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Our communities are called to be special places of reconciliation. When harmony is disturbed we are ready to pardon and to ask pardon with a sincere heart. 1 Referring to this section of the Constitutions in her talks at the Reconciliation Sessions in Angers 2006, Sr. Brigid Lawlor, said, “We should be ready to pardon … the victim is … the initiator of forgiveness. We should be ready to pardon and to be pardoned … the wrongdoer is mentioned second!”2 What an evangelical challenge – something that Mary Euphrasia could truly live up to! Can we do any less? Moreover, when the pardon we give and the pardon we receive take place in an environment of mutual understanding -- not only of what is said but of what is not said; where we offer space not only for the facts but for emotions as well and therefore time and trust, acceptance and humility have to be unmeasured, we truly know in the depths of our hearts why “there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15: 7,10). If such witnessing to God’s love and mercy becomes ‘a way of life’ then we can truly say with St. Jean Eudes, “true acts of reconciliation are as a new Baptism and a new creation.” Reconciliation is transformation.

Reflection:
Jesus died on the cross rather than be separated from any of his relationships. His love embraced all that his Abba-God had given him including sinners, lepers, children, women, publicans, Pharisees – everyone who believed in him (John 17). In prayer, we learn from the Spirit directly the last wish of Jesus: that we may be one just as Jesus and his Father are one. How can you encourage your community to take opportunities to be in dialogue with other groups quite different from yours or from whom you may be estranged?

For us, St Mary Euphrasia is the one who incessantly witnessed to reconciliation and the power of merciful love. She walked the way of being hurt and humiliated; she was not beyond expressions of anger or impatience, but, also, it did not take her very long to accept her mistakes or to recognize when she was in the wrong -- a very important part of the process of reconciliation. According to repeated testimonies of many of her contemporaries, she was discreet, -- “dumb” -- about the injuries, the hurtful words and accusations that go back and forth in conflict. It was her custom whenever possible, to talk openly with the person concerned and “keep silent on all that could aggravate the situation."1 In other words, when in many situations Mary Euphrasia was the aggrieved party (victim), she initiated the reconciliation process. She did not wait for the wrongdoer to ask for pardon. Her love of God and of the other was such that she crossed the threshold first to restore harmony in relationships. Hearts fragile with pain, or consciences weighed down by sorrow, could be open with Mary Euphrasia. People felt safe with her, they knew she would not betray nor add dishonor upon their disgrace and their trust was not in vain. Thus she was able to reconcile families and disagreeing Superiors; novices could reveal their pain to her and be eased of their burden. Mother Foundress’ openness to welcome different cultures and identify her own self with all nationalities are well known. She sought to maintain good relationships with opposing political parties of her time and was at home with both the humble workers in the Mother House and the rich benefactors whose help she needed ‘for the holy work.’ 2

Footnotes
[1] Reconciliation Sessions 2006. Sr. Odile Laugier. Angers.
[2] Laugier, ibid.

Reflection:
Spend time with Mary Euphrasia and ask her how she truly learned mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation from the heart of Jesus. People felt safe with her and she did not bad mouth those who hurt her. What do you need most to learn from her?

To speak of reconciliation … is for the women and men of our time an invitation to rediscover, translated into their own way of speaking, the very words with which our savior and teacher Jesus Christ began his preaching: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." [1] As Sisters of the Good Shepherd, how do we interpret and live reconciliation? In our Constitutions (no. 4) we say:

The Church entrusts to us a share in her mission of reconciliation. This demands an awareness that we ourselves are always in need of conversion. In our unceasing return to our compassionate God, we discover the depth of our sinfulness and in openness to God’s initiative of love we find mercy. United with all people in their struggle with sin and in their need for reconciliation, we witness among them to the power of this mercy.

Awareness … always in need … unceasing return to … these words tell us that for Sisters of the Good Shepherd, reconciliation is a way of life, it is a process, ‘it is in the beginning, the end and along the way of our journey as we grow into its meaning.’[2] It is also about relationships – unceasing return to the O-other. In our contemplative communities, for example, John Paul II’s invitation to interpret reconciliation in our own way means that we notice when “There exists within us aggression, anger, revolt, and refusal, even, of the other. It is all a question of recognizing our experience of remaining in our anger or our bitterness and not wishing to be reconciled. [3]

Footnotes
[1] Reconciliation and Penance, John Paul II.
[2] Reconciliation Sessions 2006. Sr. Brigid Lawlor. Angers.
[3] Reconciliation Sessions 2006. Sr. Odile Laugier. Angers.

Reflection:
Which icon of God illumines your reconciliation journey: God all merciful, forgiving, just, compassionate, keeps your sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), etc. Name your God who guides you on the path of reconciliation. Spend time with the Prodigal Father in Luke 15: 11-32. Is there perhaps someone in your life, maybe in your community, to whom you need to run as you initiate the first steps of reconciliation?

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. ~ Matt. 18, vs. 12-14

We continue with the topic of the parable of the Good Shepherd as a spiritual path for us as Good Shepherd people.

To leave the ninety-nine in favor of the “one” is to understand our universal kinship with all human beings, that our salvation and liberation are intertwined in a profound way with the salvation and liberation of the “stray ones”, the poor, the ostracized, those left in the bleak margins of our society. When we hear in this parable the preferential delight that the Shepherd-God takes in this one lost sheep we come to know the mysterious, boundary shattering truth that the poor, the marginalized, those left behind without hope are the beloved of God. Jesus tell us this quite plainly, “It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones should be lost.”

When we listen deeply to this parable of the lost sheep we are swept up into a decision about depths of life’s meanings and our own patterns of living. This parable is an invitation to participate in God’s project for humanity which we call the reign of God. The reign of God is that space in our hearts and on the earth were conversion has taken place – where “The heart’s hard turning, the heart’s slow learning” how to love and who to love has unleashed the most potent energy in the universe – God’s love loose upon the earth.

The topic for this and next week’s discussion is that of the parable of the Good Shepherd as a spiritual path for us as Good Shepherd people. First of all, I’d like to begin by saying that we, as human beings, are not “hard-wired” to grasp who God is. God is utterly unknowable and lies well beyond any available categories in our minds to explain. All major religions agree on this point.

And yet, in the Christian faith God can be known in human terms because God came into our world as man – “and thus can be known about in the familiar language of earthly experience.” Jesus did not live a parallel existence alongside of the world, instead he plunged into our world to transform it by His mission.” (1)

Thus, in Jesus we can know that the unutterably mysterious God “whose explosive power hurls galaxies into space” is the same God whose tender love enfolds the disinherited, the dispossessed, the “throw aways” of the earth. (2) No parable expresses this radical, even disconcerting truth more clearly and unequivocally than the parable of the Good Shepherd.

When we speak about spirituality or a spiritual path we are talking about the moment when we gain an insight into the nature of reality and then begin to love that reality. Over a lifetime, it is, as the spiritual writer Annie Dillard tells us “the heart’s hard turning, the heart’s slow learning” how to love and who to love. (3)

While we are not “wired” to grasp who God is, what we are “hard-wired” for is openness to mystery. We are created with a gnawing “incompleteness, and unfinishedness, an emptiness” at the core of the self. (4) We are radically open to mystery and are driven there by our thirst for something more, something beyond our “ego encapsulated” selves. (5) St. Augustine says, “We see one Mystery, God, with another mystery, ourselves.” (6)

The parables of Jesus give us an opening on the mystery of God by shattering our hardened perceptions of reality and flipping them upside down. The parables give elbow room to God whose compassion is always a surprise, always an imaginative shock. (7)

The parable of the Good Shepherd cuts quite quickly to the “spiritual marrow.” It is only four sentences long. The theme of this parable of the lost sheep, like the lost coin and lost treasure, is about “homecoming,” about overcoming or lostness, it is about finding and being found, it is about finding God and being found by God. (8) It is the spiritually stunning news that God, through Jesus has caused our “homecoming.” (9) This parable is about our reconciliation with holy mystery, with the sacred.

When we begin to accept this “homecoming” there are two dimensions to our liberation, to our “heart’s hard turning”, personal conversion and social transformation. A turning toward God as a rudder in life and turning towards others in compassionate service. A deep relationship with God always extroverts us for service to others. (10)

Jesus draws us into “the heart’s slow learning” who to love and how to love when he asks: “What do you think? Suppose a man has a hundred sheep. If one of them strays, does he not leave the other ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the one that strayed?” Here he reverses our expectations. Using the “ tawdy materialism” of our day we might draw the opposite conclusion. Why leave the ninety-nine? This parable shocks us by cutting through “our perennial inclination to draw lines, invoke boundaries, establish hierarchies, maintain discrimination.” (11) The gospels break down all barriers. “Conversion of heart is the great equalizer.” (12)

Footnotes
[1] Richard, Lucian, Vatican 11, The Unfinished Agenda, Paulist Press, New York, 1987, p. 109
[2] Norman, Edward, Trinity Sunday, May, 1999, “The Eternal Ruler,” Herald – Tribune
Dillard, Annie, Holy The Firm, Harper and Row, 1977, p. 62
[3] Ludwig, Robert, Reconstructing Catholicism For a New Generation, Crossroads, New York, 1996, p. 99
[4] ibid p. 127
[5] Wills, Gary, St. Augustine, Viking Press, New York, 1999, p. xii
[6] ob cit, p. 68
[7] ob cit, p. 80
[8] Brueggemann, Walter, Finally Comes the Poet, Fortress Press, 1989
Ludwig, p. 63
[9] Elizono, Virgil, Guadalupe, Mother of the New Creation, Orbis, New York, 1997, p. 87

This is the third is our prayer series: Since I prepared the last prayer I have come to Ireland for holiday and retreat. I have been struck by the response of one mother following the stabbing to death of her son on August 16th in their home in Bray, Co Wicklow. Briefly the story is this: Sebastian and Dylan Creane, brothers and their friends Jennifer and Laura were in the family home when another boy Shane Clancy entered and stabbed Sebastian to death and left Dylan and Jennifer - Clancy’s former girl friend severely wounded before taking his own life.

Sebastian’s mother gave the eulogy during the funeral service. She started by saying that she wished to tell a story “and in my story, my God is the God of Small Things.” I see God’s presence in the little details. In the first prayer of this series I suggested that you read the book ‘The Shack’. The wife in that story referred to her God as Papa … The tragedy that occurred in Ireland and the story recounted in The Shack bring the persons involved face to face with their God. Their relationship and experience of their God helps them to interpret the tragedy.

Sebastian’s mother continued “and now I ask what is my God of Little Things saying to me about this incomprehensible act which took place in our home on Sunday morning of August 16th? She asked how do I even try to rationalize this one. We live on Earth in a world of contrasts – big, small, hard, soft, good, bad, dark and light, but one can’t paint a picture without at least two shades. It is the dark which give definition to the light. Darkness is just the lack of light. Through my God of Little Things I notice that both boys who died were 22. Both had the same initials. Both were entering their final year in college and looked set even in these recessionary times to have fruitful careers. So many similarities, yet on the morning of August 16 my God of Small Things said to me, one boy represented light, the other the darkness, as they both played their part in the unfolding of God’s divine plan.

As a result we … are faced with a choice: do we continue to live in the darkness, seeking only fear, anger resentment, bitterness, blaming, bemoaning our loss always looking backward, blaming, blaming, blaming, or are we ready to transmute this negativity?”

Aren’t these natural human emotions in the face of disappointment, betrayal and tragedy? Have you experienced them? Mack experienced them in The Shack. What do you do with them?

Let us continue to read how Sebastian’s mother was dealing with them. She said “we can rise to the challenge with unconditional love. Knowing that we are born on to this earth to grow … Our hearts are broken but maybe they need to be broken in order to expand.” If you have read The Shack wouldn’t that line of Sebastian’s mother fit very aptly? If Mack’s heart had not been broken would he have experienced what he recounted in the book?

Sebastian’s mother continued with a practical action: “And now that we have our attention on our hearts, please raise to mind a happy moment in your lives – the happier the better. Now let that happy feeling fill your whole heart. Now bring your attention to Jen. (Jenifer, the girl who was wounded). She feels so responsible. She blames herself. Bathe her heart in that happiness. Let our happy thoughts wash those feeling out of her. Keep sending her your happiness. And then forgive yourselves. “

Speaking to the many students that had gathered at the funeral she said “I know you are bewildered and want to do something to make it right. The best way you can honour Seb’s life s to co-create the most enlightened lives you can. The light that shone in Seb’s life shines in you also, in its own special way. Let it shine and be at peace.”

Surely this is a gospel story of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness and Jesus telling each of us that we are the light of the world. Let your light shine!

How can you co-create an enlightened life? How can the light of your life touch the darkness within you, the darkness all around you and ultimately touch the darkened world.

This week let your light and your prayer touch Sebastian’s mother, family and friends in these days of tragic loss asking that her courage and faith continue to be lived out in the days ahead.

Are there situations in your own life where you are called to let this light of happiness penetrate, where you are called to let go, forgive and let peace in?

Pray and reflect on this verse of Psalm 23
“Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow and
of death,
I am not afraid;
For you are ever with me;
Your rod and your staff
they guide me,
They give me strength
and comfort.”
Praying An Invitation To Wholeness~ Nan C Merrill

Psalm 89
“You have blessed us with oceans,
rivers, and lakes
to sustain our life on Earth.
Yes, you entrusted the waters into
our keeping,
and in our stewardship we failed,
Forgive us, O Merciful One.
The heavens are yours, the earth also
belongs to You
The north and south, You have
created them;
the east and the west as well.
With the might of arms, we shatter the nations,
And scatter your people
Forgive us O Merciful One.”

~Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan C. Merrill

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations states that “the climate change crisis is the greatest humanitarian and development issue facing the world today.” Do you agree?

Visit this site (link below) for a copy of a very reflective prayer prepared for world environment day on June 5. Use the prayer for the week – it is in three movements - celebration, lamentation and response. Give two days to each movement praying and reflecting on how you celebrate the world you have been entrusted with. For any behaviors against the environment you can pray ‘Forgive me, O Merciful One and then try to make a commitment to action.

The Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also launched a ‘Seal the Deal’ Campaign. Read about it and consider joining in some activity.

http://www.unep.org/unite/?page=seal Read about Seal the Deal.
World leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to conclude a new climate agreement. Climate Week is from September 20 -26 a week designated by the UN for gaining momentum in every corner of the world for Copenhagen Conference from December 7th – 18th 2009

If you wish to read more see my blog at http://winifredd.wordpress.com
An interview with Thomas Berry and World Environment Day

Gracious God, we recognize that Earth will only be our home as long as we learn to respect and care for the whole community of life and learn humility about our place in it, that we take action to protect and restore the integrity of life systems, and that we work for sustainable development for all people. Amen

Psalm 107
“And know yourself! Let your aim be
to recognize who you are.
Aspire to live as sons and daughters
of Divine Love
to enshrine the earth with
divinity
To honor all relationships as sacred, and
to live in peace and in balance with
all living things.”

Suggested Scripture reading for the month:
The Sunday Gospel readings for August are from St John’s Gospel Chapter 6 v 24-69 and the weekday readings are from St Matthews Gospel 14:1 – 25:13

I am Winifred Doherty, a Good Shepherd Sisters who will be leading you in reflection this month. I came to the USA at the beginning of 2008 and am the Congregational representative at the United Nations. The Congregation has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1996. Since July 20, 2009 the Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been meeting at the United Nations, New York. This meeting will continue until August 7th, 2009. I would like to reflect on the line from psalm 107 ‘to honor all relationships as sacred’. What does this mean for women in America and throughout the world? Is the person of woman, the female held with honor? Listening to the reports from the countries being heard at the 44th session of CEDAW the plight of women is desperate. The following facts have been recorded – lack of gender equality in all aspects of political, professional and family life. Woman is discriminated against with unequal pay, lack of access, and through entrenched stereotypes of ‘woman’ coming from a culture of patriarchy. Often national legislation enshrines the culture of patriarchy and refuses to adopt and or implement international law. While 86 nation states have ratified the CEDAW Convention, to date the United States of America has not ratified it.

