Sunday, July 03, 2011

Teilhard de Chardin and the Heart of Jesus


Last Friday, July 1, was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and so I share this evening the following excerpt from Robert Faricy, SJ's book The Heart of Christ in the Writings of Teilhard de Chardin, which serves as a reading in Volume II of the People's Companion to the Breviary: The Litany of the Hours with Inclusive Language.

In the real symbol of the heart of Christ, detachment and progress, prayer and action, love for God and love for the world are reconciled. The Sacred Heart no longer stands only for the love of Jesus for us, but also for the unifying meaning and force of that love as it unites and gives greater meaning to all our best hopes, aspirations and efforts.

By the time of his 1939 retreat, Teilhard sees the heart of Jesus Christ risen as the heart of him who stands as the Omega point of Teilhard's Christology, the heart of him who draws all things to himself as the future focus of all evolution's convergence. In an essay of 1940, Teilhard explains how his concept of the Universal Christ is "born from an expansion of the heart of Jesus." And in the 1940s and 1950s Teilhard describes Jesus' heart as the heart of the Heart of the world, and the center of the Center of the universe.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Jesus Was a Sissy
The Sacred Heart: "Mystical Symbol of Love"
One Overwhelming Fire of Love
Why Jesus is My Man
The Cosmic Christ: Brother, Lover, Friend, Divine and Tender Guide
The Winged Heart
A Quiet Visit and an Exhausting Conversation

Image: Artist unknown.


2 comments:

Richard Demma said...

Very nice, thanks for this. Teilhard's thoughts on the Sacred Heart had a great impact on me years ago during me Jesuit days. And what a fantastic portrait of the Heart of Jesus, one of the best re-visionings I've seen!

Phillip said...

Really enjoyed this reflection by the late, great Fr. de Chardin on the Sacred Heart. I look forward to reading more of his works in greater depth!