Wholehearted Living

“When you leave a mission, the last thing you pack is your heart. When you arrive at your new mission, the first thing you unpack is your heart.” – Daughter of Charity saying.

How many times have these words been echoed in the life of a Daughter of Charity? How many times has a sister been encouraged by these very words as she transitioned from one mission to the next – feeling the heartache of leaving a mission she loved dearly, while moving forward to embrace a new way of serving.

This is our life. Wholehearted living with and serving those in need wherever we are sent.

WHOLEHEARTED LIVING!

In our lives as Daughters of Charity, we understand that all we do - our life in community, our prayer life and even our vows – they all exist for the stability of our mission – serving Christ in people who are poor. This has always been God’s design for the Daughters of Charity – since 1633.

Daughters of Charity spend their life on mission in so many ways. Some sisters minister in a particular field all their community life – for example, in healthcare, social work or education. Some sisters experience many manifestations of how their life on mission will look over the years. A few sisters are called to serve on foreign missions. In our lexicon, these are ALL examples of the life of a Daughter of Charity on mission.

Every Daughter of Charity begins that experience with her first sending on mission upon completion of the seminary (novitiate). We recently celebrated the sending on mission of two Daughters of Charity - Sister Georgina Severin, D.C. and Sister Truc Nguyen, D.C.

When they arrived at their new missions – we know the very first thing they unpacked.

Content written by Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C.