DOSSIER CENTRALE
N.B. The numbers in parenthesis refer to the constitution,
if not stated otherwise.
Introduction
Every valued congregation finds in its founder the origin of every living thing, because its existence and behavior is shaped by him. The congregation of priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has its origin in the experience of faith of its founder, Leo Dehon, experience that was evident when St. Paul stated to the Galatians in writing:
"Now, in my mortal life, I live believing in the Son of God, who loved me and committed himself because of me" (Gal 2,20). In these words we already find the image of God that Leo Dehon would transmit to his congregation, in which the loving presence of God will always prevail.
The relationships that mankind has with God are determined by the image that has been created of him. Seeing in the divine face the love that God is and demonstrates, we will find it natural that the spiritual atmosphere of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus shows a very intense and defined presence in the line of love.
God is love
John explicitly states in his first letter that "God is love" (Jn 4,8). Although this statement is not found in the constitutions of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the loving activity of God is the most frequently found idea in its pages, either the love of God the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit; the three people are constantly present in the constitution. Talking about prayer, it reminds us that "by admitting the Spirit that prays within us and helps us out with our weakness (cf. Rm 8,26), we want to praise and worship, in the Son, the Father who every day carries out among us his work of salvation, and who trusts us with the task of reconciliation" (cf. 2 Co 5,18). It is not frequent that the three people of the Trinity are mentioned in the same constitution, but remembering each and every one of them is the constant affirmation of love forged before the creation of the world (cf. Ef 1,3-14), the Father sent his Son: he gave him away unto death for us (Rm 8,32)" (19). "In this love of Christ that accepts death as the final event of his life for mankind and as a sign of obedience to the Father, Father Dehon sees the source itself of salvation" (3). "Sent in the plenitude of times, and as a sign of obedience to the Father, Christ carries out his duties for the benefit of the multitude [...] Because of his solidarity with mankind as a new Adam, Christ has revealed the love of God and has announced the Kingdom: that new world that is already growing by means of the vacillating efforts of mankind, and that shall find fulfillment, exceeding any expectation, when God shall be everything in everyone through Jesus "(10). "In all this, Leo Dehon has the constant concern that the community of mankind sanctified by the Holy Spirit becomes a religious offering pleasant to God"(31).
About the Father, it is confirmed that He loves us (9, 10, 19); that everyday He carries out his work of salvation in us and that He trusts us with the task of reconciliation (78); promises and manifests the Kingdom in his Son (37); helps us with his grace (39); gives his gifts to mankind (41); establishes his Alliance with his People (84); is faithful (144).
There are numerous affirmations about the activity of the Son: He is love that commits (2); He is present in the life of the world (2, 22, 28, 60, 84); He loves the Father (17, 35, 41, 43, 63, 77, 81, 84, 144); He loves mankind (17, 18, 35, 41, 63, 77, 81, 84, 144); He saves (3, 9, 28, 78); He recreates humankind (3, 12, 21, 39); He is rejected, and encounters obstacles (4, 29); He serves (10); He rescues (10); He reveals the love of God (10); He proclaims the Kingdom (10); He suffered his Passion because of mankind (13); He redeems (14, 21); He sanctifies (14); He frees us from sin (23, 57); He restores humankind in unity (23); He sees himself in the humble and the poor (28); He proclaims the Good News (28); He understands mankind (29); He brings us together and makes us live together (82); He consecrates (82); He transforms the life of mankind (83).
About the Holly Spirit, they say that he guides us (16); he sanctifies us (31); he inspires us (42, 57); he prays for us (78); he comes to help us with our weakness (78); he gives his gifts (86); he convokes us (86).
The experience of the love of God stated by John when he writes "We have known the love of God and have believed on Him" (1 Jn 4,16), He is the experience that characterizes the entire life of Leo Dehon, and he is continuously repeated in the constitution of his congregation. These sentences are evidence of this: "With all our Christian brothers, we confess, by the Holy Spirit, that Christ is Lord, in whom the Father has expressed his love, and that he is present in our world to save it" (9). "Eager for the closeness of the Lord, we look for the signs of his presence in the path of mankind, where his saving love acts" (28).
