New Papal Encyclical Stresses the Importance of the Heart
A view of the Motherhouse on St. George Street seen through wrought iron gate.
In his October 2024 encyclical, “Dilexit Nos: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus,” Pope Francis says all of us “…need to rediscover the importance of the heart.” He challenges us to recognize how the signs of the times include living in an age of superficiality, “rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives…” The first chapter, “The Importance of the Heart,” can deepen one’s understanding of the love of Jesus Christ and how countercultural it is. Pope Francis writes, “…we find ourselves immersed in societies of serial consumers who live from day to day, dominated by the hectic pace and bombarded by technology, lacking in the patience needed to engage in the processes that an interior life by its very nature requires.”
Hydrangeas in Motherhouse gardens in June of this year.
Why is one’s heart so important? Pope Francis states, “…the heart makes all authentic bonding possible, since a relationship not shaped by the heart is incapable of overcoming the fragmentation of individualism…We become ourselves only to the extent that we acquire the ability to acknowledge others, while only those who can acknowledge and accept themselves are then able to encounter others.”
Towards the end of the papal encyclical the pope refers to his previous encyclical, Laudato Si’, where he had written, “Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle.” Maxim 73 of the Maxims of the Little Institute by Fr. Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ, founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph, states, “Live out your life with one desire only: to be always what God wants you to be, in nature, grace and glory, for time and eternity.” A contemplative lifestyle allows one to discern this.
Advent wreath in Motherhouse chapel.
In order for us to be able to change the world for the better, Pope Francis writes in Dilexit Nos the following: “It is only by starting from the heart that our communities will succeed in uniting and reconciling differing minds and wills, so that the Spirit can guide us in unity as brothers and sisters.”
Since our mission as Sisters of St. Joseph is one of unity and reconciliation (Seized by God’s love, we work in collaboration with others to bring union and reconciliation to our world, that all may be one), practices that start from the heart are beneficial. One of the common spiritual practices encouraged by the early SSJs in France was sharing the state of the heart. It was a method for sharing the experiences of their lives filtered through their own contemplation of how they were led by God, how they responded, and how they were challenged. As we prepare a place in our hearts for Jesus to enter in more fully during Advent as a preparation for Christmas, let us end with this quote from Pope Francis in his encyclical: “In the end, the Sacred Heart is the unifying principle of all reality, since ‘Christ is the heart of the world, and the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection is the center of history, which, because of him, is a history of salvation’…May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio-economic disparities and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important thing of all: its heart!”