I've just returned from a weekend meeting with other Sacred Heart sisters in this country. It was a time for reflecting on our common call and mission, and how we can live the present with passion, whilst embracing our future with hope. The first reading from today's Mass felt especially appropriate: Moses turning aside to encounter the God who called and missioned him, and revealed himself from the miracle of the burning bush (Exodus 3).
We were staying in the Kairos Centre in Roehampton, south-west London, which is run by another congregation of sisters. I've stayed there a dozen or more times already, over the years, and for the past few times, in the same bedroom - so much so, that I fully expected to be there again. Instead, I found myself in a part of the house I'd never been in before; up a staircase and round corners I'd never seen or known existed - even though, during a meander, I discovered they're just beyond meeting rooms we have used in the past.
As always happens when learning a new route, and especially in this labyrinthine house, I had to quickly memorise some landmarks in order to speedily get to and from my bedroom and the rooms we were using for our meeting. The way to my room from the main part of the ground floor began with a juncture, and the choice of two possible corridors. And I soon learned that if I hesitated here for a moment, wondering which way to go, I had only to look for these words -
All for the greater glory and honour of God - adorning the otherwise bare wall of a small office whose door was usually open. The office was just before a bend, so the words would be instantly visible directly ahead of me.
I joked with a sister that I would know I was on the right path once I saw the glory of God! - in fact, even when I stopped needing to look out for the words, I still, somewhat whimsically, looked out for them! Because, whether I saw them or not (sometimes the door was shut), I was reminded, as I headed to and from sessions, that glory lies at the heart of our being RSCJ, and the revelation of Love. Our Constitutions state it simply, and emphatically: In all the circumstances of our life, wherever our mission leads us, our sole purpose in living is to glorify the Heart of Jesus, to discover and make known his Love.
That was my God-given reminder, several times each day. And you; how does God choose to remind you of your purpose and call...?
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