February 2025: Thought for the Day
The Presentation of the Lord
2 February 2025 • World Day for Consecrated Life
The interior reality of each person is frequently concealed behind a great deal of ‘foliage’, which makes it difficult for us not only to understand ourselves, but even more to know others: ‘The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse, who can understand it?’ (Jer 17:9) Mere appearances, dishonesty and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed.
Pope Francis, Dilexit Nos,
On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
9 February 2025
Instead of running after superficial satisfactions and playing a role for the benefit of others, we would do better to think about the really important questions in life. Who am I, really? What am I looking for? What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions and my actions? Why and for what purpose am I in this world? How do I want to look back on my life once it ends? What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences? Who do I want to be for others? Who am I for God? All these questions lead us back to the heart.
Pope Francis, Dilexit Nos,
On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ
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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
16 February 2025
In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity. No algorithm will ever be able to capture, for example, the nostalgia that all of us feel, whatever our age, and wherever we live, when we recall how we first used a fork to seal the edges of the pies that we helped our mothers or grandmothers to make at home. All these little things, ordinary in themselves yet extraordinary for us, can never be captured by algorithms. The fork, the joke, the window, the ball, the shoebox, the book, the bird, the flower: all of these live on as precious memories ‘kept’ deep in our heart.
Pope Francis, Dilexit Nos,
On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ
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Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
23 February 2025
Whenever a person thinks, questions and reflects on his or her true identity, strives to understand the deeper questions of life and to seek God, or experiences the thrill of catching a glimpse of truth, it leads to the realization that our fulfilment as human beings is found in love. In loving, we sense that we come to know the purpose and goal of our existence in this world. Everything comes together in a state of coherence and harmony. It follows that, in contemplating the meaning of our lives, perhaps the most decisive question we can ask is, ‘Do I have a heart?’
Pope Francis, Dilexit Nos,
On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ
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