Heart of the Ark

Pope Francis continues in Chapter 4, paragraphs 103-113, outining major medieval saints who prefigure the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart, through mystical and prayer experioences that helped to inform and inspire deeper understanding of the love of Christ. There is something important in this notion that the Holy Spirit reveals truths over time, and that we are all inheritors of grace through...

Pope Francis continues in Chapter 4, paragraphs 102-108, with presenting the ways in which our Spiritual heritage and church traditions have understood God's Love throughout the two millennia of Christendom. How saints and scholars have expressed the all consuming love of God poured out from the wounded side of Christ are the active healing power of Christ given through the Holy Spirit in the grac...

Pope Francis in Chapter 4 sets paragraphs 98 - 101, in using the prophets of the Old Testament that spoke of the love of God for His beloved people of Israel with the consolation of springs in the desert and waters flowing to satiate the thirsty. We dive into a letter of Pope St. John Paul II to the Society of Jesus which helps us contextualize the importance of understanding our own belovedness f...

Pope Francis begins Chapter 4 with paragraphs 92 - 97, in using the scriptures of the Old Testament that foretold of the water that will satisfy the land, and bring everlasting life and abundance to the people of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel and the Psalms give us glimpses into the salvific promises of the Messiah which are intertextually related to the Gospel of John. Each session of Dilexit Nos i...

Pope Francis concludes Chapter 3 with paragraphs 87 - 91 the reflections of recognition that only through simple trust in the mercy and reality of love contained in the "the incarnate synthesis of the Gospel" that the words of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. Faustina Kowalska come to be understood. He has laid the groundwork for the understanding of personal spiritual experience and communa...

Pope Francis concludes Chapter 3, paragraphs 82-86 with the reflections of Pope Pius XII and Pope Benedict XVI in addressing the ways in which in a special way the Eucharistic and scriptural aspects of the devotion to the Sacred Heart address the heresies that are still prevalent in modern society, in particular the Janeists and also certain sects that have an understanding of further public revel...

Pope Francis starts wrapping up Chapter 3 in paragraphs 78 - 81, with reflections on his recent predecessor's teachings and recommendations regarding the importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Tracing from Pope Leo XIII, Pius XI, and XII, Pope St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. As a closing meditation, Jen brings in the most recent reflection and prayer from Pope Leo XIV in a prayer for...

Pope Francis stresses the importance of the Trinity in Chapter 3, exploring the active agency of the Holy Spirit in the salvific and adoptive work accomplished through Jesus' Sacred Heart. God the Father pours out the Holy Spirit in Love to Jesus Christ and that one and the same spirit is poured into the hearts of all believers. Pope Francis references the words of St. John Paul II at the turn of...

Pope Francis recgnizes the importance of the Trinity in Chapter 3, exploring the unique relationship that God the Father desires with each individual through Jesus Christ, his Son. Pope Francis uses scriptural sources, as well as tradition of the church through St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Ireneus to recognize the central place within humanity that God's love has. We read the words of St. John...

Pope Francis explains further in Chapter 3, the depths of the passionate love that Jesus expresses, using the ancient language of the Hebrew scriptures "Song of Songs" and how that has inspired saints including St. John of the Cross to help us throughout the church's history to re-encounter this desire of God for each of us. Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptu...

Jen speaks with Mark Haas, composer, lecturer, music director and husband and father about the "treasure of inestimable value" that is the music composed throughout the centuries for Catholic worship. Mark's reversion to Catholicism lead him to learn more about what Vatican II's writers intended for the music at worship, and how we can be authentic with passing the patrimony on to future generatio...

Pope Francis continues Chapter 3, presenting the reality of Jesus's love in human and divine terms as a tangible love with affections, passions, and corporal understandings of all that it means to be human and yet divine in nature, eternal and unwavering. This section gets to the fundamental truth of Christ as the unique incarnation and salvation of the God of Love. Once for all, born in time, and...

