From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
June 18, 2026 (#108)
Pope Benedict XVI and Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
On May 15, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI publicly issued a letter directed to the Most Reverend Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the encyclical, Haurietis aquas, of his predecessor, Pope Pius XII. Why such a letter might be directed to the Jesuits can, in part, be answered by references in the letter to St. Claude La Colombière, S.J., the confessor and spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the principal “apostle” of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to “all the Religious of the Society of Jesus, who are still very active in promoting this fundamental devotion.”
The letter is succinct and filled with the kind of spiritual and theological insights for which Pope Benedict is famous. The document can be printed on a couple of pages and might serve as a fruitful meditation on the love of God and the purpose of this devotion during a time of Eucharistic adoration:
“When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude, but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love "into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (cf. Rom 5: 5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it (cf. Haurietis Aquas, n. 4) is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God. This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love.”
The letter convincingly invites the reader to contemplation of the pierced side of the Savior and to recognize its spiritual fruits:
“Adoring contemplation of the side pierced by the spear makes us sensitive to God's salvific will. It enables us to entrust ourselves to his saving and merciful love, and at the same time strengthens us in the desire to take part in his work of salvation, becoming his instruments. The gifts received from the open side, from which "blood and water" flowed (cf. Jn 19: 34), ensure that our lives will also become for others a source from which "rivers of living water" flow (Jn 7: 38; cf. Deus Caritas Est, n. 7).
The full text of this letter can be found at:
