Day 2: Zeal

Reflection

Today, we reflect on the quality of zeal in Philippine’s life, a quality she possessed since she was very young. To have zeal is to have great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Philippine is a great model of zeal, because she was always enthusiastic about God, and put all of her energy into spreading God’s love to all people.

The moment in Philippine’s life where I see the most zeal is when she begged Mother Barat to let her go to America. Bishop DuBourg had come to France and asked Mother Barat to send some of her nuns as missionaries to St. Louis. Philippine cherished the enthusiasm and energy of her childhood dream to become a missionary and begged to go with Bishop DuBourg. Mother Barat agreed and let Philippine embark on her journey. If Philippine did not have such zeal, she would never have been able to start Sacred Heart schools in America, and we would not be here today.

Philippine definitely put more energy into everything than I do. Yes, I may love something, but I would not continue to try to reach a particular goal over such a long period of time. At the age of eight, Philippine knew that she wanted to become a missionary to the Native Americans, but it wasn't until her early seventies that she finally got the chance to live with the Potawatomi. After several decades of waiting, she still had energy to fulfill her life-long dream. After just one year with the Potawatomi, she was told she had to return to St. Charles. Although she obeyed, Philippine wanted to go further west over the Rocky Mountains. Even in her seventies, Philippine still had zeal to pursue further the dream she had since she was eight years old.

I feel the greatest amount of zeal in my life when I play lacrosse. Whenever I play, I get better and better at the sport, allowing me to realize how much I want to continue to play. My zeal for lacrosse has gotten to the point where I would love to play in college and be able to teach kids the sport. I want kids to find a sport that they love and enjoy playing, rather than feeling forced to play. Philippine inspires me to keep on striving to reach my dream. Philippine's ability to have so much zeal for a specific goal for such a long time amazes me. I feel as if everyone would wish that they could continue to have zeal for something they love without getting pulled away from that joy.

Philippine inspires me to do everything wholeheartedly and to help others. Her zeal inspires me to have more enthusiasm and energy in my own life. Sometimes I feel as if I am not living out every day to the fullest. I feel as if I should have more zeal so I will be able to do things that could have an impact on others’ lives in the future. Today, I will ask God to give me more zeal so that I can experience journeys that will have life-changing effects.

Haley, Katherine & Madelyn

Questions for Reflection

What are the things in my life that energize me and bring me the greatest joy?

Do I live each day fully, as a gift from God?

How can zeal help me to serve others wholeheartedly, as Philippine did?

Prayer

Loving God,

The fire of Your Sacred Heart sparked Philippine's life-long zeal to serve Your people.

Give us the same grace to keep the flame of love alive in our hearts,

and help us to live each day with joy and gratitude.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

Amen.