October 5, 2008
Susan Maxwell, rscj

I think you all know that each religious congregation in the Catholic Church lives and draws its inspiration from a particular charism. The dictionary defines charism as a divinely inspired gift. In our case, St. Madeleine Sophie was very clear that the charism of the Society of the Sacred Heart was and is, to show forth the Love of God. She had a passionate desire for people to know that God is, indeed, a loving God and out of that experience, each one of us could then live and move and have our being with the freedom of the children of God. When we think of the phrase, show forth the Love of God, many different images probably come to our minds and hearts – experiences that we have had, hopes that we share, desires for the future of the world.

Sister Kay Baxter gave the keynote address several years ago at a National Institute for the Network. She spoke about glorifying the Heart of Jesus being nothing more, nothing less than being authentically human. Another Religious of the Sacred Heart says this about our charism. “For me, glorifying the Heart of Jesus means being all that God intended me to be and witnessing to the Love of Jesus through a generous spirit that shares love and all that one is with others.” There is a timeless element in this expression of the charism. Actually, these words of St. Madeleine Sohie sum it up well for me. ‘Let love be your life, so that you may die of love.’”

St. Madeleine Sophie also was clear about the four major works of the Society of the Sacred Heart that would give evidence of this Love of God. They were and are:

• to establish academies for young girls and women which she did on every major continent before she died in 1865;
• Secondly, on the campus of each of these academies there was what was called a “free” school or a “poor” school. The original understanding was that the parents of students in the academies paid for the education of the students in the free schools. This had an uneven reception in the U.S. but was true here right up to 1958, when we closed a free school on the property of one of our schools in Philadelphia;
• A third major work would be retreat work,
• and a fourth would be simply building relationships with people. Sophie was famous for being very comfortable with persons of every possible type and economic class.

Being a history buff and having majored in history, I spent some time reading about the early days of the Society in Chicago when I came to take this position at Sheridan Road. There is a wonderful chapter, actually Chapter 18, in Mother Callan’s book, “The History of the Society in North America.” I’d like to share with you just a few glimpses of the history that she captures there and then fast forward us to today. 

The first Bishop to be named in Chicago was William J. Quarter. He had a very great interest in education, which was to be key to the development of this city. In 1856, the Jesuit, Arnold Damen, a very charismatic speaker, began purchasing property on the west side of Chicago for a parish and educational purposes. Very quickly thereafter in 1857, Bishop O’Regan invited the Sacred Heart Religious to come so that they could take over a school that had been started by the Sisters of Mercy. In that way, the Sisters of Mercy could, in turn, begin much needed hospital work.

This presented a great dilemma to St. Madeleine Sophie because she did not think that she had enough personnel. She thought of closing our school in St. Charles, Missouri because she longed to be in Chicago, but there was so much upset at that idea that she found the people and the money, which she always seemed to able to do. Thus, in 1858 six Sacred Heart nuns arrived in Chicago. After a short stay on Wabash Avenue, in 1860 they moved to twelve acres on Taylor Street in the Jesuit Parish of the Holy Family.

A decision that was one of Madeleine Sophie’s last material contributions before her death in 1865 was to provide funds for a new brick structure at Taylor and Lytle Streets with a capacity for 1000 students. By 1876, however, the parochial school system of the Holy Family Parish was caring for nearly 5,000 students under three distinct teaching bodies – the Sisters of Charity, the Religious of the Sacred Heart, and, in a forward looking hint of the future, an association of lay teachers organized by the Jesuits. In 1876, the second Convent of the Sacred Heart opened in a small house on Dearborn Street under the famous Bishop Foley. New property was soon obtained next to the Cathedral, and that move was made in 1878.

Meanwhile, back on West Taylor Street, life was abounding in the huge schools there and, of course, all of those religious became well known far beyond their neighborhood in the fall of 1871 during the great Chicago Fire, when we opened our doors and served many in great need. In the 1880s, one of the first projects that they established was the Sodality of the Children of Mary. Thus, you can see that all four of our original means to achieve our mission were already being carried out in Chicago – academies, free schools, retreat work and building relationships.

I was astounded to read that by 1898, there were several hundred very active members in the Sodality, a prayer group often seen as a forerunner of our Sacred Heart Associates, many of whom are here today, and by 1912, they had started the Madonna Center --- a social service and religious education center that at one time serviced 1000 young people. At the same time, many Catholic families were leaving the area of Holy Family Parish. By 1906, the decision was made that the rscj were to leave West Taylor Street and give up the home and work they had loved so well. Their 800 pupils were placed in other schools. This school, the present day Woodlands, being the original foundation, is the one that traces itself back for 150 years. This Academy moved briefly to North Clark Street and then in 1907, twin houses were purchased on Pine Grove. Finally, in 1927,  when businesses and high rise apartments began to crowd that neighborhood, the decision was made to sell Pine Grove and build in another location – 6250 Sheridan Road…again near the Jesuits.

In reading these chapters on the early history, it is very clear that the groundwork that was laid in those years was quite eclectic. We operated orphanages, large, large Catechism classes and, in general, tried to fulfill the needs of the people. However, there was a rather dramatic change across the United States and without going into a great deal of detail, from the 1920s into the 1950s, our Academies became stronger and stronger and came to be seen by many as our major ministry. This was true right up to Vatican Two when the Church asked us, and every other religious order, to get in touch with our original charism and return to those roots in our ministry.

Thus, today in Chicago, works of the Religious of the Sacred Heart are, indeed, much closer to the original vision of St. Madeleine Sophie than they were when we were more one-dimensionally working in the Academies. This, of course, was very difficult for people to understand who had only known us during that 30-50 year span of time. Another gift that came with the decrees of Vatican II, is that we moved out of cloister when it was lifted and began working in many settings, as we do today, and as was fitting with our original vision. This celebration certainly should honor those original pioneers who paved the way coast to coast in this country and here, at its center, Chicago; as well as present rscj working with our lay colleagues at the Josephinum, Catholic Theological Union, Rush, Casa Esperanza, Pads, in counseling and on and on… please do read the brochure, that is at all of your places, that outlines for you all the different work that we are and have been doing in the Chicago area.

So, in closing, back to our reading about the fig tree! Let me share with you the comment at the end of today’s readings from “Living with Christ – the Daily Prayer Book” that I use. It is a good way to look at the readings about the vineyard and our 150 years in Chicago.

“God tends to us like a vineyard owner working to make sure that he will have a good crop.” How did I experience God’s workings in me this week?

It is with great gratitude that we gather here today and continue our prayers in thanksgiving for God’s Workings of our 150 years in Chicago.

Amen.