2021-2022 Sacred Heart Spirituality Speakers' Series
Eucharist as a Call to Mission: Heart Speaks to Heart
Presented by Dr. Mary E. McGann, RSCJ
At the heart of the Eucharist is the common table, an invitation to eat and drink with Christ and with one another in such a way that we are transformed by the experience. To eat the Bread of Life is to be consumed by what we consume: transformed for Christ’s mission in the world, moved by his compassion, and converted by his hospitality. We are invited to co-abide in Christ’s love, and so doing, to co-abide with all God’s people and creatures. By tracing the origins of the Eucharist to the stories of Jesus’ meal fellowship recorded in the Gospels, the significance of the common table for our spirituality and action in the world takes on a new significance. In a world where so many hunger and thirst for justice, Eucharistic eating and drinking speaks heart to heart, inviting us to compassion, love, and justice that flow from our encounter with the Risen Christ in our midst.
Dr. Mary E. McGann, RSCJ, is Adjunct Associate Professor of Liturgical Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University, in Berkeley, California. Her current research and writing focuses on the intersection of the Earth’s precious resources and the sacramental practice of Christian churches: most especially crises surrounding water and rites of baptism, as well as global food issues and eucharistic practice. Her most recent book, The Meal That Reconnects: Eucharistic Eating and the Global Food Crisis, won first place in the category of Catholic Social Teaching in the 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Awards.
This presentation was recorded live on March 4, 2022, and is the third of three presentations which make up the annual Sacred Heart Spirituality Speakers Series sponsored by the Mums of Alums at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School (St. Louis, Missouri) for the benefit of the entire Sacred Heart family.
Listen to or watch Sister McGann's recorded Zoom presentation below.
The Word That Nourishes: How Scripture Has Nourished RSCJ Eucharistic Spirituality
Presented by Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, and Frances Gimber, RSCJ
Beginning with some favorite Biblical texts of our RSCJ, we see how Eucharist is at the center of everything as we attempt to live the authentic charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This presentation was recorded live on February 4, 2022, and is the second of three presentations which make up the annual Sacred Heart Spirituality Speakers Series sponsored by the Mums of Alums at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School (St. Louis, Missouri) for the benefit of the entire Sacred Heart family.
Listen to or watch Sister Osiek and Sister Gimber's recorded Zoom presentation below.
Returning to the Eucharist with a New Vision
Presented by Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ
For many months COVID-19 has interrupted regular participation in Eucharist on Sunday. Some of us have roamed around to different churches and viewed their streamed services. Some of us have enjoyed Mass online in our night attire when and as convenient. Some of us have found a small bubble of worshippers at the dining room table with lay leadership of the prayers and ritual. Some of us may even have drifted away from Sunday celebrations altogether.
For all of us, these months have likely challenged and changed us as members of the Body of Christ. Perhaps our distance from regular in-person celebrations has given us new desire for Eucharist or we have some new insights about what we do when we gather. Or perhaps we have new questions about the meaning and the place of Eucharist in our lives.
Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ invites us to return to Eucharist with a new vision. In her presentation, she steps back and asks a very basic question: when Jesus asked us to “do this in memory of me,” what was he actually asking us to be and to do? And how does the very shape of the eucharist we celebrate – listening and loving – express our core vision of Sacred Heart spirituality?
This presentation was recorded live on November 5, 2021, and is the first of three presentations which make up the annual Sacred Heart Spirituality Speakers Series sponsored by the Mums of Alums at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School (St. Louis, Missouri) for the benefit of the entire Sacred Heart family.
Listen to Sister Hughes' recorded Zoom presentation below.
