Young adult members of the SacredHeartDNA (SHDNA) core team journeyed to Mexico in late February to connect with young people and promote upcoming SHDNA programs.
SacredHeartDNA is a young adult ministry initiative from the Society of the Sacred Heart United States – Canada (USC) Province.
In its second year of programming, the SHDNA core team, comprised of both young adults and Religious of the Sacred Heart from the United States and Mexico, has been instrumental in cultivating and growing an international, intergenerational community focused on young adults and rooted in the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
During the team’s week-long visit in Mexico, they shared about the initiative and its upcoming programs with the Casa Grande community of RSCJ in Guadalajara, as well as with students and educators at the neighboring Colegio Guadalajara del Sagrado Corazón. The team also had the opportunity to present to students, educators and alumnae/i from Colegio Sagrado Corazón in San Luis Potosí.
“Sacred Heart students of various ages expressed interest in participating in our SacredHeartDNA programs and becoming part of a community where they felt included and empowered to make a positive impact in their surroundings,” said Karla Reyes, Young Adult Project Manager and Vocation Office Assistant for the Society of the Sacred Heart USC Province, who sits on the SHDNA core team.
Karla emphasized the team’s diligent work and dedication to continue sharing the Society’s mission to discover and reveal God's love with more young people worldwide through SacredHeartDNA.
While connecting with young people and sharing about SacredHeartDNA were paramount to this trip, another equally important aspect for those SHDNA core team members present was the opportunity to live in community with RSCJ – share in meal times, conversation and prayer.
Lilly Risch Bakhit, a senior at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska, and core team member, said of her experience, “I grew in my relationships with the other core team members, while I also formed relationships with other Sacred Heart students and with the RSCJ. I am in awe of the wisdom and grace the sisters possess, and I am so grateful for the time I spent with them.”
Moreover, while in San Luis Potosí, the team had the opportunity to spend time at and learn about a popular education project and long-time RSCJ mission partner organization, Iyolosiwa A.C.
The SHDNA core team concluded their time together in prayer with the RSCJ, and had the opportunity to reflect and share about their collective as well as personal experiences on the trip.
“For me, this journey and time was grounding and transformative, and rooted deeply in gratitude, for the warmth and love so clearly shared by every person and community we encountered,” said Erin Everson, Communications Project Manager for the Society of the Sacred Heart USC Province, alumna of Duchesne Academy in Omaha, and core team member. “I was deeply moved to see the clear impact and ripple effect the Society’s mission has in the communities we visited. It goes beyond talking about it. I saw it in others’ actions, in their ways of being, in their passions and in their commitment to living a life of love in their own context.”
The SHDNA initiative continues its efforts to build relationships rooted in the Society’s mission across borders and cultures, and to create these type of experiences for young adult leaders to connect more deeply to their own spirituality and purpose, while building up a community of belonging for and by young people.
These efforts come at an important time, too, as the Society of the Sacred Heart USC Province looks ahead to merging with the Provinces of Antilles and Mexico in the coming years.
“I believe that connecting with our Sacred Heart family in Mexico has been a significant step toward establishing a closer relationship with our community of sisters, students, alumnae/i and friends in Mexico,” Karla said. “This experience enabled us to not only cross physical frontiers, but spiritual and cultural ones, and I believe, reinforces our SacredHeartDNA commitment to empowering young people and fostering community.”
