Notre Dame professors Melissa Moschella and Joshua McManaway join me today to talk about Pope Francis’s new encyclical, Dilexit Nos: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. The encyclical is a call to renew our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and, thereby, to become more fully, more completely, more authentically human, especially in our love for God and love of neighbor. This conversation is the first of two that we will host on our show with my faculty colleagues in the McGrath Institute for Church Life, each of whom has a distinct area of expertise.

Melissa Moschella is the newest member of our McGrath Institute for Church Life faculty, where she is Professor of the Practice. She is a philosopher whose work spans the fields of ethics, political philosophy, and law, as well as natural law theory, biomedical ethics, and the family.

Josh McManaway has joined me on several episodes before. He is Assistant Professor of the Practice in the McGrath Institute for Church Life, where he is also the program director of the Savoring the Mystery preaching program, and academic director of the “Take a Second Look” initiative, which helps young adults rediscover the beauty and riches of Catholicism. A theologian, Josh is an expert on the Early Church and is currently finishing up a book on the Apostles’ Creed.

Follow-up Resources:

Dilexit Nos: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ
"The Sacred Heart of the New Encyclical," by Leonard DeLorenzo, essay in Church Life Journal
“Praying into the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with Fr. Joe Laramie,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
Five-part series on the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Leonard DeLorenzo, via Our Sunday Visitor
- Part 1: “Contemplating the Mysteries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”
- Part 2: “Five Ways to Foster Devotion...”
- Part 3: “How to Conform to the Love of Jesus”
- Part 4: “Meet the Saints Devoted to...”
- Part 5: “What Is Behind the Theology of the Sacred Heart?”
“Are Jansenists Among Us?” by Sean Blanchard in Church Life Journal
On the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the Sisters of Carmel

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.