{"id":20934,"date":"2021-04-25T22:37:36","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T05:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sacredheartsisters.com\/?p=20934"},"modified":"2024-03-14T21:24:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T04:24:22","slug":"adapting-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sacredheartsisters.com\/2021\/04\/25\/adapting-to-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Adapting to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When lockdown struck, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart had to make some hard decisions.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t
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The Sisters of the Sacred Heart embrace the digital age with virtual retreats and ministry programs.<\/h4>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n
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ON A SUNDRENCHED,<\/span> postcard of a spring day, the only thing missing on the manicured grounds of the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana is the bustle of children.<\/p>\n

Since 1978, when the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart began offering educational retreats, the three-acre parcel in Southwest Santa Ana had grown into a beehive of activity with 10,000 – 12,000 visitors annually. Then the COVID-19 pandemic came along and rendered the site silent.<\/p>\n

Sister Paula Sawhill remembers the eerie quiet that descended after the Retreat Center had to shutter operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we live in a cloister now?\u201d she recalls asking herself.<\/p>\n

In previous years, children from schools across Southern California took day trips to the grounds donated by the ranching and farming Borchard family. On campus, the children spent a day attending presentations by the sisters, eating snacks, singing, praying, taking part in crafts and having play time.<\/p>\n

It was a chance to \u201cencounter and spend a day with Jesus,\u201d according to the Retreat Center\u2019s literature.<\/p>\n

Although, for now, the children are no longer physically present, the work goes on and the Sisters remain as busy as ever. Like many Catholics, the Sacred Heart Sisters, as they\u2019re commonly called, have used the virus as an agent for change. Modern technology is transforming what it means for Catholics to meet, or, in their case, retreat.<\/p>\n

With Zoom, Flipgrid, Mentimeter and other technologies and apps, the Sisters have ventured into the digital world and stayed connected with audiences. And because there are no geographical limits on the internet, the sisters have reached previously unavailable families.<\/p>\n

This is particularly true in the case of the after-school Kids Clubs which, until April last year, had been held on-site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where our borders have expanded,\u201d said Sister Gabrielle Vogl, director of the Center.<\/p>\n

Since going online, families who couldn\u2019t make the trek to Santa Ana have joined. Even families from Canada and Georgia have joined.<\/p>\n

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