Pope Francis' fourth encyclical is on the theme of the Sacred Heart. He announced several months prior to its publication that he was working on it, and that it would be a means to help the faithful to “meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love” in “a world that seems to have lost its heart.”
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds the faithful of God’s love for humanity. Although its roots go very far back in time, it became a widespread and popular devotion only after 1673, which is when French nun Margaret Mary Alacoque had visions of Jesus asking her to diffuse the importance of his Sacred Heart across the Church.
The feast of the Sacred Heart was then instituted in 1856 by Pope Pius IX.
Now Pope Francis wishes to keep developing this well-known devotion through a new papal document.
But throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has given some practical indications on how to get to know the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also explained various aspects of love that this devotion represents. Aleteia summarizes some of them below.
The “whats”
1The Sacred Heart helps us discover God’s style of love
The Sacred Heart of Jesus “reveals, in short, what God’s passion is. What is it? Humanity, us. And what is God’s style? Closeness, compassion and tenderness,” Pope Francis explained in November 2021, while speaking to faculty from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. We first need to learn that “whatever happens to us in life, we are [...] children whom the Father loves always,” to then be able to help others learn of God’s style, the Pontiff explained.
“The Heart of Christ is not a pious devotion, so as to feel a little warmth inside; it is not a tender image that arouses affection, no, it is not that. It is a passionate heart -- just read the Gospel -- a heart wounded with love, torn open for us on the cross,” he highlighted.
“If we really want to love God, we must be passionate about humanity, about all humanity, especially those who live the condition in which the Heart of Jesus was manifested, that is, pain, abandonment and rejection; especially in this throwaway culture that we live in today. When we serve those who suffer we console and rejoice in the Heart of Christ,” he continued.
2Christ’s heart shows the force of God’s mercy
“Popular piety highly values symbols, and the Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy. But it is not an imaginary symbol; it is a real symbol which represents the center, the source from which salvation flowed for all of humanity,” Pope Francis emphasized during the Angelus prayer on June 9, 2013.
He explained that “the mercy of Jesus is not only an emotion; it is a force that gives life that raises man!”
He cited in fact various moments in the Gospels where there is a reference to the Heart of Jesus, such as in Christ’s death according to John. “John recognizes the fulfillment of the prophecies: from the Heart of Jesus, the Lamb sacrificed on the Cross, flow forgiveness and life for all people,” Francis said.
In the heart, “the Father’s love shines forth; there I know I am welcomed and understood as I am; there, with all my sins and limitations, I know the certainty that I am chosen and loved. Contemplating that heart, I renew my first love: the memory of that time when the Lord touched my soul and called me to follow him,” the Pope said in June 2016, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart during the Jubilee of Mercy.
3The Sacred Heart of Jesus teaches us humility
“The significance of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, [...] is to discover ever more and to let ourselves be enfolded by the humble faithfulness and the gentleness of Christ’s love, revelation of the Father’s mercy,” the Pope wrote in a homily that was read out in June 2014 at the faculty of medicine of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome.
“We can experience and savor the tenderness of this love at every stage of life: in times of joy and of sadness, in times of good health and of frailty and those of sickness,” the Pope continued.
“God’s steadfast love for his people is manifest and wholly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who, in order to honor God’s bond with his people, he made himself our slave, stripped himself of his glory and assumed the form of a servant. Out of love he did not surrender to our ingratitude, not even in the face of rejection.”
4The Heart of Jesus gives us a missionary “push”
In speaking to the participants of the general chapter of the Comboni missionaries in June 2022, Pope Francis highlighted how the Sacred Heart of Jesus can help us evangelize and spread the Gospel by pushing us outside our comfort zone.
“The missionary is the disciple who is so united to his Master and Lord that his hands, his mind and his heart are 'channels' of Christ’s love. [...] It is the Spirit of Christ that carries us forward. This is why some great missionaries like Daniele Comboni, but also for example, Mother Cabrini, lived their mission feeling animated and 'spurred' by the Heart of Christ, that is, by Christ’s love,” the Pope said.
“And this 'push' allowed them to set out and go beyond: not only beyond geographical limitations and borders, but before that, even beyond their own personal limitations. This motto should 'make noise' in your heart: going beyond, going beyond, going beyond.”
“We have been sent to continue this mission: to be signs of the heart of Christ and the love of the Father, embracing the whole world. Here we find the 'heart' of the evangelizing mission of the Church: to reach all through the gift of God’s infinite love, to seek all, to welcome all, excluding no one, to offer our lives for all. All!,” the Pope said in June 2023 as he addressed the members of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
The “hows”
5To discover God’s love, represented in Christ’s Sacred Heart, read the Gospel!
This “is the first invitation: to know the Heart of Jesus by reflecting on the Gospel,” Pope Francis said in October 2023, to the participants of the general chapter of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. “It is there, in fact, that he still continues to this day to be our travel companion.”
“The Risen One, who lets Himself be known in the breaking of the Bread, is He who defeated death by giving his life, who demonstrated to men the love of the Father, loving them without measure with his divine and human Heart, and therefore knows how to say words that enflame the breast!” he continued.
6Don’t forget the reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In speaking to the participants of a May 2024 conference on the spiritual reparation of abuses committed in the Church, the Pope hoped that their event could “deepen the meaning of this beautiful practice of the reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a practice that today may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete.”
Reparation is a practice in the Church by which someone who has wronged God and/or their neighbor tries to make right, or "repair" the wound.
“Jesus asked Saint Margaret Mary acts of reparation for the offences caused by the sins of humanity,” when he appeared to her in the 1670s, Pope Francis explained.
“Reparation, to be Christian, to touch the heart of the offended person and not to be a simple act of commutative justice, presupposes two demanding attitudes: recognizing oneself as guilty and asking for forgiveness,” he explained, adding that reparation helps men reconcile amongst themselves but also with God. “If the irreparable cannot be completely repaired, love can always be reborn, making the wound bearable.”
7Mary: our guide to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“The Immaculate Heart of Mary accompanies you, she indicates the Sacred Heart of her Son and says to you: 'Do whatever he tells you (Jn 2:5).'” This is what Pope Francis told the participants of the general chapter of the Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary sisters in July 2023, but this indication can be useful to all Catholics, as Mary can help guide us to God.
“It is curious: In the attitude of Mary’s soul, there is always this: indicating Jesus, pointing to Jesus. Never herself, never. [...] This is the mission of the Mother: to point to Jesus,” he said. “As missionaries, you bring the message of Jesus where you are sent, with the trust and tenderness of Mary, embodying the words and deeds of the Lord to make his Kingdom of love present in the world.”
8The importance of prayer so that our heart can be similar to his
In 2020 Pope Francis sent a message to the Franciscan Minimal Sisters of the Sacred Heart where he highlighted how their “belonging to the Sacred Heart” was not just a simple title but called for corresponding actions. The advice he gave can help all Catholics, regardless of if they are lay or consecrated. “The Lord has given you life, generated you to faith, and called you to Himself through consecrated life by drawing you to His Heart. This belonging is manifested in a special way through prayer,” he said.
“Our whole life is called, by the grace of the Spirit, to become prayer. For this we must allow the Lord to remain united with us always. And so He transforms us, day by day, making our hearts more and more like His,” the Pope underlined. “The love Jesus has for us does not dazzle with big special effects that soon fade away, but is a concrete and faithful love, made up of closeness, of gestures that lift us up and give us dignity and confidence.”
