Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 28 - St. Claude de la Colombière

Pope Francis, in paragraphs 125-128, seeks to place the devotion to the Sacred Heart which was inspired by the apparitions of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary within the obedience of the Catholic church, by including St. Claude de la Columbière, the French Jesuit who became confessor and spiritual advisor to St. Margaret Mary. By keeping us obedient to the gospel and connected to the sacramental life and church, we can ensure that the devotion is not a means for personal complacency, but an active and life giving call to follow in the Love that God wants for each of us.

Each session of Dilexit Nos in a Year begins by breaking open the scriptures and topics covered in order to outline the themes of Pope Francis, and frame our conversations for the weekly discussion for the year ahead. For the next 50 weeks, we will work through four to five paragraphs reading of the text of Dilexit Nos, with opening prayer, and short reflection based upon the paragraphs covered and the prayerful discussions of the questions to ponder together as we reflect on the work of spiritual and communal formation and mission in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Prayer

Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, embrace my heart.
Fire of the Heart of Jesus, inflame my heart.
Charity of the Heart of Jesus, fill my heart.
Strength of the Heart of Jesus, sustain my heart.
Mercy of the Heart of Jesus, pardon my heart.
Patience of the Heart of Jesus, do not forsake my heart.
Reign of the Heart of Jesus, establish Yourself in my heart.
Wisdom of the Heart of Jesus, teach my heart.
Will of the Heart of Jesus, guide my heart.
Zeal of the Heart of Jesus consume my heart.
Jesus, make our hearts more like your own.

Dilexit Nos - Chapter 4, Paragraphs 125- 128 - St. Claude de la Columbière

Jesuit's global article for background on St. Claude de la Columbière

Prayer of Trust and Confidence by St. Claude la Columbière

ACT OF HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD
St. Claude de la Colombiere

My God, I believe most firmly that You watch over all who hope in You,
and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon You in all things.
Therefore I am resolved for the future...to cast all my cares upon You...

People may deprive me of worldly goods and status.
Sickness may take from me my strength and the means of serving You.
I may even jeopardize our relationship by sin, but my trust shall never leave me.
I will preserve it to the last moment of my life, and the powers of hell shall seek in vain
to grab it from me.

Let others seek happiness in their wealth and in their talents. Let them trust in the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, in the number of their good works, the enthusiasm of their prayers,
as for me, my Rock and my Refuge, my confidence in you fills me with hope. For You, my Divine Protector, alone have settled me in hope.

"This confidence can never be vain. No one, who has hoped in God, has ever been confounded."

I am assured, therefore, of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope in it and all my hope is in You. "In You, O loving God, have I hoped: let me never be confounded."

I know too well that I am weak and changeable. I know the power of temptation against the strongest virtue.
I have seen stars fall and foundations of my world crack; these things do not alarm me. While I hope in You, I am sheltered from all misfortune, and I am sure that my trust shall endure, for I rely upon You to sustain this unfailing hope.

Finally, I know that my confidence cannot exceed Your generosity, and that I shall never receive less
than I have hoped for from You. Therefore I hope that You will sustain me against my evil inclinations,
that You will protect me against the deceitful attacks of the evil one, and that You will cause my weakness
to triumph over every hostile force. I hope that You will never cease to love me and that I shall love You unceasingly.

"In You, O loving God, have I hoped: let me never be confounded."

Office for Evangelization website: www.rcan.org/evangelization
Our original theme music is "Meditation" by Eric Hunter. - www.erichuntermusic.com