A Constant Hope

By Melanie Guste, RSCJ

“Jesus calls us to a constant hope that is a constant mobilization
of our energies in favour of the human dignity of each person.”
– Superior General Helen McLaughlin, RSCJ, Letter for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1988

Calling us to be “fully women of our day, prepared to face the complexity of our word with its rapidly changing trends, tendencies and movements,” and to be “women who are critical and energizing…”…Helen Mclaughlin prophetically opened the Society of the Sacred Heart General Chapter of 1988. This Chapter was the first to address the “Political Dimension of our Apostolic Life,” and, in these troubled and tumultuous times, the call to mobilize our energies in favor of the human dignity of each person could not be more resonant.

A cursory review of the formal documents of the Society reveals a foundational commitment to the complex belief in and idea of human dignity. It is the basis of Catholic Social Teaching and grounds our spirituality, moral platform and educational philosophy. In the recently published Philosophy of Sacred Heart Education: Sophie’s Gift… Our Call to the Future, it states, “Inspired by Sophie and the spirit of the Society of the Sacred Heart captured in the Constitutions, we desire to demonstrate a contemplative sensitivity and regard for the dignity of each person.” (p. 5)    

Lately, the “culture of contempt,” hateful speech, contentious polarization, and recent radical changes in social policy gives rise to (1) new questions about the meaning of human dignity and (2) multiple examples of the ways in which it is violated. Even a drive to the local market can be a vivid experience of society’s care and concern for each human being, or lack thereof. For these reasons, inquiring into the ways we understand its meaning and our call to “dignity” may offer some valuable timely clues for ways in which to act as agents for change in our world while promoting healthy relationships.
 
Questions for Reflection:

• What experience of encounter gave rise to your definition of “human dignity?”
• What situations awaken your awareness of human dignity?
• In what ways do I/we mobilize our energies in favor of human dignity?
• How might I/we use language to unite rather than divide?