Carta Encíclica Dilexit nos: Sobre el amor humano y divino de Cristo

by Pope Francis

Cuarta carta Encíclica del Papa Francisco.

Genres: Theology, Spirituality, Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Philosophy

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2024

About the author

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) was the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a title he held ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III, who died in 741.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technologist and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He was accused of handing two priests to the National Reorganization Process during the Dirty War, but the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina, and the administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March.

Throughout his public life, Pope Francis had been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, concern for the poor, and commitment to interfaith dialogue. He was credited with having a humble, less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors. In addition, due to both his Jesuit and Ignatian aesthetic, he was known for favoring simpler vestments void of ornamentation, including refusing the traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election, choosing silver instead of gold for his piscatory ring, and keeping the same pectoral cross he had as Cardinal. He maintained that the church should be more open and welcoming. He did not support unbridled capitalism, Marxism, or Marxist versions of liberation theology. Francis maintained the traditional views of the church regarding abortion, euthanasia, contraception, homosexuality, ordination of women, and priestly celibacy. He opposed consumerism, irresponsible development, and supported taking action on climate change, a focus of his papacy with the promulgation of Laudato si'. In international diplomacy, he helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Reviews

[Kieran Devine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this is one of the most important works I’ve read in my life.

Francis’ description of the human heart felt like it put to words many concepts which I knew to be true but was unable to fully articulate. It delves into deep truths which are applicable to the experience of all men. The text is so rich that I feel like I was only able to receive a small portion of its immense depths— and yet it’s still so impactful and beautiful.

I anticipate coming back to Dilexit Nos throughout my life and look forward to the deep truths that the Lord has to reveal to me about his heart.

“…He will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Paragraph #99, Zeph 3:17)

[Analia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5⭐

No tenía conocimiento de ésta encíclica hasta que el sacerdote de mi localidad la utilizó para trabajar en la novena al sagrado corazón de Jesús.
Estructurada en cinco capítulos, en las primeras páginas, Francisco no hace otra cosa que mostrarnos la verdad de la sociedad de hoy: Falta corazón, “en este mundo líquido es necesario hablar nuevamente del corazón, apuntar hacia allí donde cada persona, de toda clase y condición, hace su síntesis; allí donde los seres concretos tienen la fuente y la raíz de todas sus demás potencias, convicciones, pasiones, elecciones. Pero nos movemos en sociedades de consumidores seriales que viven al día y dominados por los ritmos y ruidos de la tecnología, sin mucha paciencia para hacer los procesos que la interioridad requiere. En la sociedad actual el ser humano «corre el riesgo de perder su centro, el centro de sí mismo». «El hombre contemporáneo se encuentra a menudo trastornado, dividido, casi privado de un principio interior que genere unidad y armonía en su ser y en su obrar. Modelos de comportamiento bastante difundidos, por desgracia, exasperan su dimensión racional-tecnológica o, al contrario, su dimensión instintiva».
Me movilizó mucho. Es muy MUY hermosa ésta encíclica, muy dulce, bellamente escrita. Luego, la carta se centra en dos aspectos fundamentales que deberían reunir la devoción al Sagrado Corazón: la experiencia espiritual personal y el compromiso comunitario y misionero.
En el primero, se relatan testimonios de santos que se han encargado de difundir la devoción al sagrado corazón de Jesús, entre ellos Santa Margarita María Alacoque que es quien recibió las revelaciones del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús y de aquí nace la devoción: Jesús le reveló cuán grande es su amor por cada ser humano y cuánto sufre por los pecadores.
En el segundo aspecto, ahonda en la dimensión comunitaria, social y misionera de toda auténtica devoción al Corazón de Cristo. Porque al mismo tiempo que el Corazón de Cristo nos lleva al Padre, nos envía a los hermanos, en los frutos de servicio, fraternidad y misión y así se cierra el círculo: Dar fruto y compartirlo. Esta unión entre la devoción al Corazón de Jesús y el compromiso con los hermanos atraviesa la historia de la espiritualidad cristiana.
Lo mejor de ésta encíclica es encontrarme con la relación del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús y los Ejercicios de San Ignacio de Loyola, en cuyo Sagrado Corazón está encerrada una expresión simbólica de lo más profundo del espíritu ignaciano. Incluso Juan Pablo II conocía “los íntimos lazos que hay entre la devoción al Corazón de Cristo y la espiritualidad ignaciana, ya que el deseo de «conocer íntimamente al Señor» y de «mantener un diálogo» con él, corazón a corazón, «es característico, gracias a los ejercicios espirituales, del dinamismo espiritual y apostólico ignaciano, todo él al servicio del amor del Corazón de Dios»”
Recomendado para aquellos devotos de ésta imagen y para todo aquel curioso deseoso de saber más.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

