On October 24, 2024, Pope Francis came out with a new encyclical entitled, Dilexit Nos, “He Loved Us.” “Encyclical” means a “circulating letter” and popes have been writing them to parts or all of the Christian world since the days of the Early Church.
Divided into five chapters, the encyclical offers an extended reflection on the image of the heart in Christian spirituality, and the development of devotion to the heart of Jesus throughout the history of Christian spirituality. Here are some of the Pope’s thoughts –
“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,” As a society, “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,” he said.
In what the pope describes as 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,” he said there is a need to rediscover the importance of the heart and the symbolism attached to it.
“If we find it hard to trust others because we have been hurt by lies, injuries and disappointments, the Lord whispers in our ear: ‘Take heart, son!,’ ‘Take heart, daughter!’ He encourages us to overcome our fear and to realize that, with him at our side, we have nothing to lose,” he said.
Pope Francis pointed to the Eucharist as the real presence of Christ to be worshipped and which he said is a remedy to the forms of hatred, selfishness and indifference that can often occupy the heart.
“Amid the frenetic pace of today’s world and our obsession with free time, consumption and diversion, cell phones and social media, we forget to nourish our lives with the strength of the Eucharist,” he said.
He closed the document asking God “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.”
If you would like to read the full text of Dilexit Nos, “He Loved Us,” cut and paste this in your browser: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/10/24/241024b.html
Pope Francis says that we live in an “age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why.” Do YOU find this to be true in YOUR own life and in the lives of those around YOU? If so, how do YOU break out of this Age of Superficiality?
GOD SPECIALIZES IN GIVING YOU AND ME A FRESH START!
I TRIED TO INCORPORATE IDEAS FROM POPE FRANCIS IN MY POEMS IN MY NEW BOOK: A POEM A DAY TO PRAY 2025. PLEASE CHECK THE BOOK OUT. MANY PEOPLE ARE GIVING IT AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT. THE AMAZON LINK: https://treatsforthesoul.org/a-poem-a-day-to-pray/
Today’s Message is a good one for discussion. Please share it and discuss it with family and friends.