Today, there are many religious institutions that are involved in ministries similar to the SCJs. Yet each is unique. Just as the many-faceted gem reflects and magnifies light from a 100 different angles, so too does each religious family in the church reflect another aspect of Christ among us in our world. Each has its own, unique spirituality. In the time of Leo Dehon's early formation, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was percieved already as a religious attitude that tried to compensate for the suffering and rejection that sin caused Jesus to undergo. The devotion was often understood as having its source, or at least its greatest impetus, in the revelations of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century. To many Catholics, such historical particularisms are too limited for today's spirituality. What occured in apparitions to Margaret Mary in the 1600's and even what Jesus may felt in some mysterious ways as he endured His passion, does not support a whole way of life. Today, emphasis is on the scriptural basis for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the revelation of God's love for people in the loving person of Jesus Christ. We understand this to mean the hopeful response of the individual and the Church, in union with Jesus, to God's love revealed in a world that is in the process of redemption. Sin is seen as reality, but people are invited by God through Jesus to be reunited to the Father. The process of this is the building of the kingdom of justice and love and peace. Because of sin, all God's love for us is a redemptive love and all of our love of God is reparative. We are a people returning to the Father and in Jesus, it is accomplished. What has always been understood in this devotion, whether expressed in the symbols Fr. Dehon used, or in concepts of a broader, more current theology, is that God is love. It is in the contemplation of God's love that Fr. Dehon found the inspiration for his life's work. For generations, a short phrase has been passed down which typifies the spirit and legacy that Fr. Dehon left to those who shared in his vision: "Love and immolation in the spirit of reparation." This was to be the response of those whom Jesus invites to share in His Spirit. Struck by God'a love for people in creating and revealing Himself to us, the only proper response is one of love in return. The love is a total love, holding nothing back - immolation, a complete availability to respond in whatever way the spirit prompts. It means a readiness for anything and a willingness to hear in all the events of life, the happy ones and the sad ones, the message of God's love. It means being open to God's gift of life in such a way that every event becomes a prayer of faith, an act of worship, accomplished in the presence of God, whose compassionate love for us never leaves alone. All of this "in the Spirit of Reparation" means that the response of love and immolation is one that is conscious of the reality of sin in the world and in our lives. The response is one of letting ourselves be reborn in Christ as well as actively committing ourselves to bring about a better world in which more people can share the vision of Christ walking among us and doing good. A particular charism of Fr. Dehon seemed to lie in his ability to combine a deeply religious consciousness and an active involvement with many people. His religious awareness was the costant vision of Jesus living, loving and dying in our world in order that people might come alive to God's loving presence. Those who joined Fr. Dehon have carried on this spirit in many forms of ministry worldwide. They share his commitment and they express it in religious community living. Our shared way of life is characterized by and perhaps most visibly identified by the commitment of religious celibacy. It's a way of life that asks as many questions as it answers. The biggest question of all is: Why would anyone make the sacrifice to live as celibate? Why indeed! The life of celibacy is meant to evoke this very question in the minds of all who see men and women living that way. It is one of the basic questions of life. Is there a reality, a power, a love that lies deeper than sexual expression of man and woman? Without necessarily saying a word about it, active religious communities, by their celibate lifestyle, challenge themselves and others to search out, to ask for, to share in, the reality and power of such a divine love. We believe the power of God's love is a fundamental condition for life and we testify to that belief by our effort to build up His Kingdom. In God's love still present to us in our day? We attempt by our lives and work to answer with an unqualified YES! We who share Fr. Dehon's charism for being alive to God, while working with many problems, are conscious that is not as individuals that we speak of our vision. It is a common vision that we consciously share in prayer and in work. We, as the Priests of the Sacred Heart, are a community of believers. We are visibly present and attempt to challenge others not only by our celibate life, but also by the sharing of our possessions and the willingness to work together to accomplish what none of us can do alone. We feel it is this availability to share talents and resources, wherever they are needed, that gave rise to the growth of our congregation. It is our sensitivity to what we can be and do together that is the origin, the center and will be the future of our life as the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Like Fr. Dehon, we constantly learn that the mercy and love of God is boundless and beckons us to recommit themselves again and again to the building of His Kingdom. See also: |