No escondo en absoluto mi devoción al Sagrado Corazón de Cristo y aquí se explica de una manera sublime. El por qué, su anclaje en el Evangelio, la dimensión personal, la social... 10/10 porque además no se hace denso ni difícil de comprender.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guys this was good… really good!! Who would have guessed that being 22 would include reading an encyclical for fun?! Ok let’s be real, some of y’all might have guessed that. I found this beautiful and deep while also being accessible! My favorite parts were the sections about St. Therese and her love for the Sacred Heart!!

Here are a bus load of quotes for me to come back to someday:

“The heart has often been ignored in anthropology… perhaps this is due to the difficulty of treating it as a ‘clear and distinct idea,’ or because it entails the question of self-understanding, where the deepest part of us is also that which is least known” (10)

“We become ourselves only to the extent that we acquire the ability to acknowledge others, while only those who can acknowledge and accept themselves are then able to encounter others” (18)

The heart is the place where things come together and are stored up — like Mary

“It follows that, in contemplating the meaning of our lives, perhaps the most decisive question we can ask is, ‘Do I have a heart?’” (23)

“Indeed, ‘the heart of Jesus Christ, hypostatically united to the divine Person of the Word, beyond doubt throbbed with love and every other tender affection” (61)

“Saint John Paul II could say that ‘the whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father’…When the Son became man, all the hopes and aspirations of his human heart were directed towards the Father…Jesus’ life among us was a journey of response to the constant call of his human heart to come to the Father” (71-72)

“As Saint John Paul II once said, Christ’s heart is ‘the Holy Spirit’s masterpiece’” (75)

St. Therese’s poem:
“I need a heart burning with tenderness,
Who will be my support forever,
Who loves everything in me, even my weakness…
And who never leaves me day or night…
I must have a God who takes on my nature,
And becomes my brother and is able to suffer!…
Ah! I know well, all our righteousness
Is worthless in your sight…
So I, for my purgatory,
Choose your burning love, O heart of my God!” (135)

“Those moralizers who want to keep a tight reign on God’s mercy and grace might claim that Therese could say this because she was a saint… yet this astute Doctor of the Church reduces them to silence and directly contradicts their reductive view in these clear words: ‘if I had committed all possible crimes, I would always have the same confidence; I feel that this whole multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into a fiery furnace’” (137)

[St. Therese about reading sacred scripture]
“‘Then all seems luminous to me; a single word uncovers for my soul infinite horizons, perfection seems simple to me. I see that it is sufficient to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself like a child into God’s arms” (141).

“The natural desire to console Christ, which begins with our sorrow in contemplating what he endured for us, grows with the honest acknowledgment of our bad habits, compulsions, attachments, weak faith, vain goals and, together with our actual sins, the failure of our hearts to respond to the Lord’s love and his plan for our lives. This experience proves purifying, for love needs the purification of tears that, in the end, leaves us more desirous of God and less obsessed with ourselves” (158)

“In contemplating the heart of Christ and his self-surrender even to death, we ourselves find great consolation. The grief we feel in our hearts gives way to complete trust and, in the end, what endures is gratitude, tenderness, peace; what endures is Christ’s love reigning in our lives” (161)

[John Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely, the most 'traditional' encyclical letter written so far by Pope Francis. While little novelty is to be found, Dilexit Nos serves as a reminder of the infinite value of each individual loved by the Divine and human heart of Jesus Our Savior.

