Spirituality
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 [...]
Rounding the Bend of Spring on our Path
The season of Easter brings with it an abundance of joy and hope. Indeed, Christ is risen! Alleluia! Everywhere, we see manifestations of the Lord of Life: our beautiful oak trees are bursting with new spring green leaves as they shed their cloak of pollen in the torrential rains, lilies fragrance homes and gardens, and orchids thrive in the moist welcome of a new season. Nature tells its poignant story. Our children reveal a similar exuberance: delighted by the discovery of candy eggs and the fact of three more days of vacation with family. In the midst of all these joyful [...]
A Courageous Journey in the Night
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the end of Christmastide. One of the oldest feasts in the liturgical year, the Epiphany celebrates God's ongoing revelation of Christ to the world. In New Orleans at the Rosary, our gates opened this morning on both campuses to the influx of backpacks and King Cakes from Rouse's, Haydel's and Gambino's to welcome the beginning of this season. With the delicious taste of sugar-coated brioche breads, we "taste and see the goodness of the Lord." (Ps. 34:8) With the second half of the school year beginning [...]
The Blessing of Family
On Sunday, Catholics celebrated the "Feast of the Holy Family," appropriately positioned in the liturgical calendar on the Sunday following Christmas. Along with the many opportunities to share time with my family over the holidays, the feast day awakened special memories of growing up in my family of 10 children, 6 girls and 4 boys. In the Guste household, Monday evenings were scripted in a three-step ritual that included the praying of 5 decades of the Rosary, a family meal followed by a family meeting. The Rosary was a time for our family to pray together, but it was also a [...]
My Journey on the Road Less Travelled
Religious life is not for everyone. In fact, it is a very special way of life that has always been something for only a relatively select group of people. Never in history has religious life been a popular thing—something that attracted the crowd, or that crowd-pleasers have chosen to do. Usually, people in religious life do not care much for what the crowd, group, or gang is doing. They tend to follow their hearts on “the road less travelled” and to walk on a path that is less defined by what they want to do, and more defined by what [...]
