‘As Joyful co-creators sharing God’s unconditional love in our wounded world’ we welcome in a new year, 2022. We thank Him for this gift and entrust all to His mercy. We ask for the grace to be missionary disciples, to speak truth to power and to work for peace and reconciliation wherever we may be. We embrace the moments of contemplative silence that He will offer us, that we may ‘see and believe’ in ever new ways each day. We place the needs of the world under the protective mantle of she who held the great secret of the incarnation deep in her heart and set out in haste to minister to an elderly new mother in need. When Mary’s time had come, she gave birth to the STAR in a stable and gently rocked him in her arms; these same arms reach out today to all women who are distressed at an unexpected pregnancy and do not know where to turn for support; arms that enfold our Sisters who lovingly cared for thousands of young ladies who like Mary’s son were ‘despised and rejected;’ arms that hold migrant women as they cross the borders of the world in search of a better life, or weep for their men and children in their plight on the seas on the way to a new world; arms that uphold the dignity of women forced into prostitution to support their families or to pay for drugs or alcohol to dull the pain of a broken life;
arms that wipe the tears all victims of domestic violence, suicide, homelessness or any form of social exclusion; arms that embrace all living with dementia, COVID 19 or the pain of unemployment; arms wrapped around all whose time on earth is drawing to a close, her beloved Joseph, patron of the dying praying silently by her side; arms extended in gratitude to all women religious and all women who serve Christ’s church anywhere on earth; arms that hold our congregation close to her immaculate heart as we embark on a new chapter in our journey to God. In gratitude we pray,
May the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary be everywhere loved,
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.