[Rav · Rating 5 out of 5]

My inaugural GoodReads post!

I read this on my flight to Rome for Pope Francis' funeral.

I really liked how he weaved his critique of the coldness of modern life with a call to rediscover our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through the lives of the saints, he explains how this can serve as a source of renewal and redemption not just for ourselves but for the entire world. Ultimately it's a call to open our hearts to Christ's boundless love and mercy. It's a very moving piece, and I think it represents the best of the Catholic message. With June being the month of the Sacred Heart, I'll definitely be returning to this encyclical.

[Claire Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let us never forget that our hearts are not self-sufficient, but frail and wounded. They possess an ontological dignity, yet at the same time must seek an ever more dignified life. [23] The Second Vatican Council points out that “the ferment of the Gospel has aroused and continues to arouse in human hearts an unquenchable thirst for human dignity”. [24] Yet to live in accordance with this dignity, it is not enough to know the Gospel or to carry out mechanically its demands. We need the help of God’s love. Let us turn, then, to the heart of Christ, that core of his being, which is a blazing furnace of divine and human love and the most sublime fulfilment to which humanity can aspire. There, in that heart, we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn how to love.

[Roberta Garza · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Hay secciones muy buenas! Otras un poco lentas y teóricas..
Unas de mis frases favoritas:

- El corazón hace posible cualquier vínculo auténtico, porque una relación que no se construya con el corazón es incapaz de superar la fragmentación del individualismo.
- El Corazón de Cristo es éxtasis, es salida, es donación, es encuentro. En él nos volvemos capaces de relacionarnos de un modo sano y feliz, y de construir en este mundo el Reino de amor y de justicia. - - - La misión, entendida desde la perspectiva de la irradiación del amor del Corazón de Cristo, exige misioneros enamorados, que se dejan cautivar todavía por Cristo y que inevitablemente transmiten ese amor que les ha cambiado la vidNuestro corazón unido al de Cristo es capaz de este milagro social.

[Gema Albornoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideal para quien quiere profundizar en el Sagrado Corazón.

[José Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Li a impressão portuguesa, das edições Paulinas, não disponível no Goodreads.]

O Papa Francisco dirige-se às pessoas de boa vontade e aos católicos, apresentando-nos a 4.ª Encíclica do seu Pontificado, designada “Dilexit Nos” (sobre o amor humano e divino do coração de Jesus). O texto começa por lembrar a importância do coração. Aí faz uma breve abordagem sobre a sua importância desde a Antiguidade, com os gregos antigos a considerarem-no “a parte mais íntima dos animais e das plantas” (§3). É aí que se centra a intimidade, com manifestações físicas concretas: o coração acelerado, ou mais lento, frio ou quente, incluindo consoante aqueles de quem estamos próximos.
O texto aborda de seguida o problema: «Neste mundo líquido, é necessário voltar a falar do coração; indicar onde cada pessoa, de qualquer classe e condição, faz a própria síntese; onde os seres concretos encontram a fonte e a raiz de todas as suas outras potências, convicções, paixões e escolhas. Movemo-nos, porém, em sociedades de consumidores em série, preocupados só com o agora e dominados pelos ritmos e ruídos da tecnologia, sem muita paciência para os processos que a interioridade exige». Lembra-se que o problema não é exclusivo da nossa era e são-nos indicados gestos concretos de Jesus, que se manifestaram quer em palavras, quer no olhar. A partir deste ponto, o Papa Francisco recorre a santos e doutores da Igreja que tomaram especial atenção ao Coração de Jesus, para mais tarde concluir, através da aproximação ao Evangelho, sobre a experiência espiritual pessoa e o compromisso comunitário e missionário. O mote é não nos preocuparmos com resultados (“deixa isso para o Senhor, que trabalha no segredo dos corações” - §216) ao mesmo tempo que somos exortados a agir no mundo naquela que procura ser uma Encíclica que dá unidade aos aspetos sociais de “Laudato si” e de “Fratelli tutti” (para não surgirem desligados do amor).

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to an audio version that I think was AI with an Australian accent??? Nevertheless, this was good good with lines that struck me to the core & invited me to deeeep humility and pondering.

