As we faced a presidential election, Pope Francis asked us to have a heart. Writing about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he used it as a reminder to all of us: We are loved. So many of us don't believe it.
In a recently released letter, Pope Francis suggested some questions that could help us reestablish ourselves and our place in a troubled world. "Who am I, really? What am I looking for? What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions and my actions? Why and for what purpose am I in this world? How do I want to look back on my life once it ends? What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences? Who do I want to be for others? Who am I for God?" All these questions lead us back to the heart."
Devotion to the heart of Christ is not the veneration of a single part of Christ. What we contemplate and adore is the whole Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, represented by an image that accentuates his heart. The Pope explained "[t]hat heart of flesh is seen as the privileged sign of the inmost being of the incarnate Son and his love, both divine and human. More than any other part of his body, the heart of Jesus is the natural sign and symbol of his boundless love."
When it comes to our own hearts, we have trouble. As the Pope said during a 2015 visit to Washington, D.C., we can all too often "settle for placebos which always keep us comfortable." He warned that "Our daily routine can often lead us to a kind of glum apathy which gradually becomes a habit, with a fatal consequence: our hearts grow numb". He urged us not to let the grind of daily life, the drab routine of our secular lives and the endless distraction of our phones distract us from the miracles of life and love that constantly surround us, even in the worst of times. So, we ought to ask ourselves: What can we do to keep our heart from growing numb? Our culture can't afford numb hearts. We need to rejoice.
When I went to confession recently, the priest told me to spend time gazing at Christ on a crucifix.
And that's because, as the pope explained: "[t]he cross is Jesus' most eloquent word of love. A word that is not shallow, sentimental or merely edifying. It is love, sheer love. That is why Saint Paul, struggling to find the right words to describe his relationship with Christ, could speak of 'the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Gal 2:20). This was Paul's deepest conviction: the knowledge that he was loved. Christ's self-offering on the cross became the driving force in Paul's life, yet it only made sense to him because he knew that something even greater lay behind it: the fact that 'he loved me.' At a time when many were seeking salvation, prosperity or security elsewhere, Paul, moved by the Spirit, was able to see farther and to marvel at the greatest and most essential thing of all: 'Christ loved me.'"
And so it is today. It surely is a mandate for Christians to know and show joy. And that's to the benefit to Christians and non-Christian alike. Who doesn't want a joyful neighbor?
(Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book "A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living." She is also chair of Cardinal Dolan's pro-life commission in New York, and is on the board of the University of Mary. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.)
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