Celebrating Fr. Dehon and SCJ spirituality
March 14 marks the 171st anniversary of the birth of Fr. Leo John Dehon, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Known as “Founder’s Day” in the congregation, “March 14 is a day on which we remember not only the birth of our founder, Fr. Leo Dehon, but also the birth of our vocation. In doing so, we pray that this vocation will live on in others, and are reminded to help others –– from all walks of life, in the many places we serve –– to find the vocation that is alive within them,” wrote Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, SCJ superior general, in his letter commemorating Founder’s Day.
Fr. Ornelas concluded his letter by noting that “In 1914 at table Fr. Dehon asked a young person why he wanted to become a priest. He told the founder ‘St. John was the apostle who loved, then love the Lord – that is the basis of a vocation.’ (Position II, 408) Love is a good place to start. For Dehon, without it we could do nothing. And so let us take it up in our prayers when we talk with the one who first impelled us. It is probably the most important appeal or invitation made in my life.”
Click here to download the letter for March 14.
Founder’s Day is not only a day to celebrate vocations, but also the gift of Fr. Dehon’s charism. It is a perfect time to begin a new feature on the website: weekly prayers and reflections based in the Dehonian charism and SCJ spirituality. They are prepared by David Schimmel, province director of Dehonian Associates.
Below, is the first reflection. Click here to go to the Dehonian Spirituality page to view other reflections prepared in anticipation of Founder’s Day, March 14.
What is Dehonian spirituality?
Of the innumerable ways to contemplate God’s infinite love for creation, the Priests of the Sacred Heart gaze upon the wounded body of Jesus on the cross, particularly his pierced side that symbolically opens a pathway to his heart. It is their goal to be totally united to the thoughts and sentiments of the Heart of Jesus so that they might be prophets of God’s love and servants of reconciliation, particularly among people who feel shunned, invisible, or oppressed.
Among the many prayers that the Priests of the Sacred Heart recited in common, before Vatican II mandated the renewal of religious life, they prayed this thanksgiving for the Eucharist every night before retiring:
My loving Jesus,
look how far your boundless love has gone!
Of your own flesh and precious blood
you have prepared for me a divine food
in order to give yourself wholly to me.
What has impelled you to such heights of love?
Surely nothing else than your heart
filled with so great a love.
Adorable heart of my Jesus,
burning furnace of divine love,
take my soul into your most sacred wound,
so that in this school of love
I may learn to make a return of love to God,
who has given me such wonderful proofs of his love.
Amen.
Flesh and blood, heart, furnace, wound, and school—these work as synonyms within this prayer. The body of Jesus, on the cross and ever after, speaks of unconditional love for every human body. His heart is the source of love so powerfully transforming that one might think of the energy captured in a furnace of blazing fire. That which impels Jesus is a love so courageously unafraid to be broken open that his wounded side becomes an inviting doorway into a school of love.
Obviously, if the teacher is someone who loved enough to give his life for the benefit of others, this school of love is no ivory tower. The wounded side of Jesus is a place to learn, but never a place to hide. The homework is always the same: to make a return of love to God. The specifics of this response, however, vary among individuals and over time.
As followers of Fr. Dehon, the Priests of the Sacred Heart and the Dehonian Associates commit themselves to “contemplate the love of Christ in the mysteries of His life and the life of people.” By continually integrating God’s love with human need and ever-changing circumstances, this school of love fosters the necessary discernment regarding how best to offer one’s own flesh and blood, united with the flesh and blood of Jesus, for the abundant life of the world.
May weekly postings on the Dehonian Spirituality page, This School of Love, assist in this life-long learning.
Click here to go to the Dehonian Spirituality page to view other reflections prepared in anticipation of Founder’s Day, March 14.
