All Religious of the Sacred Heart around the world received this message from the general council in anticipation of the Feast of the Sacred Heart on June 12:
Dear Sisters,
On this Feast of the Sacred Heart we turn our gaze to the God of deep compassion, to the God of love and mercy, who, knowing the world in which we live, its sorrows, violence, possibilities and challenges, reminds us that God is close to us, among us, teaching us to walk, raising us up in arms of love, curing, freeing us from yokes …
The readings for the Feast draw us into God’s powerful love, symbolized in the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus, and expressed by Hosea, “my heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I shall not come to you in anger. I am God, not man …the Holy One present among you.” With Paul, may we understand anew that that which is most important, which transcends everything, is love, to love in the way Jesus loves.
May the power of the Spirit be within us and among us as we prepare to consider in our provincial chapters how we are called to live this mission of love in the emerging future.
We unite ourselves in a special way to all our sisters as we renew our vows, and to the whole family of the Sacred Heart on this, our feast.