Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Bringing Christ's love to the world
The Missionary Sisters at the Sacred Heart Convent enjoyed visitors from our clinic in Swaziland.
Sr. John Giani, MSC and Sr. Grace Waters, MSC, each worked with members of the group when they were missioned to Africa.
The guests work at Cabrini Ministries which includes clinics and outreach. It was formerly known at St. Philips Mission
.
The General Chapter of the Missionary Sisters draws to an end tomorrow in Rome. The Chapter has been in session since June 26th.
As of this week, the Missionary Sisters have named Sr. Maria Eliane Azevado da Silva, MSC from Brazil and the Santa Francisca Cabrini Province, as the General Superior. The Sisters are grateful to Sr. Maria Eliane for her willingness to serve the Church and the Missionary Sisters.
The Sisters expressed their gratitude to Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, who has served the Institute as General Superior for the past eight years and wish many blessings upon her.
The General Council
Last week, the Chapter focused on composing mandates and recommendations for Mission, Formation, Vocation and Governance for Mission. Throughout the Chapter the Sisters are seeking common paths for our journey, striving for greater synodality and interconnection between us: MSCs, laity, and the beneficiaries of the Cabrinian mission in the world.
On the birthday of Mother Cabrini, July 15th, she was remembered at the Chapter with morning prayer, followed by a procession with candles, her statue, and a song dedicated to her into the Chapter Room.
Following the time of prayer, the Chapter Assembly focused on discussing and approving some of the Mandates, Recommendations and the Theological Reflection.
Later in the day, the Chapter delegates continued to celebrate Mother’s birth and at Mass they asked Mother Cabrini to intercede for all, especially during the Chapter.
On July 16th, 32 Sisters visited Orvieto, a small town in Umbria, one of the medieval cities of Italy, more than three thousand years old.
On Sunday, July 17th, the Sisters were in St. Peter’s Square to attend the prayer of the Angelus with Pope Francis, who extended a special greeting to us on the occasion of the General Chapter. Later in the day, the interviews for the oral history project continued. In the evening, the Sisters enjoyed the interview of former General Superior Sr. Maria Barbagallo, MSC. Each and every one of our Sisters’ personal witness is a great gift.
Please keep our new General Superior, the new General Councilors, all Chapter delegates, Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Councilors Sr. Bernadette Anello, MSC and Sr. Maria Regina Canale, MSC in your prayers. May everyone be blessed with safe travel home.
The closing Mass of the General Chapter will be live-streamed on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Rome time. LINK: https://youtu.be/AMbw6pQtKgg
Pope Francis has established throughout the Church the celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and Elderly on the fourth Sunday of July, near the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. The announcement of this celebration coincided with the celebration of the Year of Amoris Laetitia Family, which began on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph the husband of Mary, on March 19, 2021, and concluded at the World Meeting of Families in Rome in June of 2022.
The next World Day for Grandparents and Elderly is July 24, 2022. The theme for this year’s celebration is “In Old Age They Will Still Bear Fruit” (Ps. 92:15). The theme is meant to emphasize how grandparents are a gift both to society and the Church. For more information on the theme please see the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life’s announcement. Read the Holy Father’s message for the Second World Day for Grandparents and Elderly.
This year, Pope Francis is also extending the opportunity for a plenary indulgence “to the faithful who devote adequate time to visit, in presence or virtually, through the media, their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty” on July 24.
~ by Rhina Guidos, Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Texas Catholic bishops urged immigration reform, saying it is necessary to prevent what happened to 53 migrants discovered in a trailer on June 27 from happening again.
Reminding others to reflect on the incident, they focused on defending the sacredness of every life.
Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston recalled Pope Francis’ lament, the “throwaway culture” the pope warns against, which leads humanity to discard God’s creation, including people.
“This senseless loss of life should shock and sadden us as we are all brothers and sisters in Christ,” said Cardinal Di Nardo. “We cannot ignore those most vulnerable among us who at times become victims of this throwaway culture and only seek a better life for themselves and their families.”
He commended the souls of the men and women who died near San Antonio after being smuggled into the U.S. in the part of a semitrailer reserved for cargo, not people. They were traveling without air-conditioning or ventilation in temperatures that surpassed 100 degrees. It was not clear how long they had been inside the trailer.
Authorities said the man identified as the truck driver, Homero Zamorano, Jr., fled the scene, leaving the migrants, which included migrants, dead and dying. He has been apprehended and charged with alien smuggling resulting in death. Three others also have been arrested in connection with the incident.’’
“The exploitation of the poor and in particular of migrants who flee dramatic situations in search of opportunities and hope is particularly grave,” said Archbishop Garcia-Siller of San Antonio.
Bishop Olson of Fort Worth said “our nation’s past unwillingness to address immigration…has brough us to a grace moment of polarization and crisis that threatens the vulnerable.
