To Be and to Act as One Body
The Society has recently called us “to act as one body…” moved from its center by Love. Within this body, life flows, weaving different kinds of connections, bringing energy and flexibility to each part. What affects one of these parts affects the whole body.
General Chapter of the Society of the Sacred Heart, 2016, p. 15.
It was a great sacrifice for Sophie to allow Philippine and her companions to go to the New World, but she realized how important it was to respond to the calls of the Church and the world. Sophie understood that Philippine and her companions would remain part of the one body of the Society. The Cor Unum was made stronger through their mission in another part of the world and the correspondence between France and the New World. Although Philippine often had to wait for months before hearing from France, her loyalty to Sophie and the Society led her to maintain the sense of one body at all costs, even when decisions contravened her own wishes. Her humility and desire to follow the Spirit allowed her to “let go,” to yield to the opinion of others, but when the oneness of the Society was at stake, she was adamant.
Philippine must be very happy with the Chapter’s call to unity, especially when she sees our efforts to answer it in the concrete circumstances of our lives. May she intercede for us to enable us to grow as one body in our relationships with one another and with our God, who calls us to be of one mind and one heart in the Heart of Jesus.
Nancy Koke, RSCJ, Province of Uganda - KenyaImage: Timothy Schmalz
