September – New Beginnings
September
frequently means the beginning of school, at many levels. Maybe it means the
beginning of a new job. It is also the beginning of the Autumn season. Maybe it
is a good time to step back a little and prepare for these new ventures.
Education was
a very important ministry for the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Mother
Katharine saw education as a means of social justice. She urged the
Sister-Teachers to be so filled with zeal for Jesus that they instill a spark
of this zeal in the hearts of their students. These students, these “Lay
Apostles,” can take this spark into the market place, setting off “Celestial Fire
Works.”
Maybe
September is a good time to renew our spiritual life. Some of the feast days
this month include the Nativity of Our Lady, the feasts of St. Peter Claver,
The Most Holy Name of Mary, The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Our Lady of
Sorrows, St. Matthew, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, St. Vincent de Paul, and the
feast of the angels Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
Our Lady of
Sorrows has been through it all, losing her husband and watching her Son be
killed. She understands all of our sorrows, as only a mother can. Talk to her,
ask her how to deal with problems. Sometimes
we share in Jesus’ sufferings when God gives us a “splinter” from Jesus’ Cross.
At times we can act as a Simon of Cyrene or Veronica to help another carry
his/her cross.
St. Vincent
de Paul is the universal patron of all works of charity. This would be a great
time to check your closets and give clean, useable items of clothing to those
who could benefit from these.
When you see
the beauty of the autumn colors, do you thank God for letting you see the
beauty of His creation? Mother Katharine remembered that her father called
trees a “picture gallery” in which he saw the beauty and love of the Divine
Artist.
Have you
gotten your car checked for winter driving yet?
What about a check up of your spiritual life? Mother Katharine urged all
to see each Communion as a “real event” in our life. Each Communion can be “the
beginning of a life of perpetual communion” with Jesus.
May the new
beginnings this month be a time of spiritual enrichment for all of us.
Stephanie
Morris, ASBS
August 28,
2023
