I find your love

I spent the past weekend at a Come & See discernment event for women feeling called to religious life. It was blessed and rich, and very full. During these weekends we share our lives, our way of living our commitment and our mission, beginning with the depths of our spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, and our charism of discovering and making known the unlimited and unconditional love of that Heart. This time, we were sharing at the end of a very full, turbulent, anguished month which has been both heart-breaking and heart-widening.

Messages posted at a community centre near Grenfell Tower

In less than thirty days we had two terrorist attacks in London, either side of the heart-rending horror of the Grenfell Tower fire, which exposed so many ingrained inequalities and policy failures. We also had a General Election which has left us with a weak, chaotically defensive government and their unpopular deal with the DUP. And as a backdrop to all this, the division, violence, prejudice and poverty now all-too prevalent in this country, as well as the commemorations of Jo Cox with many unifying 'great get togethers'. In these four weeks we have seen the worst of humanity but also the best of it: selfless, heroic actions, generosity, compassion, solidarity, love and reaching out across divisions in countless small ways as well as large. In the beating of these human hearts in accordance with the rhythm of life, with joy we discover the love of the Heart of Jesus... (General Chapter 2008)

And as ever our call as RSCJ has been to gather all this contemplatively into our prayer: to know for ourselves and make known to others the presence and love of God, and to live our fundamental belief that love is stronger than hate, and vastly greater and more powerful than suffering and death. That is at the core of the Sacred Heart, whose feast we have just celebrated and in whose month so much suffering and pain has just happened, just as it is at the core of our charism.

And so we shared, not only our spirituality, but how we keep our hope alive, and where and how we recognise God's love, in strength and fragility, wounds and wholeness. As part of our prayer and reflection on all this I used this song by Beth Neilsen Chapman. Its lyrics speak gently yet powerfully of this daily call and challenge to faith and hope, and the amazing grace of finding God's love, even from sorrow's edge. I share it here for anyone who feels their hope needs re-finding and rekindling ..


I'll catch your smile on someone's face
Your whisper in the wind's embrace
Through diamond stars and songs, and dreams
I find your love in everything.

The sun, the sky, the rolling sea
All conspire to comfort me
From sorrow's edge life's beauty seems
To find your love in everything.

I've come to trust the hope it brings
To find your love in everything
Even as I fall apart
Even through my shattered heart

I'll catch your smile on someone's face
Amazing grace...