“The light of our faith should prompt us to care and to address the causes of these injustices as Christians, as Americans and as men and women of goodwill,” he added
On July 5th the participants at the General Chapter continued to reflect on Discernment, trying to distinguish what is beginning to emerge and what common elements can already can be perceived. In a second session on that day, Sr. Mercedes Casas Sanchez, of the Congregation of Daughters of the Holy Spirit, presented the theme: We are MISSION and MISSION is key to Consecrated Life. Through her guidance and quoting from Evangelii Gaudium, she emphasized that Sisters and laity, are consecrated by Baptism, and that our charism remains alive and active. It is a gift of God that we have to proclaim with boldness and creativity.
July 6th brought with it reflections and discussions about co-responsibility for mission with the facilitation of consultant, Chris Lowney. He guided the Chapter participants in individual and collective activities designed to elicit thinking about leadership, examples of good leaders, and characteristics of good leadership The aim was to bring a recognition of Chapter participants as leaders, willing to always think about the whole group, to indicate the path that must be followed and to encourage the emergence of new leaders.
Such activities led the group to conclude that we need to continue to grow in trust between sisters and lay people. A deep spiritual formation is need for committed laity, to ensure that the Cabrinian culture takes root. It is important that the laity have the training and information needed to truly contributed to mission, and that their potential and capacities are valued.
On the 8th of July, the day was dedicated to building the vision, mission, and missionary priorities of the Institute. General Chapter participants spoke of the value of co-responsibility and walking together; this was confirmed. The day concluded with prayer and a ritual of appreciation and a commissioning of the laity back to their homes and missions. Sr. Barbara Staley thanked the laity for their presence and dedication to mission.
After a weekend of rest, on July 11, work continued with a better understanding of the report from the International Formation Coordinating Team (IFCT). The Sisters of the IFCT shared their experience of working on the team and were open to questions from the assembled Sisters.
The day also included discussion on the statistics compiled by the General Secretary as well as the Desiderata and Recommendations of the Provinces and Region. Prayer for the mission and the common good ended the day.
On July 12, Sr. Joan McGlinchey, MSC, with the contribution of Sister Melanie Di Pietro SC, presented a report on the Constitutions consultation results. The delegates discussed the issue of possible modifications to the Constitutions. A small team was assigned to formulate a draft mandate for comprehensive review.
The Chapter delegates also began the process of drafting the mandates and recommendations for mission for the next six-year period. It was an afternoon of intense, enriching work which emphasized the aspects needed to formulate the mandates and recommendations that will guide us in living our missionary life into the future.
Happy 172nd Birthday, Mother Cabrini!
July 15, 1850
“The saint of the immigrants,” “patroness of immigrants,” the “Italian immigrant of the century.” These are some of the phrases used to describe the frail, diminutive (less than five feet tall) Frances Xavier Cabrini, foundress and driving force of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Born in 1850 in the Lombard village of Sant’ Angelo Lodigiano, she became a United States citizen in Seattle in 1909 and died in Chicago in 1917, closing a life of sixty-seven years, twenty-eight of them spent in prodigious religious accomplishment on behalf of her beloved Italian immigrants in the Americas. In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared her a saint. She was the first citizen of the United States to be so honored.
Mother Cabrini was a major agent for change during what has been called “modern history’s greatest and most sustained movement from a single country,” the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century emigration of millions of Italians to the Americas, over 100,000 of whom were located in New York City’s Lower East Side.
It was to this community, and to communities like it across the United States, that Mother Cabrini came. She brought them what they needed, a spirit of compassion and of understanding, as she built orphanages and hospitals, worked in parishes and established industrial schools. She and her sisters, who grew in her lifetime to be over 1,000 in number, fanned the spark of faith among the immigrants and their children. ~ excerpts from the Foreward written by James Hennessey, SJ for Mother Cabrini, “Italian Immigrant of the Century” the book written by Sr. Mary Louise Sullivan, MSC, PhD
~ by Brian Roewe, EarthBeat, National Catholic Reporter
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to curtail the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants was met with disbelief and disappointment by Catholic and other faith groups, calling it “a moral travesty” with serious repercussions for both people and the climate.
The consequential ruling, issued June 30 in one of the final cases of a monumental term for the court, dealt a major blow to one of the federal government’s tools to reduce the heat-trapping gases, which are driving climate change, from one of the nation’s largest emitting sources: coal and gas-fired power plants. It also raised questions about what leeway other federal agencies will have to interpret laws and directives they’ve been tasked to enforce.
In a statement, the Catholic Climate Covenant said it was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision.
“We know the emission of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels is one of the largest causes of the climate crisis,” said Catholic Climate Covenant’s executive director, Jose Aguto, pointing to rising global temperatures that are driving more dangerous and frequent droughts, heat waves and extreme weather events.
“We must bring these emissions down. Yet, the Supreme Court chose to limit EPA’s authority to regulate these emissions, rendering less resourced our collective imperative to care for creation and address the climate crisis. We ask: how is this decision upholding the life and dignity of every person?” he said.
