Love Changes Everything

Azaleas wet with rain on north side of SSJ Motherhouse, St. Augustine.

“Seized by God’s love, we work in collaboration with others to bring union and reconciliation to our world, that all may be one.” This is the mission statement of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, FL. What does it mean to be “seized by God’s love?” Anyone who has ever loved deeply knows that love changes everything.

In Religious Life for Our World: Creating Communities of Hope, written in 2020 by Sister Maria Cimperman, RSCJ, the author quotes (pp.34-35) from Religious life and Scripture scholar Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, the following definition of Religious life: “religious life is the single-minded quest for God to the exclusion of any other primary life commitment.” (Finding the Treasure) The author goes on to say (pp. 37-38) that “the way of life integrates this not only in prayer but also in ministry and in community.” “What distinguishes and unites consecrated life is the gospel,” writes Sister Cimperman. “Our gospel living of consecrated life is rooted in love and flows out of love.”

Diagram from p. 67 of Sister Maria Cimperman, RSCJ's book on Religious life.

She then quotes from a talk Sister Schneiders gave to the Religious Formation Conference (p. 38), which is one of the best explanations of apostolic religious life I have ever read:

“…what is characteristic of this form of Religious life is a powerful sense of the absolute oneness of the great commandment of love of God and love of neighbor - that these are not two but one command. Service of the neighbor is not simply the overflow, or even the expression, much less a substitute for, or in competition with, the love of God. It is the love of God in action. The experiential, contemplative grasp of this truth is what gave rise to apostolic Religious life and it is what sustains it to this day.”

Sketch of Fr. Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ, founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph in 17th century.

At a time when the number of members of apostolic Religious are dwindling, Sister Cimperman writes, “The reminder that mission, rather than structures, is the call is particularly appropriate to this time in which we live… Reminding ourselves that we are yeast, not the majority ingredient, is a humble and liberating truth if we are willing to hear it,” she adds.

As songwriters Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Don Black wrote, “Love changes everything…..Love will never, never, let you be the same.”

Icon of Jesus Christ in Gaspar Papy/Don Toledo House, St. Augustine, FL.