1. IN THE BEGINNING IS THE HEART
A historical–spiritual look at our beginning
Today we will look at the spiritual foundation of our Steyl mission work; and we will see:
In the beginning of the Steyl mission work stands the heart – not just the human heart, but the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The beginning of the Steyl mission is June 16, 1875 as Fr. Arnold wrote in September 1875:
In a certain sense the men [who found the German-Dutch mission house] can also call June 16 of this year the birthday of their organization. For on this graceful day through the communal act of consecration, through which they dedicated themselves to the divine heart of Jesus for this mission work, the foundation was laid for the overall mission work [of the new mission house].
This FOUNDATION–LAYING consecration was a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and it read:
With regard to the fervent wishes of Your Most Sacred Heart, which in such special way are directed towards the spreading of Your Holy Kingdom upon earth,
I, Prostrated before You, my creator, redeemer and sustainer,
Make my poor person available to Your divine Heart with regard to the mission work of your holy Church, insofar participation in it is being striven for in this house. And I do this totally, without reservation and not for personal gain, everything I am and I have.
That this dedication laid the foundation of the Steyl mission work, Fr. Arnold expressed with these words:
The mission house will never forget about this its origin. According to its purpose the mission house is directed towards working for the fulfillment of the graceful intentions of the divine Sacred Heart of Jesus. Therefore this origin admonishes it to express this still more clearly with the explicit mentioning of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In order to prove that the mission house will work for the fulfillment of the intentions of the Sacred Heart, it chooses as its motto the following beautiful words: Vivat cor Jesu in Cordibus Hominum – May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people.
Today, 150 years later, remembering our beginnings, we clothe our FOUNDATION–LAYING Motto in these words:
Lord, grant us courage,
Lord, grant us strength,
Grant us compassion
That we may be Your heart today.
Where there is fear let us allay
Where there is pain let us heal
Where there are wounds let us bind
And hunger let us still.
Lord, grant us courage,
Lord, grant us strength,
Grant us compassion
That we may be Your heart today.
2. IN THE BEGINNING IS FRIENDSHIP
A historical–spiritual look at our beginning
The beginning of the Steyl mission work is the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16, 1875, with the promise to work for the fulfillment of the wishes of the Sacred Heart.
What is the deepest reason that Arnold Janssen and his first companions made this promise?
Arnold Janssen himself had become a devotee to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through his membership in the Apostleship of Prayer. In one of its publications, which Fr. Arnold owned and read, we find a meditation about the words:
We make the intentions of the Heart of Jesus our own.
This meditation answers our question concerning the deepest reason that Arnold Janssen and his first companions made this promise to work for the fulfillment of the intentions or wishes of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The meditation begins with the words:
In the evening before your death, Jesus, you spoke to your disciples: I do not call you servants any longer, but friends.
Neither then nor today you want to have slaves who obey you with trembling or casual workers who serve you for their own profit; no, you are longing for friends who are united with you through the noble bond of friendship….
However, what does this friendship consist in which you expect from us and to which you are entitled so much? It consists in nothing else than in that in which all true friendship consists: that is in the fusion of interests, in the fusion of one’s thinking and willing, in being united with one another in joy and suffering.
The deepest reason for Arnold’s and his companions’ promise to dedicate their missionary life to the fulfillment of the wishes of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is their FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS.
At the beginning of our Steyl mission work stands the Sacred Heart of Jesus with whom Arnold Janssen and his companions Fr. Peter Bill and seminarian John Baptist Anzer were united through the bonds of friendship.
150 years later Jesus asks us: “Will you be my friend?” Like Fr. Arnold, out of friendship for Jesus, we today make Jesus’ wishes our own and say:
With regard to the fervent wishes of Your Most Sacred Heart I make myself available to the mission of your Sacred Heart.
Lord, grant me courage,
Lord, grant me strength,
Grant me compassion
That I may be Your heart today.
United with Jesus in friendship we make His mission Our mission: the promotion of the honor of God, the spreading of the kingdom of God and the salvation of all peoples.
Fr. Jürgen Ommerborn, SVD
