Getting to know you

RSCJ Q&A

By Flávia Bader

SHIRLEY MILLER, RSCJ, is the founder of the mission advancement office for the Society of the Sacred Heart, United States – Canada Province, and served as its director from 2004 to 2019. Prior to her mission advancement role, Sister Miller was headmistress at Network of Sacred Heart schools in Omaha, Nebraska, and New Orleans, Louisiana, for a total of 25 years. After making her first vows in 1968, Sister Miller was actively involved in Sacred Heart schools, serving as a teacher, in administrative roles, and as a trustee. A native of Iowa, she is a graduate of Duchesne College in Omaha and holds master’s degrees in religious studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, and in educational administration from the University of Notre Dame.

Q. When you entered the Society in 1965, the congregation was still cloistered and you received the habit and white veil of a novice. However, five years later, by 1970, times had changed and Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) started to wear street clothes. Can you tell me how you viewed the change and how you think it changed the Society as a whole? A. The changes happened rapidly with the end of the Vatican Council. We entered in 1965 in regular clothes; six months later we were in the traditional habit and white veil. From 1967-1968, while teaching as a novice at Kenwood, I wore a modified habit. Shortly after that, we began wearing traditional street clothes. It was a dramatic change for everyone, probably more welcomed by us younger ones. The Society itself also changed dramatically. We went from being semi-cloistered – no home visits to see families – to being uncloistered and able to move about freely, including going home to visit families. This was one of the most welcome changes for me and for most of us.

Q. Can you tell me about your experience at Duchesne College from 1959 to 1963? How did your time there influence your discernment of a vocation to the Society? A. Being surrounded by extraordinary RSCJ who were so relational, smart, and kind with one another and with their students during those years was transformational. My older sister, Mary Dell, had just graduated from Duchesne before I went, and my younger sister Carolyn went a year after my graduation. We all had great experiences. Many of the RSCJ there at that time have been some of my most influential mentors and friends. I began to discern a vocation to the Society during my junior year. The RSCJ were a great help in the process. I loved the way they were together, their education, the vows they made and the community they created among themselves and with their students. I decided to enter late in my senior year and was accepted, but I had financial aid loans to pay off and we couldn’t enter with debt. So, I worked two years as assistant to the college president, Mother Connie Campbell, and I had a second job, typing doctoral dissertations for students at Creighton University. After two years, I sent in my final payment.

Q. How did the many years you spent in Sacred Heart education influence your mission advancement work? A. Teaching and administering in Sacred Heart schools for over 25 years were the best preparation I could have had for beginning the mission advancement office. I had been involved in three campaigns at Duchesne and the Rosary and knew the fundamentals of fundraising. I also knew a lot of people; I had been active in the Associated Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart (AASH) conferences and made frequent contact with alums. All of them were very helpful in our initial fundraising efforts and continue to be today.

Q. How was the need for the creation of an office of mission advancement first identified? A. In 2002 we did an actuarial study that indicated that the Province would be out of assets by 2017 unless serious changes were made in decreasing expenses and increasing income. At the time, the Province had never done any serious and coordinated fundraising, partially because it was hard to convince the RSCJ of the need for fundraising for ourselves.

Students from the Academy of the Sacred Heart (the Rosary) in New Orleans, Louisiana, surround Sister Miller. Sister Miller poses with two of her favorites: Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne and Elvis Presley.

Q. What are some of the key learnings from your mission advancement experience? A. I learned about the importance of keeping relationships at the heart of our mission and staying in touch with our Sacred Heart extended family. I learned about the importance of keeping the Province and our constituencies informed about our mission alive and well in the Network schools, in our justice ministries, in elder care, our spirituality ministries and about mission advancement activities. Most of all, I learned about the importance of expressing gratitude again and again and again. I am so grateful for our outstanding mission advancement team, our fundraising counsel and our relationship with the Associates, AASH and the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.

Q. What inspired you to publish Do Not Forget What Your Eyes Have Seen? A. My two sisters, Mary Dell and Carolyn, suggested that I do this. I have often sent them photos I have taken and reflections I have written, and they suggested that I publish a book of them. Our Provincial at the time, Sheila Hammond, RSCJ, gave me the go ahead. I don’t think I would have thought of this on my own. I loved reflecting back on all the people I have met along the way: students, colleagues, people I encountered on the beach in Gulf Shores, and all that I learned from them. After I retired from the mission advancement office I had several months to work on the project, and I am happy with the result. Q. Is there a quote from an RSCJ that you like to live by? A. “Let love be your life for all eternity” by Saint Madeleine Sophie, and of course, the inspiration for the title of my book, “Do not forget the things your eyes have seen” (Deut. 4:9), which has been a guiding principle for me since my college days and an inspiration for prayer at the end of each day – reflecting on and being grateful for all my eyes have seen that day.

Q. How do you experience God’s love? A. In the beauty that surrounds me and in all the relationships that have been and are the center of my life – “fidelity to relationships.”

Q. What are your hopes for the Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada Province? I hope we will receive more sisters into the Society. I hope we will continue to grow with the Associates, Network colleagues, JPIC colleagues, spirituality centers and alumnae/i. I hope we will continue to make the internationality of the Society a major focus.

Flávia Bader is the director of communications and public relations for the Province.