There is a term ‘feminization of poverty’ which means that women are economically poorer than men and are increasingly discriminated against. Poverty pushes women to become migrant works, and some through deception and fraud are victims of human trafficking. There are other groups of women who suffer discrimination – indigenous women, women with disabilities, and older women and let us not forget the girl child. I worked in Ethiopia for 16 years and witnessed the discrimination against the girl child in the following areas – female genital mutilation, burdened with house work, illiterate, kidnapped and raped at the age of 13/14 years, rejected by family and community and even subjected to early marriage at 7 or 8 years of age.

During the week there was reference to laws that deny right females the right of accession to the throne. There was reference to the exploitation of woman by the media in advertising campaigns and other video games which demean woman.

What are the steps that bring about change? They are multiple - one can focus on legislation and the implementation of laws. This happens at the national level. If you have an opportunity why not ask your local politician about CEDAW and its ratification? You can go to this web site for further information. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/index.htm or visit my blog at http://winifredd.wordpress.com But change must also begin with the individual with you and I examining what stereotypes we act out of? The psalmist says ‘Know yourself’ How do I relate to others? Do I honor each relationship as sacred? What steps can I take to educate myself and begin to live in balance and in peace with all living persons?

As you reflect during the week on these things don’t forget to hear the cry of women who suffer? Read Matthew 15:21 -28 The Canaanite woman and her daughter … hear her cry “Have pity on me…. Help me”. Notice the reaction of the disciples “Send her away…” The dialogue of Jesus with her – and his eventual response “Great is your faith …” Some interpreters of this Gospel passage say that this particular interaction of Jesus with the woman brought him to the realization of who he was. His initial response to her – his understanding of himself was that he was sent to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’ but through his conversation with her he comes to realize that he has come for all people.

I invite you to make this excerpt from Psalm 107 your mantra for the month, begin and end your prayer with it, call it to mind during your day and in the evening before you rest. August is holiday month – why not read a novel The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. If you have already read it then take another look at it in the light of psalm 107 “Know yourself, recognize who you are, aspire to live as a son or daughter, enshrine the earth with dignity, honor all relationships as sacred, live in peace and in balance with all living things.

I have chosen a prayer for this last week of reflection. It is adapted from a prayer that comes from the Dominican Sisters of Peace. As we pray this prayer for the week let us ask God that we and all peoples have to grace to become an Earth community of love and communion.

Provident God, aware of my own brokenness,
I ask the gift of courage to identify how and where I am
In need of conversion in order to live in
Solidarity with all Earth’s people.

Deliver me from my sense of superiority and disdain.
Grant me the desire, and humility,
To listen with special care to those whose experiences
And attitudes are different from my own.

Deliver me from my tendency to be greedy and privileged.
Grant me the desire, and the will, to live simply so
Others may have their just share of Earth’s resources.

Deliver me from the silence that gives
Consent to abuse, war and evil
Grant me the desire, and the courage, to risk
Speaking and acting for the common good.

Deliver me from irreverence,
Exploitation and control.
Grant me the desire, and the strength to act
Responsibly within the cycle of creation.

God of love, mercy and justice,
Give the grace that I need to
Enter into a communion of love with and for
The Earth Community.

For this reflection we will look to the Sacred Community – the universe as community. The universe is our primary community. The universe is living, and evolving within an interdependence of all creation. And we share in this interdependence. Brian Swimme and Thomas Barry call this interdependence a “radical relational mutuality”. All of creation is embedded in a web of relationships. Everything in the universe acts in interconnectedness and interdependence. Every piece of creation be it galaxy, planet, star, sea, the woods outside, our own bodies – every piece of this creation is connected with and dependent on something other than itself. And this universe is very alive as it regenerates itself in connections, reactions, interdependence, and cycling of life.

And doesn’t this reciprocity and oneness speak to us not only about community but also about the very life of God? In its radical relational mutuality of exchange and bestowal the universe is a shadowy expression or shadowy incarnation of Trinitarian life. God is within and shows us the mutuality, life giving creativity of the Trinity. According to St Paul: “God fills all things in every way.” And Thomas Berry reechoes this when he tells us that “Here in creation in the universe we find the sublime expression of the deep mystery of the universe: the revelation of the Divine.”

We live within the interdependence and mutuality of this sacred community. Yet, we have been bound to a western utilitarian way of seeing and acting. Creation has become an object for our use. We do not see ourselves as a part of the whole, but as being distinct from it, somehow above it or beyond it. This lose is described by Brian Swimme “We are progressively alienated from any depth experience of the mysterious forces at work throughout the universe. The human soul shrivels into its own being and loses its life-giving contact with all those invigorating experiences of natural phenomena that have guided and energized human activities over the centuries.”

What speaks to you as you reflect on yourself as being a part of this sacred community called universe? Does it in anyway influence your actions or way of seeing things?

Our reflection this week will focus on ourselves and our consciousness of ourselves as an Earth Community. I believe there are two experiences that are waking us up to this perception. The first occurs as we look at the outer space photos of the earth. Our beautiful planet, Earth, brings wonder and gratitude to our hearts. We are able to share something of the first astronauts’ experiences as they moved beyond earth seeing first their own countries, then continents, and then only earth. One astronaut, a Syrian and Muslim by the name of Faris shared his outer space experience remarking how the earth is “indescribably beautiful with the scars of national boundaries gone.”

The second experience is our awareness of the increasing globalization that is occurring in our world. Globalization brings such potential for communication, interdependence, unity and such realization of Earth as community.

These new perceptions bring us to a deeper awareness of our connectedness with all of humanity, all nations, and the natural world. And it gives us a new sense of how we are bound together with all that we call Earth. The universal zeal of St Mary Euphrasia slipped beyond the “scars of national boundaries” as she expressed the desire to no longer be considered only French as she longed to be a part of every place where persons were in need.

Identifying ourselves as Earth Community brings us to a deeper awareness of the destructiveness of war, injustice, exploitation, selfishness, global warming and division. I would like to end by quoting a paragraph from the Contemplative Sisters section of the Working Document for the revision of the Constitutions ~ “Zeal calls us to be devoted to the common life and continually seek to deepen the union that exits among us. In our efforts to do this we share in the difficult struggle for unity within the world.”

Earth community cries out to each of us to do our part in serving the unity Earth Community needs at this moment of its existence. It is this unity that will preserve our life.

For reflection: Ask what you can do to become more sensitive to Earth as Community.

The July subject for our reflection is community. My own reflection on this subject brings me to St Mary Euphrasia and to her relationships with others. She attached great importance to engaging others with great openness and hospitality of heart. Unity was profoundly important. For her, our apostolic efforts are empowering and efficacious only if we are united with one another. SME was a woman of communication and love. And this communion of action was bound up with valuing the person—it made this value visible.

I think Mary Euphrasia’s hospitality of heart and openness to others were developed over time, and she worked hard to perfect them. She was very sensitive and as we all know she suffered many contradictions in realizing her mission. And this would have made things even more difficult. She once said that she felt “betrayed by human frailty.”

We can all feel this way at one time or other. We are betrayed by our own personal human frailty as we seek to value and commit ourselves to an ongoing communion of love. And we can feel betrayed by the human frailty of others. Awareness and humility are gifts we receive in our communal efforts. Most importantly we learn that these struggles carry with them the possibility of bringing us to deepening experiences of the merciful love of God. It would seem that it is only within the merciful love of God that we can create ongoing communion with one another.

For reflection: Consider your participation within the various “communities” of which you are a part. How do you deal with the varied frailties within yourself and within others?

For our final reflection on zeal I would like to offer one quotation of St Mary Euphrasia. She is telling us where we must first direct our zeal: “You must first of all, have charity for yourself, yes, an ardent zeal for your progress in the spiritual life; without this you could not possess true charity nor true zeal for the souls confided to you and whom you must nourish from the super-abundant charity of your own heart.”

Let us take time to reflect on how we give time to our “progress in the spiritual life.”

Zeal has a certain single-mindedness of purpose about it. The parable of the Lost Sheep speaks of this single-mindedness. And this single-mindedness was also present in St John Eudes‘understanding of zeal. He felt that our path to holiness is found in zeal. Everything in our lives – vows, ministry, and prayer is a condition and a means by which we fulfill our apostolic endeavors. Mary Euphrasia followed in his footsteps and went ever further when she told us that we cannot separate our salvation from the salvation of those we serve. And, we have been given the prayer in which we ask that the motive of zeal be in the beat of our hearts, in our breath, eye contact, and touch.

Along with this intense micro sense of zeal we are also called to a macro sense. Today, zeal calls us to be responsive to a universal call. This affects our consciousness and sensitivity regarding the social, political, and ecological realities of the people of our world, especially the poor. “Profoundly challenged by the suffering and distress in our world, we witness to the fact that another reality is possible for humanity and for the whole of creation…We dare to create a globalized network of action and contemplation woven together with all the tenderness and compassion of our Shepherd God “ (28th General Chapter Direction Statement).

Reflection Question: How can I live zeal fully? How can I make the concerns of the poor my own concerns?

Although zeal is at the heart of Good Shepherd life and ministry it is difficult to describe. In fact, I don’t think it can be described. I don’t think Mary Euphrasia described it. What she did do was speak about her experience of it. She said that she burned with zeal. Zeal was like a fire within her. When she was in the novitiate zeal kept her awake at night. Zeal put ideas in her head. Zeal prodded her and incited her to find new ways. Zeal caused her suffering. Indeed, zeal sent her into an amazing creative life.

I think I would say that zeal is about the reaching out of God. This reaching out is found within the Trinitarian communion of life and love. This communion within the Trinity involves a continuous reaching interchange of giving and receiving. And this reaching out moves beyond the Trinity as it brings about the Incarnation. Mary Euphrasia captures a sense of this in Chapter 4 of her Conferences when she creates a picture of the Trinity bringing about the Incarnation. (This may well have been a spiritual experience). The Trinity extends its reaching out into the sending of the Son, and Mary Euphrasia literally cries out, “See, see, the love of God.” This is truly God’s own love in action. For Mary Euphrasia, her sense of the Incarnation led her to look at the world through the eyes of God, and to experience the God who reaches out to love the world.

Through the Good Shepherd charism we are brought into this reaching out—this action of God. We are given the gift and challenge of zeal.

For reflection consider how can I align myself with zeal, and become more conscious of its presence within me?

Women are finding their voice through so many Good Shepherd programs. Let me share one example with you. It’s an experience that still gives me chills.

Last week I told you about the networks that are being developed among sisters in all of the Americas, from the tip of South America to the northernmost regions of Canada. Working with poor women in third world countries, the sisters are training women to make marketable products that can be sold here. The uniqueness of the project is that the sisters in 1st world countries purchase these handcrafted items directly from the women, thus eliminating any middleman and guaranteeing 100% return. These products are then sold here and then the process repeats itself.

In the ideal situation, after a time, the women take over the ownership and the management of their own shops, hiring women who have also been trained by the sisters. Such is the micro enterprise.

I visited such a shop in La Ceja, Colombia. It was clear who the owners were, as they carried out their supervisory function. The products were put through rigorous inspection since the quality of the items would have profound impact on future sales. But the delight did not end with the shop.

The women invited us outside to see the apartments constructed from their profits. For many it was their first and only home. When I produced a camera, one woman begged me to halt until she ran to a far corner of the complex. As I took the shot she raised her two arms in triumph, so proud of what would soon be her home.

Isn’t that what human dignity is all about…..food, clothing and shelter? Empowerment is just a word until it becomes a real person’s reality.

In this month of May, we’ve focused on Mary. How she must be watching over these projects! She, a single mother, begging for shelter, homeless, wandering by night to protect her child, an alien in Egypt, an illegal immigrant. Does she not speak to your heart, asking that you look into the eyes of poor women with her compassion?

The topic of immigration seems to be on everyone’s mind and there are as many opinions as there are vested interests. Where do we find our answer to so complex an issue, affecting so many lives?

Good Shepherd Sisters have a unique perspective, a very different vantage point. One sister, working on the border expressed it this way. Choice it what makes us human and separates us from other creatures. For animals it’s instinct, for other living organisms it’s the force of nature but for we humans, from our ability to reflect and to analyze, comes decisions or choices. This seems self evident but it does not hold for the poor. Perhaps that’s the best definition of poverty, to live without choice.

If you or I want to stop and get a hot cup of coffee, all we need do is be sure we have the right amount of money. For the poor Latino father, aware of the dangers of entering the USA without a passport, the hunger of his family drives him into reckless abandonment, at the risk of his own life. Sister said to me, how could I tell him not to go. Instead she must bless him with the words, Vaya con Dios! And then she must entrust the mother and children to Our Lady.

Mary is so real to the people in Latin America, that they cannot imagine a pathway to God except through her. This past September, Good Shepherd Sisters from all of the Americas gathered in Ecuador and developed a document that gave direction to our desire to be one America. For the sisters from Latin America, it was important to include the following statement, “We found a common thread woven into the fabric of our cultural identity in loving devotion to Mary”.

How that identity is lived out is clear in the sisters’ commitment to enhancing and empowering women, through education and income generating projects, that lead to a new sense of worth. This thread of dignity is woven into our services from Tepic, MX, through El Paso, TX to St. Louis , MO to New York and on to Montreal, Canada.

Linking our mission to service is the vision of every Good Shepherd Sister. Is it a vision that resonates with your own deep desires? Is Mary’s passion stirring in you?

This year Spring received a warmer than usual welcome! Even for snow lovers the excessive cold and the long-lasting snows wore out their welcome. Now winter has changed to spring and a whole new look takes over. The trees are dressed in their green array, the birds cannot keep from singing and the flowers refuse to stay closed; instead nod their sweet greeting to all who pass by. Easter confirmed our hope that new life is always possible. Do you believe that?

Now it is May, the month dedicated to Mary. Looking backwards we are reminded that our last sight of Mary, the Mother of God, was a brokenhearted woman, cradling her dead son in her arms. However, the Resurrection changed all of that and she now sings with equal joy, her own alleluia!

But how do you and I get from these biblical realities, to Mary in our everyday, pedestrian lives?

Part of that answer came to me when I visited Guadalupe, Mexico and there witnessed the incredible reality of this holy woman become mother to simple campesinos. Juan Diego, the man to whom the Virgin appeared in 1531 met this tender lady, en route to care for his sick uncle. Mary wanted to help and calmed Juan’s fears with the now famous word, Am I not your mother? The uncle was cured and the Lady of Peace had her own message revealed through this humble country man.

My day at Guadalupe began with the site of another man, walking on his knees toward the Basilica, holding his infant child in his arms, pleading silently for a miraculous cure for his little one, believing that this Virgin of Guadalupe was his mother too. I have no way of knowing if there was a cure that day but I do know that the young father’s prayer was answered.

We may not be pleading for miracles but each of us has access to Mary and a right to our own special relationship with her. Maybe for you it is an answer to where God wants to meet you, what he desires to reveal to you, how you can link your desire to serve with a mission that ignites your own passion. Whatever it be, listen for Mary’s help as she whispers to you, Am I not your mother?”

