INTRODUCTION
This material is a resource to help us live united as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, journeying toward the Heart of our mission, which is the person of Jesus.
Inspired by the spiritual experiences of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and Saint Claude de La Colombière, as expressed in their writings, and guided by the Apostolic Letter Dilexit Nos, we once again walk together The Way of the Heart as a true pilgrimage to the source of our hope.
Each stage of this nine-step spiritual journey, which includes an initial station and a moment of harvest, seeks to “mobilize” us against the globalization of indiPerence.
We can undertake this journey individually or, as it was originally conceived, as a communal experience—whether at the foot of the Stations of the Cross in a church, walking through the streets of a city, over the course of several days or meetings, or as an authentic Via Cordis in our centers and groups.
From every corner of the world, we unite in one Heart as true pilgrims of hope, to conclude, in this Jubilee Year of the Church, the commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
MAKING MYSELF READY
We begin The Way of the Heart by making ourselves ready to let the Lord encounter us along the way. Today, He wants us to feel His presence, His love, and His call to live according to the style of His Heart. These calls are shaped by the quality of the responses we give to them and today is a new opportunity to respond in our encounter with the Lord.
We are not walking alone; we do so with Him and in community.
What does it mean to make ourselves ready? Above all, it is an interior attitude—a disposition of the heart to embrace the feelings of Jesus and to shape our lives according to His way of living. It is the fruit of an intimate and personal relationship with Him, nurtured through meditating on His Word, the practice of spiritual reflection, the sacraments, and community life.
Let these words spoken by the Lord to Saint Margaret Mary resonate in your heart: “Then He asked me for my heart, which I begged Him to take, and He did so, placing it within His own Heart” (cf. Memoirs, 53). Just as He lovingly revealed Himself to her and she welcomed His call, today the Lord wants to communicate with you.
Think about this: God is present, and He says this to you. “On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, “My husband,” and no longer will you call me, “My Baal.”…And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in
justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord. (Hos 2:16, 19-20).
What is the Lord speaking to you about in this moment? Are there areas in your life where you need the Lord to win your heart again? Feel in your heart that the Lord speaks of winning you over, loving you, and espousing you forever...
Remember! The Lord will take from you what you oPer Him for transformation, but He will do nothing without your consent. Make yourself ready for this journey with courage and freedom.
Let us allow our lives to be transformed by the Heart of the Lord, who opens a path in our own hearts.
“The heart of Christ, as the symbol of the deepest and most personal source of his love for us, is the very core of the initial preaching of the Gospel. It stands at the origin of our faith, as the wellspring that refreshes and enlivens our Christian beliefs.” (Dilexit Nos (DN) 32), and where this journey begins and ends...
IN THE BEGINNING, LOVE
The Way of the Heart, in its first step, invites us to recognize how deeply loved we are. Love is the foundation of our lives, the cornerstone upon which the building of our existence rests, for we were created out of love, to be loved, and to love. “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10).
“My divine Heart is so passionately in love with humanity…” (cf. St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Letters and Spiritual Writings, First Great Revelation, December 27, 1673). This is how the Lord revealed His love for all in one of His apparitions at this place…
Each of us can take some time today to enter into our hearts and ask ourselves: What do we place behind the word “Love”? What does it mean in our concrete lives to know that we are loved? Where and in what ways do we perceive love in our lives? Love is a tangible experience found in people, circumstances, moments, and encounters…
Love is an ever-present reality; it is not something circumstantial. Love is the very reality of God—a Love that is communion, a Love revealed to us in Jesus Christ, who loved us to the fullest extent, to the point of giving His life, giving it freely out of love, without asking for anything in return.
Pope Francis reminds us: “The pierced side of Jesus is the source of the love that God had shown for his people in
countless ways. Let us now recall some of his words: “Because you are precious in my sight and honoured, I love you” (Is 43:4). “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (Is 49:15-16). (DN 99).
Love is, in essence, self-giving and self- oPering. It is a constantly creative force that gives life to our reality at every moment, through so many people, moments, circumstances, and concrete details that are gifted to us daily… The air we breathe, the sun, the people we love, health—whether much or little— our bodies, our abilities… The Lord loves us in a concrete way, in the very things we live each day. It is not a generic or theoretical love; it is incarnated in our daily experiences. It is a real and freely given love.
Recognizing this opens us, on one hand, to gratitude for so many undeserved gifts, and on the other, to respond with love for so much love received—loving others and our concrete reality, giving ourselves freely in return.
