IWKnights Corner for July 9, 2023

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus? 

    “THE LATIN WORD for heart, cor, is the root of many other words, from recordatio (remembrance) and misericordia (mercy) to ‘courage.’  It may seem strange to link a bodily organ like the heart to memory, compassion and virtue, yet in both biblical language and ordinary speech, the word ‘heart’ has a deeply symbolic meaning.  It refers to the center of not only a person’s physical being but also his ‘inner self’ and soul, the seat of his emotions, reason and will.

This symbolism takes on an even more profound meaning in the person of Jesus Christ, who loves us with a heart both human and divine.  Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that ‘the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that … love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception’.

Devotion to the heart of Jesus has a long history, rooted in Scripture and reflected in the writings of the saints.  For centuries, the month of June has been dedicated to the Sacred Heart, with the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus celebrated on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi (this year, June 16).  In his 1956 encyclical on devotion to the Sacred Heart, Pope Pius XII emphasized that this is not a secondary and optional devotion, nor should it be viewed narrowly in terms of private revelation or “individual forms of piety which the Church approves and encourages but does not command” (10). Rather, in devotion to the Sacred Heart we find “a summary of all our religion and, moreover, a guide to a more perfect life” (15).

Recent popes have often reflected on the heart of Jesus as the source of our life and of our love.  ‘Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift,’ wrote Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est.  ‘Yet to become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God’ (7, cf. Jn 19:34).  He further noted, ‘­The Christian’s program — the program of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus — is ‘a heart which sees’ where love is needed and acts accordingly’ (31).

Pope Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium, warned against ‘the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience,’ contrasting a life of self-centered consumerism with ‘the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ’ (2).  Th­e true joy we seek, he explained, comes only through a personal encounter with Jesus: ‘Our Christian joy drinks of the wellspring of his brimming heart’ (5).

All of this is at the heart, so to speak, of the Order’s new Cor initiative (see page 8), which aims to help men encounter Christ and to live out more fully their mission as Knights and Christians — a mission reflected in Pope Francis’ recent message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations in April: ‘We were created by love, for love and with love, and we are made for love.  In the course of our lives, this call… enlightens our minds, strengthens our wills, fills us with amazement and Sets Our Hearts Afire (the name of this article).’”  Alton J. Pelowski, Editor.

Additional information about our council – including a link to the above article - can be found on facebook.com/IWknights9981on IWKnights9981.com/bulletin, on facebook.com/IWknights9981, and on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.