On January 31, 2010, two RSCJ from the U.S. Province, Diana Wall and Kathleen McGrath, made their final vows at Villa Lante in Rome. They were among fourteen RSCJ from around the world who made final profession.

Following the January 13 letter from the Motherhouse, two letters have just been received regarding the two RSCJ who are based in Port-Au-Prince: Matilde Moreno and Josefa Corrada. One letter is from Sister Moreno herself, who is presently in Mexico at a conference; and one is from Natividad Hernandez, RSCJ, Provincial of Puerto Rico, and Josefina Ramos, RSCJ, also in Puerto Rico, with news from Josefa Corrada in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Dear Sisters, we want to update you on what we know of the situation of our sisters in Haiti following the earthquake there last evening.

Thanks to Meg Canty and Joan Gannon, the Albany Times Union published the following article about RSCJ elders at Teresian House.

Thanks to the continued support of Sacred Heart students and family completion of the newest Sacred Heart primary school moves forward. Click to read an update on student life there.

For those who are aware of the life and work of Rose Philippine Duchesne, the two passions of her life are evident: her meeting in 1804 and lifelong friendship with Madeleine Sophie Barat, Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart; and her early calling to serve the Native Americans in the fledgling country across the Atlantic from her native France.

On Sunday, September 6, 2009, RSCJ from New Orleans and Grand Coteau/Baton Rouge got together in a unique way to mark the 4th Katrinaversary. They joined over 116 other Healthy Gulf hosts across the country in an entertaining, educational, and action-oriented special event centered on the serious issue of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.

At the 2009 meeting of the Academy of Management in Chicago, Jean Bartunek, RSCJ, PhD, received the Academy’s Distinguished Service award. This career award was given for her long and excellent service on the editorial boards of some of the management field’s premier journals and for her foundational work when she served as President of the Academy of Management and in other offices associated with the executive committee. She was instrumental in developing a document that spells out the Academy’s relationships with management associations in the US and other countries and in leading a revision of the bylaws of the Academy.

Thank you for your concern and prayer for Taiwan's terrible typhoon disasters. We, in the northern part of the island, are not so affected.  God was really looking after us.  Here school was off one day. Food was cooked and brought to us by a graduate, but we were quite all right.  Here on our campus, one big tree fell across the road to the Retreat House, and no other damage on our property. However the southern part of Taiwan was very badly affected.  So many bridges were swept away by torrents of water, and so many houses and even buildings on the west coast were swept away.  I think it is the worst typhoon Taiwan suffered from in more than 50 years. I can foresee that vegetables and fruit and all food will go up in price since the southern part of the island produces nearly all of it.

We have been praying for the victims and the homeless these days at Mass. We shall join the local church for helping the victims.

Like Moses, a lot of us find ourselves hearing and seeing the needs of others around us – physical needs, spiritual needs, material needs, global and local needs – and we, too, have to wait, sometimes anxiously, for God’s promptings, or a grace, to guide us in how to respond: what to say, what to do. Of course, many times we can’t wait, and we have to act before we have heard anything very clear, and in those times God may be saying: “Do your best in the moment, and I will be with you” – the grace comes afterward, and it’s come to the person or situation at hand, and we may never know it. How hard it is to live that way, so often in darkness and in real dependence on God, having to let go of the outcome. Moses seems only to have said to the people the words that God gave him to say, and I’ll bet he had no idea how God was going to make good on that promise. Can you imagine?

Madeleine Sophie was permanently installed in the church of St Francis Xavier in Paris on Friday 19th June 2009, at the Mass of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, presided over by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, in the presence of Kathleen Conan, Superior General, her Council, religious of the Sacred Heart from various countries, many parishioners, colleagues, friends, students, alumnae and young adults, lay people connected with the religious of the Sacred Heart throughout the world.

Visit rscjinternational.org to see videos, photos, homily and more from the ceremony.