Is there a goal to contemplative prayer? We can say “yes” and it is the awakening of the Christ-consciousness within us. We can also say that it is to live in such a way as to hasten the coming of God’s Kingdom and to work for unity (communion) now. That is all very, very true. But on the other hand, like love, contemplative prayer has no goal. We love because we love and we pray because we cannot but pray, like the air we breathe, we have to inhale/exhale or suffocate. If prayer is a relationship with the One we love, then we have to be with the loved one, migrate into the Other’s embrace and be in ecstasy (literally, to go out of self). The alternative is to languish in loneliness, in the grip of all our unfreedoms.

Okay, all that needed to be said because contemplative prayer is not only relationship; it is also a spiritual practice; it is a discipline; a royal sweatshop! When her friends asked St. Teresa of Avila to teach them contemplative prayer, she responded by writing the Way of Perfection. The book has 42 chapters. She starts to talk about contemplative prayer only in chapter 26. Previous to that, she insists that the practice of the virtues (love of one another, humility and non-clinging) are vital. Without it, she says that we simply are chickens hopping around our cages, not like the eagles that fly to the sun.

There it is, plain and simple – for those who want to hit the ground running. We cannot want the earth to be fair and good for all unless we practice everyday to put the other first, unless everyday we practice how to listen deeply because we come out of silence. Also, a consequence of transformation (of consciousness / of ethical behavior) is transmission – the capacity to awaken in other people their own potentiality to be divine. But it means that day in and day out, we struggle to be responsible, intelligent, compassionate, not only within, for/to ourselves, but also without, for/to the other because she is a sister, he is a brother, and the universe (including the polar bears and the rain forests and the fresh water lakes) wears God’s face. Daily, we practice letting-go; it is the fundamental practice urged by St. Paul’s in Philippians:

Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant …

It is to perceive and act out of the truth (Mahatma Gandhi s 7 Deadly Social Sins) that

does violence to us all, distances us from one another and that, therefore, we need to transform societal structures, together, through ways of peace, and not disaster.

To be a contemplative is to live justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.

Contemplative prayer … ah, who has the words to speak adequately of its depth and its height, its breadth and its incomparable longings that demand fulfillment?

No eye has seen nor ear heard …. what God has ready for those who love … those who pray

Sr. Mary Edith Olaguer
Wolcott, CT

Contemplation without Lectio Divina (literally, divine, or holy reading) withers. From ancient times, in fact, lectio and contemplation are part and parcel of the contemplative prayer, which normally goes this way:

Lectio is a prayerful and reflective reading of Scriptures with the belief (remember how we said that the theological virtue of faith is a non-negotiable in contemplation) that the particular topic under consideration is given directly to the person by God. Traditionally, also, the 3 sources of Scriptures is widely understood to include:

Remember, for instance, how nature - animal and plant life included - revealed to Jesus God’s Reign or some aspect of how God is like (pearls, lilies, water, seeds, bushes, trees, mountains, chicks and hens, sheep and goats, etc.) The parables of Jesus are replete with his observations of the culture around him, human behavior and societal norms, family ritual and daily life, civic customs and church structures. Nothing was excluded from his horizon; for Jesus, every created thing spoke to him of God. From the start of his public life to his death, moreover, Jesus quoted from and acted out of Scriptures and what he had learned from the Torah. Jesus did not only know Scriptures, he willingly shared what he knew with others. When his disciples asked him how he prayed or what his prayer was about, Jesus did not hesitate to let them have an idea or feel of what personal relationship with God is about. It is directly from Jesus that we learn that God is our Abba (Dad – Papa), whose love, sometimes more like a mother’s love, goes over and above the love of all parents in the world combined.

Lectio, then, precedes contemplation or the communication/conversation/dialogue that goes on in our hearts with God. Lectio includes the study normally required when we want to understand or learn more about the topic we are reading. Lectio means research, inquiry into root meanings of words; it is to understand the cultural context in which the sayings of Jesus are imbedded. Lectio is the sacred time during which we get to familiarize ourselves with how God ‘thinks’ and we gradually discover why God says “your thoughts are not my thoughts nor your ways my ways.” (For example, greatness for us means being on top of the pyramid; for Jesus it meant, being of service). We choose, then (hopefully), to align the way we think and behave to how Jesus would behave and think if he were around in this time and in this place (that is why we need also to know the cultural context in which Jesus grew up and who, what influenced him) and we realize when our own behaviors are shaped by our culture and how dissimilar this would be, or similar (enculturation), from gospel demands or gospel values.

If authentic prayer is a journey from the head to the heart, then Lectio is the most trusted vehicle that we can ever entrust ourselves to. It precedes the ineffable joy given us when from the many, many words we need to use in Lectio, we are carried over, as if in an embrace, to a state where words and concepts are unnecessary. God reveals to us, in contemplation (in a non-dualistic manner) that, in truth, it is not I and Thou but US. God-in-me-and-I-in-God; God-in-creation-and-creation-in-God; God-in-others-and-others-in-God. Simply, reality is ONE.

As suggested last week, did you reflect on the moments of awe and wonder you have had -- the times when you were drawn out of your usual preoccupation and just like that, had insight into a world you did not know exists? You notice, then, that contemplation not only makes us more aware of life as a 3D reality but it also asks us to stop and pace ourselves so that we take time to examine, open and peruse the envelope of our existence, the meaning and purpose of our world.

If we explore further, we realize that contemplation springs out of a longing, or a desire for something that we are hard put to define. Some of us shove aside this yearning or drown it out with noise and activity. We mistakenly assume that our restlessness will be stilled by what advertisements offer and so deluded; we pursue happiness in a hundred places. Others, however -- a thousand others through the ages -- pay attention to this desire that won’t go away and discover within an awakening attraction for – what? For whom? Different religious traditions give it different names; the Christian tradition identifies the attraction as a first-move from the Other, a personal invitation from God, to the individual, to be-with, to be one-with, to be in a relationship with, God. St. Paul says it this way “… the Spirit within us cries out, Abba, Father …” (cf. Romans 8) Saying ‘Yes’ to this invitation embarks us on a journey of intimacy and communion, an unbelievable journey of ecstasy because the One who issued the invitation is One who fulfills and delivers on promises and therefore, One we can trust our lives with. Also agony however (and it is a BIG however), because the One we trust is Hidden. Our God is Mystery whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways. Only the eyes of faith (the 3rd eye) see in the dark and that is very difficult for us and everything we are accustomed to.

But what is the promise that is delivered? Remember that we started out by identifying a universal restlessness we all suffer from, a troubling sense of incompleteness and isolation. The promise is contemplation – that is, a way of seeing as we are seen, a way of knowing as we are known, a way of becoming who we originally already are: a child of God, made in God’s image and likeness, loved and treasured, a citizen baptized into a new heaven and a new earth. The promise is a way home and finding out that all the time, we are home.

The one non-negotiable about contemplation, then, is faith –faith that expresses itself in loving actions. It is our faith and trust in the One who does not disappoint that makes us carve time and space out of our day-to-day activities so that, we choose to consciously be-with this God whom we want to truly know and so truly be like because to love is to identify with the one loved.

For the month of March, our conversations ‘from the heart’ will be related to contemplation. It sounds and looks like a huge word, contemplation. Actually however, it is a gift already given to us, it is a capacity that we all have, a skill that with daily practice (as with any art, it is 99.9% practice), we can hone and gradually it makes us live life with a certain way of seeing and perceiving, acting and relating not only with one another but with the cosmic world as well.

A bit of reality check. When your attention is caught by the song of a bird, without even consciously thinking that you will drop every thought you stop thinking and simply listen. Without strain or effort, your gaze even naturally falls on a certain spot as you follow the song and for as long as your heart sings with the bird (most often in quiet and repose), you are totally forgetful of self but very aware of the song. You are in contemplation.

Have you ever watched a beautiful, breath-taking sunset? You were simply aware of the sunset, the beautiful sunset, and basking in its reality, right? You did not even for a minute think “I am watching a sun set and am going to enjoy it” because you were in contemplation and contemplation and the ego do not go together. You were in the sunset and the sunset was in you -- you experienced joy and wonder, perhaps was embraced by awe and a sense of being-with that you didn’t do anything to bring about. It simply was there for you – total gift.

Bring to mind a time when you were seized by wonder and mystery. What feelings are evoked in you? Or, have you watched a mother lost in her baby and the baby gazing back at her in pure innocence and total trust? The more you become aware of (reflect on) such times and make them part of your story, of who you are, the more will you be conscious of the actual frequency of such gifts in your life. Gratitude is woven into your soul. More and more you will see that miracles litter our way, that everyday is a good day. You awaken to the fact that you are (everyone is) a born contemplative. Hey, you are a natural.

The following is an excerpt from John O’Donohue in Eternal Echoes © 1999 p. 89
When you choose someone or some way of life, you invest your heart. Choice becomes an invitation to commitment. When you commit you deepen your presence…Kierkegaard divided the life journey into stages, and he saw that the aesthetic stage was the wanderer whose longing is magnetized on the endless array of novelties. We celebrate the surface unwilling to become acquainted with the depths where the darkness plies its slow and patient transfigurations. The color and excitement of the surface (leaving all of our options open), though delightful, are ultimately deceptive; they keep us from recognizing the habit of our repetitions and the boredom and poverty that sleep there. When we choose a definite path or partner, we leave the endless array of beckoning surface. We go below the façade of repetition and risk the danger of encounter, challenge, and responsibility. When you choose with discernment, integrity, and passion, you submit yourself to the slow and unglamorous miracle of change. … When you choose someone or some way of life, you invest your heart.

What gets in the way of following your heart? Making a choice? Committing to deepen your presence and your relationship with God?

John O’Donohue is talking about inner journey. How counter cultural this is. It is not linear and totally planned out. There is no certitude. But it is certainly worth the risk – it is in the end really the only journey worth embarking upon.

“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” ~Ursula K. LeGuin.

We continue this month’s reflection topic of Spiritual Direction. The following is a segment of an article written by Thomas Hart.

“No part of your life is irrelevant to spiritual direction and the vocation question that is yours. Your whole life is your spiritual life; God is in every aspect of it. In direction you will be circling back again and again to the decision you need to make, but it would be a mistake to confine the exchange of conversation too strictly to topics of prayer, church, vocation, ministry.

“What do you most enjoy in life? What are your struggles? What gets you down? What do you think about during the day? What do you dream about at night? How do you feel about yourself? How do you experience your sexuality? How do you see the world? God is in all of this, leading, delighting, challenging you, giving you opportunities to mature, deepen, and broaden. God is constantly creating you, and you are the co-creator. All of this constitutes the context from which your life direction will flow.

“Wherever the action is in your life that is where God is most involved with you. That is where you are making the responses that determine your development as a person. So that is what you should talk about in spiritual direction.

“A spiritual director is a companion and listener who walks with you on the spiritual journey, assisting and supporting you in your quest. With this person’s help, you will more easily find what your own heart most deeply desires – whish is the same as what God wants for you.”

In one of his journal notations Thomas Merton writes that we are always thinking that our life will be truly happy “when.” We are not satisfied with what is currently our situation because we have it in our mind that our life won’t be happy until something else occurs: when I have one more thing I want, when I get rid of that personality flaw of mine, when I can finally have life as I have always dreamed it to be, when I am truly successful, when I learn to pray better, when I find the right person in my life, when, when, when…

Waiting for the “when” keeps me from appreciating what I now have. Longing for promises and dreaming dreams is not a harmful deed as long as the present moment is not overlooked, as long as gratitude rises for what is already here, as long as I do not base my happiness on what is still wanting. Thankfulness for what has already been given is the foundation for hoping for what is not yet.

Today I am going to put aside my “when this happens” and my “if this could only be” and my “when things get better” and my “as soon as I have this.” I am going to harvest what I now have, gather all the many gifts that are already mine. I am going to observe what has been placed in the granary of my heart and marvel at the abundance.
I will stand before this heap of blessings and take a long, grateful look. I will say farewell to my “when” and be thankful for what is.

"It seems that our Lord had a particular affection for the sweet name of Shepherd: the princes of Israel were called Shepherds, and he chose as
his first adorers not only the poor, but poor shepherds. The reason? Their way of treating their flocks expressed better than any other
symbolic figure the tenderness and concern of this God who is so loving towards his dear sheep."~ St. Mary Euphrasia

Wishing you and your loved ones the promise of the God of Christmas ~ justice, peace, light and hope.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) once wrote, “The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope. It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us, memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” Where is the star of hope leading you this Advent season? The wise men followed the star to the crib where they encountered Jesus, the Christ. How is the spirit of light leading you? What a beautiful time of year to reflect on God’s dream for you personally as well as God’s dream for the world.

I want to share with you a story that reflect what Good Shepherd Mission is about:

“One day when Mary Euphrasia was traveling, the woman sitting across from her was crying and crying. Mary Euphrasia asked her why she was so sad. The woman said that she was thinking about killing herself because she was in love with a married man but he didn’t want to see her any more.

Mary Euphrasia did not judge the woman badly for being in an affair with a married man. Instead she invited the woman to come home with her. She took care of the woman until she knew that the woman was no longer thinking about killing herself. She also wrote a letter to the man and asked him to come and see the woman and tell her good-bye properly. She promised the man that she would not judge him badly for what he had done.

The man came, he and woman said good-bye, and the woman grew stronger under Mary Euphrasia’s kind care.”

Good Shepherd people have being blessed with the gifts of passion for mercy and reconciliation. Without a doubt these gifts move us beyond human thinking or feeling. And we can share in these gifts because we have experienced the merciful and reconciling love of God.

During this fall season, our thoughts often turn more reflective as the days shorten and the night becomes cool. In this reflective stance, let us ponder a little about “the Good Shepherd Mission” and what it means to us.

At first, the good works of caring for women, girls and families in need all around the world by providing different kinds of programs, shelters or counseling might come to mind. But reflecting deeper draws us to the Person of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and our relationship with Him.

Know that the Lord is God;
He made us, his we are;
His people, the flock he tends. ~ Ps. 100

Yes, we are drawn to know this Person; this Person who is God. We become aware of His relationship with us that is expressed in tender, caring terms. Jesus “tends us.” We belong to Him. We are “his people.” He actually “made us.” What an incomprehensible mystery! What an awesome gift!

Secure in his care, we can in faith, confidently look to Jesus. St. Mary Euphrasia, the Foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, told us that Jesus is “the true model whom we must endeavor to imitate...He is the divine original that we must strive to reproduce in our whole conduct.”

The following excerpt is from the Constitutions and Statues of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

“Our commitment to reconciliation demands that we promote justice and peace in a world disturbed by since and conflict. In our ministry, we collaborate to help bring about change in whatever condemns others to live a marginalized life. This witness to justice must possess those characteristics of merciful love, which are the essence of the gospel and the social teachings of the church.”

St. Mary Euphrasia teaches that all we have and are is gift. Life itself is a gift. Our intelligence, our will, a heart to love, beauty, health, personality are gifts. We also have the gift of our Good Shepherd charism, which confers a special identification with Jesus, the Good Shepherd. How important it is that we be reconciled to our responsibility to develop all these gifts through prayer, study. generosity and sacrifice so that we may become authentic witnesses and instruments of God’s loving mercy.

Jesus gives [his disciples] a simple, clear example of what discipleship is all about: service. Washing one another’s feet, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked—here is the core of the Eucharist; our great miracle of love…God’s table is large, as large as creation. All are invited; all are to have access to the necessity of food and the miracle of love. Both are essential to the fullness of life. Without food, the body languishes and dies; without love, our souls wither and are filled with despair. The leftovers in our lives? What are they and who will get them? So many people can live off our leavings if we would only share. This is hardly sufficient. Disciples of Christ give abundantly in imitation of the Master who gave his very self.

