Caritas Christi Urget Nos The Love of Christ Impels Us L'amour de Christ Nous Presse
RECOLLECTION Guide
PRAYING WITH OUR SPC ROLE MODELS
Celebrating 325 Years of Life and Mission
* JUNE 2021 *
Theme: SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
Grace: My Lord Jesus, I beg for the grace of spiritual freedom and detachment, so that I can surrender to you all my disordered affections and order my life well, in accordance to your Gospel values.
Scripture Text: “For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…” Phil 3:8-9
POINTS FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION:
A. Spiritual Freedom in the life of St. Paul.
Spiritual Freedom is the “grace of self-possession enabling us to live a well-ordered life, with God at the center of everything, such that our way of choosing begins to proceed not from our ill-ordered attachments but more from our authentic desire to love as Christ loves.” This kind of spiritual freedom presupposes a high degree of detachment from the values of the world. Thus, for Paul, Christ becomes the center of his life and everything else (like his zeal for the Law, his Hebrew roots, his respected stature in the Jewish society as a disciplined, educated Pharisee) is considered “worthless rubbish.”
B. Spiritual Freedom in the life of our Sisters
SISTER SAINT LUKE EBIHARA YURI (1914 – 1989)
Province of Japan
Sister St. Luke was gifted with natural intelligence and leadership qualities, hence she was appointed Principal at the young age of 27 years. But she remained humble, using her talents for the greater glory of God and for the good of the people she was called to serve. She was gentle, reserved, well-mannered, and never discriminated anyone. She was the Provincial Superior when Vatican Council II called for a renewal in the Church and in our consecrated life. The Japanese translation of the revised Book of Life was likewise completed during her term, and she calmly and steadfastly guided the Sisters of the Province to make the necessary adaptations.
SISTER AUGUSTA OF ST. LOUIS GUÉLAT (1912 – 2001)
District of Switzerland
By leaving my family,
my God you know well
That with the sacrifices I did not calculate
You offered me your heart and you wanted mine
To your tender call I have given up everything.
– Magnificat, poem written by Sister Augusta
C. Spiritual Freedom in our life
- I prayerfully read Phil 3:8-9. I examine my own life and see what and who occupies my inner
- space, time, and energy. Do these realities or persons bring me closer or away from God?
- What do I need to detach, to give up, and to let go in order to attain spiritual freedom? I ask
- Paul to teach me how to put Christ at the center of my life and consider Him as absolute.
- Share your significant prayer experience in community.
- As a community, plan a specific action to support one another in attaining spiritual freedom.