The Heart of the Matter

What do you think of when you think of the heart? Maybe your mind goes to all things romantic or perhaps you think of the powerful muscles pumping blood around our bodies. Since ancient times the heart has meant more than the physical organ or a symbol of romantic love.

Pope Francis begins his letter on the human and divine heart of Jesus, Dilexit Nos, by reflecting on the heart as the core of who we are as human beings.

The heart is also the locus of sincerity, where deceit and disguise have no place. It usually indicates our true intentions, what we really think, believe and desire, the “secrets” that we tell no one: in a word, the naked truth about ourselves. It is the part of us that is neither appearance or illusion, but is instead authentic, real, entirely “who we are”.

Dilexit Nos, 5

The Heart of Who We Are

Pope Francis is reminding us that the heart is the core of who we are and that if we want to discover more about ourselves, our identity, our purpose and our destiny then we must pay attention to the stirrings of our hearts.

To help us, Pope Francis goes on to ask a series of questions.

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?

Dilexit Nos, 8

For those of you who regularly teach RSE you will easily spot the similarities with the questions being presented in the Life to the Full programme. The sessions for each year group begin with Religious Understanding. This session, in various ways, aims to root the children and young people in their identity as persons made in God’s image and loved by him. This teaching is not confined to the Religious Understanding lesson but underpins the entire programme and invites children and young people to a conversion of heart.

In our newly updated Year 9 sessions we hear from young people from across the country who get to the heart of the issues at hand. They are asked what they think people want most out of life, what is true love, and what is commitment. They discuss our rights and responsibilities, how we relate to other people and more.

We often say that Christ is at the heart of all we do in Catholic Education. Here at Ten Ten we aim to support you in this mission. Through Life to the Full, children and young people are taken on a journey of discovery, exploring who they are, and the person they are called to become through encountering God’s heart that is wide open for them. The core belief that we are created chosen and loved by God impacts every area of our lives. When this is understood and received fully then hearts and minds are changed. Pope Francis emphasises this when he quotes his predecessor:

Benedict XVI asked us to recognise in the heart of Christ an intimate and daily presence in our lives: “Every person needs a ‘centre’ for his or her own life, a source of truth and goodness to draw upon in the events, situations and struggles of daily existence. All of us, when we pause in silence, need to feel not only the beating of our own heart but deeper still, the beating of a trustworthy presence, perceptible with faith’s senses and yet much more real: the presence of Christ, the heart of the world”.

Dilexit Nos, 81

A Heart for Others

The journey to the heart of who we are goes beyond our understanding of ourselves. It also impacts the world around us. Pope Francis said that:

This love then becomes service within the community. I never tire of repeating that Jesus told us this in the clearest terms possible: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). He now asks you to meet him there, in every one of our brothers and sisters, and especially in the poor, the despised and the abandoned members of society. What a beautiful encounter that can be!

Dilexit Nos, 213

Our schools play such a vital role in building up God’s Kingdom of love and justice, through many concrete actions. Everything from Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, Eco-Councils or Laudato Si groups, Mini Vinnies or Youth SVP, and many more, are hives of activity making Catholic Social Teaching a lived reality for the pupils in our schools. When children and young people are fueled with the knowledge of God’s love and are attentive to their hearts they are part of the social miracle Pope Francis encourages us to be part of. He reminds us that devotion to the Sacred Heart involves both ‘personal spiritual experience and communal missionary commitment.’ (DN 90)

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Many of you will have a statute of the Sacred Heart in school, it may even be your school’s name. On the window ledge next to my front door. I have a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus I inherited from my Grandparents. At this time of year, I often arrive home to its shadow being lit up from inside. For me, it is a reminder of Jesus’ love and also of the importance of taking the time to listen to the stirring of my heart and listen out for what the heart of Jesus may be trying to tell me.

Pope Francis, following the example of his two predecessors, encourages us in our devotion to the Sacred Heart. He says:

Devotion to Christ’s heart is essential for our Christian life to the extent that it expresses our openness in faith and adoration to the mystery of the Lord’s divine and human love. In this sense, we can once more affirm that the Sacred Heart is a synthesis of the Gospel.

Dilexit Nos, 83

In the fifth chapter of the encyclical Pope Francis draws on examples of a variety of saints who had great devotion to the Sacred Heart. The encyclical itself was released to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the Sacred Heart appearing to St Margaret Mary Alacoque. Pope Francis draws on the devotion of many different saints, from across the centuries, united by their life-changing encounter with the heart of Jesus. Through their example, we can learn to love with the heart of Jesus.

Overall Dilexit Nos is an invitation to let the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus reveal the mysteries of our own hearts. When we view our lives through the lens of Jesus’ love we gain not only an authentic understanding of who we are, but it also allows us to apply that same understanding to the people around us. As Cardinal Vincent Nicholls put it, ‘In it we will find not only an echo of ourselves but an invitation to come close to the Heart of Jesus who brings to us the fulness of the love for which we long.’

Advent Retreat Sessions

If you are looking for a way to pause and reflect with staff in your school this Advent, why not use one of our two Advent Retreat Sessions?

Both retreats have three parts that can be used as a series or as stand-alone sessions. The Advent Retreat 2022 focuses on the Nativity accounts found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Advent Retreat 2023 sessions focus on the Holy Family; Jesus, Mary and Joseph. They are 30 minutes long and provide an opportunity for peaceful reflection, a chance to have a ‘heart to heart’ with God and to enter more deeply into our hearts, as Pope Francis says,

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 realisation that our fulfilment as human beings is found in love.
Dilexit Nos, 23

View the sessions here

Images:
Wooden hearts by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay
Dilexit Nos book cover by Catholic Truth Society

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The Heart of Who We Are

A Heart for Others

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Advent Retreat Sessions

If you are looking for a way to pause and reflect with staff in your school this Advent, why not use one of our two Advent Retreat Sessions?

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