March 2, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart March 2, 2012

Loving God, open our hearts so that we may feel the breath and play of your Spirit. Unclench our hands so that we may reach out to one another and touch and be healed. Open our lips that we may taste the wonder of life.   Open our eyes so that we may see Christ in friend and stranger. Breathe your Spirit within us and touch our lives with the life of Christ. Amen    Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee Province of Australia - New Zealand (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/97-0205/360-lenten-reflection-week-two.html)

For Reflection...    It is very important to recognize the basic nature of humanity and the value of human qualities. Whether one is educated or uneducated, rich or poor, or belongs to this nation or that nation, this religion or that religion, this ideology or that ideology, is secondary and doesn't matter. When we return to this basis, all people are the same. Then we can truly say the words, brother, sister, and they are not just nice words, they have some meaning. Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee Province of Australia - New Zealand (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/97-0205/361-lenten-reflection-week-one.html)                     Artwork by Bethanie Sulleza, rscj,           http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/2506-philippines--artwork-by-bethanie-sulleza.html

February 24, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart February 24, 2012

Listen to our Hearts... As Lent begins let us follow Jesus into the desert and listen to the word which speaks of sacrifice made in love.    Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee Province of Australia - New Zealand (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/97-0205/361-lenten-reflection-week-one.html)

For Reflection...    God our Creator, In this season of Lent, help us to listen to our hearts so that we can say a fuller yes to all you call us to become. We ask that through your grace we may be open to the change of heart that will lead us more fully into a world that is transformed by love. Amen Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee Province of Australia - New Zealand (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/97-0205/361-lenten-reflection-week-one.html)                       Photograph by Lolin Menendez, rscj,           http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/seasons-of-prayer-publicmenu-37/119-intros/445-febrero-february-fevrier-2005.html?start=1

February 17, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart February 17, 2012

Old Woman Saint And creased face went to Sugar Creek, Your eyes speaking hope, Your ears compassion. Others preached, You prayed. Others taught wise truths, You played with children, Smiled at them and held a small Bird in your lap, Hid a frightened child in your skirt folds, Wound your ancient time-piece once Again before child's-gaze, Amazed. You blessed the prairie Church With your true presence. Then with your old body And beads smooth-worn Went home to die. You with your old hands.    Poem by Judith Brown, rscj Province of the United States    (http://www.rscjinternational.org/content/view/533/38/lang,c/)

For Reflection...    Each of us is a child of God, each of us has gifts; each of us has purpose. We are les enfants de le Sacre Coeur. Phillipine is a model for us - a life lived for God.       Let each of us be as she - fearless, in spite of our fears; determined, in spite of disappointment; committed, in spite of difficulty. Let us be women who pray always, brimming with compassion, shining with God's love.                     Artwork by Sophia Maille, rscj,           http://www.rscjinternational.org/images/stories/creative_space/0605/0605-2.jpg

February 10, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart February 10, 2012

I know that when the stress has grown too strong Though wilt be there, I know that when the waiting seems so long Thou hearest prayer, I know that through the crash of falling worlds Thou holdest me, I know that life and death and all are Thine Eternally.   Excerpt from a poem by Janet Erskine Stuart, rscj    (http://allthislifeandheaventoo.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-12-01T23:20:00Z&max-results=7)

For Reflection...    Our faith in God is our trust in God - the belief in God's presence in, attention to and care for our human lives and our eternal souls. Our Sacred Heart charism supports and shapes this trust and faith in the Divine - it is the light in the darkness, the map when we are lost, the voice that calls us home.                    Artwork by Tona Monzon, rscj, Spain         http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/profiles/1454-joanna-mo-rscj-province-of-poland.html

February 3, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart February 3, 2012

Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, give me a heart that is one with your own: a humble heart that knows and loves its nothingness; a gentle heart that holds and calms its own anxieties; a loving heart that has compassion for the suffering of others; a pure heart that recoils even at the appearance of evil; a detached heart that longs for nothing other than the goodness of heaven; a heart detached from self-love and embraced by the love of God, its attention focused on God, its goodness is its only treasure    in time and in eternity. Amen.   Prayer recited daily by St. Madeleine Sophie    (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/seasons-of-prayer-publicmenu-37/119-intros/1932-mayo-mai-may-2008.html?start=2)

For Reflection...   We are dedicated to the Heart of Jesus, to the deepest meaning of him, to the core, the centre that gives his life meaning. That meaning is love, love that drove him to lay down his life for us, not only in his passion and death but all during his life on earth and after his resurrection and now, in his Body, the Church, the People of God. To lay down your life ... means spending your energy day after day caring for those you are with until your life ends. ... We are called to make his love visible to others by our words and deeds, by spending our lives for them. Excerpt from a reflection: A glimpse of the spirituality of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Margie Conroy, rscj, Province of Uganda-Kenya (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/news-notshown-47/3180-a-glimpse-of-the-spirituality-of-the-religious-of-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus.html)                Sacred Heart of Jesus, Spring by Trini Alvarez, rscj, Spain           http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/2493-japan-spain-usa-photos-by-rscj.html

January 27, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart January 27, 2012

The Territories of Friendship    Many have passed along this way, have halted evening come, to view spread out below the ever-widening prospect of their golden world. But they keep silence; this territory is not won with guides, for each self must find the way and enter step by step into the promised land.    Excerpt of a poem by April O'Leary rscj,province of England - Wales    (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/2558-england-wales--poem-by-april-oleary-rscj.html)

For Reflection...      We are called to enter the open Heart of Christ and dwell there. ... This is the inward movement where we learn to know His Heart with all its interior dispositions. ... Jesus calls each of us to a deep, personal encounter with Him. ... To know His Heart is to love Him and to allow the Spirit to transform us so that we may radiate His love to others. Our call to contemplation, a compelling love written in our hearts by the Spirit, makes us seek and cherish prolonged times of prayer. Our union and conformity with the Heart of Jesus widens our capacity to love and to let ourselves be loved. ...We are called to be God's Heart in the world today. Excerpt of a reflection by Helen Rosenthal, rscj, province of the United States (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/92-0904/391-the-pierced-heart-of-jesus-spirituality-for-today.html)               Artwork by Bethanie Sulleza           http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/2506-philippines--artwork-by-bethanie-sulleza.html

January 20, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart January 20, 2012

... people who are gentle with and kind to themselves are the ones who are gentle and kind with others. Those who are relaxed and calm seem to be present to others in a relaxed and calm manner. ...the fruit of our inner work of self-acceptance is the love of neighbor and the love of God. Annice Callahan rscj, Province of the United States, reflecting on a work by Karl Rahner, Spirituality of the Pierced  Heart, A Reinterpretation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart     (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/reflections/85-0605/316-karl-rahners-reflections-on-love-of-neighbor-and-the-spirituality-of-the-pierced-heart.html)

For Reflection...      "What would it be like if Our Lord were as exacting with you as you are with the children?" (Mother Aloysia Hardey, Assistant General, Society of the Sacred Heart 1809-1886)    Our loving-kindness with ourselves is the source of our loving-kindness to others. When we develop this consciousness within our self and toward our self, then we can offer genuine, Christ-like love, tolerance and compassion to others.  This is the true work (and reward) of our life.  Quote from Mother Hardey found in Keepers of the Flame, a paper by Frances Gimber, rscj November 12, 2011 (http://sofie.org/files/pages/attachments/Hardey-Gimber.pdf)               Drawing by Tona Monzon, rscj Spain           http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/13-spain-center-south--drawings-by-tona-monzon-rscj.html