Pope Francis continues Chapter 3 of Dilexit Nos with paragraphs 52-58, recognizing the importance of right order for worship. Apart from the person of Jesus Christ, the image of His heart is not meant to be a image of worship, especially not in the context of liturgy. But is to only and always be a devotional symbol meant to bring us to recognize the Divine Love incarnate in all aspects of His div...

Pope Francis begins Chapter 3 of Dilexit Nos with paragraphs 48-51, clarifying the church's historical precedence for preferring the devotion to the Sacred Heart above other devotions as it is the inseparable from the person of Jesus Christ and the unbounded love of Christ for us. Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline th...

Jen takes a trip to Our Lady of the Lake in Verona, and speaks to Fr. Peter Wehrle about facing grief, which can be one of the most challenging moments in life, and offering families accompaniment, listening, and Christ's welcome from darkness to light. Our Lady of the Lake Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization Our original theme music is "Meditation" by Eric Hunter. - www...

Pope Francis concludes Chapter 2 of Dilexit Nos with paragraphs 43-47, highlighting Jesus' words of love and expressions of deep emotion, passion, and compassion in the gospel accounts. From scriptures, we can be assured of Christ's love for us in word and deed, as it was in the beginning, now, and for all the ages to come. Christ loves us. Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking...

Pope Francis continues Chapter 2 of Dilexit Nos with paragraphs 39-42, highlighting Jesus' modeling of the importance of seeing, beholding, and being present to those we seek to heal and call. The Gospel accounts emphasize the importance of beholding each unique person as a further expression of love, tenderness, and closeness that we are to emulate in our service to others. Each session of Dilexi...

Pope Francis begins Chapter 2 of Dilexit Nos, by speaking about way Jesus embodied closeness and tenderness, in action as much as in speech. He embodied the myriad expressions of touch, tenderness and closeness that we are to imitate in our service of others. He speaks about the science of true love having two natures, "deeds and gift of self." Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by break...

Pope Francis speaks about the radical remaking of the world, which is only possible when the transformational power of God's love is fully embraced and lived in the relationship between Christ and His Disciples. In the presence of the heart of Christ,Francis asks the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us, so that our world, which presses forward despite...

Jen speaks with Fr. Alex Gaitan, who offers a meditation for Holy Week and the cross as the ultimate promise of salvation. Fr. Alex is the Coordinator for the Migrant Ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark and helps us to contemplate the sacredness of God in a profound identification with the suffering and vulnerable. From JerseyCatholic - Father Alex Gaitan has worked to curtail gang activity with...

Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 7 - Chapter 1 Paragraphs 24-27 Pope Francis speaks about the difference between a knowledge of a relationship with heart, versus knowing data with the intellect. He introduces this importance to understanding the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the writings of St. Bonaventure and St. John Henry Newman. The understanding of the heart is achieved wi...

Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 7 - Chapter 1 Paragraphs 20-23 Pope Francis closes this section of the heart uniting the fragments, by recognizing the profound core of our being in the purpose for which we were 'made to love and to be loved'. In offering the antithesis to artificial intelligence, Pope Francis sees the heart as the authentic core of understanding for life's large and small moments....

Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 6 - Chapter 1 Paragraphs 17-19 Pope Francis notes the unifying and discerning action of "seeing with the heart." Through the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can begin to put together knowledge and insight to holistically understand the reality of God's presence in our lives. Jen uses the Lenten hymn "Again we Keep this solemn fast" as a meditation to recogniz...

Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 5 - Chapter 1 Paragraphs 13-16 Pope Francis asks us to contemplate a return to the hearts the integrated part of our being, that fully encapsulates all that we are. Beyond any one system of study, we are a complex human being fully integrated as soul, and body, with mind, spirit, thought, will and emotional capabilities. At the center of this authentic, unique syste...

Jen speaks with Sr. Rita Clare Yoches and Sr. Sarah Rose Dent of the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother about their conversion to discipleship, vocation call and giving your life to Jesus. Sr. Rita Clare shares her powerful personal call to be Christ's spouse. Sr. Sarah Rose speaks to us about developing a prayer life that fits our own way of being so that we can remain c...