Dear Sacred Heart Family,
I write to you on this beautiful summer evening to share some very sad news. A Religious of the Sacred Heart named Philomene (Phil) Tiernan, RSCJ was on Flight MH17. This violent tragedy draws our world together - please pray for the Canadian onboard (Andrei Anghel, age 24 of Ont.), Sr. Tiernan, and all of the victims and their families. I was with Sr. Phil Tiernan at the Sacred Heart conference in England a couple of weeks ago; she had the same joy, depth, warmth, wisdom and compassion that made a deep impression on me when we first met in 1994. Some people are just that way.
Our School theme for the coming year is Cor Unum (One Heart). It speaks to our reality of being one family - not simply among our three school divisions here in Halifax, but also one Heart and one Sacred Heart family throughout the world. "Cor Unum" is written into the logo for Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart, in Sydney Australia where Sr. Tiernan was a teacher and spiritual director in the boarding school. The words are also in the logo of Stuartholme School of the Sacred Heart in Queensland, Australia - Phil's alma mater.
Today, my thoughts repeatedly returned to: we have work to do. Our world needs to grow more peaceful and tolerant; education plays an important role in this. We want a close-knit global Sacred Heart family to be part of educating our future leaders. We have work to do. Please honour Sr. Tiernan and the other victims by courageously and compassionately living our theme, Cor Unum. Rather than becoming numb to pain through constant media exposure, we are meant to realize that all of life is connected, and love is far more powerful than hate. As one of the participants of our conference said in her blog: The enduring power of love, not hate, is what we need to remember.
There are many troubled areas of our world. At the least, in our own spheres of influence we can practice peace, pray for peace, teach peace ... starting with our own humble hearts, our own families, our own neighbourhoods ... and in this way we will expand and experience Cor Unum.
With Love, Sr. Wachter
The Sydney Morning Herald article
