On the occasion of his visit to the Province of French-speaking Western Europe, from 15 to 22 September 2024, Arturo Sosa sj, Superior General of the Sacred Heart at the shrine of Paray-le-Monial. In his homily, he sheds light on the link between the Sacred Heart and the Society of Jesus, in the service of the Church. Here is an extract from his homily.
Understanding the hearts of human beings
[In his letter, the apostle James asks us: ‘Where do wars and conflicts among you come from? What does he want us to understand about the hearts of human beings? The Book of Wisdom, for its part, reveals the logic of hatred, and the jealousy that can live in hearts. It is in the human heart that all this happens. Unfortunately, conflicts have accompanied the entire history of humanity, but we know that today our world is going through serious and profound problems without precedent, which threaten the very conditions of life on our planet. So where can the answer to these tragic situations come from, if not from the human heart? But whose heart can we trust when we truly discover and recognise that our hearts are sick, and some of them seriously sick?
Contemplating the heart of Jesus
Let us look at the Heart of Jesus. It is his Heart that opens the way for us. Heart, the centre and synthesis of all the divine Love deposited in the Humanity of the Son. The Heart that manifested itself in this place, in this chapel, to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a gift of grace that remains ever present and accessible to all, beginning with the smallest, the most vulnerable. When the human heart is so sick, it’s not enough to try to put in a pacemaker or perform a bypass operation, it has to be changed completely. We need a radical intervention: the transplant of a new heart. Receiving the Heart that our Saviour offers us is the authentic solution, an alternative to what the world has to offer.
The message of Paray-le-Monial
[Marguerite-Marie’s apparitions] are a call to offer ourselves, freely, gratuitously, but totally. An attitude that sums up the whole life and profound identity of the Lord himself, and which is called to become our identity. In this apparition, Saint Margaret Mary is explicitly sent to Saint Claude La Colombière to put it into practice: ‘Turn to my servant’.
The Society of Jesus and the heart of Jesus
This offering of themselves in response to the call of the Lord’s Heart is precisely at the heart of what animates and constitutes the Society of Jesus. Since its origins, the Society of Jesus has sought to respond to the challenges of the Church and the world. The offering to the Heart of Jesus reinforces the Society’s commitment to serve under the flag of the Cross, collaborating with all its strength in the Lord’s mission entrusted to the Church.
The consecration of the Company to the Heart of Jesus
The consecration of the Society of Jesus to the Heart of Jesus in 1872 took place in a context of great worldwide concern. Pedro Arrupe sj emphasised this when he renewed the Society’s consecration in 1972.
Let us ask [the Sacred Heart] for well-being, salvation, peace and hope for these difficult days with unshakeable faith.’ We are at the same stage today: the situation of the world and of the Church remains extremely delicate. [Convinced that the solution to these difficulties and the possibility of adapting our way of life to this new environment lie in him who is solutio omnium difficultatum, we also wish today to renew our consecration to the Heart of Christ.
Collaborating in Christ’s redemptive mission
To renew this consecration, Fr Pedro Arrupe sj used the words of Saint Ignatius of Loyola himself, in the final prayer of the Spiritual Exercises: ‘Take Lord and receive…’. A prayer of offering that Pedro Arrupe linked to a very detailed re-reading of a founding experience of Ignatius[4]: when Ignatius arrived in Rome in 1537 with his first Companions, and paused in the small chapel of the Storta. Ignatius saw the Father asking the Son to accept him in his service and to allow himself to be guided by the Spirit to collaborate in his redemptive work. Pedro Arrupe associated this experience with consecration to the Heart of Jesus.
The fundamental charism of the Society of Jesus has therefore been linked from the outset to the experience of the Love of Jesus, which becomes an effective collaboration in his redemptive mission.
Arturo Sosa sj,
Superior General of the Society of Jesus,
on Sunday 22 September 2024 at Paray-le-Monial