Experience of the Faith of Leo Dehon
It is said that having experiences is to know oneself in relation to people and events, and in a relation that, when it is religious, somehow change us. Being conscious of this changing experience with someone is precisely to live the experience. For Leo Dehon, faith is something more than "to believe in what we see" or "to accept a group of dogmatic truths without having any impact on personal conduct". With years, in his unceasing progress in the path of God, he shall become an "expert in God". For him, God is an uninterrupted presence, and he keeps a relationship of closeness and love with Him. We read in the constitution: "The open Side and the pierced heart of the Savior represent for father Dehon the most evocative expression of a love, love whose presence actively influences his life" (2). The element of love is always highlighted in the relationship that Leo Dehon has with God. He sees the true source of salvation in the love of Christ, accepting death as the final commitment of his life for mankind, and as a sign of obedience to the Father, and he tells us that from the Heart of Jesus, opened on the cross, humankind is born with a new heart, encouraged by the Spirit and joined to his brothers in the community of love the Church represents (cf. 3). He is interested in knowing the evil of society, and he attentively studies its causes; however, he sees the most profound cause for human misery in the rejection of the love of Christ; and, captivated by such one-sided love, he wants to respond to Him with the close union to the Heart of Christ and with the establishment of his Kingdom in the souls and in the society (cf. 4). He makes this union to Christ, a union that has its origins in the closeness of the heart, during all his life, especially during the Apostleship, which is characterized by a unique attention to mankind, in particular the needy (cf. 5), because the authentic experience of the love of God leads to love for brothers (cf. 1 Jn 4,11).
When reading the constitution of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one's attention is drawn to the frequency with which the simultaneous love to God and the love to mankind is mentioned as two aspects of the same love. An important and expressive text is evidence of this: "As disciples of Fr. Dehon, we want to make the union to Christ in his love to the Father and mankind, the foundation and center of our life" (17). But there are other texts in which the love to God inseparable from the love to mankind is expressly stated: "Christ gave himself completely to the Father and mankind with an endless love. Because of our vote of consecrated celibacy, [...] we require ourselves [...] to follow Christ in his love of God and his brothers, as well as the way to be present among mankind" (41). "The life of oblation raised in our hearts for the love of the Lord, makes us commit with oblation for Him, that because of love He gave himself completely to the Father and completely to mankind " (35).
Experience of the Faith of the Priests of the Sacred Jesus
Writing to the Ephesians, St. Paul invites them to be "imitators of God, as loved sons, and to live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as an oblation and a victim of the soft fragrance" (Eph 5,1). God and Christ in their love face us as examples to be followed. And we can even understand that the love of Christ may raise our love, as recalled by Saint Teresa: "Whenever we think of Christ, let us remember the kind of love with which he gave us so many gifts, and how God showed us the greatness of his love for us; that love begets love" (Book of Life 22,14). Saint Juan de la Cruz writes: "One love brings up another love. Where there is no love, put love and you will find love". As echo of the Pauline words, we read in the constitution: "Following father Dehon, we have the mission of testifying the love of Christ in a world pledged in the search of a difficult unity and new relationships among people and groups" (43). It is an entire program of life inspired by love, as evident in the following lines: "Along with Saint John, we see in the open side of the one Crucified the sign of a kind of love that, by giving such love completely, creates mankind based on God once again. Looking at the Heart of Christ, privileged symbol of this love, we are confirmed in our vocation. In fact, we are called upon to become involved in this movement of redeeming love, giving ourselves for our brothers with Christ and as Christ" (21). "Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we live today in our institution of the heritage of father Dehon. [...] in the following and by the special grace of God, we are called to the Church to seek and have as the only necessary element, a life of union to the oblation of Christ" (26). "Called to serve the Church in the congregation of Priests of the Heart of Jesus, our response implies a spiritual life, a common approach to the mystery of Christ under the guidance of the Spirit, and special attention to everything, in the inexhaustible richness of this mystery, related to the experience of father Dehon and our superiors" (16).
1. We have believed in God-Love
"In the Church we have been initiated in the Good News of Jesus Christ: We have known the love God has for us and we have believed on him (1 Jn 4,16). We have received the gift of our faith, which is the foundation of our hope; a faith that rules our lives and inspires us to leave everything to follow Christ; in the middle of all the challenges in the world, we must confirm such faith by living in charity" (Cst 9).
