July 13, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart July 13, 2012

Loving after the manner of Jesus Christ is loving those we have been given, not just those we choose. Loving after the manner of Jesus Christ is learning to live without illusions and perhaps even with a measure of regret.  Loving after the manner of Jesus Christ is loving with Christ's unfailing love, with forgiveness, forbearance, evenness, generosity, and surely a dollop of humor when things get really tough. Kathleen Hughes, rscj, 2006 From a speech delivered in St. Louis for the Feast of St. Madeleine Sophie     (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/196-may-2007/1294-we-can-never-unite-ourselves-to-jesus-without-union-with-one-another.html)

For Reflection...      Charity for Madeleine Sophie Barat was not just one virtue among many others from which we might pick and choose; mutual love for her is the essence of our lives; ... Mutual love, Sophie knew, was costly, but in the long run she was convinced that a lack of charity was costlier still.   Yet in the midst of trial she could say: "Seek your sanctification in bearing lovingly with all around you, in forgiving and excusing and not dwelling on their faults. People in general are very little culpable in God's eyes, and God sees more often weakness and not malice." http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/196-may-2007/1294-we-can-never-unite-ourselves-to-jesus-without-union-with-one-another.html)   Photo by Juana Lopez, 2002   http://www.rscjinternational.org/images/stories/creative_space/0612/0612_cs10.jpg