In the context of the pandemic of Covid-19 and in the month dedicated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we wanted to reflect on five key words of our charism (heart, adoration, reparation, internationality and family spirit) with the help of five of our brothers who hail from different latitudes of the Congregation.
Family Spirit: “We are one in the sharing”.
My vocation journey began as a seminarian for a diocese in Massachusetts. For six years I studied, prayed, and discerned how God might desire to use my life. My parents realized my unhappiness long before I did. My mom ardently prayed that I might find a religious community in which to discern my calling. I found the Sacred Hearts Congregation.
One of the reasons I was drawn to this congregation as opposed to others was the interactions I witnessed between the Sisters and Brothers I encountered. They made efforts to share time together and care for each other. Even as a Pre-Novice I witnessed our family spirit in action.
I needed to rely on this family spirit during my Novitiate in Manila, Philippines. SSCC Sisters and Brothers from various Provinces were asked to put our faith in God that in our parish and formation settings we could discern God active in our lives. We prayed, we celebrated our charism, we walked in faith that we could hear God’s voice and respond. During this unique Novitiate experience I was enjoying the “WE” of the family into which I was becoming initiated.
As I entered young religious life, there were many aspects of service to God’s people that I received grace and life from. I also encountered personal difficulties I had not expected – to the point where I almost requested to leave our Congregation. The prayers and support I received from our Sisters and Brothers gave me the assurance of God’s love for me during that very difficult period of my life. They reminded me that whatever decision I made, Our God would be with me. Their love supported my decision to remain a Sacred Hearts religious.
These recent weeks of COVID-19 pandemic have reminded me of the vitality of our modern family spirit. Our Sisters and Brothers live and work in different locations throughout the world. Each of us has answered the call from the Lord to serve our neighbors through the lived charism of the Sacred Hearts Congregation. Each of us has had parents and parental figures who shared their lives and faith. God loved us through them and we responded with our lives. The recent deaths of my parents has been a surreal moment in my life. Seeing my mom from outside her nursing home window was torturous due to virus restrictions in place to protect our seniors. The outpouring of prayers and support I have received from our SSCC Sisters and Brothers in these weeks after their deaths has reminded me that I chose the correct religious family in which to answer my vocation. I’m particularly grateful to my Brothers of the USA West Region for generously serving my parish in my absence.
These and many other occasions have demonstrated to me that our Sacred Hearts family spirit is alive and well. We are one in the sharing not only common letters after our names, but more importantly the family unity that our letters represent. Our hearts are alive.
Chris Santangelo sscc (USA)
(Chris Santangelo, SS.CC., has been a religious in the USA Province for over 20 years. He was recently named Pastor of Holy Name of Mary Parish, San Dimas, CA. He asks your continued prayers for him and the souls of his parents John and Ann who died within 2 months of each other earlier this year).
06/18/2020