God loved even before our existence, and we exist because He loved us, his love created us. And he gave us the grace of knowing and feeling loved by Him. God made man. Jesus Christ is the Good News: God is Love. A love that continues on after the sin of mankind, expressing itself in Christ. Because love reduces distances, because it does not withstand absence, God makes himself man in Christ, and sets his tent among mankind.
Our knowledge of love surpasses the human knowledge and expresses an existential relationship. In this way, knowing the Love of God is having a concrete experience of being loved, which leads to a commitment of unsuspected results.
In the knowledge of God by mankind, it is God who has the initiative. Before mankind knew God, mankind was known by Him. It was God who started us in the knowledge of the Good News of Jesus Christ. And we, with his grace, must keep progressing in the knowledge, and that we will only achieve it completely when the one who started such a good cause brings it to a happy end the day Christ Jesus manifests himself (cf. Flp 1,6).
FAITH: "We have believed in Him ...; a faith that rules our lives and inspires us to leave everything to follow Christ ".
Faith has a beginning and a development. Initiated by God and by those who assisted in our formation in faith, we must preserve it, reconvert it, protect it and develop it. The preservation implies having such faith be active; the protection, to give attention to its possible enemies that jeopardize it at every instance; the development, to provide any existing means and whatever is within our reach to make it grow day by day. Since the contents of our faith is God-Love, the contemplation of the expressions of love of God to mankind shall be the permanent subject of our spiritual activity.
Faith, rector of life. Therefore, in the light mankind decides, and is guided based on the criteria of faith, and directs its life based on its judgments. And always a faith in God-Love that inspires us and asks us to leave everything to follow Christ, who swayed us because of his love. Leaving everything with happiness has a perfect explanation in ourselves; we have discovered in God-Love our treasure, and we have decided in his favor. (cf. Mt 13,44). We do not leave anything without having found something first. We do not empty ourselves when we renounce; we leave because we are filled of God.
HOPE : "... faith, the foundation of our hope".
Hope looks at the future, and our hope looks at the welfare of the future. A future that is guaranteed for us because of our faith in the loyalty of God. He keeps his promises. In the language of love, promise is a key word. He who promises also pledges his power and loyalty, proclaims the safety of the times to come and the certainty in himself, raising in other aspects the adherence of the heart and the generosity of the faith
(cf. X. Leon-Dufour "Vocabulary of biblical theology", Promises text).
Hope, supported by faith, allows the believer to exhibit all of his potentials for the service of the Kingdom, life itself and for those around him, because such belief provides the guarantee that his efforts shall not be vain, even when they do not make sense or yield results at the time.
CHARITY: "... in the middle of the challenges of the world, we must confirm it (the faith) by living in charity".
The act of charity of love strengthens our faith, it makes faith more solid and immovable. And in the present days, we really need to have a solid and well settled faith, because by having it the words stated by Fernando Sebastian 20 years ago are still valid: "In the modern world faith is not supported, due to the dominating culture ".
Charity, the love that shall be exercised in God and with the brothers. In the Old Testament, Abraham is the confidant of the secrets of God, because he has become his friend, he has responded to the demands of the love of God. If we want to be "prophets of love", we have to achieve that friendship, friendship that enables us to obtain the confidence, and then we shall feel as authentic prophets, sent by God to provide mankind with the message of the love God has for them. The message of Love to the brothers that shall go through communities, and shall multiply until it reaches the individual being.
2. Christ, expression of love for the Father
"With Saint John we see in the open Side of the one Crucified the sign of a kind of love that, by giving itself completely, recreates mankind in God" (Cst 21).
"With all our Christian brothers, we confess, by the Spirit, that Christ is Lord in whom the Father has revealed his love " (Cst 9).
"Because of his solidarity with mankind as a new Adam, He has revealed the love of God and has announced the Kingdom " (Cst 10).