From #188, “We should never think that acknowledging our sins before others is somehow demeaning or offensive to our human dignity. On the contrary, IT DEMANDS THAT WE STOP DECEIVING OURSELVES and acknowledge our past for what it is, marred by sin, especially in those cases when we caused hurt to our brothers and sisters.” (Emphasis added by me but it might as well have been in all caps based on how it affected me when I heard it) 🫳🏾🎤

This was the most recent line that got me, but there were many more before that. All in all, this was: 👩🏾‍🍳🤌🏾❤️

[Ethan Fortes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Encyclical apt for the ptesen times in a world that has got so lost in staying online but ignoring the affective aspect of building friendships. Pope Francis points out beautifully the primacy of the heart in every human bonding and how we need to stay connected to the heart of Christ to avoid the dissolving of the essence of humanity. Using examples of the saints who have gone before us, Pope Francis shows how a relationship with Christ and a devotion to the Heart of Christ makes us better individuals capable of empathising with the other.

[Tom Canuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiritual theology combined with Fratelli Tutti… what more do you need from life?

[Reuben Nuxoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it reads like a history lesson for much of it, the end on reparation and mission, as well as some other parts, go deep.

[Sarah Furka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very convicting towards the beginning - but I think grew a bit repetitive. Definitely some sections I am going to make my women read👀 get ready girls

[Charo Marín · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Encuentra su máxima expresión en Cristo clavado en una cruz. Esa es la palabra de amor más elocuente. Esto no es cáscara, no es puro sentimiento, no es diversión espiritual. Es amor. Por eso cuando san Pablo buscaba las palabras justas para explicar su relación con Cristo dijo: «Me amó y se entregó por mí» (Ga 2,20). Esa era su mayor convicción, saberse amado. La entrega de Cristo en la cruz lo subyugaba, pero sólo tenía sentido porque había algo más grande todavía que esa entrega: «Me amó».”

Una encíclica que nos acerca más al misterio del Amor, a la inmensidad de Su corazón

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vote: 4,00
Class: P-A1

Papa Francesco ci regala un altro piccolo gioiello in vista del giubileo del 2025 per aiutarci a contemplare il cuore di Cristo e scoprire la tenerezza e la misericordia che lo riempe.
Un aiuto per conoscere e risvegliare il nostro cuore.

[Blanca Sevillano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Descubrir al Papa Francisco, quizás algo tarde, pero un regalo!!! Enamorado de Cristo y eso es lo que quiso transmitirnos


Acudamos al Corazón de Cristo, ese centro de su ser, que es un horno ardiente de amor divino y humano y es la mayor plenitud que puede alcanzar lo humano. Allí en ese corazón es donde nos reconocemos finalmente a nosotros mismo y aprendemos a amar.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Evangelii gaudium, but this one is incredible. In his last encyclical, Pope Francis—in line with his Ignatian tradition—uses everyday stories from his childhood, examples from literature, and Scripture to demonstrate the way that God loves and invites us to love and “return to the heart” in the ordinary activities of life. He relies heavily on the spirituality of St. Therese and the references to Dostoevsky made me super happy. In other words, everyone should read it??

“Whenever a person thinks, questions and reflects on his or her true identity, strives to understand the deeper questions of life and to seek God, or experiences the thrill of catching a glimpse of truth, it leads to the realization that our fulfilment as human beings is found in love. In loving, we sense that we come to know the purpose and goal of our existence in this world. Everything comes together in a state of coherence and harmony. It follows that, in contemplating the meaning of our lives, perhaps the most decisive question we can ask is, ‘Do I have a heart?’”

[Fr. Brisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My prediction is that Evangelii Gaudium and Dilexit nos will be recognized in history as Pope Francis's most significant encyclicals. I found Dilexit nos a joy to read. The phenomenological introduction may not appeal to everyone, but as for me ... he had me at Dostoevsky. The main contribution, I believe, is his authoritative summary of the main strains of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout history adding his own remarkable synthesis through the mouth of Saint Therese of Lisieux. Anyone who wants to paint Pope Francis as overly concerned with social justice issues, too political, and devoid of true piety, he should read this encyclical. It brims with a supernatural yet approachable worldview, without falling into saccharine or mawkish piety. When treating the failings of the human heart, it maintains realism without falling into permissiveness.

