Lent (March–April 2019)
Lent invites us to clear the blockages within and among us and to heed Christ’s invitation to change our hearts and minds. From centuries ago, the words of our founders still resound, full of wisdom and insight for today. Saints Elizabeth Ann Seton, Vincent de Paul, and Louise de Marillac guide us as we seek to follow Christ. They are our mentors in the way of affective and effective love, the way of discipleship.
Charity Wisdom from Our Founders
ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON
That peace which is the portion of the chosen servants of God is seldom unmixed with interior struggles.
Suffer all from others without giving them anything to suffer; bear with their defects as we wish them to bear with us.
The first rule of Christian charity – to believe no ill [of others], if we have not seen it; and to be silent, if we have seen it.
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
The poor who do not know where to go or what to do, who are suffering already and who increase daily, are my burden and my sorrow.
Do not worry yourself overmuch….Grace has its moments. Let us abandon ourselves to the providence of God and be very careful not to run ahead of it.
ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC
Ask God to put us in the disposition to listen and to endure all that is said for or against us so that none of it troubles us.
At the foot of this holy, sacred and adored Cross, I sacrifice everything that might prevent me from loving.
~ ~ ~ ~
CHARITY WISDOM FROM OUR FRIENDS
Our agenda for the future invites us to become experts in the art of letting go, the art of dying, and the art of loving. Perhaps it is in the acceptance of our breakdown as the prelude to our breakthrough that we will be able to exercise the prophetic function of religious life and become a channel which God can use in the recreation of the works of his hands. (Sr. Theresa Capria, SC, in a 1985 talk)
~ ~ ~
Do you think there is anything not attached by its unbreakable cord to everything else? (Mary Oliver, poet and writer)
~ ~ ~
Let us pray to our God and let us be the compassion of God as we strive with others to create the Church we are called to be. May integrity and service be the hallmarks of hierarchy, clergy, religious and members….Let us as Church pray and act into the new and real solutions we so desperately need. (SCNY Leadership Team, Oct. 2018)
~ ~ ~
Do I add to the gathering reservoir of global rage or am I able to transform my anger into compassion? (Donna Markham, OP)
~ ~ ~
If we are to be capable of dreaming new dreams, we will need a continuing openness to new ways, without allowing fear to paralyze us. (Constance Fitzgerald, OCD)
~ ~ ~
Is not the self-emptying of Jesus Christ the revelation of who God is and who God desires to be for us? Are not the sacraments a concrete expression of who God is for us and what God desires to do for us? (Jean Flannelly, SC)