The Society of the Sacred Heart celebrated in Ggaba, Uganda earlier this month. In fact, the Golden Jubilee of the Uganda/Kenya Province on January 3, 2012 was not just a celebration; it was a triumph!

The Society of the Sacred Heart values the transformative power of education. As educators, we recognize the transformative impact we can have on lives. We also recognize, however, the importance of keeping ourselves educated if our work is to be relevant and responsive to our world’s needs. Therefore, in November, fourteen RSCJ, including two from Mexico, gathered to discuss issues of immigration and our role.

Mary Frohlich, RSCJ spent several months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this summer. In an article on the website of the Catholic Theological Union, she reflects on the ability of the poor to find hope even in the most desperate circumstances.

The international Society of the Sacred Heart has launched a new website devoted to the Society's involvement at the United Nations. This page offers you information on our presence at the UN as a non-governmental organization (NGO), associated with the Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations.

Society of the Sacred Heart General Archivist Margaret Phelan, RSCJ, visited the provincial archives this summer as part of her home visit. U.S. Province Archivist Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ shared part of their conversation.

Shell Olson, RSCJ teaches at the Society of the Sacred Heart’s International School in Tokyo. She has been kind enough to send occasional updates of life after the earthquake and tsunami. We want to share part of her latest message with you:

"Thank you all for your concern. There are many suffering in Sendai and other tsunami-hit areas. I am fine. Tokyo is fine. Life is very nearly normal here in Tokyo. Our new school building is getting higher every day, the workmen are working hard; the sky is blue and beautiful."

Thank you for your prayers and concerns following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, March 11th. The death toll continues to rise, especially in the areas that were badly damaged by the tsunami, which swept away so many houses, cars, and lives in a moment. We have RSCJ in Sapporo, Tokyo, Susono, Nagoya and Takarazuka. None of our communities is located in the hardest hit areas of Japan. Thankfully, all members of the RSCJ community in Japan are safe.

The letters which follow explain the effects of the Australian floods on the extended Sacred Heart family. In the letter from Rita Carroll, there is a link which has some remarkable graphics. We invite your prayer for those who have lost so much.

Pericles tells us, what you leave behind is not what is engraved in a stone monument, but what is woven into the lives of others. The Sacred Heart International Service Project seeks just that: To help facilitate the weaving of lives into one another, into a fabric that suffocates the life breath of discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes. It is about bringing people together from all walks of life and cultures to realize that together another world is possible.