We can take up this invitation and ask ourselves: Where and how has God’s love been present to me today? In what moments have I felt loved by the Lord through what I’ve experienced? What do I want to thank Him for and oPer as a response to the immense, gratuitous love I have received from Him?
THE RESTLESS AND NEEDY HUMAN HEART
To laugh, to cry, to feel sadness, joy, restlessness, or uneasiness, to experience hope and delight… To avoid certain encounters, to feel eager to move forward with some decisions, to feel rejected after certain tasks, to notice what angers me and what sparks gratitude, to love and to feel displeasure. We have all experienced these movements within our hearts at some point.
Am I aware of my inner movements? Do I take time to recognize the state of my heart? What do I feel? What do I desire?
The Way of the Heart, in its Step Two, The Restless and Needy Human Heart, invites you to acknowledge what moves your heart—the forces within it that drive you to act in one direction or another. The truth is, external events and everything we live through impact our inner world, prompting us to think, make judgments, and feel. And from these inner movements, we act. Anger, joy, sadness, delight, and uneasiness do not remain confined within us; they influence our actions.
Saint Margaret Mary once said of the Lord: “ He showed me the inexplicable wonders of His pure love and how far it had led Him to love humanity, from whom He received nothing but ingratitude and scorn” (cf. Letters and Spiritual Writings). This is why “awakening” the heart and recognizing the feelings within it helps us discern the forces that move us and in what direction they are leading us.
Reflecting on our hearts is an exercise that brings us into encounter with the Lord and His gaze upon us. He reveals to us the truth of our hearts as He sees them, illuminated by the forgiveness and warmth of His compassion.
The Pope reminds us: “The Bible tells us that, “the Word of God is living and active... it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). In this way, it speaks to us of the heart as a core that lies hidden beneath all outward appearances, even beneath the superficial thoughts that can lead us astray. The disciples of Emmaus, on their mysterious journey in the company of the risen Christ, experienced a moment of anguish, confusion, despair and disappointment. Yet, beyond and in spite of this, something was happening deep within them: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” (Lk 24:32)” (DN 4).
Step Two invites us to acknowledge our fragility and to learn from the mistaken paths we have taken, always trusting that Love has the final word.
The truth about ourselves sets us free, for it makes us transparent before the Lord, before whom we have no secrets. Tune in to the gaze the Lord has upon you. How does the Lord see you? What does He say about you?
IN A HEARTLESS WORLD
I invite you to do an exercise… Surely, in the past few days, you’ve seen the news that arrives almost without warning on your phone or computer screen. Social media has “bombarded” you with updates some dramatic, filled with death, fear, destruction, hunger, and conflict. Others, in contrast, more joyful and celebratory, showing a more humanizing face of people who bring peace and love, who build and collaborate. We are all witnesses to this tension.
We can imagine that, as He contemplated this world with its reality of life and death, the Lord said to Saint Margaret Mary: “From the majority, I receive only ingratitude, through contempt and irreverence…” “Do you not know that I use the weakest instruments to confound the strong, that I often show My power most brilliantly through the smallest and poorest in spirit, so that they cannot attribute anything to themselves?” (cf. San Claudio La Colombière, Letters and Spiritual Writings).
Let us imagine Christ on the cross—the ultimate expression of love that humanity has ever known—the very God crucified out of love for you and for me, for love of all. Before this cross, I invite you to recall the news from your social media feeds, both the good and the bad… Contemplate them with your full attention. The world closest to you—your friends and family— and the world farthest from your concrete life, with its conflicts, death, and hunger in distant places.
Contemplate with all your senses your sight, your imagination, your hearing, and with all your heart what is happening in the world… and imagine the Lord on the cross contemplating it with you. He says to you: “Here I am for you and for all; for this world that su`ers and groans in labor pains” (cf. Rom 8:19-25). It is a world I love, a world that awaits your collaboration and that of all My Father’s children, so that My love may reach everyone in the midst of their pain, until the definitive manifestation of the Kingdom… Let these words resonate in your heart, as if spoken directly to you.
You have now begun Step Three of The Way of the Heart, In a heartless world, which invites you to contemplate the world in its diversity of realities, discovering those that give life and those that lead to paths of destruction and death. We are either collaborators in the humanization of the world or accomplices in the opposite direction. Our decisions impact the world, and our lack of decisions does too. How does this resonate within me? On which side do I stand? The Lord counts on your collaboration for this mission of humanization…
Let us pray together with the Pope for this world, asking the Lord:
“May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio - economic disparities and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all: its heart.” (DN 31).
