Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Celebrating God in the Glory of Nature

November 15, 2023

~ A Reflection by Sr. Abaynesh Lukas, MSC novice

On November 3rd and 4th, the MSC novices went on retreat with the Epiphany Parish youth group.
There were seventeen of us who are active with Alpha who went to Bear Mountain. Alpha is a mission to help people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus. After dinner, we watched an Alpha movie about how the Holy Spirit works among us and in us. This was followed by a time for sharing. The evening ended with a game that was so funny, it made us laugh a lot.

The second day began with Mass. It was beautiful the way in which Father Jim celebrated the Mass, especially for the Eucharist, we shared one bread and the wine from one cup. It was symbolic and so precious.

Following Mass, the group hiked to the top of Bear Mountain! It was gorgeous as all the trees werechanging color. We enjoyed the crunch of the leaves under our feet.

At the top of the mountain, we had our lunch and shared our experience with each other. The retreat continued when we returned to the main house. Our day ended with dinner before heading back to the parish. We had a wonderful time together and we received many blessings and graces.

Everyone Has a Divine Vocation

November 2, 2023

“Jesus has a specific task in life for each and every one of us. Each one of us is handpicked, called by name by Jesus! There is no one among us who does not have a divine vocation! Some are called audibly by God, but the usual kind of call is internal, through the inner working of the Spirit.
~ Homily by Pope St. John Paul II

From the Guadalupe Province Vocation Promotion Team:
Our Vocational Ministry Team wishes to celebrate with each of our Update readers the Vocational Week that takes place from November 5 to 11, 2023.

Each member of the Vocation Promotion Team of Guadalupe Province has the task in their place of mission, to raise, welcome and accompany the different vocations, emphasizing vocations to consecrated life.

Our objective is to have the ability to provide the person who feels called, the space and time to make their itinerary of search and service to others giving meaning to their own existence. This Vocational Culture is a process to live the mission in and from the community to others. It will be a very strong and valuable gesture for the Church and the world, to pray for vocations to Religious Life. ~ Sr. Yolanda Flores, MSC

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

National Vocation Awareness Week November 5 – 11

November 2, 2023

National Vocation Awareness Week
November 5 – 11

National Vocation Awareness Week, celebrated November 5-11, 2023, is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.

Observance of Vocation Awareness Week began in 1976 when the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year for the celebration. In 2014, after extensive consultation, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations moved the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week to November to engage Catholic schools and colleges more effectively in this effort.
For more information and resources please click here

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5d9c569d764141a58d8ccf7e01acdff7

Click on the link above to listen to the stories of those who are recently professed religious.

National Vocation Awareness Week

Please ask Our Lord for more dedicated priests, deacons, and consecrated women and men. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ, supported by our faith community, and respond generously to God’s gift of vocation:

BLESS young people with the gift of courage to respond to your call.
Open their hearts to great ideals, to great things.

INSPIRE all of your disciples to mutual love and giving—
for vocations blossom in the good soil of faithful people.
INSTILL those in religious life, parish ministries, and families
with the confidence and grace to invite others to embrace the bold and noble path of a life consecrated to you.
UNITE us to Jesus through prayer and sacrament,
so that we may cooperate with you in building your reign of mercy and truth, of justice and peace. Amen.
— Pope Francis

From the Province Vocation Team – Vocation Festival at St. John’s University

October 26, 2023

Today, Sr. Yolanda Flores, MSC, Vocation Director and Sr. Bezunesh Elias, novice, traveled to St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York to participate in the Vocation Festival being held there.

Sr. Yolanda and Sr. Bezunesh are sharing informational vocation materials on the Missionary Sisters, as well as, telling students about Cabrini Immigrant Services. They share the news of Mother Cabrini and her Sisters’ outreach to immigrants among the many of ministries of the MSCs

The Eucharistic Congress

October 26, 2023

“Oh, if only we knew how to always appreciate the benefit of Holy Communion! How much more fervent and recollected we would be, and how many more merits we would gather.”
~ Mother Cabrini

More than 7,000 pilgrims from different parts of New York State gathered to commemorate the Holy Eucharist at Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, NY. It was fascinating to see how people were moved to join in seeking the best ways of spreading Eucharistic knowledge and God’s love.

