" Spirit of the Day "

Reflection Shirley Miller, rscj

At the end of each day during the AMASC General Assembly, Sr Shirley Miller, rscj, provided a summary of the day's proceedings

Friday 21 April 2006

We began with the beautiful liturgy celebrated by the Archbishop. We won’t forget the PHD image he used which he used when he spoke of what really matters in our lives

• PURITY
• HUMILITY
• DEVOTEDNESS

We continued with our opening prayer, The Aims of AMASC. The gospel of Jesus – Jesus breathing upon us and giving his peace.

Image from an old door. The outside being our structure and projects. The live oak tree being our still point, where we move from actions to contemplation, our rootedness in the Heart of Jesus, where we are strengthened in faith, hope and love.

We spoke of the genuine warmth and acceptance we share as a body. The love we find with one another and how we must build on our internationality and give more profound witness in our works.

We listened to the vision of our new AMASC leaders and to always being centred in the vision of Saint Madeleine-Sophie.

We saw the vitality of your Young Alums – their enthusiasm for continuing the Sacred Heart Mission in our various works and ministries.

We must have a clear vision for AMASC – who we are, where we are going and involve more people in all that we do and always choose to remain centred in and available to the Heart of Christ in order to go forward.

We discussed the importance of developing new ways to be connected by Technology.

We heard expressions of gratitude to Olga and her team for their faith and determination after Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
We learned more about our finances and the work on the Constitution ad Statutes and Bylaws.

We viewed ‘The Millennium Goals’ and ways in which India and Uganda are living them and we were challenged by the faces of poverty and the wishes of children for food, play, home. We saw the joy on children’s faces when they receive the precious gift of education.
In India we saw the effect of alums, working with RSCJ, committed to providing ‘Water for Life’and we see the faces, the poor waiting for us to help them.

We listened to the remarkable reports from the National Presidents and the variety of commitments of our alums working in so many ways to alleviate the suffering of the world.
We are grateful for our Sacred Heart education and relationships, and we hear the words of Jesus:

“What you have received as a gift, give as a gift.”

Spirit of the Day, Saturday, April 22

We began our day in prayer ­ reflecting on our tapestry ­ our cloak of many colors ­ the colors of our thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears as an AMASC body, and we listened to Jesus’ challenge in the Gospel, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel.”

We listened reverently to the Word made Flesh in the daily lives of our AMASC countries ­ our aging population, the fight against poverty and oppression the personal and corporate commitments of each country the relationship with the Society of the Sacred Heart our need to engage younger alums, and the enthusiasm and commitment of young alums here with us

We spoke of the importance of communication and the challenges we face in a wide diversity of cultures, languages, countries, and of our need to strengthen the bonds among us ­ of tolerance and understanding.

Sister Conan, U.S. Provincial, spoke of the world context ­ the context that helps shape our agenda for the future ­ war and poverty new discoveries in science, technology, ethics and religion ] globalization ­ the closer we become as countries, the gap widens between those who have and those who have not diversity of cultures the new cosmology feminism and the place of women in church and culture environmental concerns spirituality that is at the heart of who we are and what we do

Sister Conan spoke of the Society’s world wide reflection on the Emerging Vision which is being shaped by the Millennium Development Goals. She spoke of the diminishment of the Society in some parts of the world and the resurgence of new life in other parts of the world ­ all are moments of grace.

We reflected on what response we as AMASC need to make to the cries of the world, as our meaning of network moves from noun to verb.

We moved into language groups to discuss the AMASC vision for the future and our priorities for the next four years. This conversation will be continued tomorrow at Greenwich.

And so we end our second day, having engaged in very serious conversation and communication. At one point during our discussions, a few of our countries’ flags fell over ­ a sign perhaps of how urgent it is that we work together ­ that we need all of us ­ we can’t be whole when some flags are on the floor.

Let us a take a few moments of reflection and return to our beginning this morning:

What are the colors of my thoughts as I end today? For what graces do I give thanks for today? What are our hopes as we move toward tomorrow?

“Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel.”
Amen. Alleluia!

Back to top