Dilexit Nos – Pope Francis

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ON THE HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE OF THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST

This is the fourth encyclical by Pope Francis in which he reflects on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In a world where everything is bought and sold, people’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs. The love of Christ has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free from a mad pursuit that no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost.

This new encyclical letter, published in October 2024 by Pope Francis, on the love of Jesus’s Sacred Heart, explores how this divine and human love meets the deepest needs of our world today. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is not only a symbol but a living reality that invites us to compassion, transformation and unity. Through Jesus’s actions, words, and sacrifice, we see His enduring closeness to us, His profound mercy, and His desire for our reconciliation with God and each other.

This encyclical calls Catholics to return to the heart, where true self-understanding and love for others begins, and to embrace a faith that inspires both personal and societal renewal.

“Love and the human heart do not always go together, since hatred, indifference and selfishness can also reign in our hearts. Yet we cannot attain our fulfillment as human beings unless we open our hearts to others; only through love do we become fully ourselves. The deepest part of us, created for love, will fulfil God’s plan only if we learn to love. And the heart is the symbol of that love.” (Dilexit Nos, 59)