Women have ‘soul connection’ through Sisters of the Heart

Women in Fort Smith are sharing their faith journeys and giving glory and praise to God.

The Sisters of the Heart is a small church community that meets at St. Boniface Parish Center each Tuesday morning during the school year. It attracts women from area parishes as well as several Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians.

“We started out at (former Christ the King parishioner) Linda McDonough’s home in 2001,” group facilitator Linda Dickinson said. “We did some wonderful studies, starting with Beth Moore but quickly changing to Kevin Perotta and other Catholic authors. As we grew to 25 members we moved to Christ the King Church, dividing into small groups for the study. We progressed through the Bible Timeline series, but gradually the focus of our group changed from information to transformation. The more deeply we shared, the more of a soul connection we felt.”

“Sometimes I’ll run into someone from our group in a store,” Lori Shields said, “and there’s just a different connection. She’ll tell me that she’s been praying for my intentions. She really did listen.”

Shields’ granddaughter called her one morning and asked what she was doing. She told her about the Sisters of the Heart. “I told her we get together and share parts of our lives and pray for one another and they pray for you, too. My granddaughter was so happy to know that she was in our prayers.” 

Each group begins with the Jesuit practice of creating a sacred space, stopping and focusing on the presence of God. Dickinson leads the group in conversational prayer and passes around a small wooden cross. 

Each of the 35-40 women in attendance can choose to pray silently or make a prayer of praise or petition. “When women began to offer prayers of praise and thanksgiving, everything began to blossom,” Shields said. “The Spirit acted on the people there.”

After listening to a hymn and meditation relevant to the material being studied, the members break up into three or four small groups, composed of different members each time. Subiaco Abbey’s Father Jerome Kodell, OSB, whose book “Is God In My Top Ten?” is being studied, spoke to the group in September.

The book deals with prayer, answering questions like how to deal with distractions, listening like a disciple, finding time to pray or praying when you’re hopeless. The answer is often talking less, listening more and placing your trust in God. 

“In small group, we share our prayer lives, our challenges, and our joys and sorrows from the heart,” Shields said.

The group has spent several years studying Ignatian and Benedictine spirituality, and members have found that adding these practices to their prayer lives has deepened their faith. 

“I begin my morning with Sacred Space reflections, a ministry of the Irish Jesuits,” Dickinson said. 

The group studied the practice of lectio divina, the monastic practice of meditative reading and prayer, through the Bible reflections of the late Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB’s “Abide” and “The Flowing Grace of Now.” “We did ‘Abide’ in 2011 and 2022,” Dickinson said, “after Macrina told us that we had gone through the book too quickly. Lectio asks us to slow down and see what makes our hearts shimmer, to put ourselves in the Scripture passages.”

With 71 members and 35-40 regular attendees, the group is a source of loving consolation and help when help is needed. Everyone is welcome, and new members are a source of joy for Dickinson. 

“When we get new members I know that someone liked it so much they recommended it to their friends.” 

The sharing often prompts members to discuss what they’ve learned with their husbands and family. 

“My husband will ask what I’ve been studying,” member Katie Wright said, “and I’ll talk about some of the serious things we’re able to share. It’s opened up our communication in a new way. What a reward it is for a marriage.”