Saint John writes: "In this, we have known what love is; in which He has given up his life for us" (1 Jn 3,16). The statement by John leaves no room for doubt when he indicates that the path leading to the knowledge of love is the expression in the open Side of the one Crucified. If the incarnation, by which He set his tent among mankind, was an eloquent expression of the love of God, with death on the cross He gave supreme proof of love, because "no one has a greater love than one who gives his life for his friends" (Jn 15,13). We are so accustomed to seeing the one Crucified, that we are easily insensitive to the most important proof of the divine love. Before Christ on the cross, the Dehonian cannot be indifferent.
3. The love of God, source of salvation
"Christ is Lord, in whom the Father has manifested his love, and He is present in our world to save it " (Cst 9).
"Christ carried out this salvation by raising in hearts the love for God and love among us: regenerating love, spring of growth for people and human communities, that shall find its full magnitude when everything is summarized in Christ" (Cst 20).
At this moment this page of Gaudier et spas may help us, which guides us in the line of apostolic action: "In our times, the human genus, admired by its own discoveries and its own power, frequently asks itself anguishing questions about the present evolution of the world, about the position and mission of mankind in the universe, about the sense of individual and collective efforts, about the last destination of things and humankind. The Council, witness and expositor of the faith of all the People of God gathered by Christ, cannot give greater proof of solidarity, respect and love to the entire human family than to talk to it about all these problems, make them clear and provide humankind with the saving power that the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has received from its Founder. It is the person of mankind that needs to be saved. It is the human society that needs to be renewed. It is, therefore, mankind; but the entirety of mankind, body and soul, heart and conscience, intelligence and will". (3)
4. Origin of a mankind with a new heart
"In Him, the New Man has been created in God, in justice and true sanctity. He provides us with the gift of believing, despite sin, that from failures and injustice a redemption is possible; it is offered to us and it is already present" (Cst 12)
"Our love, which makes us participate in the work of reconciliation, that encourages everything we are, everything we do and suffer to serve, heals humankind, gathers humankind as the Body of Christ, and it consecrates humankind for the Glory and Joy of God" (Cst 25).
The great force with which the Dehonian is endowed is love, which enables him for its task of reconciliation. In other words, only love of God and of mankind, which make us part of the oblation that Christ himself makes to the Father for mankind, enables us to heal humankind, to gather it as the Body of Christ, and to consecrate it for the Glory and Joy of God. Can such love live center on itself? We cannot forget that love is a movement that guides the lover to the one loved, to wish him good, to make him good, to find joy in him.
5. Sensitivity to sin
"Sensitive to whatever in the current world represents an obstacle to the love of the Lord, we testify that the human effort, to reach the plenitude of the Kingdom, needs to be purified and transfigured constantly by the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ" (Cst 29).
As Dehonians, we are endowed with a special sensitivity to detect sin, the presence of which in the world is unquestionable, based on the description offered by Vatican II: "Never before has humankind had at its disposal so much wealth, so many possibilities, so much economic power. And, however, a great part of humankind suffers the consequences of hunger and misery, and there are crowds that do not know how to either read or write. Humankind has never had a more acute sense of its freedom, and in the meantime new forms of social and psychological slavery arise. While the world feels so strongly in its own unity and mutual dependence on the basis of solidarity, it sees itself, however, highly divided because of the presence of opposing forces. In fact, acute political, social, economic, racial and ideological tensions still persist, and the danger of a war that threatens to destroy everything is not absent. The communication of ideas is increased, nevertheless, the defining words of the most fundamental concepts represent meanings highly polarized within the different ideologies. Finally, there is a constant search for a more-perfect temporary order, but without having a parallel advancement in the improvement of the spirit ... The course of the present history is a challenge to mankind, a challenge that requires its response " (GS 4). In the war in the former Yugoslavia, there have been cases of weapon factories of a western country supplying weapons and mercenary soldiers to both parties in the conflict.
6. Knowing the evil of society and its causes
"We know that the world of today is dedicated to an intense effort for liberation: liberation of everything that hurts the dignity of humankind and threatens the achievement of its most profound aspirations: truth, justice, love, freedom " (Cst 36).