With the Pope we can all pray, Heart of Jesus, make my heart more like yours.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child of the Sacred Heart I enjoyed this encyclical! I wrote all over my copy- it’s worth a revisit later. Somethings I really resonated with concepts (or rather I have in the past I’m in a bit of a spiritual dry spell at the moment) others not so much… I found the concept of consolation for Jesus fascinating and worth a try and the definition of reparation a little confusing. Overall it was well organized and easy enough to follow.

I had a feeling that Pope Francis published this because his social encyclicals were a little less traditionally theological- I think I am right because of a note at the end where he’s essentially saying this is the theology behind my other encyclicals.

[Elijah Greenwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In a world where everything is bought and sold, people sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. For His love alone can bring about a new humanity.”

[Maxwell Westjohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa Francesco's best content yet

[Matthew Purt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best thing Pope Francis has ever written.

[Marco Bevitori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro molto "soft" che, in un certo senso, tramite la religione, ti fa capire moltissimi aspetti della vita. Lo consiglio a chiunque si voglia approcciare alla religione.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful reminder of the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a great way to remember Pope Francis

[Frida Hinojos · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Su corazón abierto nos precede y nos espera sin condiciones"

[Inés · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una carta bellísima, profunda y amena. Un bello recordatorio de que Dios está con nosotros, esperando a que le dejemos entrar, y una exhortación sincera a amarle y confiar en Él.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this volume for it was the next volume in Father Mark Goring’s Saint Mark’s School of Reading, This is available on the Vatican website for free, but I prefer the CTS Booklet version for physical reading. I worked through two different versions of this book, this physical edition from the Catholic Truth Society and this eBook edition available from Opus Dei for free as pdf, epub, mobi and even audio. I used text-to-speech to listen to this version and read the CTS version.

About this volume we are informed that:

“Today, 24 October 2024, saw the publication of "Dilexit nos" ("He loved us"), Pope Francis' fourth encyclical, on human and divine love in the heart of Christ. This article contains an audiobook and downloadable ebook in ePub, PDF and Mobi formats.”

The description of this volume is:

“"In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us. May he pour out 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: its heart."”

The chapters and sections in this volume are:

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEART
What do we mean by "the heart"?
Returning to the heart
The heart unites the fragments
Fire
The world can change, beginning with the heart

ACTIONS AND WORDS OF LOVE
Actions that reflect the heart
Jesus 's gaze
Jesus's words

THIS IS THE HEART THAT HAS LOVED SO GREATLY
Worshipping Christ
Venerating his image
A love that is tangible
A threefold love
Trinitarian perspectives
Recent teachings of the Magisterium
Further reflections and relevance for our times

A LOVE THAT GIVES ITSELF AS DRINK
A God who thirsts for love
Echoes of the Word in history
The spread of devotion to the heart of Christ
St Francis de Sales
A new declaration of love
St Claude de la Coiombiere
St Charles de Foucauld and St Therese of the Child Jesus
Resonances within the Society of Jesus
A broad current of the interior life
The devotion of consolation

LOVE FOR LOVE
A lament and a request
Extending Christ's love to our bothers and sisters
Echoes in the history of spirituality
Reparation: building on the ruins
Reparation: an extension of the heart of Christ
Bringing love to the world

Conclusion

I highlighted a few passages while reading this volume, they are:

“The symbol of the heart has often been used to express the love of Jesus Christ. Some have questioned whether this symbol is still meaningful today. Yet living as we do in an age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives, all of us need to rediscover the importance of the heart.”

“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.”

“We see, then, that in the heart of each person there is a mysterious connection between self-knowledge and openness to others, between the encounter with one’s personal uniqueness and the willingness to give oneself to others. We become ourselves only to the extent that we acquire the ability to acknowledge others, while only those who can acknowledge and accept themselves are then able to encounter others.”

