Pope John Paul II and
Devotion to the Sacred Heart 

Priestly Formation:
“Formation which aims at giving oneself generously and freely, which is something helped also by the communal structure which preparation to the priesthood normally takes, is a necessary condition for one who is called to be a manifestation and image of the good shepherd ,who gives life (cf. Jn. 10:11, 15). From this point of view, spiritual formation has and should develop its own inherent pastoral and charitable dimension, and can profitably make use of a proper devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one that is both strong and tender. This is a point made by the synod fathers: ‘When we speak of forming future priests in the spirituality of the heart of the Lord, we mean they should lead lives that are a response to the love and affection of Christ the priest and good shepherd: to his love for the Father in the Holy Spirit, and to his love toward men that was so great as to lead him to give his live in sacrifice for them.”’ (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 49).

Liturgical Year and Feast of the Sacred Heart:
“Thus at the end of this fundamental liturgical cycle of the Church—which began with the first Sunday of Advent and passed through the time of Christmas, then of Lent and of the Resurrection up to Pentecost, the Sunday of the Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi— the feast of the Divine Heart, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, presents itself discreetly. All this cycle is enclosed definitively in it: in the heart of the Man-God. From it, too, the whole life of the Church irradiates every year.” (Gen. Aud., June 20, 1979)

Part of the permanent spirituality of the Church:
“From the beginning, the Church has turned its face toward the pierced Heart of Christ on the cross from which flowed blood and water, symbols of the sacraments that constitute the Church.” (Letter, Oct 5, 1986)

Evangelization:
“For evangelization to be effective today, the Heart of Christ must be recognized as the Heart of the Church.” (Discourse, Jun 6, 1988) “The heart to heart intimacy with Jesus broadens the human heart on a global scale.” (Homily, May 31, 1992)

Adoration:
“Here [in Eucharistic adoration], day and night, Christians gather in succession to seek ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Eph 3:8). We are called not only to meditate on, and contemplate, this mystery of Christ’s love; we are called to take part in it. It is the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, the center of our faith, the center of our worship of Christ’s merciful love manifested in his Sacred Heart. (Montmartre, June 1, 1980)
“We come to meet the Heart pierced for us, from which water and blood gush.. Now still today the living Christ loves us and presents his heart to us as the source of our redemption: “Sc mper vivens ad interpelandum pro nobis” (Heb 7:25) At every moment we are enveloped in the love of this heart “which loves men so much and which is so little loved by them” [Jesus’ words to St. Margaret Mary]... .We come here to contemplate the love of the Lord Jesus: his compassionate kindness to everyone during his earthly life, his predilection for children, the sick, the afflicted. Let us contemplate his heart burning with love for his Father, in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Let us contemplate his infinite love, that of the eternal Son, to leads us to the very mystery of God.” (Montmartre, June 1, 1980)

God’s Mercy springs from the Heart of Christ:
“The Church seems in a particular way to profess the mercy of God and to venerate it when she directs herself to the heart of Christ. In fact, it is precisely this drawing close to Christ in the mystery of his heart which enables us to dwell on this point—a point in a sense central and also most accessible on the human level—of the revelation which constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man.” (Dives in Misericordia, n. 13)

From the Holy Father’s visit to Paray-Ie-Monial in October. 1986:
“We are in a place where these words of the prophet Ezechiel (‘I will give to you a new heart of flesh...” 36:26) resound powerfully. They were confirmed here by a poor and hidden servant of the Sacred Heart of our Lord, St. Margaret.Mary. The truth of this promise has very often been confirmed by Revelation throughout the course of history, in the church, through the experience of the saints, of the mystics, of souls consecrated to God. All of the history of Christian spirituality bears witness that the life of the person who believes in God, looking towards the future in hope, and called to the communion of love, is the life of the heart, the “interior” life of man. It is enlightened by the marvelous truth of the Heart of Jesus who offers himself for the life of the world....
The heart is also the central core of the conversion which God desires on the part of man and for man, so as to enter into his intimacy, into his love. God did not create man to be indifferent or cold, but to be open to God.... The heart of flesh, a heart that has a human sensitivity and a heart capable of letting itself be moved by the breath of the Holy Spirit.... All her life, St. Margaret Mary burned with the living flame of that love which Christ came to kindle in the history of man...
Let us give thanks for the intimacy of the humble nun with the Savior. She generously offered the sufferings which came to her in many forms, in union with the Passion of Christ, in reparation for the sin ofthe world. She knew herself to be both a witness of the salvation wrought by the Son of God, and also to associate herself with the work of mercy by offering herself.
When the Second Vatican Council recalls that Christ, the Incarnate Word, ‘loved us with the heart of a man,’ it assures us that ‘his message, far from diminishing man, helps his progress by shedding light and giving life and freedom; apart from him, nothing can fill the human heart’ (cf Gaudium etSpes, n. 22, 21) In the Heart of Christ, man’s heart learns to know the genuine and unique meaning of his life and of his destiny, to understand the value of an authentically Christian life, to keep himself from certain perversions of the human heart, and to unite the filial love of God and the love of neighbor. The true reparation asked by the Heart of the Savior will come when the civilization of the Heart of Christ can be built upon the ruins heaped up by hatred and violence... .For this reason, I desire that you pursue with persevering action, the spread of the genuine cult of the Heart of Christ.