Dilexit Nos - Conférence du père Kern : Jubilé des 350 ans du Sacré-Coeur, lien avec la Fête-Dieu.

Father Etienne Kern, rector of the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, City of the Heart of Jesus, gave the grand opening lecture for the festivities of the 778th Corpus Christi in Liège. The cult of the Sacred Heart experienced incredible growth in the 19th century. On Thursday, October 24, 2024, two days before the closing of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis published his fourth encyclical: "Dilexit nos," meaning "He has loved us." Among the many documents, exhortations, and letters signed by the Pope, encyclicals are those that attract the most attention. Indeed, when a Pope chooses to write an encyclical, it is because he wants to give significant authority to what he expresses there—without, however, engaging papal infallibility. Thus, after "Lumen Fidei" in 2013, a plea for the faith of a true modernity, "Laudato Si" in 2015 on the safeguarding of the common home and "Fratelli Tutti" in 2020 on human fraternity, Pope Francis returns to the fundamentals of faith concerning the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. The spirituality of the Heart of Jesus highlights the unconditional Love of God for each person. This spiritual current was revealed to Saint Margaret Mary in 1673. It was the Jesuits who propagated it throughout the Universal Church to become a major and today sometimes secondary cult. It is also an opportunity for the Jesuit Pope to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary and to reformulate this message of love which remains of burning relevance. Father Etienne Kern, rector of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Paray-le-Monial, helps us understand this spiritual movement. Large churches in Montmartre, Koekelberg, Cointe, and many other congregations have been dedicated to it. The goal is to recall the primacy of Love, particularly through the closeness and tenderness of God present in the Blessed Sacrament. While this cult may seem ancient, its message is of burning relevance today. The successful redevelopment of the sanctuaries of Paray-le-Monial over the past 50 years is a striking sign of this. 2024 marks the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary. Did you know that the Feast of the Sacred Heart is closely linked to Corpus Christi, whose origins are Belgian and even Liège? Did you know that the mystical experiences of Saint Juliana around 1210 and Saint Margaret Mary around 1674 have many things in common? To commemorate the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary in Paray-le-Monial, a one-and-a-half-year Jubilee will take place from December 27, 2023, the anniversary of the first main apparition, to June 27, 2025, the date of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Pope Francis honors it in his encyclical "Dilexit Nos." In June, within the octave of the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the "Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus." Originating in the apparitions of Christ to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, devotion to the Sacred Heart leads us into the profound mystery of God's love for us. While Corpus Christi invites Christians to celebrate God's presence among His own through His Body and Blood, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is for Christians an invitation to meditate on the infinite and merciful love that God has for humanity, through His Son Jesus. This Solemnity of the Sacred Heart reflects one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith: that of divine love, which goes so far as to take on our human condition and die on the cross, for "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). When Jesus asked Saint Margaret Mary to create the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart around 1675, he asked her to do so in the middle of the octave of Corpus Christi, emphasizing the intimate connection between these two solemnities. On October 24, 2024, Pope Francis published his fourth encyclical, "Dilexit nos" (He has loved us), on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. On this 350th anniversary of Jesus' apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary in Paray-le-Monial, he invites us to rediscover the value of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His open heart precedes us and awaits us unconditionally, requiring no prerequisite to love us and offer us his friendship: "He first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19). This encyclical on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is divided into five chapters and incorporates "the precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history dating back to the Holy Scriptures, in order to re-propose to the entire Church today this worship, laden with spiritual beauty," writes the Pope. Numerous saints throughout the centuries are also cited as references. www.paray.org www.saintejulienne.org