dedicated to the Sacred Heart. He enjoined Catholics to focus more on experiencing a holistic encounter with Jesus rather than getting hooked to particular images of Christ’s heart.
The Pope stressed the enduring relevance of devotion to the Sacred Heart as he called on the lay faithful to embody Christ’s heart of love and service in their daily lives, emphasising the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. “The expressive and symbolic image of Christ’s heart is not the only means granted us by the Holy Spirit for encountering the love of Christ, yet it is an especially privileged one,” he wrote. He urged Catholics to continually nurture the devotion through practices such as receiving Communion on the first Friday of each month and spending an hour in Eucharistic adoration each Thursday.
Pope Francis fourth encyclical further read in parts, “In contemplating Jesus’ Sacred Heart, the faithful can be filled with the living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidarity and fraternal world. “In the deepest fibre of our being we were made to love and be loved,” His Holiness tasked Christians to examine their consciences, “The most decisive question we can ask is ‘Do I have a heart?’ The Holy Pontiff noted that the human is more than an instrument, a material body, and a carrier of intelligence and reasoning.
He further stressed that Christ’s heart is aflamed with infinite love and He desires to be loved and consoled in return, especially by loving and serving one’s neighbours and those who are most marginalised. “In union with Christ, amid the ruins we have left in this world by our sins, we are called to build a new civilisation of love. “That’s what it means to make reparation as the heart of Christ would have us do.” The 141-page, 28,000-word Dilexit nos (“He loved us”) follows 2013’s Lumen fidei (co-written with Benedict XVI), 2015’s Laudato si’, and 2020’s Fratelli tutti.
The new encyclical’s incipit, or opening phrase, is drawn from Romans 8:37, in which St. Paul says Christians can overcome every adversity “Through him who loved us.” The encyclical is divided into five chapters respectively entitled “The importance of the heart”; “Actions and words of love”; “This is the heart that has loved so greatly”; “A love that gives itself as drink,” and “Love for love”.