THE FATHER SENDS HIS SON TO SAVE
Saint Claude recounts his experience of encountering the Lord in these words: “You share in all my tribulations, You take them upon Yourself, You know the secret of transforming them for my good, You listen to me with gentleness when I speak to You of my a`lictions, and You never fail to ease them” (cf. end of his Christian Reflection 39 titled «Of Saint John, the friend of Jesus Christ», in Spiritual Writings).
It is an encounter that transforms life forever.
Our lives are shaped by encounters. Each day, we cross paths with people—some at work, others at university, within our families, or in parish activities. Some encounters are more meaningful than others. Some leave a mark on us, they impact us, while others may pass by unnoticed.
Step Four of The Way of the Heart, The Father Sends His Son to Save, invites us to enter into the dynamic of encountering Christ, to recognize in our lives those moments when we realize that the Lord does not leave us alone in a heartless world, but instead draws near and walks with us in the midst of our reality.
“This becomes clear when we see Jesus at work. He seeks people out, approaches them, ever open to an encounter with them. We see it when he stops to converse with the Samaritan woman at the well where she went to draw water ” (DN 35).
This step in the journey invites us to recognize that love has a face it is “someone.” Jesus Christ is the incarnate Love of God, present and active in the life of every person, in every reality of this world.
The Pope reminds us: “The Christ we see depicted with a pierced and burning heart is the same Christ who, for love of us, was born in Bethlehem, passed through Galilee healing the sick, embracing sinners and showing mercy. The same Christ who loved us to the very end, opening wide his arms on the cross, who then rose from the dead and now lives among us in glory ” (DN 51).
The encounter with Christ transforms, heals, cures, and saves.
“That same Jesus is now waiting for you to give him the chance to bring light to your life, to raise you up and to fill you with his strength…” (DN 38).
Let us conclude with a moment of silence, allowing this question to resonate deeply within us: What does the Lord come to save, heal, and cure in you during this time?
HE CALLS US HIS FRIENDS
Saint Claude de la Colombière speaks of his experience of friendship with Jesus: “[Jesus, You are]… my only and true friend… I find You always and everywhere; You never leave; and if I am forced to change my place of residence, I never fail to find You where I go. You never tire of listening to me; You never grow weary of doing me good” (cf. Act of Trust in God, Spiritual Writings). Let these words resonate within us during a moment of silence…
God desires to do nothing without us; it is always with us. That is why the first thing Jesus does is call others to be with Him in the service of His mission:
“As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mk 1:16-17).
Jesus invites us to a friendship for the mission of His Father’s Kingdom, so that, by adopting His way of life, we may become part of His project to save the world:
“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father ” (Jn 15:15).
As Pope Francis reminds us: “The Gospel tells us that Jesus “came to his own” (cf. Jn 1:11). Those words refer to us, for the Lord does not treat us as strangers but as a possession that he watches over and cherishes. He treats us truly as “his own”. This does not mean that we are his slaves, something that he himself denies: “I do not call you servants” (Jn 15:15). Rather, it refers to the sense of mutual belonging typical of friends.” (DN 34).
I know from experience that the Lord has been faithful in my story every day, and so He will be tomorrow as well. What depends on me is my determination to follow Him, no matter what happens—to live according to His way of life and to be His friend. Every decision involves uncertainty. However, no life can grow without the risk of making a decision.
Do I realize that nurturing my friendship with Jesus is a choice that is sustained by the small decisions I make daily? Is my ordinary life—its small and large tasks—the field where I cultivate my friendship with Christ, where I say to Him: “Yes, I want to live my life in Your way, making my decisions as You would”?
To close this step, let us echo the words of the Pope: “It is essential to realize that our relationship to the Person of Jesus Christ is one of friendship and adoration, drawn by the love represented under the image of his heart” (DN 49).
In a moment of silence, I can renew my commitment of friendship with the Lord…
INHABITED BY CHRIST
At this point in the journey, I let the words of Saint Claude challenge me regarding my trust in the Lord… How close is my heart to the Heart of the Lord?
"As for me, my God, I am so convinced that You care for those who hope in You, and that nothing can be lacking when we expect everything from You, that I have resolved to live henceforth without any concern and to cast all my anxieties upon You." (Act of Trust in God, Spiritual Writings)
What is the Lord’s invitation?