To read the complete article, please click here
A woman in El Paso, Texas, lights candles during a vigil July 5, 2022, to honor the 53 migrants who died in a cargo truck in San Antonio June 27. (CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)
~ by Rhina Guidos for Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) In a recent homily San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller railed on smugglers as well as the injustices toward immigrants, referring to the June 27th deaths of 53 people in a sweltering cargo section of an abandoned semitruck near San Antonio as they were being smuggled into the U.S. He place blame on the “traders of death who consider lives as merchandise.”
But he also urged the “lay faithful to create the political incentives for our elected representatives to fulfill their duty to pass comprehensive immigration reform” and cut down on such incidents that take place because there are few viable paths to migrate safely and legally.
The archbishop, who has ministered to migrant workers, visited some of those who survived the deadly trek in the sweltering semitrailer without water or air to cool down as they traveled in temperatures that topped 100 degrees. It’s still unclear how long they were inside the trailer.
“Anyone who is not outraged is complicit at least to some degree,” said the archbishop, “they are God’s children. We grieve the loss of these immigrant brothers and sisters, because they were members of God’s family.”
To read the entire article, please click here
Following the exhaustive Vatican processes of beatification and canonization, Mother Cabrini was declared Blessed on November 13, 1938, and on July 7, 1946, she became the first United States citizen to be canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Today we celebrate that anniversary.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII formally proclaimed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini as the “Patroness of Immigrants.”
In his homily, Pope Pius XII said, “She gathered endangered youth in safe houses, and taught them holy and rightful principles. 
She consoled the spirit of the imprisoned, giving them the comfort of life eternal, and urging them to resume the right path and to remake an honest life. She consoled the sick and the infirm gathered in hospitals, and cared for them assiduously. Especially towards immigrants, who had left their own homes… did she extend a friendly hand, a sheltering refuge, relief and help.”
Pope Francis, in a letter to Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Superior of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, writes, “Catholics today cannot forget that [this] is the vocation of every Christian and of every community of the disciples of Jesus.”
The late Sr. Mary Louise Sullivan, MSC, PhD, writes in her book, Mother Cabrini: “Italian Immigrant of the Century” that “Cabrini was a modern woman. Her interests were extensive. She certainly did not adapt readily to the role expected of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century women religious. She was an entrepreneur and world traveler, keenly aware of the currents of thought in the world of her time. Cabrini foresaw the twentieth century as one of revolution, and tailored her philosophy of education, healthcare, and social service to accentuate the intrinsic value and dignity of each human being touched by her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
On 
Monday, June 27, 2022, the Opening Ritual of the XVI General Chapter of the Missionary Sisters took place. Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Superior, welcomed all the Sisters and laity and officially declared the opening of the Chapter.
Mark Davis, facilitator of the Chapter, invited the table groups to share information about themselves: who they are, our mission, and our desire for this moment in the Institute.
Fr. Mariano Sedano Sierra, a Claretian Missionary, provided spiritual input as he delved into the call of mission. He invited the Sisters and laity to look at things with both eyes and to go to greater depth. The dynamics of mission call the Institute to go beyond superficiality and [for each of us to consider] what does the mission ask of me?
Sr. Barbara Staley provided a report on the work, development and state of the Institute over the past eight years which was followed by small group discussion. This was followed on June 29th with a report from the small groups to the larger assembly.
A financial report was presented by Sr. Stella Maris Elena, General Treasurer and Mr. Greg Lane, Chief Financial Officer.
Presentations were made on inter-congregational collaboration in service of migrants and refugees as well as those who have been victims of human trafficking. Additionally, a presentation was made by Sr. Albertina Ghislieri Goulart on the mission in Uganda.
On June 30th, Sr. Concepcion Vallecillo, MSC presented on the International Health Commission which recounted Mother Cabrini’s dream and the origin of the Cabrinian mission in healthcare.
Rounding out the day were presentations of the three Provinces: Mater Gratiae, Guadalupe and Santa Francisca Cabrini and the Holy Spirit Region. Each reality accented the advances being made as well as the challenges that must be faced.
On July 1st, the laity were invited to dialogue with each about the needs surrounding their formation, while the sisters met to dialogue on specific aspects of religious life.
The Chapter participants highlighted the sharing of life, and the witness of the laity in the experience of the Cabrinian charism, expressed in the various missions.
On July 4th, the Chapter entered the second week of activities which began by praying and reflecting on the topics discussed in the first week.
Individual and collective reflections on discernment were let by Mr. Chris Lowney, who helped the participants to recognize that we live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world (VUCA) which entails various challenges. The reflection on discernment, following the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius accented learning to identify our consolations and desolations. He encouraged everyone to move forward like Mother Cabrini unloading our unhealthy baggage, recognizing that we are all responsible for the mission, regardless of our roles and from whence we might be.