The Eucharistic celebration being the center of everything, we had two wonderful Masses
on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Among the celebrants of the Masses were some bishops, many priests, deacons, and seminarians. Men and women religious were also present together with the faithful. During their homilies both Bishops Terry LaValley and Edward Scharfenberger preached about the significance of the Eucharistic Lord upon all the believers. They illustrated how God’s love and His mercy is revealed through His presence in the eucharist.

“God wants everyone to be part of communion and everyone to get a chance to go to heaven. Each and everyone of us,” said Bishop Edward Scharfenberger. They also shared some saints’ stories of how they devoted themselves to the Eucharistic Lord. There was exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the hearing of confessions throughout the weekend.

We enjoyed listening to some of the keynote speakers, especially to Lisa Lickona who highlighted the lives of three powerful American women saints and their devotion to the eucharist. Mother Cabrini, being one of these wonderful women, our hearts were moved mostly with the way she described her. She spoke of Mother Cabrini’s eucharistic devotion and how it developed from the early years of her childhood through her sister, Rosa, and how it continue to grow and bear fruits throughout her religious life. “Rosa (Cabrini’s sister) went to adoration everyday and took her sister along, so Frances grew up from the Blessed Sacrament which is a great gift.

Embracing the Future in Hope

October 19, 2023

The Guadalupe Province Assembly 2023

Missionary Sisters, Cabrini Lay Missionaries (CLMs), and lay collaborators hailing from eleven countries gathered this week in New Jersey for the Guadalupe Province Assembly with the theme, “Embracing the Future with Hope”.

Sr. Diane Olmstead, MSC, Provincial, opened the Assembly by sharing the greetings of MSC General Superior Sr. Maria Eliane Azevedo da Silva, MSC, who offered the image of a mosaic, each person being a vibrant part of the Institute, saying that we express the charism according to the gifts we each have received.

During the Assembly, each session had a distinct focus such as Encounter/Re-Encounter; Sharing Ministry; Co-responsibility; Our Call to Live the Charism. Each session was presented with its own interactive dynamic.

Prior to the sending forth of the lay collaborators, in addressing the Assembly, Sr. Diane said that those present were “attracted by the charism and that our understanding of the charism develops over time.” She went on to say that we have made a choice to respond to the call to be women and men who share love, that we are called to live love which has to do with healing and reconciliation. She said that we are called to be a healing presence in the world.

Sr. Diane noted that those of us present at the Assembly have a sense that ‘I belong [here].’ That I fit. That we complement each other and that we are so much better for the presence of one another; that we should build on that sense of belonging – having a co-responsibility for the charism and mission.

She concluded by saying that we journey together, that we are sent by God and to go forth with courage.

The Cabrinian lay collaborators departed the Assembly midday yesterday. The Sisters will conclude their session tomorrow at noon. Continue to pray for the MSCs.

An Interesting Historical Footnote… Countess Spottiswood Mackin, Mother Cabrini and the MSCs in Paris

September 28, 2023

An Interesting Historical Footnote…
Countess Spottiswood Mackin, Mother Cabrini and
the MSCs in Paris
~ by Dr. Maria Patricia Williams

125 years ago, on 29th September 1898, Mother Cabrini established the first MSC house in France. It was a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe at 20, Rue Dumont d’Urville, Paris. It was not possible to establish a school in France due to anti-clerical legislation, so Mother Cabrini opened a residence for ladies to gain a foothold and raise funds for an Italian orphanage. The first resident was an American, the Countess Sarah Maria Aloisa Spottiswood Mackin (1850 – 1923).

She was a wealthy widow. Her father had been Mayor of St. Louis, MO, and her late husband, James Mackin, State Treasurer of New York. From a Protestant family, she had been educated by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at aNazareth Academy, Kentucky. She became a Catholic in Rome in 1895. Pope Leo XIII gave her the title of Countess for her charity work for the Church.

The Countess was introduced to Mother Cabrini by Monsignor Montagnioni, the secretary at the Papal Nunciature in Paris. He brought her to collect two letters that Mother Cabrini had brough for her from Rome, a blessing from Pope Leo XIII and one from Cardinal Parocchi, Secretary of the Holy Office, asking the Countess to assist the Sisters. She had an extensive network of contacts. Mother Cabrini wrote in her 1898 Travel Letter that she ‘used all her efforts to bring us into contact with persons who could help us’.

She found other boarders, persuaded a rich Italian to donate 50 Lire, and organized a fund-raising concert. In 1921, in her memories of Mother Cabrini, found in the The Cabriniana Collection, the Countess wrote:

“Madame Cabrini interested all of Paris Society’ and as a result ‘under the presidency of HRH the Infanta Eulalie of Spain and my presidency it was easy to organize concerts and fetes that were very successful.’

