Hajja Salesjana

“Dilexit nos" is Pope Francis' fourth Encyclical issued on the 24th October 2024. It traces the tradition and relevance of thinking "on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ", inviting us to renew authentic devotion so as not to forget the tenderness of the faith, the joy of putting ourselves at the service and the fervour of the mission. Opened with a brief introduction and divided into five chapters, the encyclical on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus brings together the precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures, to re-propose today, to the whole Church, this devotion which is full of spiritual beauty. Here are some of the most significant parts of the Encyclical: 1) Mere appearances, dishonesty and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed. 2) If we devalue the heart, we also devalue what it means to speak from the heart, to act with the heart, to cultivate and heal the heart. If we fail to appreciate the specificity of the heart, we miss the messages that the mind alone cannot communicate; we miss out on the richness of our encounters with others; we miss out on poetry. We also lose track of history and our own past, since our real personal history is built with the heart. At the end of our lives, that alone will matter. At the end of life, only this will count. 3) The heart of Christ is “ecstasy”, openness, gift and encounter. In that heart, we learn to relate to one another in wholesome and happy ways, and to build up in this world God’s kingdom of love and justice. Our hearts, united with the heart of Christ, are capable of working this social miracle. by Pope Francis Dilexit Nos 6 Jannar-Marzu 2025 hajja