Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters PO Box 6026, Techny, IL 60082-6026 319 Waukegan Rd., Northfield, IL 60093 Office of Vocation Ministry Phone: 847-441-0126, ext. 704 sspsovm@aol.com www.ssps-usa.org www.worldssps.org
"How do we lift our darkest, most depressed, most lonely moments up to God? How can we pray when we are most deeply alone, helpless, and our whole world seems to be collapsing?
We can learn from Jesus and how he prayed the night before his death in the Garden of Gethsemane, in his darkest hour: It was late at night; he had just had his last meal with his closest friends, and he had one hour to prepare to face his death. His humanity breaks through and Jesus finds himself prostrate on the ground, begging for escape. This prayer by Jesus in Gethsemane can serve as a model for how we can pray when we're in crisis.” Ron Rolheiser, OMI Dear Friends,
Holy Week 2013
The celebrations of the Holy Week are just around the corner. This coming Sunday the Church will celebrate Palm Sunday that marks the beginning of the Holy Week. With each day we enter more fully into the suffering of Jesus and His complete surrender to the will of God the Father. Towards the end of His life Jesus travels to Jerusalem, the place of His destination to die to fulfill the law and the prophecies. The days of the Holy Week remind us once more that Jesus entered completely our humanity even to the point of suffering. He was rejected even by those he loved and taught, His closest disciples. There is not much to add to the liturgy of the Holy Week. It is one heart touching celebration of Jesus’ acceptance of the cruelest death to be known. However, deep down we know that He took it upon himself because He had reasons to believe in us, to believe in our humanity. He was completely at our side to the very end.
Have you grown in love in some small but concrete way during this Lenten Season? Have you found yourself becoming free of attitudes of unforgiveness? I guess these above questions summarize the reason for celebrating the Season of Lent. It is a time in which our hearts need to change the direction of our loving and perhaps include those who are a little more challenging to get along with. It is a time of stretching our love and compassion in our relationships. It is also a time of focusing more on our spiritual life beyond the ordinary spiritual practices. In the last letter I sent you some information about our Vacation Bible School project in Mississippi and Arkansas. If you would like to take part in this project please let me know as soon as you are able to in order to plan our trip. Just to remind you that this year our sisters are going to Greenville/Indianola in Mississippi for the week of June 9 (June 9 to 15) and to Pine Bluff in Arkansas during the week of June 16 (June 16 to 22).
Blessed Holy Week! Sr. Elwira Dziuk
Called by the Spirit, Embracing the World.