Fruit, without a doubt, of the redeeming work of Christ, Lord of History, is that a part of our world, in its evolution, has become more sensitive to everything that means dignity for mankind, equality of all men, and it has launched itself in an effort worthy of the defended cause, to free humankind of the things that hurt human dignity and that set obstacles for the achievement of the most profound aspirations: truth, justice, love, freedom.
As Dehonians, we must go deeper into the knowledge of the evil of humankind, and support all the human efforts that tend to eliminate from our world whatever is somehow unjust.
7. Our practical adherence
"We are called upon to become involved in this movement of redeeming love, giving ourselves away for our brothers with Christ and as Christ" (Cst 21).
"We live our union in Christ with our availability and our love to everyone, especially the poor and those in suffering. In fact, how to understand the love Christ has for us, if we do not love as He does, both in actions and in sincerity?" (Cst 18).
"We understand healing as the reception of the Spirit, as a response to the love of Christ to us, a communion with His love to the Father, a cooperation to His redeeming work in the middle of the world. It is there, in fact, where Christ frees mankind today from sin and restores humankind in unity. It is there too where Christ calls us to live our healing vocation, as an incentive of our apostleship" (Cst 23).
"We are called upon in the Church to seek and bear, as the only thing needed, the life of union in oblation to Christ" (Cst 26).
"Eager for the closeness of the Lord, we look for the signs of his presence in the life of mankind, upon which his saving love acts. By participating in our joys and suffering, Christ identified himself with the humble and the poor, to whom He announces the Good News" (Cst 28).
"Following the footprints of the Founder, according to the signs of the times and in communion with the life of the Church, we want to contribute to establishing the kingdom of Christian charity and justice in the world " (Cst 32).
"The community allows questioning by the men who live in it, and it intends to take and maintain the efforts of reconciliation and fraternity" (Cst 61).
From these constitutional texts, we can highlight:
1. our vocation to become involved in the movement of redeeming love;
2. our donation to our brothers with Christ and as Christ;
3. our union to Christ with our availability and love to everyone, especially the humble and those in suffering;
4. our reception of the Spirit;
5. our response to the love of Christ for us;
6. our communion to Christ in His love to the Father;
7. our cooperation in the redeeming work of Christ in the world;
8. our vocation in the Church to seek and bear, as the only thing needed, a life of union to the oblation of Christ;
9. because we are eager for the presence of the Lord, our search for the signs of His presence in the life of mankind, especially the humble and the poor with whom He identified himself and to whom He announced the Good News;
10. our will to contribute to establishing the kingdom of Christian charity and justice in the world;
11. our aptitude of allowing questioning, as community, by the men among which we live;
12. our purpose of making and maintaining the efforts of reconciliation and fraternity of mankind.
8. Expression of our adherence
"We frequently listen to the Word of God. We look at the love of Christ in the mysteries of His life and in the life of mankind; strengthened by our adherence to Him, we join his oblation for the salvation of the world" (Cst 77).
"By accepting the Spirit that prays for us and comes to help us with our weakness, we want to praise and worship, in the Son, the Father that every day carries out His work of salvation among us and trusts us with the task of reconciliation " (Cst 78).
"Called to participate daily in the sacrifice of the new Alliance, we join the perfect oblation presented to the Father by Christ, in order to have participation in it with the spiritual sacrifice of our lives" (Cst 81).
Some years ago, a book by Yves Raguin was issued, in which it was stated: "The current trend is toward the intensification of our relationship with mankind, our brothers, leaving aside the direct relationship with God. We constantly hear, and additionally it is true, that the love to God is expressed in the love to mankind. It is even stated that the love to God cannot be expressed in any other way. Such an opinion excludes every direct relationship with God, since the relationship with God separated from the love of others is not possible. This means that, from this point on, one can only reach God through a relationship with mankind.
The consequences of such an attitude are enormous, because it deprives humankind of the possibility of living a life of union with God through contemplation. This implies to destroy in one single blow the charismatic vocation of the mystic of the Christian world. The direct path to the love of God is closed. In fact, ever since these ideas started to spread, many have left praying, contemplation and everything that could be understood as an expression of a personal relationship with God. Because of these theories, many have missed he call from God for a bigger and more personal closeness. Also, many have left the religious or sacerdotal life" (Attention to God, Narcea p. 18-19).