Take Nothing for the Journey
Then Jesus called the twelve together…and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey ...”Luke 9:1-6

“And you said:
‘Take nothing for the journey.’
What did you mean?
Trust or more than trust?
Did you perhaps imply that we can’t wait
Until we have all the possible things we need?
That we can’t postpone ‘doing’
Until we are positive of our talents?
That we can’s hold off our commitment
Until we are absolutely sure
We won’t make a mistake?”

I don’t know about you – but I like to be pretty sure of myself before saying yes to something, especially if it is something new and unfamiliar. And I think this makes good sense. However, when discerning a call to follow Jesus, to discipleship in a radical way, if we wait until we are completely sure we will be waiting for a very long time. God calls each of us to join Jesus on the Journey of proclaiming good news to God’s people. The good news that each person is of more value, the good news that God loves everyone unconditionally, the good news that no situation is hopeless. God calls us and at some point in our discernment process we need to say yes without knowing all the answers to what that yes fully means or where it will lead us. God calls us to trust and to love.

“Take nothing. Don’t worry about your inadequacies. I will provide for you. Go! Just go! Go with my power.”

“Put out into the deep. Do not be afraid. They left everything and followed Jesus.” These are some phrases that really struck me from Luke’s gospel (Luke 5:1-11) which was the reading for Thursday, September 4th. They are challenging words – words of invitation, trust and change. Jesus asks his disciples (to be a disciple means to be a learner) to trust him and to follow him – to put out into the deep and let go of fear. Jesus does not invite us to put out into the deep to drown but to live. God always calls us to fullness of life and to be co-creators with him – co-creators of justice and peace, reconciliation and hope. What is God whispering in your heart? What is the deep that God is inviting you to put out into? What fears or anxieties prevent you from following Jesus fully?

“Dreams are journeys that take on far from familiar shores, strengthening the heart, empowering the soul.” ~ Author Unknown.

This month of September, 2008 we will be focusing our reflections on “discipleship.”

In Sunday’s Gospel (August 31st):
“Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself/herself,
take up her cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save her life will lose it,
but whoever loses her life for my sake will find it.”Mt 16:21-27

At first this appears to be a very frightening declaration. And I guess it is. However, in more recent years my sense of denying myself and losing my life, as a disciple of Christ, is more about letting go of my false self - all the “shoulds” and expectations that I put on myself (or allow others to put on me) and that interfere with who I truly am. To be a disciple means to let go of our false self to embrace our true self, the person God created us to be. We come to know our true self through prayer and reflection.

What might God be inviting you to let go of in order to follow God more closely? What is God asking you to lose so that you may really find what is important?

What are you good at? What do you feel passionate about? These are qualities and characteristics that can lead you closer to knowing your true self.

Barbara Davis in her book “We are caught into this mystery” has a chapter on Blessing in the shepherd’s life and mission. She reminds us of the connection visible in the Scriptures between blessing and salvation and the distinction between them.

At the end of the chapter she talks how “interpersonal relations are not possible without blessings. When people truly meet, they bless each other. A blessing is always expected to make the one who receives it a source of blessings for others. One is not bless at the expense of others but for the benefit of others. All prayer and ministry - all our shepherding – is entry into the reciprocal relationship of blessing with God”.

As we reflect on Good Shepherd spirituality I thought it would be helpful to ponder in our heart and mind the words of Barbara Davis; since spirituality, in her words, is “theology walking”.

“The metaphor of the Shepherd and flock is not sentimental. It holds together the idea of justice, guaranteeing the right to life of the flock, with the idea of grace and goodness. There is much here that is congruent with contemporary shifts in the Christian understanding of sin. Our concept of sin has expanded to include social sin and the oppressive structures which are in direct conflict with the gospel and which deprive people of their right to live fully human lives.”~ From the excerpts of Sr. Barbara Davis “We are caught into this mystery.”

As we reflect in Good Shepherd Spirituality during this month of August l like share with you a few ideas from the excerpts from the writings and reflections of Sr. Barbara Davis, RGS, from her book “We are caught into this mystery”

“The image of Shepherd runs through the whole of Scripture from Genesis to the Revelation of St. John. It is one of the most precious images in biblical spirituality, attractive and warm. It describes the behavior of God in taking care of humanity.

A favorite image, for many of us, is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd with a lamb over his shoulders. To the Shepherd’s great delight, the one sheep that was lost in now found. This depiction suggests much to us: the worhtwhileness of spending a great deal of time and energy on any one person”

Have you feel the presence of the Shepherd in your life, in your discernment process?

Friendship in community is a wonderful blessing and gift. It is something that develops over time. Although everyone in community is “sister”, not everyone is friend on the same level. When deep friendships are formed in community it is a real gift. There are some things that we can do to contribute to the life of the community and to make it a place of hospitality and warmth – extending friendship – to the members. One way that we do this is by taking responsibility for the life of the community – to help make it a place that people want to come home to. It means being able to celebrate people and events, and being willing to share that spirit and those experiences with others.

One does not come to community to make friends – if one does not already have them. But in community we work at being a community of equals – sisters to one another.

This month we are going take a look at “community.” Community living is one of the richest blessings of religious life and it is also a very challenging aspect of religious life – calling for some skills and the ability to be self-reflective, humble and open. One skill that is important for community life is the skill of “other-centerdness:

It is no small challenge to be able to enter into the reality of another, to be generous, to listen. It means taking time for others and for situations that may not always be your first choice. It is about how you use your time and energy.

One small example of the invitation to be generous and to practice other-centerdness in my own experience – was when one of our older sisters started to experience difficulty with her memory and organization. During our morning and evening prayer she was having difficulty finding the pages and keeping up with the pace of the prayer. This was an invitation to all of us to practice patience, kindness and compassion. It was not always easy – but that is what community living is about – making room for others.

It is also important that you practice self-care. This is what enables us to give to others. By practicing self-care we have the emotional and physical energy to reach out and accept others as they are, not as we would like them to be.

A thought on zeal - Zeal, the untiring commitment to the one person......the commitment to stay with the one person, not to give up even when she/he has given up on her/himself..........to celebrate through mission the loving kindness of our Faithful Shepherd God.
~ Sr. Kathleen

“On an individual level, zeal means never giving up on a person, it means unconditional love and acceptance,: a commitment to leave no stone unturned to assist each person to come to her/his full potential, no matter what the cost to me. On an advocacy level, it means creatively and faithfully working to overturn the unjust systems which impact negatively on each person's dignity and humanity and innate right to live and work in freedom”.
~Sr. Paulette LoMonaco

". . .and I also vow zeal...." Those words spoken years ago have been a dynamic movement in my heart taking different shapes at various times in my life--sometimes urging me toward and sustaining me in a difficult ministry, sometimes enabling me to embrace suffering, sometimes drawing me toward greater union with God, but always, always leading me and others toward the Kingdom--". . .your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
~ Sr. Joan Kopf, RGS

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on “Home.”

Home is growing in freedom toward our deepest, truest self. This is not always easy to discern when we are confronted with so many “shoulds” that we or others put on us.

We grow toward true self (being at home within ourselves) in a space where our growth is not driven by external demands but drawn forward, by love, into our own best possibilities.” Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life p. 60

ASK ANYTHING

“Ask anything,”
My Lord said to me.
And my mind and heart thought deeply
for a second,
then replied with just one word,
“When?”
God’s arms then opened up and I entered Myself.
I entered Myself when I entered Christ.
And having learned compassion I
allowed my soul
to stay.
~Hafiz

Trust that your heart knows what is best for you!

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,

Sr. Debbie ~ srdebbie@optonline.net

March 14 , 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

What has struck me this Lenten Season is the common desire that every person has to know and to be welcomed “home.” Below is a reflection on my idea of home. I hope you enjoy it.

If I Could Go Anywhere

If I could go anywhere, I’d go to a place where every life is cherished and differences are appreciated. It would not necessarily be a place where the sun shines all the time, but when the clouds roll in and thunder rocks the skies and darkness covers the earth, there is someone or someones to give support and to strike a candle of light and warmth.

This place might be called a learning community, where silence is valued and where each voice is listened to. The skies would be colored in pinks, yellows, whites, blues, hopes, dreams, equality and wonder. There are mountains, streams, birds, flowers, tress, oceans and stars in this place. And every once in a while ~ a moonbow.

If I could go anywhere, I’d choose to be in a place that honors the human soul, that place deep within each person, where light goodness and grace abide. A place where the human heart is given space, time, permission and the affirmation to grow. This is a place where conflict is not feared but explored and brought into the light and non-violent and respectful resolutions are sought together through open and honest conversations with one another.

This place is colored by green hues of newness ~ new life, new ideas, new dreams ~ and deep shadows of maroon embracing the histories, cultures and traditions of diverse peoples. If I could go anywhere I’d like to go to a place, or perhaps create a place where all are welcome and made to feel at home. This place is not bound by geography, walls, limitations or boundaries but exists everywhere and anywhere the inherent goodness of every person is celebrated.

This place is named “home” to all who inhabit it. It is a kingdom place enlightened by wisdom.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
s rdebbie@optonline.net

February 12, 2007

De ar Good Shepherd Friends,

As we celebrate the liturgical time of Lent I invite you to reflect on Love in a different way as is presented to us by the commercials during this month of February.

Here is a good example that I found in a book of Jo hn H. Hampsch, C.M.F. “The Awesome Mercy of God”. If you take a fresh sponge–not a plastic sponge but a regular ocean sponge, which is actually a living entity, like coral—and cut into hundreds of pieces. Then scatter all the pieces in a tank of water and leave them untouched overnight. The next morning you will find that the pieces have reassembled themselves into the exact shape of the original intact sponge—like a spontaneously reassembled jigsaw puzzle.

This phenomenon is call “reintegrative restoration” and can be used as an image of the immeasurable love of God that not only heals but restore our being.

God’s love is given to us through our family, friends, people that we don’t know, in nature and in different circumstances. But the love that restore comes to us through a deep relationship with our God in solitude and prayer. During this Lenten season let us take some minutes a day to quite ourselves and experience the restoring love of God.

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palacioc@comcast.net

February 1 , 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We conclude this month’s reflection on “Spiritual Direction.”

In our personal prayer as well as in our sharing with a spiritual director, “We can only pray from our actual feelings, coming to prayer from that honest fundamental desire, which leaves us open to an unpredictable outcome. Praying with this kind of emotional congruence gives us freedom. We can pray out of our anger, our weariness, our discouragement, our fear, our loss, our joy, etc. We express those feelings in prayer to their conclusion until we’re tired of them however long that may take. When we’re finished, we wait for a response. Gradually, we discover changes in us. A Gospel passage discloses a new possibility. God touches us through another. A long walk by the ocean crying or shouting calms us and we are now open to influence.”

Spiritual Direction, Beyond the Beginnings, by Sr. Janet Ruffing, RSM, © 2000, Paulist Press, Mahway, New Jersey

The process of spiritual direction is always to help us discover God’s presence in our lives in our everyday experiences and feelings.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie ~ srdebbie@optonline.net

January 23, 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on Spiritual Direction:

“Seek to have that faith which will make you love more and walk with courage in the ways of God.” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

Walking in faith with God is what spiritual direction is about. The focus of spiritual direction is one’s relationship with God and experience of God and how one might be called to respond to God’s love.

Sr. Maureen Conroy, RSM writes about the dimensions of one’s experience of God.

“The pervasive, heartfelt experience of God has various dimensions. It is comprised of the Giver – a self-communicating God – and the receiver – ourselves.”

She outlines seven consequences of experiencing God:

An experience of God increases our desire for God. “As a deer longs for running waters, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.” ( Ps 42:1,2)
As we allow ourselves to experience God’s loving presence, our relationship with God deepens and becomes more real. We spontaneously share with God the concerns and burdens of our heart.
Our knowledge of God changes from a head knowledge to a heart knowledge, an ‘intimate understanding’ of the truth.
Conversion of heart, mind, attitude and behavior takes place. As we come to know and enter into the mind and heart of God, we change both interiorly and exteriorly. We begin to see the world from God’s point of view not just from our limited perspective.
Experience of God enables us to develop a discerning heart, that is, to notice more readily those realities that are drawing us closer to God and those that are moving us away from God.
Experiencing God results in life-giving choices. We make decisions that are growth-producing and beneficial to others and ourselves. We look at the broad picture of God’s desires, our deeper desires and the needs of others.
Experiencing God often inspires us to celebrate God’s tremendous love in some concrete way, whether that be through a Eucharistic liturgy, other sacraments or some creative expression… The love we have experienced deep within we desire to express in a visible, concrete way.

Sr. Maureen sums these dimensions up by stating, “As our experience of God unfolds, we realize how God’s presence permeates our personality, life circumstances and culture. We find God in all things. We become a living expression, as St. Irenaeus, writes, ‘The glory of God is a person fully alive.’”

Sr. Maureen Conroy’s article appeared in Human Development Magazine, Fall, 2003 the Twenty Fourth Volume, Number Three.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie ~ srdebbie@optonline.net

January 11, 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on Spiritual Direction…

Spiritual Direction is concerned with one’s relationship and experience of God. This is the focus and purpose of seeking spiritual direction. It is about being, and continuing to become a “discerning person.”

Spiritual direction is a conversation between two adults in which one is seeking some guidance on the path to God and the meaning of life. A spiritual guide or director helps the person to become aware of God’s presence and action in her life by learning to notice – paying particular attention to one’s freedom and one’s resistances - those things that get in the way of being truly free and making free and life-giving choices.

“Life is a journey, and the most engrossing part is the interior journey of our soul. As we touch and live through the seasons of Jesus’ life, never boring nor repetitious, we live through the seasons of our life, a kind of spiral journeying, touching the same places inside us, but never really the same, as we go deeper, ever trying to find the answers to those two great questions of all life: What does it all mean? And what shall I do with my love?”

This reflection is taken from “On Becoming a Discerning Person Through Spiritual Direction”, Review For Religious, February 1992 by Br. Charles Reutemann,FSC

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago – srdebbie@optonline.net

January 2, 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We wish each of you a very Happy, Healthy and Holy New Year! This month’s reflections will be on the topic of “spiritual direction.”

What is spiritual direction?

“Spiritual direction is concerned with helping a person directly with her relationship with God, to explore the questions, ‘Who is God for me, and who am I for God?’”

“The ministering person (the spiritual director) helps the directee to address God directly and to listen to what God has to communicate. The focus of this kind of spiritual direction is the relationship itself between God and the person. The person is helped not so much to understand that relationship better, but to engage in it, to enter into a conversation with God. Spiritual direction of this kind focuses on what happens when a person listens to and responds to a self-communicating God.”

Excerpts taken from ~ The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A Barry & William J Connolly, Harper Collins Publishers.

For those who take their relationship with God seriously, regular spiritual direction, usually on a monthly basis, is a wonderful way to deepen and grow in one’s relationship with God. For those who are in the process of discerning a change in ministry, or making a major commitment in life – spiritual direction can serve as a wonderful aid to the discernment process. Most religious men and women are involved in spiritual direction for a life-time. We always desire to grow in our relationship with God and to respond to God’s daily calls to each of us.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

December 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

May the Peace of the Infant Jesus reign in your hearts.

