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 compassion and mission through knowing intimately the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 78-81 - Recent Teachings of the Magesterium

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

[Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum - Pope Leo XIII 25 May 1899

[Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor - Pope Pius XI 8 May 1928

[Encyclical Letter Haurietis Aquas - Pope Pius XII 15 May 1956

Catechesis - Pope St. John Paul II - 8 June 1994 -

Angelus - Pope Benedict XIV - 1 June 2008

Pope Leo XIV - Prayer to the Sacred Heart - 11 June 2025

Lord, I come to your tender heart today,

I desire to know you more, to contemplate you in the Gospel,

You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure

Change, shape, and transform our plans,

From this encounter, send us out on mission,

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 the third millenium, and his own homily for the recognition of the work of the Holy Spirit. We close with the words of our own Cardinal Tobin in his Trinitarian message published today, as well as the new prayer of the Sacred Heart from Pope Leo XIV offered just this morning.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 75-77 - Trinitarian Perspectives

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

Pope St. John Paul II - Angelus 23 June 2002

SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Message on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Consecration of the Human Race to the Divine Heart of Jesus

Pope Francis Homily at Gemelli Hospital 27 June 2014

Cardinal Tobin Rejoice in the Lord - June 13, 2025 - The Trinity is the central mystery of Christian Life and Belief

Pope Leo XIV - Sacred Heart Prayer - June 2025

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 Paul II at the turn of the third millenium, Pope Leo XIV's homily last week, and conclude with a prayer by St. Ephraem Syrus who lived in the 4th century for our meditations on accompaniment and vocation.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 70-74 - Trinitarian Perspectives

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

John Paul II's "Tertio Millennio"

Pope Leo XIV "Homily on the Jubilee of Families"

Jessica French's "Strengthen for Service"

Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands

Lord, may the tongues which "Holy" sang

May feet that tread Thy holly courts

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 64-69 - A Threefold Love

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

St. John of the Cross - Spiritual Canticle translated by Rhina P. Espaillat

I Am the Rose of Sharon by Wiliam Billings

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 generations.

Mark Haas is composer and speaker who promotes sacred music within the Catholic tradition. His liturgical music has been sung in over 600 parishes, in 10 countries, including musical settings for various ordinations and dedications. In 2017, his orchestration of Michael Accurso’s I Will Praise Your Name Forever was presented by the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra during the Dedication of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh, NC.

Mark has also contributed nearly 30 articles promoting various Catholic topics published by Aleteia.org, ChurchPOP.com, CatholicExchange.com, and Corpus Christi Watershed. Various pieces have been featured on CatholicVote.org, and The Patrick Madrid Show on Relevant Radio.

In 2016, his original choral piece, Prayer of St. Francis, was sung for Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. In 2024, his instrumental arrangement of Faith of Our Fathers was played during Mass at the FOCUS/SEEK Conference in St. Louis, MO. Mark holds a BFA in Music Composition from Marshall University, and an MFA in Composition from UNC School of the Arts. He currently serves as the Director of Music at the Ave Maria Parish in Ave Maria, FL where he lives with his wife Renae and their seven original compositions.

More information is available on [www.markhaasmusic.com](www.markhaasmusic.com)

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 yet unbounded by it, that we all might experience intimately and readily.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 59-63 - A Love that is tangible

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 divinity and humanity.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 52-58 Venerating His Image

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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 the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 3, Paragraphs 48-51 Worshiping Christ

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

PIUS VI, Constitution Auctorem Fidei (28 August 1794), 63: DH 2663.

Annum Sacram - Leo XIII - Annum Sacram - Consecration of the World to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - 1899

Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart by Pope Leo XIII

Issued with the Encyclical Letter Annum Sacrum, 25 May 1899

Most sweet Jesus, redeemer of the human race, look down upon us, humbly prostrate before your altar. We are yours and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your most sacred heart. Many, indeed, have never known you, many too, despising your precepts, have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your sacred heart. Be you king, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be you king of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Be you king also of all those who sit in the ancient superstition of the Gentiles, and refuse not you to deliver them out of darkness into the light and kingdom of God. Grant, O Lord, to your Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the divine heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever.

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization

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

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 open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 2, Paragraphs 43-47 Jesus' Words

Evangelii Gaudium - Chapter IV. Paragraph 160

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.

Closing prayer -

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization