“I have loved you” (Rev. 3-9)
These startling words of the Lord introduce the first major Exhortation of Pope Leo XIV. They draw their force from the symbol of the loving Heart of Christ that Francis had presented in Dilexit Nos, the encyclical that he was working on before his death. Leo celebrates and completes that work, using it as a foundation on which to elaborate the embodiment of the symbol in our history and tradition.
Like Francis, Leo notes an inextricable element within the unfolding of scripture, tradition, and ministries within the church: a preference for the poor and for those who have no voice. The search for self-aggrandizement and domination in our world has left many behind and suffering. It devalues respect for the human person and for the common good. It has left many, like the early disciples, feeling dejected by what seems to be a lack of power and resources.
Yet the biblical passage with which Leo begins opens space for deeper hope: “You are powerless,” says the Lord, “yet I have loved you.” It is a message to each person, including all those whom we encounter, especially the poor. This article can encourage individuals and communities to ponder the texts of Leo and Francis, keeping in mind a purpose expressed in our RSHM tradition. We have been called “To know God and to make God known; to love God and to make God loved.”How do we continue to live out that mission, to be effectively faithful today?
The question resonates with a question from the Augustinian tradition of Leo. “Who do I love when I love my God?” Augustine asks (Confessions, Ch.10). The question endures. Leo first explores it through scripture and follows with a thought-provoking history of its embodiment in our tradition. We offer a few selections that may be of interest, with confidence that you, our readers, might be nourished by a contemplative reading of the full text.
Leo begins his exploration with stories from scripture, setting aside the abstractions of dogma, emphasizing care and preference for the poor. They are set in the ordinary world of encounters and relationships, often, as in this one, in a gathering of disciples around a meal. “Why this waste?” call out the disciples as a woman anoints the head of Jesus with costly oil (Mt 26:6-13). Yet her extravagance draws no reprimand from Jesus. What matters is her way of seeing and the care that instinctively flows from it. “That woman saw in Jesus the lowly and suffering Messiah on whom she could pour out her love,” he notes. “It was a small gesture, of course, but those who suffer know how great even a small gesture can be.”
Instead of the “mighty acts” of recorded history, scripture points out the significance of little things. It looks at actions that might not catch all eyes but have a lasting impact. The encounter of this woman with Jesus grew out of their hearts. We need to be attentive to what Jesus and the woman see, but that others may not recognize. Each encounters the other from the perspective of the poor. It is that woman who perceives the coming humiliation that Jesus will suffer. Jesus, aware also of what is to come, graciously accepts her gesture. The encounter has a saving power that the disciples have failed to see. The woman grows in her knowledge of “Who” is her God and her story will be told in history again and again.
The “preferential option for the poor” serves as a touchstone for the faith and cannot be separated from it. The love expressed in the opening words of Dilexi Te explains its grounds for those who in their emptiness and poverty feel its need. “You are powerless yet I have loved you.” That foundation inspires Leo’s hope for renewal, a hope sustained even in awareness of a world wracked by violence and division. The suffering of the poor, in many and global forms, cannot be relativized. Yet seeing from the perspective of the poor opens a “path to holiness” that is open to all. That love “can never discriminate or exclude other groups, which would be impossible with God,” Leo insists. It is meant to emphasize God’s actions, which are moved by compassion for all humanity. Subsequent chapters of Dilexi Te concretize the relevance of this mission, not only within history and tradition but especially in dealing with contemporary issues. We hope that they can be pondered, individually and communally, advancing that mission of knowing and loving God and of journeying together that has already begun.