This week I invite you to continue to reflect and meditate on the gift of Hope. Hope in its truest sense reposes in the secure expectation of its desired object, and the stronger the expectation, the more restful the hope. In Holy Writ, hope is called the anchor of the soul. St. Paul bids us “to hold fast to interior behind the veil.” – (Heb.6:18, 19). As the anchor steadies the ship amid wind and wave by trying it fast, so hope keeps the soul safe and secure, buffeted though she be by the winds and waves of life’s violent storms, by fastening her to the shore of eternity. Deeply conscious of its everlasting reward, and sated with the satisfaction of its burning desire, hope is never impatient but always absolutely calm in its sublime trustfulness.

In this state, hope gives to all objects the tone of its environment, feasting as it does on the happiness which it will eventually possess through the deepening of its desires that render all the more beautiful the eternal inheritance of which it is so enamored.

In the fullness of this virtue the soul, finding the yoke of the Lord sweet and His burned light, overcomes obstacles which those without hope do not even try to surmount.

Prayer: God of hope, come! Be the Morning Star in our midst, the Light that can never go out, the Beacon of Hope guiding our way to you. Come into our midst and make of our lives a hope, where your everlasting goodness resonates with assuring love and vigorous hope.

Sister Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

December 12, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

We continue our reflection on hope.

IMAGINE SOMETHING WONDERFUL…
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE…
CONNECT WITH EVERY LIVING THING…

Imagine God’s gentle gift of encouragement, Mary Bearing Hope (Jesus) to the world!!
From Iraq to Chile, from Dafur to China, and Iran, we are overwhelmed with daily chronicles of unending human suffering announced by radio, television and the internet. As a culture we endure immediate reports of torture, greed, hatred and human trafficking. I find myself questioning our sense of morality. Have we forgotten our humanity?

It appears that the people of Israel were asking themselves the same questions. They too were conflicted as we are today. Jewish life was not of any particular value – they were burdened and endured every kind of affliction under the Romans, facing many atrocities.

Their only hope was in the Word of God, foretold by the prophets that there would be a Messiah who would free them from oppression and domination. “I will send you a Messiah. I will rescue you my people. I’m God, I will do as I have promised.” Mary, a young girl had to have heard these whispers of hope. When was he to come? How would he come? Who would give birth to the Messiah? Surely, every Jewish maiden wished that it would be here! Each wanted freedom for her people. Hope in the Word of God is what the People of Israel had to hold on to. It was their strength. It gave them purpose, a reason to continue on.

Hope for the Future
Hope is that virtue while gentle and non-assuming is strong and sturdy bringing light to a darkened world. We hope always for good things. A safe delivery of a child – for good health – for someone to love – to succeed in school – to follow Jesus – to do the Father will and to love and care for ourselves and others. We hope when all else fails. “ Hope Springs Eternal.” So within the synagogues and homes of the people, a certain urgency was felt – many were hopeful – anxious – curious – encouraged. The whispers about the Messiah were beginning to become more intense, louder, frequent. Could the Messiah come during my lifetime? The time was fast approaching and so a sense of expectancy existed among the people and then it happened!!

Connect with Every Living Thing
Imagine Mary’s shock to be asked by God to be the Bearer of Hope and Encouragement not only to her people but to the world! Imagine God coming to us. How can this be comprehended? The Incarnation – Emmanuel – God with us? The very idea is overwhelming – awesome – and can only be expressed with tears of Joy! How humbled Mary must have felt. What could she say to God, but YES. YES to hope and not despair. YES for the salvation of the world. YES to the deep love and encouragement that God so wanted for his people and the world. No, to the disorder, sin, and the evil surrounding her. And we have the same option. Ask yourself what part you play in bearing Jesus our hope and encouragement to our hurting world? How will you let your zeal, shine from within you and inspire you to great love, action and commitment to JESUS OUR HOPE TO EMMANUEL – GOD WITH US AND IN US?!!!

Sister Adrienne Baker

December 7, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This month we will focus our reflections on “HOPE.”

In this Advent time of waiting and anticipation, what do you say is the difference between the concept of “expectation” and that of “Hope”? At times, our expectations are disappointed. What we expected didn’t really match our anticipation. And then too, sometimes what we expected is exceeded or surpassed. The Dictionary definition of expectation talks about looking forward; the act of expecting or anticipating. Hope, the Dictionary says, is expectation and desire combined; promise.

Hope, in the Christian context has to do with God. It has to do with God’s expectations. Hope has to do with trusting that God will be true to the Promises that have been made; promises that concern the salvation of our world and everyone in it. Our challenge is to place our trust, our hope, our faith in God’s Promise. And as it happens, the PROMISE is God-become-a-human, Jesus Christ. Our hope is founded in, grounded in, the God of Jesus Christ, the God who looks upon the world and sees the affliction of the people, hears their cry, knows their sufferings and sends, out of utter love, Jesus to free them. God is always inviting us to Hope in God’s goodness, trustworthiness and the reality that God will always save us; is always sending Jesus to us and always loving us.

Sr. Barbara Beasley

November 28, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on reconciliation.

One important step towards reconciliation is to name and honor our feelings. If we fail to do so we will never be able to enter into the transformative and healing process and reality of reconciliation – integration and wholeness. “Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk, teaches that the body is the “warehouse” of our past emotions (as well as present emotions). Every emotion (feeling) that we have, if not fully experienced, tended to and resolved, affects the body which also affects our spirits, our well-being and our relationships.

When we ignore our feelings, which we store in our bodies, we neglect our spirituality.

When our mind becomes quieter, the body can begin to accomplish the healing that it needs. St. John of the Cross taught that the Spirit can heal our deepest wounds when we have interior silence.

What is your body telling you about your emotions and areas in your life that are in need of healing and reconciliation? Take some time today to be quiet. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you about your spiritual health. Begin the process of reconciliation.

Peace be to you!

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

“The Good Shepherd does not want even one of God’s children to be lost in the chaos of the times.”
“One person is of more value than a world.” St. Mary Euphrasia

November 21, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Although in the two quotes above by St. Mary Euphrasia the word, “reconciliation” is never mentioned, reconciliation is in fact what they are about. Reconciliation is what all Christian people are called to in relationship. Our Good Shepherd does not even one of us to be lost, separated, disconnected from God, ourselves or one another because of the chaos of the times, whether the chaos is caused by situations or the internal chaos of darkness, confusion, or a feeling of hopelessness. One person is of more value than a world. Each person is of more value. God desires our wholeness. God desires that we be reconciled to God, ourselves and one another.

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of Thanksgiving. It is a time when we consciously remember all for which we are grateful. Is there a situation or person in your life that is in need of reconciliation and forgiveness? Perhaps today is the day to begin to let go of past hurts and resentments – to free up your loving.

Let us invite our Good Shepherd into our hearts and pray for the grace to be reconciled. It is never too late. We may not be in a position to speak with the person directly. Perhaps the person has gone home to God or is not willing to forgive us. Although that is extremely painful – it need not get in the way of the gift of reconciliation within our own hearts. The question is, “Are we open?”

In the heart of our Shepherd, God

Sr. Debbie Drago srdebbie@optonline.net

November 8, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This month we will focus our reflections on “Reconciliation.”

St. Mary Euphrasia had an early experience of the reconciling aspect of her religious life and of her mission. She recounted this experience to her sisters in Angers, France many years later.

At her entrance ceremony, the celebrant developed the theme of reconciliation as a triple peace – peace with God, peace with inner self, and peace with others. He recalled that the religious order that Rose Virginie Pelletier (later known as St. Mary Euphrasia) was joining was called to fulfill this peace by a special vocation to help realize the gift of reconciliation in the hearts of others.

How might God be inviting you to experience reconciliation with God, within yourself, with others? Is there a situation in your own life that is in need of healing and reconciliation? Perhaps there is an aspect of yourself that is in need of forgiveness or acceptance. What first step might you take to facilitate this process?

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

November 2, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Blessing to each of you on this feast of all souls. Below is our final reflection on “Spirituality.”

Simply stated, “Spirituality is what we do with the spirit that is within us.” Ronald Rolheiser.

One way to nurture and begin to pay attention to the spirit that is within, is to listen carefully. Listening carefully helps us cultivate the kind of emotional, spiritual and moral intelligence we need to make life choices that are suited to who we are and who we are called to become. In an essay entitled, “Learning to Live,” Thomas Merton writes:

Life consists in learning to live on one’s own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one’s own – be familiar and at home with oneself. This means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid.

To learn about the spiritual – you must go out alone into the wild places.
(John A Sanford, Healing and Wholeness, © 1977, Paulist Press)

“Behold, a sacred voice is calling you: All over the sky a sacred voice is calling.”
(Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, © 1932, University of Nebraska Press)

A sacred voice is calling – listen, so that you may live.
(John Neafsey, A Sacred Voice is Calling, ©2006, Orbis Books - Maryknoll, NY) This is a great book.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago – srdebbie@optonline.net

October 26, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our reflection on Spirituality.

The following is an excerpt from “The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality” by Ronald Rolheiser.

“For many people the term spirituality conjures up images of something paranormal, mystical, churchy, holy, pious, and otherworldly. Rarely is spirituality understood as referring to something vital and nonnegotiable, lying at the heart of our lives that issues forth from the bread and butter of ordinary life.

This is a tragic misunderstanding. None of us has a choice. Everyone has to have a spirituality and everyone does have one, either a life-giving one or a destructive one. No one has the luxury of choosing here because all of us are precisely fired into life with a certain madness that comes from the gods and we have to do something with that. We do not wake up in this world calm and serene, having the luxury of choosing to act or not act. We wake up crying, on fire with desire, with madness. What we do with that madness is our spirituality.

Hence, spirituality is not about serenely picking or rationally choosing certain spiritual activities like going to church, praying or meditating, reading spiritual books, or setting off on some explicit spiritual quest. It is far more basic than that. Long before we do anything explicitly religious at all, we have to do something about the fire that burns within us. What we do with that fire, how we channel it, is our spirituality. Thus, we all have a spirituality whether we want one or not, whether we are religious or not. Spirituality is more about whether or not we can sleep at night than about whether or not we go to church. It is about being integrated or falling apart, about being within community or being lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or being alienated from her. Irrespective of whether or not we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any explicit religious idea, we act in ways that leave us either healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What shapes our actions is our spirituality.”

“We are spiritual beings on a human journey.” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

October 17, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

This month of October we will reflect on Spirituality.

Below are two wonderful insights and deep articulations and experiences of spirituality by Parker Palmer, the Quaker Educator and Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk.

“Authentic spirituality wants to open us to truth – whatever truth may be, wherever truth may take us. Such a spirituality does not dictate where we must go, but trusts that any path walked with integrity will take us to a place of deep knowing.” ~ Parker J. Palmer, To Know As We Are Known, 1983.

“Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in God’s creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth.

To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy; it seems, to please everyone. But in the long run the identity in God, which the Bible calls “working out our salvation,” is a labor that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as God reveals God’s self, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation.” ~ edited by Kathleen Deignan, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours, 2007.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

September 28, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our monthly reflection theme on “The Cross of Christ”.

The cross has many meanings. We all have varied and differing concepts of the Cross. When young, I thought only about the Cross as it pertained to something to be dreaded since at that time it called to mind the violent death of Christ. Often times it was difficult to look at the Cross knowing how much Jesus must have suffered. Although, I understood what happened more than two thousand years ago as a historical and religious event, I have always been somewhat dumbfounded by the Cross of Christ. I would say to God, “Why?” Yes, I knew and believed that Christ died for our sins, but couldn’t accept the circumstances under which he had to accomplish this deed.

Upon entering Good shepherd Sisters, I was made aware that St. Mary Euphrasia left to us her daughters the Cross as our legacy! At first I did not understand this gift – what was its meaning? I though what can one do with the Cross as a legacy? – Is she leaving us suffering and pain? How strange! Try as I might, I could not accept the Cross as a gift. Another experience that gave me cause to pause was when a friend was visiting me and I took her to the Cathedral in St. Paul, MN. I admired the Cross over the altar as an artistic creation and said to her, “Isn’t it beautiful?” She responded by saying, “Why do you Catholics make so much over the Cross? Why do you dwell upon pain and suffering and not the joy of Resurrection?"

At first I was hurt and a bit defensive. How I viewed the Cross was being called into question. But this got me to thinking about the Cross of Christ, as well as the meaning of the Cross in my life. For me the Cross has been an evolving concept that has progressed from Christ dying a violent death on the Cross (which he did), to Christ giving his life in love, and out of love to save me. It has grown to be a sign of his overwhelming need and wanting to forgive me and others; as well as becoming the means of reconciliation between humanity and God. As we live in the shadow of the Cross of Christ, often a sign of contradiction for many, I see the Cross above all as a sign of interrelatedness and connectedness, and no forgiveness. It is indeed a contradiction for our time. For who can be this unselfish? Only God.

I realize that to be able to embrace the Cross, I must understand that the Cross of Christ calls me to a total self giving. It is then that I realize that like Christ, my life is not and cannot be a place of case protected by the love of God, but a wilderness in which the Spirit leads me to follow Christ. Here Christ sweats blood in an agony beyond our comprehension as we continue to struggle to fulfill his call. Maybe this is why the cross is such a conundrum to so many of us. The Cross of Christ was Jesus’ total surrender to the Father, and I have come to believe that the Cross calls me also to surrender in love. For the Cross is about love, that is, God’s love and mercy for humanity. It is also about reconciliation at any cost between God and us. It is priceless. This is the gift that St. Mary Euphrasia bequeathed to us her daughters.

Not only is it a gift, but a privilege, because God continues to call and embrace us in His mission of reconciliation through the Cross of Christ. I cannot look at the cross anymore and just see suffering. I have learned that what is necessary for the eye to see is the gift of love – mercy – compassion and tenderness of a God who cares for each and every one of us. Mary Euphrasia’s precious gift is Jesus, the incarnation of the Divine Compassion, shown above all in his death and resurrection.

Sr. Adrienne Baker

September 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

St. Mary Euphrasia, Foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, is a woman who, even though she died over a century ago, is much beloved, spoken of, quoted and is a model for every aspect of the lives of her daughters.

She now has many sons as well, since so many of the Good Shepherd agencies are staffed and operated by “Good Shepherd people” who claim St. Mary Euphrasia as mother, guide and mentor. The point is that St. Mary Euphrasia had a good deal to say about the Cross. In her great love relationship with Jesus, she wanted to imitate the loving obedience of Jesus to His “Abba.” She desired to embrace difficulties and adversities as a sign of her love and willingness to be a loving disciple of Her Shepherd. Those of us, who know her life, are much aware of the tremendous difficulties St. Mary Euphrasia bore in the process of centralizing the government of the Congregation, thus leading to the establishment of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd as separate from her original Congregation, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge.

St. Mary Euphrasia suffered persecution and prejudice from one of the Bishops of Angers, which was a dagger in her heart because she held an exceptionally strong allegiance to the clergy and to the Church. How St. Mary Euphrasia endured these crosses was to pray for all concerned, herself as well; to seek reconciliation, to put her own ego aside and to offer all her powers in an attempt to restore the relationships that were damaged. She modeled an exceptional degree of trust in God, personal humility and tells us in her Conferences, of the tears she shed silently over these heart-breaking situations. When she died she told the Sisters that she bequeathed to them as her will and testament, love of the Cross and Zeal for the salvation of souls.

To love the cross for me, means to accept in peace and a spirit of love, the adversities, great or small that are part of my life experience. To pray for all concerned, to pray for the grace, the spirit of reconciliation which often means being very vulnerable to the other party involved. To not give up on attempting to reconcile in spite of the circumstances involving the other. In other words, to accept the cross, means looking at the attitude of Jesus to opposition, asking the grace to learn from what is happening and to see where the hidden gift in the situation may be.

