My heart is bursting!

Spring is bursting forth at our motherhouse. (Please see photo this page). It reminds me that there is a new springtime in my heart! Our Holy Father’s visit last week to the United States has been a source of great joy, hope and encouragement – for me personally - and for our community, the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope. His messages, his homilies, have validated if you will the charism and mission that the Lord has given to our community. Here is an excerpt from the talk our Holy Father gave to the Bishops of this country:

People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God. They need to be given opportunities to drink from the wells of his infinite love. It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain (cf. Spe Salvi, 31), our lives are ultimately empty. People need to be constantly reminded to cultivate a relationship with him who came that we might have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching, and the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with "Christ Jesus, our hope" (1 Tim 1:1).

Those last words sounds as if they were taken directly from our Rule – our Constitution. We have been called to proclaim the living person of Jesus Christ and to be His instruments of healing and hope to those we serve. Our Holy Father’s visit was beyond our expectations. May this new springtime burst forth in every corner of these United States!