At last! Christ has risen!

After a long and strenuous Lent, the day arrived upon which our faith and hope is based. On April 12, the Church tasted the joy of Easter once more. For me, the coming of Easter signified a call to taste the Lord in a new way through retreats that shared the dynamic life of the Lord. For, as St. Paul said: “From now on we regard no one according to the flesh, even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 5:16) How would I interpret that?

We’ve all heard too many things that we didn’t need to hear. Right?

We’ve all seen too many things that we didn’t need to see? Right?

We’ve all said too many things that we didn’t need to say. Right?

How can we make up for it? The solution is to engage in the intense experience of a retreat and then to see all as new: “ So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A New Creation!


The first retreat I attended was an Emmaus retreat, its roots being the appearance of Jesus to His two disciples on the road to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-32) It was a unique experience of speaking to each other freely in the presence of the Lord, such that, at the end, we could say, “Were not our hearts burning?” I came to see each of these dear people as truly my brother or sister, a fellow pilgrim of Emmaus 161.

My small group at the Emmaus 161 Retreat

This particular retreat movement was founded by two of our Sacred Hearts priests over twenty years ago. And like all things of the Spirit, it has outgrown us. Thank you, Jesus!

The second retreat, sponsored by the local group of the Men of the Sacred Hearts, was one that I had the privilege of preaching for and leading, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the central focus, which I connected with Jesus' proclamation of Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

It turned out to be an amazing week-end, better than any of us expected, because Jesus’ Heart was in charge. Take a look at some of the happy devotees!

Of course, it also helped that our beautiful Sacred Hearts Retreat Center manor house and grounds were the setting, letting the participants see and feel God’s beautiful presence just by taking a walk.

And the food? Wow! Almost to die for! So come on down and get to know this beautiful and holy place!

Sacred Hearts Retreat Center Manor House

Sacred Hearts Retreat Center boathouse beach area

     This morning I woke up in a fog, the kind of fog that keeps one from seeing things clearly. Everything looks kind of hazy.

     And that got me thinking. Have I been in a fog these past three month? Why else would I have stopped writing in this blog and sharing with you my Sacred Heart friends? Let me make it up to you and to the living Christ who is my light and your light, even in the darkness.

     When I last wrote in this blog, it was Lent, which I began in the desert of southeastern New Mexico, where our Community in Mission. When I came home, I started once again as a resident of St. Mary’s Parish in Fairhaven, MA., where I work , eat, share community, and also contribute by celebrating mass for the good people of this parish. Yes, they’re all good, because we know that God doesn’t make junk and builds us up to grow in the life and person of Jesus Christ.

     Shortly after I returned, I had the pleasure of witnessing a Lenten mission preached by our very own Fr. Tom McElroy for the parishes of St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s. 

                                                          Fr. Tom McElroy SSCC

                                                          

                                        

                                                               Fr. Tom McElroy SSCC    

     At first, I was a little confused, because Fr. Tom was so bright and happy as he preached, but then I realized that, yes this is a part of our charism. We, as Sacred Hearts missionaries, want to bring brightness and light to our human condition, which we are equipped to do through the light that comes from the Heart of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

     Fr. Tom witnessed for us the baptismal grace that we have just begun to tap. On the last night, as I snapped some pictures, Fr. Tom asked me to come up to where he was and snap some pictures of the parishioners, who had been enlivened by the words of life and love they had heard. Look and see what they looked like right after the experience. 

     Later, I’m sure that they asked themselves, like those who walked on the way to Emmaus with Jesus as their side: “Were not our hearts burning?”

     I found a more “conventional” celebration of Lent in the three Sacred Hearts Parishes of the Fairhaven-New Bedford area, the so-called “living stations of the Cross.” Each parish exercised its creative spirit in witnessing and prayers associated with the stations of the Cross. My favorite was one from St. Mary’s Church that linked the cross of Jesus with personal “heart-prayers” addressed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

     What would Lent be for us, if our sense of Jesus’ limitless love was lost or overlooked? Our sacrifices, our prayers, our daily shouldering of the cross would lose its meaning, if it were not for the connection of our hearts with the Heart of Jesus. Though devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has faded, new efforts of evangelization are always possible. This became clear to me in several different prayer and retreat experience in which I was privileged to participate. First, in March, together with the Men of the Sacred Hearts, we enthroned St. Francis Xavier Catholic elementary school and each of its classrooms to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

                                                       

     The children responded, not only by listening, but by drawing the Sacred Heart, each and every one of them. And some of them won the prize of a Sacred Heart statue to bring home to their familes.

     As March passed and April came, spring finally came, symbolized by the first crocus flower emerging from the soil. So beautiful, and yet so fragile!

     The flower whose image I captured in this photo was cut off and died within a few days of its emergence. The vocations I try to foster are also fragile, and yet I have chosen to try. So, beginning in April, I went to California to speak with the students at Damien High School about the significance of seeking a vocation for their lives, holding up our vocation as a way of caring for others and growing in God’s abundant life. I tasted the welcoming of the young and they tasted my zeal to communicate what the vocation of the Sacred Hearts is all about.

     While in California, I also conferred with and enjoyed the welcome of Fr. Pat O’Hagen SSCC, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, a parish brimming with activity and life.

                                                      Thanks, Pat, for all you shared! 

                                                       Fr. Pat O'Hagan SSCC

                                       

 I also was able to view some of the unique California flora. Can anyone tell me the names of these incredible flowers and plant? 

God, your creation is wonderful!