Dilexit Nos: Mission is a matter of love

For the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sr Elena, a Comboni Missionary Sister and coordinator of Caritas Malakal in South Sudan, reflects on Pope Francis' final encylical, Dilexit Nos, and explores how the love of Christ motivates, inspires and consoles her in her work.

The last encyclical letter of Pope Francis, Dilexit Nos (He loved us), published in October 2024, was a call for all, particularly Catholics, to refocus on the love of Christ, powerfully expressed in the symbol of his human and divine heart.

Amidst technological development and artificial intelligence on one side, and the contemporary devastating conflicts pitching peoples against peoples, Pope Francis reminded us about the heart as the dimension that humanises us because it is the heart that can love.

This encyclical, issued at the end of the Synod on Synodality and shortly before the opening of the Jubilee Year, reminds us, often distracted by the many things of daily life, that Christ the Lord loves us individually with a tender love. In reading Dilexit Nos, that was the message that I drew for myself.

Love compels us

The past five years as coordinator of the Caritas office of the Diocese of Malakal, in South Sudan, have been quite demanding. In the post-conflict period after the end of the civil war in 2018, the people of South Sudan have tried to rebuild their lives and the social fabric, which was torn apart by political and ethnic divisions. Many people look to the Church as the only source of help, including humanitarian help.

Since 2021 extensive flooding linked to climate change has caused displacement and severely affected people's livelihoods, especially in the Greater Upper Nile region where the diocese of Malakal is located. To compound an already difficult situation, since the war erupted in neighbouring Sudan in April 2023, almost 1 million returnees and refugees have crossed the border into South Sudan fleeing the conflict.

Given these challenges, the Caritas office has been constantly requested to answer emergency situations. From time to time I ask myself what keeps me running, and others have asked me the same question. When I started this service with Caritas, I found St Paul's words, "the love of Christ compels us" (2 Corinthians 5:14) to be the appropriate motto, to be recalled now and then as a source of energy spurring me and the other members of the Caritas office on, as we continue answering the needs in front of us.

Returning to Dilexit Nos, I found these words particularly inspiring and powerful in summarising what I was trying to say: " As we contemplate the Sacred Heart, mission becomes a matter of love." (#208)

I also strongly agree with the following paragraph where Pope Francis talked directly to missionaries like me: "Mission, as a radiation of the love of the heart of Christ, requires missionaries who are themselves in love and who, enthralled by Christ, feel bound to share this love that has changed their lives." (#209)

Life-changing love

Sometimes, when talking with the other members of the diocesan Caritas, we try to define the identity of this office that is contantly under pressure and called to action. We remind ourselves that we are a Church institution and that, as such, whatever action we undertake in support of those who are in different kinds of need, we do it because we are moved by the love of God.

To use the words of Daniel Comboni, one of the missionary saints quoted in the encyclical and the founder of the religious institute to which I belong, the Christian is "carried away under the impetus of that love set alight by the divine flame on Calvary hill, when it came forth from the side of the Crucified One to embrace the whole human family."

When food is distributed to returnees from the war in Sudan, or shelter is given to people affected by floods, we seek to express the loving care of God for all people.

Reading Dilexit Nos, including the expressions used by saints and mystics to describe their experience of the love of Christ, had a soothing and revitalising effect on my spiritual life. I felt consoled by the warmth of the love of Christ for me, and I wish the same experience to all who take the time to read the encyclical.