I think that perhaps the greatest pruning is the wounding of our own hearts, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, open to being wounded. During my own probation I had an insight that as Religious of the Sacred Heart, our greatest suffering is the suffering of the heart…and we have all known it in greater or lesser degrees: misunderstanding, disappointment, disillusionment, lack of trust, indiscretion, or perhaps simply the refusal of our love. That is where we hear the call to be women of reconciliation. Reconciliation "trims us clean" of resentment, bitterness, and makes us more united and conformed with the One who made the interconnectedness of all things a reality in his own being, reconciling all, making all One, one Vine whose sap is the blood and water flowing from his heart through the branches.

But there is another way in which our hearts suffer and that is our experience faced with the suffering of others which often we cannot alleviate. A hungry child, a woman in an abusive marriage, a family member with a terminal illness, or groups of people whose rights have been violated…you can add to the list. This is the "anguish of humankind" where you at once encounter the pierced heart of Jesus and communicate his understanding and compassion. And in the process you feel the pain in your own heart.

Clare Pratt, conference to the probanists