Charism

1. Charism Of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary

2. Our Charism • Cannot be enclosed: • It is something that is dynamic. • It is call, a challenge to each one of us to live our vocation to the fullest. • It is the frame which orientates us. • It will guide us and will guide our life choices

3. Our Charism • It will also impose certain limits which are not limitations but orientations. • These possibilities are possibilities of excellence, how can we be true authentic Daughters of the Heart of Mary?

4. The holistic aspect of our persons is contained within the 4 Gospel texts • The first one speaks to us of the world as it extends to the whole universe. John 17:15 • The second speaks to us of our relationship with Christ and His place in our lives. John 15: 15

5. Another speaks to us of all the others, our relationship with others. John 2:5 • Finally it speaks to us of Mary and of her importance in our lives. John 19:27

6. All these four texts govern the world of relations of a DHM • These relations govern the whole of our lives and the principle relation is one of friendship.

7. John 17:15 • This tells us about the prayer of Jesus, `do not take them out of the world, but protect them from evil in the world’ • What is the meaning of this for us today? • What is the challenge, what does it call us to do?

8. John 17: 15 • What is the reality we find in the world? • What is the reality of our church? • We are called to be involved in the critical area of our world and church • We are called to free the world of its unjust structures and systems that destabilise our society

9. John 17: 15 • We are called to bring the mission of Jesus to the world, to liberate the world from those unjust structures. • For this we need to be involved and engaged fully with our world. • We need to be open to the world’s reality

10. Behold your mother • This quotation presents us with a woman full of life • A woman who generates life • She desires to impart this life to others. • From the beginning Mary allowed herself to become fruitful through the power of the Holy Spirit.

11. Behold your mother • Mary represents us here through her maternity. • Mary gave her son to the world. • What do we bring to the world? • We will leave a mark as Daughters of the Heart of Mary, Will it be the mark of the Holy Spirit?

12. Behold your Mother Let us now share some of Pope John Paul’s II writings on Mary

13. The Grace and Beauty of the Virgin Mary • "The mystery of grace and beauty which surrounds the Virgin Mary originates in the tenderness of God, who preserved her free from original sin and its consequences from the first moment of her existence, preparing her to become the worthy mother of his Son.”

14. Mary Will Help You Overcome Difficulties • Through Mary and with her help, you will be able to overcome the inevitable difficulties you will find along your way. • With Mary you will be given the seed of Christ, the centre and goal of every life, that you may plant it in the heart of every person you meet.”

15. Mary, the Star of Your Journey • Walk to Mary. • Walk with Mary. • Let her take you by the hand, as children are by a Mother. • Watch her like the ‘star’ of your journey. Make her ‘fiat’ echo in your hearts.

16. And from Father De Clorivière

17. The humility of the Heart of Mary her gentleness, her patience, her charity to men and love to God, that is what you must imitate, as far as you can, with the help of divine grace.

18. The Heart of Mary Will be your all; your solitude in the midst of the world, your safety in danger, your strength in the fight, the remedy for all your ills. From it at any time you will draw the grace and light that you need to go forward, day by day, along the thorny path of perfection.

19. Back to our texts

20. Do Whatever He Tells You • We are dealing here with one who listens. • What kind is our listening, is it the listening of Mary. • Like Mary we must walk together to discover the will of God for us today • We are called to walk in faith like Mary

21. Do Whatever He Tells You • What is God telling us today in our Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary? • What is God telling us in our world today? • We will only discover this through listening in prayer and dialogue

22. John 15: 15 • `I do not call you servants anymore but friends’. This text assures us of a firm and true foundation in love, the love of friendship. • This calls us to love, to give ourselves in love. This quotation can be the basis of a true life project for us it calls us to love others not only as brothers and sisters but as friends.

23. John 15: 15 • Imagine if we related with each other and with our world with the love of friendship. • This was Jesus’ way of relating and it is His way with us. • We are called to extend His way of being and acting in our world today.

24. John 15: 15 • This love makes us a sign of God’s mercy towards our world. • At the heart of this is our friendship with Jesus

25. Our Charism • Do you feel we have a model of religious life worth living? • Is the model opportune for today and tomorrow? • The model is valid if we as women and as DHM will make it active and express it through our deep life-giving relations with others