The Southern Cross | December 2024

No doubt the world is a complex place. Maybe it has always been thus. Yet it seems at the moment to be increasingly the case.

When we walk into a supermarket and there are 23 different varieties of balsamic vinegar from which to choose, life can appear overwhelming. With too much from which to choose, life is complex.

Even the most mundane aspects of life are complicated, such as needing two-factor identification to log into internet banking.

When countries seem endlessly at war; when grocery prices only ever seem to be going up; when an ordinary house is out of the reach of ordinary people, life is complex.

Ever attentive to the signs of the times, it is little wonder that Pope Francis recently released his fourth encyclical (letter to the People of God) entitled He loved us (Dilexit nos). In using this quote of St Paul, referring to Christ, the Pope reminds us of what is at the heart and what comes first: ‘He loved us’.

In a world obsessed with self, Francis gently but surely points, like John the Baptist, to Christ and that which he has done (He loved us). What could be simpler in a complex world. If we but thought about and lived out these three words, what a difference might life hold, not only in our own lives but the society and the world in which we live. It calls the fact that the human being, indeed the gift of life and the whole of the universe, remain radically incomplete without God in Jesus Christ.

At 31,500 words the encyclical is not a short document. Yet gradually, like an unfurling flower, the Pope gives us an extended mediation on ‘the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ’. Already I have met people who have gone on retreat and have used this text as the basis of their retreat and days of reflection.

Recognising that faith and the gift of religion is first and foremost a matter of relationship with the living God, the Pope takes us on a tour of what this looks like through the ages.

Catholics of a certain generation have a deep affinity with the ‘Sacred Heart’. Francis reminds us of this in releasing the encyclical, the central idea of which is that the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ is not just an intimate, personal experience but the deep source that drives us to love others, change society and build peace through dialogue and respect for others.

For Francis it is always the ‘we’ and not simply the ‘I’. We encounter God not simply for ourselves, He loved ‘us’, not simply He loved ‘me’, and this love is transformational for each person and community.

Releasing the encyclical during the second session of the synod was not coincidental. The encyclical extends a clear challenge to Church leaders to embrace compassionate, empathetic leadership. The Pope makes it clear that only through love can we joyfully and effectively proclaim God’s love. This is not sentimental but a prophetic challenge to love radically. To go to the heart. In a complex world, so often bereft of compassion, Francis reminds us of what lies at the heart.

He writes: It could be said, then, that I am my heart, for my heart is what sets me apart, shapes my spiritual identity and puts me in communion with other people. The algorithms operating in the digital world show that our thoughts and will are much more ‘uniform’ than we had previously thought. They are easily predictable and thus capable of being manipulated. That is not the case with the heart. (#14)

In referring to the Heart of Jesus as a model, the Pope reminds us that this means nourishing our own hearts, bringing a quality to our lives through the goodness and love of Jesus Christ and allowing his Holy Spirit to flourish in our lives.

The release of the encyclical also marks the 350th anniversary of the first apparition of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque. Pope Francis explains that devotion to the Sacred Heart has historically brought renewal to the Church in challenging times and continues to be a source of hope and resilience today.

Take for example the Basilica of Sacré Cœur de Montmartre in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sacré-Cœur Basilica is located at the summit of the butte of Montmartre. From its dome 200m above the Seine, the basilica overlooks the entire city of Paris and its suburbs.

In times of difficulty, the French instinctively turned to this warm devotion, a return to the heart. The basilica was first proposed by Felix Fournier, the Bishop of Nantes, in 1870 after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. He attributed the defeat of France to the moral decline of the country since the French Revolution and proposed a new Parisian church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Dilexit nos is rich and accessible, even if long. It reminds us in a complex world that which is at the heart. Dare we take the chance to delight in and discover this for ourselves? In so doing we respond to Jesus’ invitation, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30)

A heart filled and blessed Christmas to all, for God is good, good indeed.

Picture: Grand Imam Dr Nasaruddin Umar and Pope Francis. Picture: Archbishop Peter A Comensoli