Mother Cabrini was impressed by her organization of the first concert:

‘She, the Countess Spottiswood, arrange the affair so well by reason of her excellent and energetic personality and her beautiful disposition, that one would imagine she is capable of putting a whole country into movement when it is a question of assisting those whom the Holy Father favors.’
By 1899, there was enough funding to open the orphanage for daughters of Italian families, requested by Cardinal Richard de Vergne, Archbishop of Paris. It opened at 149, Rue Perronet in Neuilly-sur-Marne, approximately 13 Kilometres (8 miles) from the center of Paris.

Sharing Life and Belonging

September 19, 2023

Dr. Angela Campbell, Vice President of Mission, DEI and Belonging and Chief Mission Officer, at Cabrini University, recently presented a workshop on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which was held at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in New York City on Tuesday, September 5th. The workshop focused on the history and current realities of African Americans.

Dr. Campbell shared, “We enjoyed our time learning and dialoguing together. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to support the education, empowerment and socialization of the novices. To Christ be the glory!”

We are Pilgrims on a Journey…

September 13, 2023

“We are Pilgrims on a Journey…”

Staff members from Cabrini Health in Australia led by Julie Fleming, the Director of Mission Services, are currently on a pilgrimage to Codogno, Italy to walk in the footsteps of Mother Cabrini. They are being joined by Cabrini Mission Foundation (CMF) Board Member Dave DeCerbo and his wife, Linda, and CMF Executive Director Christopher LaBianco.

Sr. Therese Merandi, MSC and Sr. Maria Barbargallo, MSC have been accompanying the group during their stay in Codogno.

In their own words:

Julie Fleming, Cabrini Health shares:
“How many people are blessed enough to literally walk in the footsteps of a saint?

“The whole pilgrim experience has been deeply moving; learning details of Mother Cabrini’s life and her faith in the Sacred Heart of Jesus plus the passionate storytelling by Sr. Therese Merandi, MSC has been inspiring and has brought to life the Cabrini charism in a vibrant way.

Meeting the senior Missionary Sisters who have given so much of their life to service of others is so humbling. We feel a deeper and more familial connection with Saint Frances Cabrini and know that we will become better torchbearers of her charism in our ministries.

Jenny Nicholson, Cabrini Health, Australia:
I did not expect to be overcome by the profound impact this immersion experience would have on me.
To walk on the very floorboards, St. Frances Cabrini walked on in her home; to be in the rooms where she listened to the stories told by her father; where she slept, ate and prayed. All these things I had only read of.

The passion of those who continue the work of St. Frances, living their life through her, in her spirit, living out the gift of our charism. The incredible stories of Sr. Maria Barbagallo, the passion, fervour and spirit of Sr. Therese and Allesandra Bergamaschi. To receive the blessings of the many Sisters of the Codogno Spirituality Centre every day…we are blessed in God’s love to be here.

Miranda Coombs, Cabrini Health, Australia
I have been moved by the stories of the sisters and mother Cabrini, delivered with so much illumination and conviction. But above all else, I have been moved by their openness to love. I have been moved with love, to be open to love and more giving of love. I have felt so much love for my family, for my friends and fellow pilgrims who are also on this journey.

“It has been a profound experience to walk in the footsteps of Mother Cabrini as part of a Codogno pilgrimage with my fellow Guadalupe Province lay leaders from Australia. I have had the opportunity to bear witness to Mother Cabrini’s birthplace, schools she attended and taught at, places of worship, and missionary institutions she opened. Mother Cabrini’s story has always inspired me — her resilience, perseverance, business acumen. Today, history has taught me so much more about her suffering, her love, her leadership, and her strategic approach and mission focus. I am grateful to have participated, and look forward to the opportunity to further the mission in my daily life.”

Philip Deans Pays MSCs at Sacred Heart Convent a visit.

September 12, 2023

Recently, Philip Deans, the manager of the Cabrini Apartments on E. 19th Street in Manhattan paid the MSCs at the Sacred Heart Convent a visit.

Philip shared that there are two senior care living apartments that the Missionary Sisters sponsor, one on East 19th Street in Manhattan and the other in Seattle, WA. These serve a low-income population, many of whom are immigrants.

Mr. Deans shared that the Cabrini Apartments in New York City has a waiting list of over 700 people.