In the abundance of His love for us, God desires to dwell in our hearts. This is the astonishing promise Christ made to His friends before He died. God wants to make His dwelling in each of us. As a disciple of Jesus, my part is to remain in Him, as close as possible to His Heart.
The Pope reminds us:
“Although the Scriptures preserve Jesus’ words, ever alive and timely, there are moments when he speaks to us inwardly, calls us and leads us to a better place. That better place is his heart. There he invites us to find fresh strength and peace: “Come to me, all who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). In this sense, he could say to his disciples, “Abide in me” (Jn 15:4). (DN 43).
Therefore, to be as close as possible to His Heart, it is necessary to meditate on His Word, to see Him and listen to Him in the Gospels, to dwell in deep communion with Him, like the branch and the vine, and to allow ourselves to be transformed by Him.
“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ” (Jn 14:23), says the Lord in the Gospel of John.
How much time do I dedicate each day to prayer, to be with Him and meditate on His Word?
As the Pope says:
“Entering into the heart of Christ, we feel loved by a human heart filled with a`ections and emotions like our own.” (DN 67).
The Holy Spirit helps us discern what true Love is: love for enemies and forgiveness of oPenses. He leads us to the deepest parts of the Heart of Jesus. He is its interpreter.
I take a moment of silence to let my heart tune into the Heart of Jesus, allowing Him to speak to me, to make me feel His presence… What is stirring within my heart?
I close this moment by gathering a word, a feeling, or a desire…
WE GIVE OUR LIVES WITH HIM
What does it mean in my concrete life to unite my life with Christ, to let myself be inhabited by the Lord, and to allow Him to make His dwelling in me?
Uniting our lives with Christ must lead us to give our lives for others, as He did. Responding to this love that seeks to draw us to Him, knowing the full height, width, and depth of it in the Eucharist, leads us to oPer ourselves.
Step Seven is an invitation to examine our availability. The Lord invites us to give Him our generous "yes," just as Mary of Nazareth did. He does not want to save us or change the world without us. Even when our oPering seems of little value, oPering Him our availability becomes useful to others because the Father associates that oPering with the life and Heart of His Son, who oPered Himself for us on the cross.
Saint Claude expressed his desire to give himself and his availability to the Lord in these words:
"Sacred Heart of Jesus, teach me to forget myself perfectly, for that is the only way I can enter into You. Since everything I do from now on will be Yours, ensure that I do nothing that is unworthy of You" (cf. OPering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Spiritual Writings).
This love, reflected in the “meek and humble” heart of Jesus (cf. Mt 11:29), can only be understood by following the path of His life to the very end. Jesus lived His life as a Eucharistic oPering. His last supper encompassed His entire life, oPered and given out of love.
Pope Francis reminds us:
“That is why Saint Paul, struggling to find the right words to describe his relationship with Christ, could speak of “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). This was Paul’s deepest conviction: the knowledge that he was loved. Christ’s self- o`ering on the cross became the driving force in Paul’s life, yet it only made sense to him because he knew that something even greater lay behind it: the fact that “he loved me” (DN 46).
How far are we willing to live life to the fullest and to surrender it out of love? What is the measure of our commitments and our love? Is there something for which you would be willing to give your life in return? Take a moment and let the Lord speak to your heart…
Living life eucharistically means giving ourselves daily with selflessness, love, and joy to the concrete realities we are called to live… Let us pray together once more the oPering prayer to close this Step Seven…
A MISSION OF COMPASSION
Entering into the human journey of the Lord, contemplating His life, must lead us to see the world through His eyes and to act with His feelings. This is a concrete invitation to participate in Christ’s mission, making the Lord’s compassionate gaze toward all our brothers and sisters our own. We are sent with the Son, in diverse ways, to the peripheries of human existence—where men and women suPer injustice—to contribute to sustaining and healing those with broken hearts.
What is the invitation the Lord is making to you at this time to collaborate in His mission?
