Fr. Mark Fortner, SCJ, was the homilist at last week’s community Mass on the anniversary of Fr. Dehon’s birth. An excerpt from his homily:
“‘Our knowledge and our activities are no use to God on their own if He does not have our heart,’ wrote Fr. Dehon. After slowly repeating his words a number of times, I found myself still asking myself What does it mean? What does that look like? What does that feel like? How is that manifested in daily life when we give, or else, withhold our hearts from God?
“Pope Francis, in his encyclical on the Sacred Heart, entitled Dilexit Nos, offers us some very helpful insights that touch on Fr. Dehon’s concern. Pope Francis echoes Fr. Dehon’s concern, writing, in paragraph 6 that, ‘the heart is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart.’ Secondly, in paragraph 16, he speaks of the unique power of the heart, stating, ‘this unique power of the heart also helps us to understand why, when we grasp a reality with the heart, we know it better, more fully. This inevitably leads to love of which the heart is capable, for the inmost core of reality is love.’ And thirdly, in paragraph 21, he reminds us of what we become when love reigns in our heart, saying, ‘In a word, if love reigns in our heart, we become in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fiber of our being we were made to love and to be love.’”
Click here to read the full homily.
Fr. Mark is pictured above (right) during a recent visit to Indonesia, where he served for 30 years. At his left is Bishop Vincentius Setiawan Triatmojo, whom he baptized as an infant in 1971.