“At that point, we realize that in God’s eyes we are a “Thou,” and for that very reason we can be an “I.” Indeed, only the Lord offers to treat each one of us as a “Thou,” always and forever. Accepting his friendship is a matter of the heart; it is what constitutes us as persons in the fullest sense of that word.”

“The heart of Christ, as the symbol of the deepest and most personal source of his love for us, is the very core of the initial preaching of the Gospel. It stands at the origin of our faith, as the wellspring that refreshes and enlivens our Christian beliefs.”

“In his humanity, Jesus learned this from Mary, his mother. Our Lady carefully pondered the things she had experienced; she “treasured them… in her heart” (Lk 2: 19, 51) and, with Saint Joseph, she taught Jesus from his earliest years to be attentive in this same way.”

“Since the heart continues to be seen in the popular mind as the affective centre of each human being, it remains the best means of signifying the divine love of Christ, united forever and inseparably to his wholly human love.”

“Finally, Saint John Damascene viewed the genuine affections shown by Christ in his humanity as proof that he assumed our nature in its entirety in order to redeem and transform it in its entirety: Christ, then, assumed all that is part of human nature, so that all might be sanctified.”

“Devotion to the heart of Jesus, as a direct contemplation of the Lord that draws us into union with him, is clearly Christological in nature.”

“While no one should feel obliged to spend an hour in adoration each Thursday, the practice ought surely to be recommended. When we carry it out with devotion, in union with many of our brothers and sisters and discover in the Eucharist the immense love of the heart of Christ, we “adore, together with the Church, the sign and manifestation of the divine love that went so far as to love, through the heart of the incarnate Word, the human race.””

“It could be argued that today, in place of Jansenism, we find ourselves before a powerful wave of secularization that seeks to build a world free of God. In our societies, 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, but are new manifestations of a disembodied spirituality.”

“One who is pierced, a flowing fountain, the outpouring of a spirit of compassion and supplication: the first Christians inevitably considered these promises fulfilled in the pierced side of Christ, the wellspring of new life. In the Gospel of John, we contemplate that fulfilment. From Jesus’ wounded side, the water of the Spirit poured forth: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water flowed out” (Jn 19: 34). The evangelist then recalls the prophecy that had spoken of a fountain opened in Jerusalem and the pierced one (Jn 19: 37; cf. Zech 12: 10). The open fountain is the wounded side of Christ.”

“Saint Charles de Foucauld and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, without intending to, reshaped certain aspects of devotion to the heart of Christ and thus helped us understand it in an even more evangelical spirit. Let us now examine how this devotion found expression in their lives.”

“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.”

“I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that his Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary and fraternal world.”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for the content of this Apostolic Letter. I admit I was unsure of what to expect when I began reading this. I am thankful I gave it a read. One of the things I loved most about this volume was how much was drawn from the lives and writings of the saints. And many of the saints quoted are among my favourites of those I have studies a lot. In Some ways it was like visiting with many old friends.

It is a longer than the other Encyclical letters from Pope Francis, it comes in at 144 pages for this edition, 94 for the eBook for this booklet edition and 55 pages if you print it off from the Vatican site. This is a great volume no matter which version you pick up to read.

This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!

Note: Father Mark Goring used a few guest speakers while covering the material in this volume. He wanted a number of hearts to share on the Heart of Jesus. They were: Sister Elizabeth Marie, Father Isaac Longworth, and Amber Rose. The reason for this comes right from the Encyclical the beginning of 148 “Devotion to the heart of Christ reappears in the spiritual journey of many saints, all quite different from each other; in every one of them, the devotion takes on new hues.” It really added to the experience of reading this and the School of Reading Lessons on the volume.

[Javier G.-Verdugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante, aunque no todo en la misma medida. Alguna parte (sobre todo la inicial) es más filosófica y puede resultar más árida; otras repasan distintos aspectos de la tradición espiritual en la Iglesia sobre la devoción al Corazón de Jesús, y pueden tener menos interés para los no expertos. Pero el resto de la encíclica me ha resultado muy provechosa e interpeladora. Creo que requiere más de una lectura, y centrarse en las partes que ayuden más.