Let the words the Lord addressed to Saint Claude resonate in your heart:
"As for you, faithful servant of my divine Son, you have a great share in this precious treasure; for if it is given to the Daughters of the Visitation to know it and distribute it to others, to the Fathers of your Company is reserved the task of making its usefulness and value known and understood, so that people may benefit from it, receiving it with the respect and gratitude due to such a great gift." (cf. Letter of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque LXXXIX to Mother de Saumaise in Dijon, July 1688, in her Complete Works)
Pope Francis reminds us in Dilexit Nos:
" we cannot attain our fulfilment as human beings unless we open our hearts to others; only through love do we become fully ourselves. The deepest part of us, created for love, will fulfil God’s plan only if we learn to love. And the heart is the symbol of that love" (DN 59).
Today, the Lord tells us once again: "Let the same mind be in you that was in the Heart of Jesus” (cf. Phil 2:5).
Listen to the Pope as he explains:
“Love for our brothers and sisters is not simply the fruit of our own e`orts; it demands the transformation of our selfish hearts. This realization gave rise to the oft-repeated prayer: “Jesus, make our hearts more like your own”. Saint Paul, for his part, urged his hearers to pray not for the strength to do good works, but “to have the same mind among you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5)" (DN 168).
Let us end by taking a moment to reflect on these questions:
What are the wounded hearts the Lord is sending you to heal today? Who are the ones lying by the roadside, whom you can lift up and heal?
A NETWORK OF PRAYER AND SERVICE
Let us begin this final stage of the journey by listening to the Pope’s words:
"In union with Christ, amid the ruins we have left in this world by our sins, we are called to build a new civilization of love. That is what it means to make reparation as the heart of Christ would have us do. Amid the devastation wrought by evil, the heart of Christ desires that we cooperate with him in restoring goodness and beauty to our world" (DN 182).
We are sent to build, to create bridges, to make the world a more human and fraternal place where there is room for everyone. But not just in any way—rather, in the way of Jesus, as He did…
Pope Francis continues: “This then challenges us to seek a deeper understanding of the communitarian, social and missionary dimension of all authentic devotion to the heart of Christ. For even as Christ’s heart leads us to the Father, it sends us forth to our brothers and sisters. In the fruits of service, fraternity and mission that the heart of Christ inspires in our lives, the will of the Father is fulfilled. In this way, we come full circle: “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit” (Jn 15:8)." (DN 163).
With the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, we enter into a global network of millions of brothers and sisters who pray and
mobilize each month for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church. The Holy Father’s prayer intentions open our hearts to the most urgent needs and compel us to commit our lives to the justice of the Kingdom.
How do you live the communal dimension of this mission of compassion? What value does community hold for you, and how do you concretely express this value in your daily life?
As we reach the end of this journey, it is helpful to recall what we experienced at the beginning… We do not preach a doctrine but a person—the humanizing experience of encountering Jesus Christ. We are sent to radiate a “gospel way of life” that brings our brothers and sisters into contact with the humanizing power of Jesus, who rebuilds and restores them to Life.
Let these words of Saint Claude serve as guidance for the journey you begin anew today at the end of this path: "The principal virtues professed in honoring this Heart are, first, a most ardent love for God the Father… Second, infinite patience in the face of evil… Third, a deep compassion for our miseries and an immense love…" (cf. OPering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Spiritual Writings).
Bring to your heart those who are part of this immense Network of Prayer and ask the Heart of Christ to grant them these graces: a burning love for the Father, infinite patience in the face of evil, and compassion for all miseries...
HARVEST
Let us now take a moment to gather the graces of this journey and thank the Lord for this opportunity to once again walk The Way to His Heart…
What do I wish to give thanks for? What does this journey with the Lord and in community leave in my heart?
I take a moment of silence… I gather a word, a phrase, or an image that has strongly emerged during this journey and speaks to me of the Lord’s presence…
The Pope reminds us:
" We know that in the course of history, devotion to the heart of Christ was not always expressed in the same way, and that its modern developments, related to a variety of spiritual experiences, cannot be directly derived from the mediaeval forms, much less the biblical forms in which we glimpse the seeds of that devotion.
This notwithstanding, the Church today rejects nothing of the good that the Holy Spirit has bestowed on us down the centuries, for she knows that it will always be possible to discern a clearer and deeper meaning in certain aspects of that devotion, and to gain new insights over the course of time” (DN 109).
Let us make Saint Claude’s words, which the Pope reminds us of in Dilexit Nos, our own as we close this journey. Let us pray them slowly, allowing them to resonate in our hearts:
“My
God,
I am so convinced
that you keep watch over those who hope in you, and that we can want for nothing when we look for all in you, that I am resolved in the future to live free from every care and to turn all my anxieties over to you” (DN 126).