0
0
Pope Francis’ address to the general chapter
of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians)
Consistory Hall – Thursday, 27 June 2024
Léon-Gustave Dehon, SCJ, also known as Jean of the Sacred Heart, was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Dehon’s focus in his ecclesial life was to express his closeness with workers but he especially promoted a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Called to be One in a Changing World. “So that the world may believe”
Dear brothers,
I greet Father Carlos Luis Suárez Codorniú, your Superior General, who has been re-elected for a second term. I wish him all the best for his ministry. I also greet the new Councilors and all of you who are participating in the XXV General Chapter of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
As a guide for your work you have chosen the motto: Called to be One in a changing world. “So that the world may believe” (Jn17:21).
This theme is closely linked to your charism, both in its mystical and apostolic dimensions.
Venerable Léon Gustave Dehon taught you to “make union with Christ, in his love for the Father and for all, the principle and center of [your] life” (Constitutions, 17); and to do this by closely linking your religious consecration and ministry to the reparation offered by the Son, so that all may return to the Father through his Heart.
So let us concentrate on these two aspects of your present Chapter: to be one, so that the world may believe.
To be one: unity.
We know how insistently Jesus, in his prayer to the Father at the Last Supper, asked this for his disciples (cf. Jn17:23). He did not simply propose it to them as a project or a goal to be achieved.
Above all else, he prayed that it would be given to them as a gift; the gift of unity. It is important to remember this. Unity is not our work; we cannot achieve it alone.
We can do our part, and we must strive for it, but we need God’s help.
It is He who brings us together and inspires us, and the more we are united with him, the more we are united with each other. If you want to grow in communion, then, I would urge that, in your Chapter’s decisions, you give priority to the sacramental life, prayerful meditation on the Word of God, the vital role of personal and communal prayer, particularly adoration – never forget adoration – as means of personal and fraternal growth and “service to the Church” (Constitutions, 31).
In your religious houses, the chapel should be the most frequently visited place for each and every one of you, a place of humble and receptive silence and hidden prayer, so that the beat of Christ’s heart may set the rhythm of your days, to modulate the tone of your conversations, and to sustain the zeal of your charity. The heart of Jesus beats eternally with love for us, and and its beat can join with ours to restore our serenity, harmony, energy, unity, especially in times of difficulty.
All of us, personally and communally, have had and will have difficult times: do not be afraid!!
Even the Apostles had many. Remain close to the Lord so that unity is maintained in times of temptation. But for this to happen, we must make room for him, faithfully and perseveringly, silencing vain words and futile thoughts, and bringing everything into his presence. On this point, I would like to add a few words about gossiping. Please, gossip is a plague, it seems small, but it destroys from within. Be careful and never gossip about each another, never!
There is a good remedy for gossip: bite your tongue, so that it hurts and you cannot speak.
Please, never gossip about others. Let us never forget that without prayer we will neither progress nor stand firm, neither in religious life nor in the apostolate! Without prayer, nothing will be achieved.
So that the world may believe
And so, we come to our second point: to be one, so that the world may believe.
Unity has this capacity to evangelize.
This is a challenging goal, that raises many questions.
How do we go about being missionaries today, in an age marked by immense and complex challenges?
In the various fields of apostolate in which you work, how can you say “something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart” (cf. General Audience, 5 June 2024)?
So often we have seen that this world seems to have lost its heart.
Venerable Léon Gustave Dehon can help us to answer this question.
In one of his letters, meditating on the Passion of the Lord, he observed that “the scourges, the thorns, the nails” have written a single word in the flesh of the Saviour: love.
He then added, “Let us not be content to read and admire only the exterior of this divine writing.
Let us penetrate to the heart and we shall see an even greater miracle: an inexhaustible and unfailing love that suffers willingly and gives itself without weariness” (The Love of the Sacred Heart II, 1905).
Herein lies the secret of a credible and effective proclamation: to allow, like Jesus, the word “love” to be written upon our flesh, that is, in the concreteness of our actions.
And to do this with tenacity, steadfast in the face of searing judgments, distressing problems and the malice that pains our hearts; to do so tirelessly, with inexhaustible affection for every brother and sister, in solidarity with Christ the Redeemer in his desire to make reparation for the sins of all humanity. In solidarity with the Lord, crucified and risen, who, in the face of those who suffer, those who err, and those who do not believe, calls not for judgment but for “love and tears for those who have strayed, [in order] to trust completely in God” (Homily, Chrism Mass, 28 March 2024).
In this way, he promises us a “calm that protects us from the storms that range around us”. Venerable Dehon understood this teaching and practised it to the end, as witnessed by the final words, touching in their simplicity, that he bequeathed to you on his deathbed: “For him I have lived, for him I die. He is my everything, my life, my death, my eternity”.
Dear brothers, may you persevere in your mission with that same faith and generosity!
I thank you for all that you do, the world over.
I bless you and all your confreres, I accompany you with my prayers and I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me. Thank you.
