Liberty of Spirit
Opening (You may choose to play a song, some quiet music or just take a couple
minutes of quiet.)
Listen to the Word of God:
1. …Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he
had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw
the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I
send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the
holy Spirit…”
John 20:19-22
2. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we
cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:14-17
3. Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to
all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, make our requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
Our foundress, Saint Julie Billiart saw liberty of spirit as a fruit of a loving relationship
with our Good God. She connected it with simplicity and finding God’s presence in
each moment of the day, in each situation in which one found oneself and in each
person with whom one interacted. It is rooting one’s self so deeply in God that there is
deep confidence in actions that need to be taken, openness to the creativity of the
Holy Spirit in facing new challenges and deep peace and joy in following God’s call in
each moment of the day.
Liberty of spirit helped our pioneer Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur face new
situations, challenges and demands for new ways of doing things in the new world. It
also helped them respond to all they faced with the confidence that their responses
were rooted in God’s goodness.
Take some time to read the following passages.
“My daughter, what I ask with all my heart for you and for your sisters is a very great
simplicity of heart and soul in all your behavior, the great liberty of the children of God.”
The Letters of Saint Julie Billiart, Letter 162
“As you know well, my dear good friend, our blunders must not be an obstacle to the
work of God's grace in us. I can tell you from my own experience that God often makes use
of us after these awkward mistakes, because he then finds us in our proper place, convinced
that we are good for nothing. Nothing clears the way so well for the free working of grace in
us as the humiliating state in which we then find ourselves.”
The Letters of Saint Julie Billiart, Letter 6
“What I would like to give you is the liberty of the children of God. It is to this I want to
lead you, my daughter, so that you may be able to preserve the holy presence of God in
every circumstance, in speaking as well as in acting. You cannot believe how useful this holy
presence is in everything … familiarizing yourself with it is not to be preoccupied about
knowing what to do or say on some occasion or other that you foresee, perhaps in the distant
future. From the moment you notice this untimely working of your spirit, drop it all by leaving
it quietly in God’s hands. Preserve your peace of heart in entire abandonment to Divine
Providence. There lies the secret of the interior life, which very few people know, because
we always want to see which way we will go and what we ought to do.”
The Letters of Saint Julie Billiart, Letter 27
“We must see that our sisters avoid that, my good friend; take great care about it,
above all with our young sisters. They must learn to behave with the ease and liberty of the
children of the good God. There is no other way of acting for members of our holy Institute.”
The Letters of Saint Julie Billiart, Letter 230
The great event for which the Sisters had worked so hard occurred on January 18,
1841, when the first school opened with its three divisions – Boarding School, Day School
and Free School... In two short months the school showed remarkable growth. The number
of boarders increased from one to five, the Day School population to 30 and the Free School
to 50. In addition, there were 100 children for catechism in the Cathedral Sunday School.
This growth would continue...
A Vision Realized, page 38
“Messieurs les porcs also come to salute us. They do not trouble themselves about
the fact that they open the garden gate without permission; sometimes there are as many as
ten together. The other day I was near the parlor when I heard a knock. I went quickly to
open the door and a pig walked into the hall in a most friendly way. Oh, how we laughed!
Here, it seems, animals as well as people want full liberty.”
Sister Louise, page 87
When the Mother-General found out that the American pupils were anxious to learn
science and other subjects not taught at that time in Belgian convent schools, she had Sisters
destined for America prepared to meet the demands. Sister Marie Philippine found, however,
that Sister Louise had been pursuing these branches, too, even though pressed for time, and
that there was nothing she could teach her.
Sister Louise, pages 91-92
... the people of Cincinnati came to their assistance by giving for the benefit of the freeschool what was called at the time a tea-party...The admission price was fifty cents... With the
proceeds of the tea-party added to their own savings, the piece of land adjoining their
property on the west was secured by the Sisters, and a frame building erected. It was a very
simple structure but secured them six classrooms, three of which could be thrown into one
and used for a chapel or hall when need required. “That is the way one manages when one
is poor,” writes Sister Louis de Gonzague...
Sister Louise, pages 94-94
Through it all, life at Sixth Street developed a style of its own. Growth was endemic,
and the convent which was built took on a piecemeal appearance. In fact, one of the charms
in later years seemed to be the steps one had to ascend in order to go down! But as the
building space grew, so did the various works the Sisters undertook. Lending libraries, night
schools, a school for the deaf and a school for the “colored” were added to the Sisters’
apostolate. Both in Cincinnati and in Boston they began Sodalities for young women. To
them they passed on Julie’s concern, as well as their own, for the poor.
A Vision Realized, page 40.
When you are ready, continue with the prayer.
Psalm Response: -- antiphonally
I will extol you, my God and king; I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and worthy of much praise, whose grandeur is beyond understanding.
One generation praises your deeds to the next and proclaims your mighty works.
They speak of the power of your awesome acts and recount your great deeds.
They celebrate your abounding goodness and joyfully sing of your justice.
All your works give you thanks, Lord and your faithful bless you.
from Psalm 145
A time for quiet reflection
A time for sharing:
What is freedom to you?
What most touches your heart in these reflections?
In what ways do you practice liberty of spirit?
Closing Prayer
We ask Saint Julie and our pioneer Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to pray with us…
Women of peace – pray with us
Women of wholeness
Women of faith
Women dedicated to people trapped
in poverty
Women of unconditional love
Women of trust
Seekers of justice – stand with us
Women who took risks
Guardians of values
Challengers of injustice
Refuge for the afflicted
Bearers of the cross
Women who knew how to wait
– walk with us
Women who found God in everyday life
Lovers of the Earth and all God’s creation
Imitators of Our lady
Women who cherished the mystery of life
Women caught in the rapture of action
– open our hearts as wide as the world
Women with grateful hearts
Women with caring hearts
Women with passionate hearts
Women with mystic hearts
Saint Julie and all Sisters of Notre Dame in the Communion of Saints, pray for us that we
may open our hearts to God’s peace and joy, that we may live as beloved children of God
and that we may interact with each person we meet as our brother/sister in Christ. We ask
this in the name of Christ our Lord, Amen.