Thursday, September 7, 2023

New Beginnings - September 2023

 


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

*** Stephanie Morris, Ph.D., A.S.B.S. is the sole contributor to this blog as of June of 2023 ***

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