Page 34 - Demo

is most profound in Ignatian spirituality, and of an extraordinary efficacy %u2013 ultra quam speraverint %u2013both for its own perfection and for its apostolic fruitfulness. I continue to have this sameconviction%u2026 In this devotion I encounter one of the deepest sources of my interior life%u201d. [146]147. When Saint John Paul II urged %u201call the members of the Society to be even more zealous inpromoting this devotion, which corresponds more than ever to the expectations of our time%u201d, he didso because he recognized the profound connection between devotion to the heart of Christ andIgnatian spirituality. For %u201cthe desire to %u2018know the Lord intimately%u2019 and to %u2018have a conversation%u2019 withhim, heart to heart, is characteristic of the Ignatian spiritual and apostolic dynamism, thanks to theSpiritual Exercises, and this dynamism is wholly at the service of the love of the heart of God%u201d.[147]A BROAD CURRENT OF THE INTERIOR LIFE148. Devotion to the heart of Christ reappears in the spiritual journey of many saints, all quitedifferent from each other; in every one of them, the devotion takes on new hues. Saint Vincent dePaul, for example, used to say that what God desires is the heart: %u201cGod asks primarily for our heart%u2013 our heart %u2013 and that is what counts. How is it that a man who has no wealth will have greatermerit than someone who has great possessions that he gives up? Because the one who hasnothing does it with greater love; and that is what God especially wants%u2026%u201d [148] This meansallowing one%u2019s heart to be united to that of Christ. %u201cWhat blessing should a Sister not hope for fromGod if she does her utmost to put her heart in the state of being united with the heart of our Lord!%u201d[149]149. At times, we may be tempted to consider this mystery of love as an admirable relic from thepast, a fine spirituality suited to other times. Yet we need to remind ourselves constantly that, as asaintly missionary once said, %u201cthis divine heart, which let itself be pierced by an enemy%u2019s lance inorder to pour forth through that sacred wound the sacraments by which the Church was formed,has never ceased to love%u201d. [150] More recent saints, like Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Saint Teresa ofCalcutta and many others, have spoken with deep devotion of the heart of Christ. Here I wouldalso mention the experiences of Saint Faustina Kowalska, which re-propose devotion to the heartof Christ by greatly emphasizing the glorious life of the risen Lord and his divine mercy. Inspired byher experiences and the spiritual legacy of Saint J%u00f3zef Sebastian Pelczar (1842-1924), [151] SaintJohn Paul II intimately linked his reflections on divine mercy with devotion to the heart of Christ:%u201cThe Church seems in a singular way to profess the mercy of God and to venerate it when shedirects herself to the heart of Christ. In fact, it is precisely this drawing close to Christ in themystery of his heart which enables us to dwell on this point of the revelation of the merciful love ofthe Father, a revelation that constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son ofMan%u201d. [152] Saint John Paul also spoke of the Sacred Heart in very personal terms,acknowledging that, %u201cit has spoken to me ever since my youth%u201d. [153]34