Search This Blog

Friday, January 25, 2013

The Society of the Sacred Heart Announces the Successful Conclusion of the "In Mission for Life" Campaign

I received the following update from the US Society of the Sacred Heart  today and am happy to share with you!



In Paris in the early years of the Society of the Sacred Heart, Father Joseph Varin, a spiritual guide for the young Society, gathered with Madeleine Sophie Barat and her first companions each morning after Mass to discern and pray together about the spirit and charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart.  Father Varin posed the question, “What shall be its spirit?”  With one voice, they all said, “Generosity!”

It is with deep gratitude that the U.S. Province of the Society of the Sacred Heart announces the successful conclusion of the national five year $40,000,000 In Mission for Life campaign.  With God’s grace, daily prayer and the personal generosity of 5,600 benefactors and volunteers, the Society’s mission of discovering and making known the love of the Heart of Christ in our world will continue far into the future, and our elderly sisters will continue to receive the care they deserve.

At the close of the campaign, commitments totaled $38,400,000.  A very generous friend of the Society pledged her $8,000,000 estate to the future of the Society and its mission.  She was honored to be a part of helping us not only reach the goal but exceed it by $6,400,000.

We humbly and gratefully thank God, St. Madeleine Sophie, St. Philippine Duchesne and you for the amazing graces of our national campaign:
·        The relationships rekindled and deepened;
·        The Society’s spiritual and educational mission strengthened;
·        Our elderly sisters cared for in a manner which acknowledges their lives given in love.

Along with the Church’s Year of Faith celebrating St. Philippine Duchesne in the month of February, the Society is announcing a Year of Thanksgiving with moments of thanksgiving and celebration interspersed throughout the year.  We pray daily in gratitude for all supporters, living and deceased, who contributed in any way to this historic campaign.  Please watch www.rscj.org for further details.

We began in faith; we end in hope.  With one voice, the Religious of the Sacred Heart thank you for your great generosity.

With gratitude, love and prayer,

   Barbara Dawson RSCJ                                                               Shirley Miller RSCJ

Sister Barbara Dawson                                                                   Sister Shirley Miller
U.S. Provincial                                                                               Director of Mission Advancement

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Congratulations to newly professed RSCJ

Saint Madeline Sophie Barat
(1779-1865)

Congratulations to Elisabeth Brinkmann, RSCJ and Lisa Buscher, RSCJ along with eight other Religious of the Sacred Heart who made their final vows on Sunday, January 20th in Rome.  Superior General Kathleen Conan conferred on the group name Renewed by Love, renewed for Love.  To read more click here.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Mass at Sacred Heart Schools Chicago with Francis Cardinal George

His Eminence  Francis CardinalGeorge, Archbishop of Chicago

Last month while having coffee with Nat Wilburn, Headmaster at Sacred Heart Schools Chicago he mentioned that Francis Cardinal  George would be coming to the school in the New Year to celebrate  the Feast of the Epiphany(*) with the students and I would be welcome to join them for mass.   

So this afternoon I returned to the school and witnessed the gym filled with over 700 students, faculty, staff, a few board members, RSCJ and guests that gathered to attend the Epiphany Mass celebrated by His Eminence Francis Cardinal  George, Archbishop of Chicago.   

The Cardinal and I greeted one another in the hallway as I hung my coat.  We first met in May 2000 when I served as a member of the Barat College Board of Trustees and the Cardinal received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the Commencement Exercises.  We last saw one another in 2008 when the Cardinal was being interviewed by Chicago History Museum President Gary T. Johnson as part of the Catholic Chicago exhibit.   (To view the interview click here)

As many know,  the Cardinal was undergoing chemo therapy for a recurrence of cancer discovered last August. He told the students how last year the doctors had advised against being near kids and how happy he was to be at Sacred Heart and celebrate this special feast day with them.  

I sat in the back and was impressed with the attentive behavior of the young girls and boys as the Cardinal delivered his homily and spoke of the Three Wise Men bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  He also spoke of the importance of truth and love and from my perspective left us all with a very uplifting message.

Afterwards as the students headed back to their classrooms many of the adults walked over to the beautiful Driehaus Center for refreshments and an opportunity to meet His Eminence.  I especially enjoyed visiting with Liz Hartigan Connelly, Chair of the Board of Trustees for Sacred Heart Schools Chicago and board member Maureen Sippel as well as many of the wonderful administrators and staff.

It was a special afternoon and I am grateful to have been invited.  And, to our dear Francis Cardinal George,  I will pray that your health continues to improve and I wish you many blessings this New Year!


(*) Note: The actual Feast of the Epiphany was on January 6, 2013

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year...

photo taken at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
Wishing all Sacred Heart alums and their families peace, love, happiness and many blessings in the New Year!

January 1, 1827 ~ Mother Duchesne writes to her cousin Josephine Perier, Baronesse de Savoye-Rollin, "I beg the ever kind and generous Heart of Jesus to pay the debt I owe you and to give you a hundredfold for all you do for us."

Taken from the book: Through the Year with Philippine Duchesne