Encyclical Letter “Dilexit nos” of the Holy Father Francis on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ

[aussie_aussie_oi_oi]

Encyclical: https://press.vatican.va/content/salast ... 1024b.html

Summary: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news ... heart.html

The love of Christ represented in His Sacred Heart: In our societies, the Pope writes, “we are also seeing a proliferation of varied forms of religiosity that have nothing to do with a personal relationship with the God of love” (87), while Christianity often forgets “the tenderness of faith, the joy of serving others, the fervour of personal commitment to mission” (88).
In response, Pope Francis proposes a new reflection on the love of Christ represented in His Holy Heart. He calls for a renewal of “authentic devotion” to the Sacred Heart, recalling that in the Heart of Christ “we find the whole Gospel” (89). It is in His Heart that “we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn to love” (30).

The world seems to have lost its heart: Pope Francis explains that by encountering the love of Christ, “we become capable of forging bonds of fraternity, of recognizing the dignity of each human being, and of working together to care for our common home,” noting the relationship between Dilexit nos and his social Encyclicals Laudato si' and Fratelli tutti (217).
And “in the presence of the Heart of Christ," he asks the Lord “to have mercy on this suffering world” and pour upon it “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 and necessary thing of all: the heart” (31).
When announcing the preparation of the document at the end of the general audience on June 5, the Pope clarified that it would do us great good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”
This encyclical comes as celebrations are underway for the 350th anniversary of the first manifestation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673; the anniversary celebrations will conclude on 27 June 2025.

The importance of returning to the heart: Opening with a brief introduction and divided into five chapters, the Encyclical on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus incorporates, as announced in June, “the precious reflections of previous Magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures, in order to re-propose today, to the whole Church, this devotion imbued with spiritual beauty.”
The first chapter, “The Importance of the Heart,” explains why it is necessary to “return to the heart” in a world where we are tempted to become “insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of the market” (2). It analyzes what we mean by “heart”: the Bible speaks of it as a core “that lies hidden beneath all outward appearances” (4), a place where what is shown on the outside or hidden doesn’t matter; there, we are truly ourselves (6). The heart leads to questions that matter: what meaning do I want for my life, my choices, or my actions? Who am I before God (8)?
The Pope points out that the current “depreciation” of the heart originated in Greek and pre-Christian rationalism, in post-Christian idealism, and in materialism in its various guises” where great philosophical thought prioritized concepts like “reason, will, or freedom.”
“The failure to make room for the heart… has resulted in a stunting of the idea of a personal centre, in which love, in the end, is the one reality that can unify all the others” (10), the Pope writes. For Pope Francis, it is important to recognize 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” (14).

‘The world can change beginning from the heart’: It is the heart that unites the fragments and “makes all authentic bonding possible, since a relationship not shaped by the heart is incapable of overcoming the fragmentation caused by individualism” (17). The spirituality of saints like Ignatius of Loyola (accepting the Lord’s friendship is a matter of the heart) and John Henry Newman (the Lord saves us by speaking to our heart from His Sacred Heart) teaches us, writes Pope Francis, that “before the Heart of Jesus, living and present, our mind, enlightened by the Spirit, grows in the understanding of His words” (27). This has social consequences, as “the world can change beginning with the heart” (28).

‘Actions and words of love’: The second chapter is dedicated to the actions and words of love of Christ. The acts by which He treats us as friends and shows that God “is closeness, compassion, and tender love” are evident in His encounters with the Samaritan woman, Nicodemus, the prostitute, the adulterous woman, and the blind man on the road (35). His gaze, which “examines the depths of your being” (39), shows “how attentive Jesus was to individuals and above all to their problems and needs” (40), in such a way “as to admire the good things he recognizes in us,” like in the centurion, even if others ignore them (41). His most eloquent word of love is “being nailed to the Cross,” after having wept for His friend Lazarus and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, aware of His violent death “at the hands of those He loved so much” (45, 46).

The mystery of a heart that loved so much: In the third chapter, “This is the heart that has loved so greatly,” the Pope recalls how the Church reflects and has reflected on “the holy mystery of the Lord’s Sacred Heart.” He refers to Pius XII’s Encyclical Haurietis aquas, on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1956). He clarifies that “devotion to the Heart of Christ is not the worship of a single organ apart from the Person of Jesus,” because we adore “the whole Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, represented in an image that accentuates His heart” (48). The image of the heart of flesh helps us contemplate that the love of the Heart of Jesus Christ not only understands divine charity but also extends to human affection (61). His Heart, Pope Francis continues, quoting Pope Benedict XVI, contains a “threefold love”: the sensitive love of His physical heart and His twofold spiritual love, both human and divine, in which we find “the infinite in the finite” (67).

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a synthesis of the Gospel: The Pope clarifies that the visions of some saints, particularly devoted to the Heart of Christ, “are rich sources of encouragement and can prove greatly beneficial,” but “are not something the faithful are obliged to believe as if they were the Word of God.” At the same time, he reminds us, along with Pope Pius XII, that this devotion “cannot be said ‘to owe its origin to private revelations.’” Rather, “devotion to Christ’s heart is essential for our Christian life to the extent that it expresses our openness in faith and adoration to the mystery of the Lord’s divine and human love” and “in this sense, we can once more affirm that the Sacred Heart is a synthesis of the Gospel” (83). The Pope calls for renewing devotion to the Heart of Christ, especially to counter “new manifestations of a disembodied spirituality” that are multiplying in society (87). It is essential, he says, to return to “the incarnate synthesis of the Gospel” (90) in the face of “communities and pastors excessively caught up in external activities, structural reforms that have little to do with the Gospel, obsessive reorganization plans, worldly projects, secular ways of thinking and mandatory programmes” (88).

[Doom]

Is that the full text? I’m pretty sure it is copyrighted and you just can’t just copy and paste it here

[anawim]

Is that the full text? I’m pretty sure it is copyrighted and you just can’t just copy and paste it here

While the Vatican Publishing House does in fact own the copyright, just like NASA, they do not collect any royalties. As long as you cite the source, you can use it on a page like this. It's known as "Classroom" use. The one thing that you can't do is publish it in a book. You have to write for permission, but there is no cost. That changed after Dan Brown used the Vatican Archives and then published something different than what was in their library.

[aussie_aussie_oi_oi]

Is that the full text? I’m pretty sure it is copyrighted and you just can’t just copy and paste it here

It is not the full text but a summary form the media release.
I have also linked the full document.

[zeno]

I do wish, however, that people would refrain from posting large portions of material from other sites whether it is legal to do so or not. A snippet and a link to the source for those who are interested in reading more would be preferable.

[aussie_aussie_oi_oi]

Message received Zeno.

[Riverboat]

I do wish, however, that people would refrain from posting large portions of material from other sites whether it is legal to do so or not.

I agree. This cuts into my Cat Trap time.

https://llerrah.com/cattrap.htm