communitas et caritas

Today we learned that one of our sisters from Australia was on board the plane that was shot down yesterday over Ukraine.  Her name was Phil (Philomene) Tiernan, and she was much loved by so many.  I had only met her about three weeks ago, and had lovely and meaningful conversations in a very short time.  She will be missed, that is certain.  Her presence on that plane makes the violence of our world more real and personal, too.  (Her story has been picked up by news sites, which include some lovely pictures:  try here , and here , and from our own website .) On a completely other note, today is the second anniversary of my first vows.  I know I'm in the right place, and that makes me totally content with life right now, and yet life can be a little sad, too.  So, today, as I give thanks for the Society of the Sacred Heart, my own little heart is tenderly holding my sisters and remembering the fragility of all that we have. 

Life can get going so fast--lately, I've been feeling the need to slow down, to rest and pray, to just be.  On an academic schedule, that peacefulness is what summers are sometimes (definitely not always) about.  I am grateful to have the next four weeks to work on projects that can't get done in the midst of classes, to rest, and to be. I just got back from a wonderful trip to London, where we celebrated the life of one of our Superiors General, Janet Erskine Stuart, who died 100 years ago this year. While she is not formally canonized in the Catholic Church, her holiness and her writings on education and spirituality are an inspiration to many.  We heard people speak on so many facets of her life, and many of those talks will be made available on the RSCJ England/Wales province website . (I don't think those talks are up yet, but there's lots of good information on Janet Stuart's life there already.) What I take away most from that experience is the human