St. Mary Euphrasia said to her listeners, “don’t imagine that crosses trouble our conscience or deprive us of peace. Oh no, far from it! Rather, when we offer them to God, we experience great interior peace, and they become lighter.” She also said, “let us accept the sufferings that come our way in a whole-hearted way, without questioning or complaining or yielding to discouragement.” She knew by experience what she was exhorting the young Sisters to learn. She gave us, who have come 150 years after her, an example of a woman strong in faith, who loved well, with great openness and who bore the consequences of her great and open heart.

Sr. Barbara Beasley

September 12, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

The Cross

In September, the Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Cross, remembering the price Jesus paid in love and obedience, for our salvation. We are exhorted to “take up our cross…”

The following reflections are personal ones, borne out of my own thinking, self-talk I have engaged in, and the prayerful attentiveness I have tried to give as I attempted to listen to God and to Jesus explaining the what’s and why’s of , not Jesus’ Cross, but the small crosses and trials I encounter on this life’s journey. I have tried to listen also, to the loving words of our Foundress, St. Mary Euphrasia, as she spoke in her Conferences about the value of the Cross. In fact, as she was dying, SME said to the Sisters who surrounded her bed, “I leave to you, as my last will and testament, love of the Cross and Zeal for the salvation of souls.” So, you see, it is important to understand what is meant by the Cross and what is the call to us who want to accept St. Mary Euphrasia’s legacy and to take the words of Jesus to heart.

I know in my own spirit that God does not call us to unhappiness. Unhappiness is not what embracing the Cross is about. Even though I might experience disease, difficulty in dealing with some situation or person that come in my path, I can find a spirit of peace deep inside. For me, the crosses I meet produce eventually, a learning, a deepened self awareness, an occasion for forgiveness or asking forgiveness – somehow a sense of “light”. I believe the cross is part of God’s plan for us; I do not believe that unhappiness or misery is “God’s will” for our lives.

In some mysterious way, at least it’s mysterious for me, I believe that somehow, God brought each of us into being, in an act of loving creation. We were with God, in God’s heart, from the beginning of our existence. At some point in time, we were each born of our parents. Our purpose in this life into which we were born, is to return to God, to get back to the heart of God from whence we came. In God’s loving plan for each of us, we were given the tools we need in order to do this. God wants us to return to God’s heart with the integrity and clear image which were our original birthright. We need to learn many things on our quest back to God; we need to mature and deepen and broaden to become who God created us to be. We need other people to help us, circumstances, particular situations to help us become more loving, more understanding, more oriented to love of our neighbor – in fact, we need to be continually converted to God, to Good. So how does this conversion come about? I think it’s by accepting the day to day rubs and ways that life has of smoothing our rough edges so that we can be more loving and more forgiving. So for me, accepting the Cross is trying to be open to what comes to me day by day that isn’t always comfortable or easy. So far, I haven’t encountered anything labeled in neon “the cross”, but it’s the ordinary disconcerting events that I can choose to deal with in a way that is somehow redemptive, non-violent and hopefully contributes to good in this world. It doesn’t mean that I am expected to take passively situations of sin, wrong, evil, but it does mean that I have a choice about how I will accept situations I can’t easily change. I can attempt to be peaceful, to learn from difficulties and to grow into a more compassionate person who has learned to recognize her own vulnerability through the many adversities of life and thereby can allow that same vulnerability in everyone else.

Sr. Barbara Beasley

July 13, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

For the month of July we will reflect on “vows.”

Sandra Shneiders, IHM, in her book, Selling All (2001 Paulist Press) writes, “The vocation to religious life is a total life-long commitment to Jesus Christ. It is about giving one’s whole life to God and the centrality of the love relationship with God. The primacy of our relationship with God is what informs and impacts every other relationship.”

Below are the vows of the Good Shepherd Sisters:

Poverty
Poverty in and of itself is not a value. As a matter of fact most religious are working diligently at trying to close the gap between the rich and the poor, and to create a more equitable and just world. The vow of poverty is living simply so that others may simply live. In professing a vow of poverty religious promise to hold all things in common. We do not keep our salary for ourselves but give it to the community for the sake of the community and the needs of our members. We also strive to share our resources generously with others. Part of living simply is making responsible choices regarding material things and our use of them. It means responsible stewardship not only of goods and resources held in common, but also our care for the earth and one another.

Poverty lived well leads to a heart full of gratitude for all of God’s gifts, the desire to generously and freely share our talents and resources with others, and an ardent concern for the welfare of God’s people.

Consecrated Chastity
Consecrated chastity for the sake of the kingdom is a gift of grace given by God. By it we give ourselves to Jesus with an undivided heart. Drawn to an ever-deepening union with Jesus we are called to be a sign of the covenant between Christ and his Church – the people of God.

Consecrated chastity is a response to a call, an invitation, heard deep within one’s heart to make God the center of one’s life. It is not something that is imposed on us. It is something that we freely choose, desire and respond to. We commit ourselves to the primacy of our relationship with God, which in turn directs all of our relationships with others.

Consecrated chastity lived well leads to inner freedom, joy and a generous and loving heart.

Obedience
The word obedience comes from the Latin words od-audire meaning “to listen carefully.” It is a choice for happiness. Obedience is a respectful listening for the purpose of discovering the will of God, who calls each of us to life, life to the full. It is not a dull or passive waiting for someone to tell you what to do. Rather, it is an active listening and searching, together with others, for what God is asking of me, or us, in a particular situation or circumstance and in response to the needs of God’s people.

Obedience is a vow of co-responsibility in fidelity to the gospel. It will likely at times involve sacrifice; and of doing things that we may not have ordinarily chosen to do, but it also always means fidelity to God who is the center of our life and our relationships.

Obedience lived well leads to integrity and peace, even in the face of difficulties and challenges.

Zeal
As Sisters of the Good Shepherd, we take a fourth vow of zeal. The vow of zeal gives a special dynamism to our life of consecration for mission. It unifies the contemplative and active dimensions of our life, giving a singleness of purpose to all that we are and all that we do. Our vow of zeal, which is at the heart of our vocation, leads us to search out the wounded, those left behind by the world.

On an individual level, zeal means never giving up on a person, it means unconditional love and acceptance, a commitment to leave no stone unturned to assist each person to come to her/his full potential, no matter what the cost to me. On an advocacy level, it means creatively and faithfully working to overturn the unjust systems which impact negatively on each person's dignity and humanity and innate right to live and work in freedom.

Zeal lived well leads to commitment to do all that is in one’s power and capacity to bring others to experience and know that they are children of God, made in God’s own image.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 29, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

In Doing the Truth in Love, Michael Himes suggests three key questions to consider in vocational discernment and decision-making. The questions center around joy, talent, and service. An authentic calling brings together three things: what we most enjoy doing, what we are good at, and what others most need from us.

From the book “A Sacred Voice is Calling” by John Neafsey

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 22, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

I totally missed last week’s reflection and so I’m making up for it this week.

Vocation ~ The Voice, A Calling. Here is a beautiful piece on the “inner voice” by Clare Blatchford. Clare is a very good friend of one of our teacher’s here at Collier in Wickatunk, NJ and we had the privilege of having Clare with us one evening to share her story and some of her writings. The following piece is from her book, Turning: Words Heard from Within, © 1994, Lindisfarne Books, p 43

The Inner Voice

The inner voice is buried deep within.
It speaks when you are entirely attentive to it.
Sometimes it speaks when you least expect it.
When the outer world presses in
And the mind is distracted by the many voices,
Then it is easy to doubt the inner voice.
Given the chance
To grow loud and clear,
It will guide you safely and surely,
It will tell of wonders and powers
Within.
Allow it to speak through more than a key hole –
Open the door to receive it.
Tend to it
Jealously, lovingly.
Watch your words, your actions, your thoughts,
That the door not be suddenly slammed shut.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 20, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our reflection on vocation.

“From a spiritual perspective, the Dream is not something we invent through our own creative or clever imaginings. Rather, it is a gift that is given to us by God…”
John Neafsey, A Sacred Voice Is Calling, ©2006, Orbis Books, p 99

“The Dream understood through the eyes of the great traditions of faith across time is more than imagining a job or career or profession narrowly understood. The Dream in its fuller and most spiritual sense is a sense of vocation. Vocation conveys “calling” and meaningful purpose. It is a relational sensibility in which I recognize that what I do with my time, talents, and treasure is most meaningfully conceived not as a matter of mere personal passion and preference but in relationship to the whole of life. Vocation arises from a deepening understanding of both self and world, which gives rise to moments of power when self and purpose become aligned with eternity.”

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 7, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

For the month of June we will reflect in “vocation.” What is vocation? What does it stand for? Does everyone have a vocation? How do you know what your particular vocation is?

Below are some wonderful thoughts on vocation discernment from John Neafsey’s book, A Sacred Voice is Calling. It’s a great book that I would highly recommend to anyone looking at the question of vocation seriously.

In vocational discernment, it is important to pay close attention to our feelings, because authentic callings always begin with a stirring of the heart. Someone or something moves or touches us in some way, and our heart responds with a feeling. We may not, at first, be able to articulate or make sense of our heart’s response; we know only that something significant has occurred on the affective level of our experience. “The heart has its reasons,” wrote Pascal, “that reason does not know.”

Rabbi Baer of Radoshitz once said to his teacher the “Seer” of Ludlin: “Show me one general way to the service of God.” The zaddik [a wise and holy person] replied: “It is impossible to tell people what way they should take. For one way to serve God is through learning, another through prayer, another through fasting, and still another through eating. Everyone should carefully observe what way their heart draws them to, and then choose this way with all their strength.”

The story is titled “The Particular Way.” Each of us must find our own particular way by carefully observing our feelings about the options before us. Where, or to what, or to whom, are we drawn?

An authentic calling should feel right.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

May 17, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

As we continue our reflections on Mary during this month of May I invite you to take a look at the Gospels because in the Sacred Scriptures we find a wide sketch of some relevant aspects of Mary’s personality. One of these aspects is her reflective attitude.

The participation of Mary in the mission that God had put in her hands and heart reflect a disposition to be docile to God’s will. At the same time Mary has a high grade reflective attitude. She doesn’t assume her own destiny unaware or lightly. She spends time in discernment according to the Holy Spirit, she asks herself, she doubts, thinks… Luke gives us signs of this awareness and deep reflective attitude:

"She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean…"(Lk. 1, 29)

"But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?"(Lk. 1, 34)

"As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart."(Lk. 2, 19)

"His mother stored up all these things in her heart.” (Lk. 2, 52)

This awareness reflects: preoccupation for the responsibility that her participation demands in God’s plan. Awareness of the mystery that develops in her presence and that is necessary is kept with care and support ~ Mystery in which Mary- as a woman- should serve as a cradle.

According to Luke Mary seeks the meeting of her history. She shows us a new way of discernment; a discernment that goes through the heart. When we encounter difficulties some times we don’t have to understand them but we can welcome them in our hearts.

You were the first to believe. You persevered in prayer with the disciples in the Upper Room. You were a unique witness to the mystery of Jesus. All generations have called you blessed. Now God's holy Church looks yet again to you for inspiration and help. ~ Pope John Paul II

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palacioc@comcast.net

May 11, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

May the Peace of Christ reign in your heart. This week I invite you to meditate on the humbleness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.

One of the least considerable Villages of Galilee was Nazareth. It was just under ninety miles from Jerusalem, roughly the distance of Philadelphia from New York. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was so inconsiderable that even little Cana, four miles away, could despise it. Here lived Mary, to whom God sent a message by the angel Gabriel.

An old tradition calls her parents Joachim and Anna. We knew only one thing about them with certainty, that they were the only father and mother in all the history of humankind who had a child conceived immaculate.

Mary lived an ordinary life like all the other Palestinian women. She was a wife and a mother. She would begin her morning’s work by grinding the wheat for the day’s eating in a hand-mill. She would knead the flour in the kneading-trough Joseph had made her. She would bake the bread of the Our Father. There would of course have been no such thing as running the water in the houses of the poor. There was one well for the whole village – it is still there and it would be Mary’s task to take her pitcher to the well and wait among the women gathered there for her turn to fill it. She would have made all the clothes for herself, Joseph and for Jesus. All that could be done in the home she did. And she never lost contact with God.

In St. Luke’s Gospel we’ll find the passage of the Annunciation. Mary was the chosen one from the Eternity to be the Mother of God. Jesus from the Cross said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” And to St. John, “Behold your Mother.” Mary was being given as Mother not only to John but to all the children of Eve. Mary is not only a mother to us, but also a friend and a companion. (Meditation is taken from the book: To know Christ Jesus by F.J. Sheed)

We pray with confidence to Mary Our Mother and our companion and ask her to intercede for us, and take us to her Son Jesus Christ.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sister Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

May 4, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Mary’s Petition

May the Peace of Christ reign in your heart. This week our meditation is on Mary the Mediator and is taken from the Gospel of John 2:1-12. “They have no wine.” This manner of addressing Jesus fully reveals Mary’s sense of delicacy. She noticed that the wine was going to fail; she visualizes the miserable end of the wedding feast and confusion of the married couple; she desires to remedy the situation at any cost and knows that her son has power to do so. Yet, in spite of her very lively desire, she merely makes note of the embarrassment and intimates rather than formulates her request. Mary desires Jesus to intervene. Her petition is a request for a miracle. Mary had no idea of the kind of miracle; she simply resigned herself to the miraculous power of Jesus. But, in fact, she did appeal to that miraculous power.

The fact that Mary had not yet witnessed any miracle does not in any way prove that she did not wish to ask for one because the essence of faith is not to see and yet to believe. Therein lies the wonderful strength of Mary’s faith: she asks for a miracle although Jesus has not yet performed any.

The story of the wedding feast at Cana first brings to light a close rapport between Mary and Christ. We might have thought that this relationship would be limited to the period of the hidden life at Nazareth and that Mary’s influence over her son would have practically ceased with the opening of the public life. (Meditation is taken from the book ‘Mary in the Gospel’ by Jean Galot, S.J.)

During this week I invite you to take some time to reflect and pray on this question:

Is your faith helping you to let go and trust in the Lord?

We pray to Mary Our Mother and our companion to walk with us our spiritual journey, and ask her to give us the grace for the openness and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

April 27, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

I want to invite you this week to prayer in gratitude. As we grow in our relationships with others and with the Other it is important to express our gratitude. We will see that something in us is changing, moving...

Here are some quotes that can enlighten and encourage us to be aware of all the things for which to be grateful:

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."
Cicero

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."
Johannes A. Gaertner

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”
St. Mary Euphrasia

And finally we have 3 steps to cultivate gratitude: First, think about 3 things that happened to you today for which you are grateful and list these. Then, think about what you brought to the situation: what was your individual contribution. Finally, is there anyone to whom you would like to express your gratitude and how would you like to do this, you could say a prayer, write someone a note or card, give them a flower or make an anonymous act of kindness.

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

April 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

As we reflect during this time of Ester about prayer I would like to share with you a paragraph from Henry J.M. Nouwen, from The Road to Daybreak:

“It was not a spectacular event forcing people to believe. Rather, it was an event for the friends of Jesus, for those who had known him, listened to him, and believed in him. It was a very intimate event: a word here, a gesture there, and a gradual awareness that something new was being born –small, hardly noticed, but with the potential to change the face of the earth. Mary of Magdalene heard her name. John and Peter saw the empty grave. Jesus’ friends felt their hearts burn in encounters that find expression in the remarkable words “He is risen”. All had remained the same, while all had changed.”

