Nov 1
Entering the Heart of Jesus.
On October 24, the Pope published his encyclical dedicated to the Heart of Jesus. Here are six points to understand this devotion.
1. Remove "prejudices" about what the Heart of Jesus means. In the face of "reticence" regarding "devotion", "expression" or "spirituality" pointed out as "sentimentalist", "outdated", "painful"... "Jesus’ open Heart precedes us and waits for us unconditionally, without demanding a prerequisite for being able to love us and to propose his friendship to us: 'He first loved us' (1 Jn 4:10).
2. From the mystery of the human heart, as the unifying center of the human being, this devotion leads us to the Heart of Christ, whose tenderness, closeness to us, and compassion are revealed to us in the Gospel. "We need to recover the importance of the Heart.
3. It introduces us to the Heart of Christ as a key to understanding the divine and human mystery of the Incarnation, signified in the image of the Heart of Jesus. This Heart expresses the threefold human, filial, and divine love of the Incarnate Word. We venerate that image that represents him, but adoration is directed only to the living Christ, in his divinity and humanity. There we can find the whole Gospel, a summary of the truth we believe, there is all that we adore and seek in faith, there is what we need most.
4. This devotion invites us to turn to Scripture, to the writings of the saints, to the magisterium of the Popes, and to the "sensus fidei" the faith of the People of God, to learn to drink from this fountain of living water that satisfies the heart of every man. It is not a love that is simply declared, but its open side is a source of life for the beloved, it is that fountain that quenches the thirst of its people.
5. The devotion to the Heart of Jesus makes us understand the value of our prayers and sacrifices. Union with his Heart communicates the ability to console and repair evil and sin, making us instruments to renew life in the Church and the world. The consolation this devotion brings us is not outside history or abstract, it becomes flesh and blood on the path of the Church.
6. This devotion encourages an authentic apostolic commitment, starting from the experience of falling in love with Christ, uniting interior life with apostolic action, and uniting compassion for those who suffer with dedication to the merciful love of Christ. A human heart that makes room for Christ's love with total trust, and allows it to expand in its own life with its fire, becomes capable of loving others like Christ, making itself small and close to all.
The Pope indicates with his encyclical the remedy to restore the whole Church and humanity: the discovery of the human and divine love of the Heart of Christ.
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