Just about every Jesuit I know has this utter love for the sacred heart. They might be very ‘liberal’ on a number of things, but never this. For an order that has such a reputation for shall we call it ‘boundary riding’, this dedication to a ‘dated’ devotion often surprised people. Thanks for sharing this connection.
I like your term "boundary riding". Indeed, the Jesuits are very liberal on many things. When I get into a grumpy mood about them, I often comment that I am so old, I can remember when the Jesuits were Catholic.
That term makes me less mad about Jesuits, because it’s their charism in so many ways. They were ALWAYS boundary riders. In their founder pushed the limits of what constituted a ‘religious community’ at the time (and got hauled before the inquisition for it), they pushed class boundaries, education boundaries, missionary boundaries and spiritual method boundaries too. From England to Japan to the frontlines of the Somme, many of them have been martyrs in their boundary pushing. It has borne great fruit for the Church, but occasionally they fall off a cliff. Today’s Jesuits are no different. The ride the boundaries with safety on one side and a cliff on the other. Sometimes their efforts expand the safe territory, other times they fall off the cliff and need to be pulled back up. But we need them to do this, even when they say and write silly things and do silly things. It helps helps when interpreting Pope Francis’ methods. He’s one of the boundary riders now at the helm. They only thing that can save us is the Holy Spirit who’s really guiding the ship and gave us a Jesuit Pope for a reason.
"Catholic writers have detected a decline in devotion to the Sacred Heart in recent years." The decline is not so recent. In "Heart of the Savior," a collection of essays published in 1954, the editor writes in the preface that "devotion to the Sacred Heart no longer has that power to attract and influence men that it should have." There are many remarks to the same effect throughout the collection. My own, wholly subjective impression is that in the last decade or so, the devotion has made a modest comeback,
Just about every Jesuit I know has this utter love for the sacred heart. They might be very ‘liberal’ on a number of things, but never this. For an order that has such a reputation for shall we call it ‘boundary riding’, this dedication to a ‘dated’ devotion often surprised people. Thanks for sharing this connection.
I like your term "boundary riding". Indeed, the Jesuits are very liberal on many things. When I get into a grumpy mood about them, I often comment that I am so old, I can remember when the Jesuits were Catholic.
That term makes me less mad about Jesuits, because it’s their charism in so many ways. They were ALWAYS boundary riders. In their founder pushed the limits of what constituted a ‘religious community’ at the time (and got hauled before the inquisition for it), they pushed class boundaries, education boundaries, missionary boundaries and spiritual method boundaries too. From England to Japan to the frontlines of the Somme, many of them have been martyrs in their boundary pushing. It has borne great fruit for the Church, but occasionally they fall off a cliff. Today’s Jesuits are no different. The ride the boundaries with safety on one side and a cliff on the other. Sometimes their efforts expand the safe territory, other times they fall off the cliff and need to be pulled back up. But we need them to do this, even when they say and write silly things and do silly things. It helps helps when interpreting Pope Francis’ methods. He’s one of the boundary riders now at the helm. They only thing that can save us is the Holy Spirit who’s really guiding the ship and gave us a Jesuit Pope for a reason.
Fascinating history. Thank you, Pillar!
Maybe the consecration of the Sacred Heart by the Jesuits will make them Catholic again.
"Catholic writers have detected a decline in devotion to the Sacred Heart in recent years." The decline is not so recent. In "Heart of the Savior," a collection of essays published in 1954, the editor writes in the preface that "devotion to the Sacred Heart no longer has that power to attract and influence men that it should have." There are many remarks to the same effect throughout the collection. My own, wholly subjective impression is that in the last decade or so, the devotion has made a modest comeback,