Last Thursday, Pope Francis released Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us), his fourth papal encyclical which explores the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I have yet to fully read and digest all that has was written. Numerous summaries and commentaries are floating around the internet to read for one’s enlightenment. I will dedicate the next four posts to do a series of reflections on this encyclical, similar to what I did for Pope Francis’s 2020 pastoral letter Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart). You can read my series here.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart was something that I picked up when I was in formation as a Dominican Friar. I prayed together with one of the brothers as part of the First Friday Devotion. When I discerned out of the community, we managed to keep the practice of the devotion even to this day. Devotions are a beautiful tradition within the Catholic faith, something that can be engaged individually and with others. Incorporating them into your life can broaden and deepen your prayer. Furthermore, devotions provide a nice level of structure by committing to a set of prayers and praying them on regularly.
The Catholic Gentleman provides three tips for getting more into devotionals, all centered around simplicity:
- Choose a devotion that works for you: amidst all of the devotions that are out there, don’t feel compelled to pray them all. Choose a devotion that speaks to you.
- Be consistent: what matters most with devotions is committing to praying them not just once, but regularly.
- Mean it: when engaging in devotions, do not let your participation be just going through the motions. Engage your whole self: mind, body and spirit.
These are great tips, nothing profound, but effective. In Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis is calling us back to the simplicity of the faith. I think this is where Pope Francis shines in his writings, drawing on the importance of simplicity and humility. We immediately think of saints like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Calcutta. What inspires me about such saints is how deep their relationship with God was and how their relationship was simple and humble, yet profound.
To close, I wanted to share a beautiful poem entitled “The Sacred Heart” by Simeon Charles Goodwin, O.Praem:
There is a heart that beat with love
When time could mark no beat.
It echoed with a triple-pulse
And surged in thunders sweet.
Too happy not to overflow
It laughed and all was made.
It sighed and angel hosts came forth
In myriad parade.
It sang the seas and skies to be,
Hummed forth the rolling hills.
It beamed out beast and bird in love,
A sweet and mighty will.
It breathed into the mire and muck,
Sweet nothings to the earth;
And clay was made creation’s crown,
Man made with God’s own worth.
And how that heart did pound with peace
When he and man would walk
In silent love in evening winds
Too full of love for talk.
Oh man was glad and God was glad
And all creation too,
But man in madness pierced God’s heart
And rent the world in two.
There is a secret hideaway
Where cosmoi come to cry,
With atrium no bigger than
The needle’s narrow eye.
And there the mighty waters wait
To burst on arid wastes.
Men need but kiss the lance-made lips
To learn how sweet blood tastes.
As we celebrate All Saints and All Souls Day, let us lean on the Sacred Heart of Jesus to emulate the saints that we have come to know and love and pray for the souls who have passed, most especially those in Purgatory.
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