I am still reflecting on the Introduction to the Pope's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. He quotes from Deuteronomy: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your sould and with all your might".(6:4-5) He says that these words expressed the heart of the faith of Israel.
Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and that of love for neighbor found in Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (19:18)
Since God has first loved us, love is now no longer a mere "command"; it is "the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us." The Pope says that he wants his first encyclical to "speak of the love which God lavishes on us and which we in turn must share with others." That is the message he wants to put across to us in this very first Letter at the beginning of his Pontificate.
As I reflect on this desire to reveal God's love and then share this love with others, I find my own charism as a Religious of the Sacred Heart. We are called to "discover and reveal God's love" and then, "through our love and service to radiate the very love of His Heart." We share this mission of making God's love known with the mission of the whole Church. The source and symbol of God's love is the Heart of Christ. How will I communicate the love of the Heart of Jesus today?
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