In the our quiet and solitary space we can have these kinds of small intimate encounters that enlighten our life, bring us awareness of new life and drive us to change the world.

Reflect for a moment on a time when you discovered the presence of the Risen Lord in your life through small gestures or words from others or in the silence of your heart. How has an experience of intimacy with the Lord changed your life?

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS

palaciocc@hotmail.com

April 4, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Ron Rolheiser, OMI in his booklet of reflections for Lent and Easter, “Daybreaks” has a page on the “Christ Who Knocks” I thought that this will be a good reflection for us as we prepare ourselves this Holy Week.

“What the cross of Christ reveals is that when we are so paralyzed by fear and overcome by darkness that we can no longer help ourselves, when we have reached the stage where we can no longer open the door to let light and life in, God can still come through our locked doors, stand inside our fear and paralysis, and breathe out peace.

The love that is revealed in Jesus’ suffering and death, a love that is so other-centered that it can fully forgive and embrace its executioners, can melt frozen hearts, penetrate the walls of fear, descend into our private hells and, there breathe out peace.

The cross of Christ does not stand helpless before a locked door”.

As we reflect on prayer during this month and live the Pascal mysteries of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, I invite you to be aware of the presence of God in all the moments of your life, the painful ones and the joyful ones. As we approach the celebration of Easter we can place ourselves in an attitude of beginning each day afresh and live beyond our fears, tiredness, etc., because the Resurrection assures us that God never gives up on us and teaches us how to live again, and again, and again!

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palacioc@comcast.net

March 28, 2006

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

St. Mary Euphrasia was a very wise woman who was especially adept at relating well to others. She was not naïve about the challenges and complexities of relationships. Yet to her, the motto “One person is of more value than a world” was her guiding light. The person takes precedence over all else.

This is what St. Mary Euphrasia has to say about community:

"Talk together joyfully, remembering the presence of God and aware that angels watch over you, and help in a special way those who contribute to the pleasure of others.” St. Mary Euphrasia ~ Conferences, p.211

“God is love. May the spirit of charity every reign in our Institute! Our Congregation is founded on charity, that beautiful virtue without which all the others have no luster; let us endeavor our utmost to perpetuate it among us. What is more lovely and even more desirable than this charity, this cordial love we have for one another! We should have but one heart among us. Just when one tries to pour grains through a very small funnel, they escape on all sides, in the same way, if we are not united among ourselves, we shall not be so with God and we shall never do any good. Charity and zeal should be universal, that is to say, they should extend to all and everything, and al long as this universal charity does not exist among us we are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. My dear sisters, have great respect for one another.” St. Mary Euphrasia Conferences ~ p263

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend
aureenb@aol.com What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

Sr. Debbie Drago
Vocation Minister
Good Shepherd Sisters
(732) 946-0515
www.goodshepherdsisters.org

March 23, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

"Do you know what draws down God's special protection, which upholds our Institute and gives it such strength? It is the union between us, the spirit of unity." ~ St. Mary Euphrasia Conferences, p.500

Some important skills for living community well are:

Skills for other-centeredness
It is no small challenge to be able to enter into the reality of another, to be generous, to listen. It means taking time for others and for situations that may not always be your first choice. It is about how you use your time and energy.

How do you balance self-maintenance and care with generous presence and service?
What enables you to enter into the reality of another? What might prevent you from entering into the reality of another?

Skills for sharing life, time and space with others

This requires the ability to negotiate and compromise.

It requires the ability to let go of your own ideas and ways at times.
It means being open to living with a variety a people from a variety of family, ethnic, racial and political backgrounds – which can be very challenging.

Friendship in Community
Taking responsibility for the life of the community – to help make it a place that people want to come home to. It means being able to celebrate people and events, and being willing to share that spirit and those experiences with others.

One does not come to community to make friends – if one does not already have them. But in community we work at being a community of equals, a learning community, sister to one another.

God of compassion, may every beat of my heart
Be a prayer to obtain your grace and care for
Those most lost in our world.

May every breath I take be a prayer for your
Mercy for those who are most in need.

May all those with whom I make eye contact
See themselves as you see them.

May all those I touch experience themselves as
Valuable because of your tender and forgiving presence.

And may I always be open to receiving your love,
And being an instrument of your love in the world.

Amen.

St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Aureen Rose aureenb@aol.com

Sr. Debbie Drago
Vocation Minister
Good Shepherd Sisters
(732) 946-0515
www.goodshepherdsisters.org

March 14 , 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

The spirit of Jesus creates the union that exists among us. The gospel, then, is the guide in our relationships and the Eucharist is at the heart of our community life. As the sacrament of love, The Eucharist realizes and deepens our communion with Jesus and through him with others. ~ Good Shepherd Constitutions, Article 32

I invite you to take some time this week to reflect on the Parable of the Prodigal Son/Daughter in Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. What does this have to say to you about the Reign of God and the call to live Christian community? With whom do you identify in this story? What do we have to learn from this parable about love, forgiveness, reconciliation, conversion of heart, community?

Let us pray with St. John Eudes:

To have no eyes to see the faults of others,
nor ears to hear them spoken ill of,
nor mouth to accuse,
nor will to judge and condemn,
nor memory to remember
anything against them,
but a merciful heart to have compassion,
a patient spirit to bear with them,
a charitable tongue to excuse:
such are the effect of the true charity
which the daughters of Our Lady of Charity
ought carefully to practice.” ~ Constitutions, 1666

St. John Eudes founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, which St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd) entered in 1814.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend
aureenb@aol.com

March 9 , 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on community.

Our Life in Community

Community life is the expression of the mutual love, which unites us as Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Gathered in Christ’s name we are a community established in hope and striving for perfect charity. Our life together, whether apostolic or contemplative, is challenged and directed by a sense of mission.

Good Shepherd Constitutions Art 31

Virtues for living community life

Charity
Compassion
Gentleness – meekness of heart
Lightness –(ability to take oneself and others lightly)
Sense of humor
Healthy ego
Good boundaries
Generosity
Empathy
Ability to forgive and seek forgiveness
Ability to compromise – to give and take
Ability to let go

St. Mary Euphrasia tells us: “If you always love one another, if you always uphold one another, you will be capable of working wonders.” Conference 68

This really is true.

Email me your thoughts. aureenb@aol.com

Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend

February 28, 2007

What do the words: “dependent, independent, and interdependent really mean? What is the relationship between them?

According to the dictionary, dependent means: “one who relies on another for support.” Independent means: “secure by oneself, standing alone, free to do as one pleases.” And interdependent means: “mutually depending on one another.”

Being dependent and relying on another for support is at times what we all need. In our lives we have many experiences that can become very heavy to carry. This is when we need to rely on another for support. Somehow we can go through the day knowing we have a God and a friend that loves us and wants to support us. This helps us in our daily lives.

When we become independent, for the most part, we are secure from with in; we can stand-alone because we know we have the support we need to live out our lives day by day. Independent does not mean we do not need any one. It means we have the maturity to accept the support that God sends to us.

Interdependence is perhaps the most valuable concept in my life. God, my world, and out side of my world can exist together in harmony because God is my center, and the center of the universe. Interdependence is what makes co-existence between all of God’s creation flow together in life.

It is not wrong to depend on another for support. As long, as we do not depend totally on another, and strive to grow to another stage in our life. It is not wrong to seek to be independent. As long as we are open to listening to others who care about our growth. But it is best to strive for interdependency, as this will be a sustaining force for each of us. This mutual friendship and caring for one another will be a spiritual and enriching experience. God will be part of every step of our life.

Next time we meet I would like to continue to speak about, interdependency and community.

God Bless You.

Sister Aureen Rose Behrend
If you have any questions or comments please email me at: aureenb@aol.com

February 15, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

As we continue our reflection on Justice we realize that in our journey through life we encounter people that bring light to our path and that confirm us in our faith. I want to share with you excerpts of some of these people who lived a life of justice and peace even at the expense of their own lives:

Dom Helder Camara 1909 -1999 Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil
Personal persecution and calumnies did not discourage him. But a more painful fate fell on him as he was to see friends and colleagues – priests, catechists, and lay people – repeatedly imprisoned, tortured, or killed because of their association with him. Many a tear he shed for them.

One night a frightened family sought Dom Helder. One of theirs had been arrested and was being tortured in the police barracks. The bishop immediately telephoned the chief of police: “This is Dom Helder. You are holding my brother.” The policeman, surprised, stutters: “Your brother, Eminence?” “Yes, despite our different names, we are sons of the same Father.” The chief made all sorts of excuses and ordered the release of the man, brother of the archbishop, sons of the same Father. That’s how Dom Helder was, a Gospel man, simple.

Oscar Romero 1919-1980 Archbishop of San Salvador
In the sermon just minutes before his death, Archbishop Romero reminded his congregation of the parable of the wheat. "Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ will live like the grain of wheat that dies. It only apparently dies. If it were not to die, it would remain a solitary grain. The harvest comes because of the grain that dies We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us". "I am bound, as a pastor, by divine command to give my life for those whom I love, and that is all Salvadorans, even those who are going to kill me."

Statement by Dorothy Day 1897-1980 Founder of the Catholic Worker
We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and dear God - please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend.

The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him. It is the only way we have of knowing and believing in our love. They mystery of poverty is that by sharing in it, making ourselves poor in giving to others, we increase our knowledge of and belief in love.

Obtain for us, O Mother Mary, that the truth of this affirmation - No Peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness - be engraved on every heart. Thus the human family will be able to find the true peace that flows from the union of justice and mercy. ~ Pope John Paul II, Jan. 1, 2002

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

February 9, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This week I invite you to reflect on our Tradition. From the early beginning of the Christian community we have made an effort to build a society that relates to the principals of justice and peace.

We find in the Acts of the Apostles a sketch of the lives of the early Christians:

“The faithful all lived together and owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and shared out their proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed.” ~ Acts 2:44

Through the years the religious communities have been an answer to historical needs in our world. Today as we continue the struggle to build a just society, in a world that is wounded by sin and its consequences, we find signs of hope in people that take collective and concrete steps toward environmental issues, fair trade, human trafficking, pro-life advocates, etc. We find communities that live on the basis of these principals of justice and peace.

This call is for every one of us, each one can contribute to build the kingdom of God from the smallest action, as recycling, buying our products in a fair market, to an active participation in organizations that advocate for justice.

Things to consider:

Do I keep informed about the global issues?

How do my actions have an impact on my surroundings?

What else can I do to build a just society?

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

February 1, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

In the core of our Christian faith Peace and Justice are essential elements. We find a trace of these values in the Word of God, our Tradition and the lives of many Christians who witness with their lives the first commandment of loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.

As we finished the month of January celebrating a day of non-violence on the 30th and we start this month of February focusing our reflection on Justice, it is important to acknowledge the strong and unbreakable connection between Peace and Justice.

I invite you to listen with your heart to the Word of God:

“Integrity will bring peace, justice gives lasting security” Is 32:17

“If you do amend your behavior and your actions, if you treat each other fairly, if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan, the widow… then here in this place I will stay with you…” Jeremiah 7:5

“So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12

“Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back” Luke 6:38

“Happy are those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:10

How does the Word of God enlighten my reality?

Is justice reflected in my acts?

Do my actions bring peace to me and my neighbors?

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

January 26, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

I had the wonderful opportunity to take some retreat time up in Cape Cod, MA a couple of weeks ago. I happened to come across a book that has been a total gift and inspiration to me. It is entitled, “Just Peace, “ and is written by a remarkable young man, Mattie J. T. Stepanek. Mattie was living with a rare neuromuscular disease called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy.

Since Mattie was a very young child he had the desire to be a peacemaker and to serve as an ambassador for humanity through his thoughts, words and actions. I wish I had had the privilege of meeting this wise young man. I am going to quote below some of Mattie’s thoughts about Heartsongs. They are profound. They are what vocation is all about. What is God calling you to do with your life, your passion, your energy, your creativity? I’m not sure how old Mattie was when he wrote this but I know it was before the age of fourteen, as he died only a month short of his fourteenth birthday.

“I have been calling my poetry collections ‘Heartsongs’ since I was five years old. A Heartsong is an inner message. It is a person’s inner beauty and reason for being. A Heartsong tells you what you are meant to do, or be, in life. Whatever it is that we feel we need and want the most in life, well, that is what we are called to offer others. That is our Heartsong. I seek hope and peace. I seek happiness. I seek love around the world. So most of the time, my Heartsong sings, ‘I love you!’ How happy you can be! How happy you can make this whole world be!’

I believe that everybody in the world has their own special Heartsong. No two Heartsongs are exactly alike, because they represent our spirit, our essence. That’s good, though, because I believe that all of humanity is a mosaic of gifts. We each bring something unique and essential to the fabric of life. No single Heartsong is better, or more important, or more worthy, than any other Heartsong. And the beauty of Heartsongs is when they are realized, and shared with others. Like a worldwide chorus or symphony, we can each share our Heartsong in harmony with the Heartsongs of others. To do this, we must truly listen to our special song…”

To make a good and valid discernment, one must listen deeply to the desires, hopes and dreams of one’s own heart. What is God saying to you? How do you know it is from God? Is there a deep peace? Energy? Passion? What is your Heartsong saying to you? Listen! Truly listen! Invite God into your listening and see where it leads.

What are your thoughts? Jot me an email at srdebbie@optonline.net.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie

January 18, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

“Every time that you go to prayer you should think that Our Lord Himself invites you and that God is ready to give you the light and grace necessary…” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

Discernment ~ "Our decisions and our search for guidance take place in the active presence of a God who intimately cares about our life situations and who invites us to participate in the divine activities of healing and transformation." — Frank Rogers, Jr.

“Who will live your life? This is what the great choice comes down to: the great conflict between firsthand experience and tradition, between spontaneity and decorum, between compassion and obligation. Other life forms have no part in this. It is strictly a human affair. The sapling does not look to its elders for approval. It just grows toward the light. The bee feels its hunger and finds its honey and does not embark out of any sense of duty.

“When I speak of these things, distrustful minds, against all intention of getting involved, blurt out, ‘but we have to live in the real world!’

“And so it begins, continues, ensues. Their eyes grow gravely tense. Who will live your life? The answer is obvious. Yet the difficulty is not in knowing the course, but in accepting the many ways we give our life away, accepting the many ways we abdicate the one outright gift we have.

“Too often, to live in the real world seems to require giving up all aspects of dream in the service of a survival that always looms as pragmatic. In truth, it is the opposite. Living in the world in a real way requires the evolution of an interior life, and much of our health depends on how we, at our pourous best, negotiate the infiltration of the outer and the release of the inner.”

Essay Entitled, Because of my Not Knowing by Mark Nepo, poet and program officer for the Fetzer Institute in the book Living the Questions: Essays Inspired By the work and Life of Parker J. Palmer by Sam M Intrator, pp 76-77, © 2005.

Who’s life are you living? Is it the life you want to live? Is its source from the dream of God that desires to live in you?

What are you thoughts? Please feel free to email me at srdebbie@optonline.net

In the Heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

January 10, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

“Every good impulse, every holy desire which we feel in our souls, are so many effects of God’s divine light. Happy they who know how to profit by them.” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

We continue our discussion on Discernment.

Discernment is “the art of making creative life giving choices.” It is a process that flows directly out of one’s unique relationship with God. It is a process in prayer by which one seeks seriously to know and follow God’s will. It is a process of hearing God’s call, and faithfully and generously responding to it. It must be situated in the context of prayer and reality. The person discerning must possess a spirit of openness and a willingness to expend time and energy in listening to the voice of God within one’s own heart, as well as within the context of one’s life situation, relationships, one’s gifts and skills, and the needs of our world.

