Sacred Heart
Our Sacred Heart Roots
“I don’t really have any roots…,” a young woman recently shared with me while visiting the school. Listening quietly, I suspected that rather than having “no roots,” she was on an archetypal journey to find them. Does it surprise you that she has found her way to New Orleans? For us who live under the canopies of Live Oaks, whose tap roots extend both deep and wide, we value our roots as a source of identity and insight, character and culture. Looking deeply into our roots as a Sacred Heart school community, we discover that on this day, February 7th [...]
Bicentennial Celebration of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, St. Louis Cathedral
This short "Call to Worship" opened the Liturgy of Celebration with banners and song in a packed Cathedral. Philippine's spirit is alive and well! Good afternoon! We gather here in this beautiful Cathedral for the opening of the Bicentennial year of celebration of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. Philippine Duchesne was a pioneer missionary of the Catholic Church. She was a frontier woman of vision. And, she was a woman known as the “one who prays always.” Beginning today, November 18th, 2017, and continuing through the coming year, the Religious of the Sacred Heart and members of the larger community of [...]
With these rings….
Last week, members of the Junior Class at Sacred Heart received their ASH school ring from members of the Senior class. This special ceremony takes place in the context of a Eucharistic celebration, followed by a traditional ritual that includes hugs, flowers, and lots of smiling friends and families. Did I mention refreshments? What follows in this post are my comments following this endearing ceremony: Some people might wonder why we have a Sacred Heart ring, or why is it so important to have a "ring ceremony" like this one. They might think "...after all, it is just a ring!" [...]
Lent and the Blooming Azaleas
The courts of Rex and Comus have met. The Fathers' Club has sold its last hot dog from the ASH trailer. The flags of royalty have been lowered. Yes, the cacophony of marching, music, and Mardi Gras mayhem has ended for another year. With its ending, many of us have segued into the season of Lent signed with ashes across our foreheads. Beginning late this year, this solemn season coincided with the blossoming of beautiful pink azaleas stretching across the front of the Rosary Campus, a full block along St. Charles Avenue. The appearance of iconic azaleas for New Orleaneans [...]
Our mission of Catholic education
This week, we celebrate Catholic School Week throughout the country. As educators in a Catholic school, this time provides a perfect opportunity to examine our own commitment to the mission of Catholic education as uniquely expressed through the charism of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart. St. Madeleine Sophie was blessed with a vision of education as a powerful, transformative and essential force for good in society. Touched by Jesus’ open heart, she saw that education was a pathway for conversion, liberation and reformation. Educators in schools of the Sacred Heart share a deep-rooted [...]
