Pope Francis has just published an encyclical letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, titled Dilexit Nos (see page 4), reminding us of Jesus' great love for every human being. The popular devotion to His Sacred Heart was given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who said "This is the Heart that so loved human beings that it has spared nothing, even to emptying and consuming itself in order to show them its love."
The Gospel tells us that while on earth, Jesus was attentive to people's concerns and suffering. He healed the sick and performed miracles such as multiplying the loaves and fishes so that the crowds who followed him would not go away hungry.
From Heaven, Jesus still has the same love for mankind and longs to help us in our suffering and difficulties. He wants to do so through us so that we become an effective extension of His love and His hands when we are called to give aid to our brothers and sisters in need.
Pope Francis reminds us in his encyclical that devotion to the Sacred Heart must lead us to great love for our brothers and sisters. We will be judged on love: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). St. Paul tells us that the whole Law finds its fullness in a single precept: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).
Speaking of charity towards one's neighbor, Pope St. Paul VI wrote in his encyclical letter Populorum Progressio (on the development of peoples): "More than anyone else, he who is animated by genuine love, pits his intelligence against the problems of poverty, trying to uncover the causes and looking for effective ways of combating and overcoming them."
This is the aim of the Pilgrims of Saint Michael when we promote Economic Democracy, developed by Scottish engineer Clifford Hugh Douglas. Douglas tells us that the aim of an economic system is to provide goods and services with a minimum of difficulty, and that today there are no physical obstacles to this goal, only a financial one (see page 16).
Similarly, Louis Even reminds us that today there is no shortage of production; it is distribution that is defective, using the Gospel story of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes as illustration (see page 13). The mechanism for distribution of production is money, which is cruelly lacking for so many citizens. With a fair economic system, like the one proposed by Economic Democracy, financial security would be guaranteed for all.
As we often say in MICHAEL, to achieve this reform we must educate the population. Without the people's support, even the best-intentioned governments won't stand up to the pressures imposed by the financiers. Such education requires great patience and charity towards our neighbors who do not always understand the solution of economic reform as described by Douglas and Louis Even.
This dedication to our neighbors and the effort to inform them about the fraud of the current financial system requires a "transformation of our selfish hearts" so that we can participate in Jesus' work of liberation and be instruments to spread his love. For this to happen, we definitely need heaven's help. Oh Jesus, change our heart into the heart of an apostle!
There is a need for hope because with God everything is possible. Let's ask Him for help with confidence as He will never refuse it. Moreover, in His great mercy, God has also given us His mother, the Virgin Mary, to collaborate in the work of salvation. St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort said that all of God's graces pass through Mary's hands. Two very powerful and effective means of appealing to Mary's intercession are the Miraculous Medal (see page 20) and the Rosary, which can convert even Christ's greatest adversaries (see page 22). Enjoy your reading!