“What kind of attention and time do you give to pondering, discussion, wondering, contemplating, musing, reflecting? This is what makes it possible to notice patterns, stories, relationships, and interactions. This is the mode of attention that can lead us from machine-crafting objects to “mindcrafting” wisdom. ‘In an open field, we open up too; ideas and feelings arise within us; our knowledge comes out of hiding.’ (Palmer, P.J. To Know as We Are Known: A Spirituality of Education. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1983, p. 70.)

“Here are some questions – beautiful questions and dangerous questions that will perhaps take you places you have not yet explored.

Am I making choices that are life-diminishing, or life-enhancing?
What’s unfinished for me to give, for me to experience, for me to learn?
How, in all the frenzy of a chaotic life, do I create the conditions so that the pain in me and the love in me can find each other?

“This wide and wondering way of thinking is how we cultivate wisdom. This is the place where our autobiographies write themselves. It is where the bits and pieces of our experience are tumbled in the kaleidoscope of our values, until they form patterns of meaning. It is where suffering can be transformed into the hard, free joy of jazz, dance, poetry, story. It is where souls reach for each other in an arch of mutual understanding. It is the rest in the place where wholeness is born.” (Essay by Dawna Markova – p. 69, Living the Questions ~ Essays inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer by: Sam M Intrator, © 2005, Publisher - Jossey-Bass)

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. srdebbie@optonline.net

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

January 5, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that we have begun another New Year – 2007. I pray that this year will be one of life, blessing, joy, peace and hope for you. And that when challenges and darkness appear that you will have the wisdom, strength and faith needed to abide and to learn and to move into the light of Christ that is always with us.

This month of January we will be reflecting on Discernment – the art of listening to your deepest longing, God’s invitation to life in abundance. Below is a poem and reflection by Dawna Markova. I think she captures profoundly the questions and the heart of striving to live an “undivided life” in wholeness and hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thinking Ourselves Home ~ The Cultivation of Wisdom by Dawna Markova.

I write to fuse inside with out,
To salve wounds and broken dreams.
I write to understand the many things
No one has told me,
To stroke my moments clean,
To squeeze them into tiny mirrored fragments
Shining with mindlight.
I write to turn my blood to ink,
To fertilizer, to sap.
I write so that my eyes can feel,
So that my heart can lick,
So that my soul can crawl from its hiding place
And gaze upon mystery
Which can be neither solved nor explained.
I write
To breathe my spirit live.

I think to really make this a poem about discernment I would substitute the word “write” with “pray”, although writing/journaling is certainly a way of praying.Some questions that Dawna asks which I think are good questions for us – in terms of listening to our own hearts and getting in touch with the deepest desires and longings of our souls are:

Am I doing more and it is meaning less?
Do I feel helpless against my own chaos?
Am I making all this noise so I don’t have to hear something deeper?
Where is my longing to belong to both the world and myself leading me?
How do I find my way home when I am lost?
What is my poverty now, what is my real wealth?
How do I create meaning from the events that happen to me?
How do I create coherence in a chaotic life?

The inner world is a resonating chamber for our deepest longing, our search for wholeness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is your inner world saying to you? Do you take the time to listen? Take some time to identify for yourself your hopes and expectations, fears and anxieties, desires and longings. Invite God into those places of light and darkness in your heart. Know that you are precious in God’s eyes. God calls you by name and God is with you!

What are your thoughts about discernment? Send me an email – srdebbie@optonline.net.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

December 13, 2006

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

You are called to be a Peace Bearer! What an awesome invitation!

We use the word ‘Peace’ in a special manner during this time of the year when we pray, when we wish each other and when we write well wishes to our friends and families.

“For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests.They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever Peaceful.” Is 9: 5-6

Everywhere, all people of the world are longing for peace. Advent invites all Christians and all people of goodwill to promote Gods reign of peace in our world, in a world that is being destroyed by violence, hostility, war and natural disasters.

Advent invites us to bring peace to human hearts that suffer for whatever reasons, also advent invites us to bring peace to the hearts that are torn by conflicts and wounded by hatred. This grace-filled season of Advent as St Paul says in the letter to the Philippians chapter four ‘Peace that surpasses all human understanding,’ may we open our hearts to accept one another with that peace par beyond human understanding.

How can I be a peace bearer? Peace has to begin first in our own hearts and in our own homes. Let us be peace bearers of our society today by being a peaceful presence wherever we are and in whatever we do.

I invite your comments.

Wish you a Peaceful Advent!

Sister Gilda Fernando, Canada
gildafernando@hotmail.com

January 2, 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We wish each of you a very Happy, Healthy and Holy New Year! This month’s reflections will be on the topic of “spiritual direction.”

What is spiritual direction?

“Spiritual direction is concerned with helping a person directly with her relationship with God, to explore the questions, ‘Who is God for me, and who am I for God?’”

Excerpts taken from ~ The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A Barry & William J Connolly, Harper Collins Publishers.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

December 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

May the Peace of the Infant Jesus reign in your hearts.

In the fullness of this virtue the soul, finding the yoke of the Lord sweet and His burned light, overcomes obstacles which those without hope do not even try to surmount.

Sister Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

December 12, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

We continue our reflection on hope.

IMAGINE SOMETHING WONDERFUL…
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE…
CONNECT WITH EVERY LIVING THING…

Sister Adrienne Baker

December 7, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This month we will focus our reflections on “HOPE.”

Sr. Barbara Beasley

November 28, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on reconciliation.

When we ignore our feelings, which we store in our bodies, we neglect our spirituality.

When our mind becomes quieter, the body can begin to accomplish the healing that it needs. St. John of the Cross taught that the Spirit can heal our deepest wounds when we have interior silence.

Peace be to you!

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

“The Good Shepherd does not want even one of God’s children to be lost in the chaos of the times.”
“One person is of more value than a world.” St. Mary Euphrasia

November 21, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

In the heart of our Shepherd, God

Sr. Debbie Drago srdebbie@optonline.net

November 8, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This month we will focus our reflections on “Reconciliation.”

St. Mary Euphrasia had an early experience of the reconciling aspect of her religious life and of her mission. She recounted this experience to her sisters in Angers, France many years later.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

November 2, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Blessing to each of you on this feast of all souls. Below is our final reflection on “Spirituality.”

Simply stated, “Spirituality is what we do with the spirit that is within us.” Ronald Rolheiser.

To learn about the spiritual – you must go out alone into the wild places.
(John A Sanford, Healing and Wholeness, © 1977, Paulist Press)

A sacred voice is calling – listen, so that you may live.
(John Neafsey, A Sacred Voice is Calling, ©2006, Orbis Books - Maryknoll, NY) This is a great book.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago – srdebbie@optonline.net

October 26, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our reflection on Spirituality.

The following is an excerpt from “The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality” by Ronald Rolheiser.

“We are spiritual beings on a human journey.” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

October 17, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

This month of October we will reflect on Spirituality.

Below are two wonderful insights and deep articulations and experiences of spirituality by Parker Palmer, the Quaker Educator and Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

September 28, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our monthly reflection theme on “The Cross of Christ”.

Sr. Adrienne Baker

September 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

Sr. Barbara Beasley

September 12, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

The Cross

In September, the Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Cross, remembering the price Jesus paid in love and obedience, for our salvation. We are exhorted to “take up our cross…”

Sr. Barbara Beasley

July 13, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

For the month of July we will reflect on “vows.”

Below are the vows of the Good Shepherd Sisters:

Consecrated chastity lived well leads to inner freedom, joy and a generous and loving heart.

Obedience lived well leads to integrity and peace, even in the face of difficulties and challenges.

Zeal lived well leads to commitment to do all that is in one’s power and capacity to bring others to experience and know that they are children of God, made in God’s own image.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 29, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

From the book “A Sacred Voice is Calling” by John Neafsey

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 22, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

I totally missed last week’s reflection and so I’m making up for it this week.

The Inner Voice

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 20, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

We continue our reflection on vocation.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,

Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

June 7, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friend,

For the month of June we will reflect in “vocation.” What is vocation? What does it stand for? Does everyone have a vocation? How do you know what your particular vocation is?

The story is titled “The Particular Way.” Each of us must find our own particular way by carefully observing our feelings about the options before us. Where, or to what, or to whom, are we drawn?

An authentic calling should feel right.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

May 17, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

"She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean…"(Lk. 1, 29)

"But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?"(Lk. 1, 34)

"As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart."(Lk. 2, 19)

"His mother stored up all these things in her heart.” (Lk. 2, 52)

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palacioc@comcast.net

May 11, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

May the Peace of Christ reign in your heart. This week I invite you to meditate on the humbleness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.

We pray with confidence to Mary Our Mother and our companion and ask her to intercede for us, and take us to her Son Jesus Christ.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sister Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

May 4, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Mary’s Petition

During this week I invite you to take some time to reflect and pray on this question:

Is your faith helping you to let go and trust in the Lord?

We pray to Mary Our Mother and our companion to walk with us our spiritual journey, and ask her to give us the grace for the openness and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

April 27, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Here are some quotes that can enlighten and encourage us to be aware of all the things for which to be grateful:

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."
Cicero

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."
Johannes A. Gaertner

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”
St. Mary Euphrasia

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

April 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

As we reflect during this time of Ester about prayer I would like to share with you a paragraph from Henry J.M. Nouwen, from The Road to Daybreak:

In the our quiet and solitary space we can have these kinds of small intimate encounters that enlighten our life, bring us awareness of new life and drive us to change the world.

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS

palaciocc@hotmail.com

April 4, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

The cross of Christ does not stand helpless before a locked door”.

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palacioc@comcast.net

March 28, 2006

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This is what St. Mary Euphrasia has to say about community:

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend
aureenb@aol.com What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

Sr. Debbie Drago
Vocation Minister
Good Shepherd Sisters
(732) 946-0515
www.goodshepherdsisters.org

March 23, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Some important skills for living community well are:

How do you balance self-maintenance and care with generous presence and service?
What enables you to enter into the reality of another? What might prevent you from entering into the reality of another?

Skills for sharing life, time and space with others

This requires the ability to negotiate and compromise.

One does not come to community to make friends – if one does not already have them. But in community we work at being a community of equals, a learning community, sister to one another.

God of compassion, may every beat of my heart
Be a prayer to obtain your grace and care for
Those most lost in our world.

May every breath I take be a prayer for your
Mercy for those who are most in need.

May all those with whom I make eye contact
See themselves as you see them.

May all those I touch experience themselves as
Valuable because of your tender and forgiving presence.

And may I always be open to receiving your love,
And being an instrument of your love in the world.

Amen.

St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Aureen Rose aureenb@aol.com

Sr. Debbie Drago
Vocation Minister
Good Shepherd Sisters
(732) 946-0515
www.goodshepherdsisters.org

March 14 , 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

St. John Eudes founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, which St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd) entered in 1814.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend
aureenb@aol.com

March 9 , 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We continue our reflection on community.

Our Life in Community

Good Shepherd Constitutions Art 31

Virtues for living community life

Charity
Compassion
Gentleness – meekness of heart
Lightness –(ability to take oneself and others lightly)
Sense of humor
Healthy ego
Good boundaries
Generosity
Empathy
Ability to forgive and seek forgiveness
Ability to compromise – to give and take
Ability to let go

St. Mary Euphrasia tells us: “If you always love one another, if you always uphold one another, you will be capable of working wonders.” Conference 68

This really is true.

Email me your thoughts. aureenb@aol.com

Sr. Aureen Rose Behrend

February 28, 2007

What do the words: “dependent, independent, and interdependent really mean? What is the relationship between them?

Next time we meet I would like to continue to speak about, interdependency and community.

God Bless You.

Sister Aureen Rose Behrend
If you have any questions or comments please email me at: aureenb@aol.com

February 15, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

February 9, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

This week I invite you to reflect on our Tradition. From the early beginning of the Christian community we have made an effort to build a society that relates to the principals of justice and peace.

We find in the Acts of the Apostles a sketch of the lives of the early Christians:

Things to consider:

Do I keep informed about the global issues?

How do my actions have an impact on my surroundings?

What else can I do to build a just society?

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

February 1, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

I invite you to listen with your heart to the Word of God:

“Integrity will bring peace, justice gives lasting security” Is 32:17

“So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12

“Happy are those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:10

How does the Word of God enlighten my reality?

Is justice reflected in my acts?

Do my actions bring peace to me and my neighbors?

Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS
palaciocc@hotmail.com

January 26, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

What are your thoughts? Jot me an email at srdebbie@optonline.net.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie

January 18, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

“Every time that you go to prayer you should think that Our Lord Himself invites you and that God is ready to give you the light and grace necessary…” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

“When I speak of these things, distrustful minds, against all intention of getting involved, blurt out, ‘but we have to live in the real world!’

Who’s life are you living? Is it the life you want to live? Is its source from the dream of God that desires to live in you?

What are you thoughts? Please feel free to email me at srdebbie@optonline.net

In the Heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

January 10, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

“Every good impulse, every holy desire which we feel in our souls, are so many effects of God’s divine light. Happy they who know how to profit by them.” ~ St. Mary Euphrasia

We continue our discussion on Discernment.

“Here are some questions – beautiful questions and dangerous questions that will perhaps take you places you have not yet explored.

Am I making choices that are life-diminishing, or life-enhancing?
What’s unfinished for me to give, for me to experience, for me to learn?
How, in all the frenzy of a chaotic life, do I create the conditions so that the pain in me and the love in me can find each other?

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. srdebbie@optonline.net

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

January 5, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thinking Ourselves Home ~ The Cultivation of Wisdom by Dawna Markova.

Am I doing more and it is meaning less?
Do I feel helpless against my own chaos?
Am I making all this noise so I don’t have to hear something deeper?
Where is my longing to belong to both the world and myself leading me?
How do I find my way home when I am lost?
What is my poverty now, what is my real wealth?
How do I create meaning from the events that happen to me?
How do I create coherence in a chaotic life?

The inner world is a resonating chamber for our deepest longing, our search for wholeness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What are your thoughts about discernment? Send me an email – srdebbie@optonline.net.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God,
Sr. Debbie Drago

December 13, 2006

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

You are called to be a Peace Bearer! What an awesome invitation!

We use the word ‘Peace’ in a special manner during this time of the year when we pray, when we wish each other and when we write well wishes to our friends and families.

I invite your comments.

Wish you a Peaceful Advent!

Sister Gilda Fernando, Canada
gildafernando@hotmail.com

January 2, 2008

Dear Good Shepherd Friends,

We wish each of you a very Happy, Healthy and Holy New Year! This month’s reflections will be on the topic of “spiritual direction.”

What is spiritual direction?

“Spiritual direction is concerned with helping a person directly with her relationship with God, to explore the questions, ‘Who is God for me, and who am I for God?’”

Excerpts taken from ~ The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A Barry & William J Connolly, Harper Collins Publishers.

In the heart of our Shepherd, God
Sr. Debbie Drago
srdebbie@optonline.net

December 19, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

May the Peace of the Infant Jesus reign in your hearts.

In the fullness of this virtue the soul, finding the yoke of the Lord sweet and His burned light, overcomes obstacles which those without hope do not even try to surmount.

Sister Frances Marie Ellul, CGS
Ell4franc@aol.com

December 12, 2007

Dear Good Shepherd Friends:

We continue our reflection on hope.

IMAGINE SOMETHING WONDERFUL…
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE…
CONNECT WITH EVERY LIVING THING…