by admin | Mar 15, 2014 | Belonging, Compassion, Latest News, Spirituality, The Community, The Life
Peter Ng’ang’na MSC, from Kenya, celebrated his Diaconate Ordination earlier this month with his Missionary of the Sacred Heart broters. Here he tells us what happened.
Preparation for my Diaconate Ordination began with a six days retreat led by Fr. Nick Harnan at our house in Makhado. Fr. Jonas Mokoena continued with a final week of preparation to the ministry of Diaconate and practice. The Parish Youth from Vleifontein village prepared the Liturgy and hymns for the Mass. Fr Vince Carroll was very welcoming at the house and proved himself to be an excellent host in every way. (more…)
by admin | Sep 2, 2013 | Africa, Belonging, Communal Work, Compassion, Inspiring Others, Latest News, Our Values, Overseas Volunteering, The Life, Volunteering
All good things come to an end.
It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of our stay at Holy Family Care Centre. It has been the most enriching experience. There has been much laughter, a few tears and alot of reflection over the past few months. As well as enjoying our surroundings here we have had the pleasure of enjoying the stunning scenery of ‘Gods Window’, Pilgrims Rest & many more scenic spots. It was lovely to get out as a group and share some quality time together. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends, yet finding it difficult to deal with saying goodbye when the time comes, but like everything in this world it will never be as hard as it seems at the time. We have really got to know all the kids and workers here at Holy Family over the past months. We can recognise the voices calling out for us at our gate, the different cries of the crèche children and the different laughs that echo around the centre. We opened our hearts fully and really connected with each and every one. We have learned more from them than they have from us and boy o boy can these kids teach you a thing or two. (more…)
by admin | May 30, 2013 | Engaging Vocations, Ireland, Latest News, The Community, The Life, UK
A Novena is a very special time of reflection. It is a time of intense personal prayer and petition. It is also a time of communal prayer with many hundreds of others who join with us, in person at one of the centres where the novena is being prayed and celebrated, or remotely across Ireland and England with people following the novena in their own homes. There will be community Novena celebrations in Myross Woods, Ballyvaloo and in Sacred Heart Parish, Western Road.
During a Novena we not only pray for our own needs, and the needs of those close to us, we also pray in communion with all those others who are making the novena. We join with those who are far away in many different parts of this country and abroad. It is an opportunity to continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life as well. It is an area of prayer that has been overlooked in recent years, but it is an essential part of vocations promotion.
As part of this prayer drive we have sent over 20,000 vocations prayer cards to benefactors of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. The idea is that we can create a climate of prayer that once again celebrates the baptismal call of all people and encouages those who might be considering whether to become a sister, brother or a priest. In Africa they say, ‘People are people through people.’ It is through our relationships with God, others and ourselves that we realise who we are. Let us pray today for that grace to fulfill our own vocation, while supporting others to do the same.
You can join in the Novena through the Novena prayer:
O Divine Jesus, who said,
“Ask and you shall receive”,
I kneel at your feet.
From whom shall I ask if not from you,
whose heart is the source of all blessings.With a lively faith in you, I come to ask ( pause and mention petition here ) I admit I am most unworth of your favours, Jesus,
but this is not a reason for me to be discouraged.
You are the God of mercies
and You will not refuse a contrite heart.
Look with pity on me, I beg you,
and your compassionate Heart will find in my weakness
a motive for granting my request. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.
by admin | Aug 6, 2012 | Belonging, Festivals, Latest News, The Life
One generally associates Our Lady’s Shrine in Knock with gentle hymns and heavenly choirs, but on the last Friday in July Knock rocked to the sound of a very different style of music. It was an evening of final sound checks for the musicians getting ready for the Knock Summer Festival. In fact the whole area next to the Basilica was alive with activity as teams of people set up marquees, arranged chill out spaces and sorted out workshops, all under the watchful eyes of Helen and Nic, the fantastic Knock Youth Team.
It was needed, because over the course of Saturday morning over five hundred young people descended on Knock looking forward to an amazing festival and they were not disappointed! The day was different to any other with insightful talks by Fr.Conall O Cuinn who spoke on God’s love, John Lonergan who spoke on community and the need for us all to make a difference in our local community and Bishop Mc Keown speaking about the church as One Body in Jesus Christ. The workshops were on Drumming, taize prayer, love and relationships and youth alpha.
Just some of the people at the One Call Vocation Worshop
I was also really delighted to be invited to lead a workshop on vocation in the afternoon. I was hoping we’d get 40 if we were lucky, but we ended up with over 60. It was literally standing room only! The group was great and really entered into the reflection and the creative activities with all their hearts. There was clay, candles and letters all over the place as we looked at how we are all called to be lights to the world; how we are all letters written by God, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; and how we are moulded and created by a loving God.
Music was prvided by the amazing and talented Elation Ministries. There was loads of time for prayer and reflection and our final mass was celebrated by the parish priest in Knock Fr. Richard Gibbons. The day wrapped up with over five hundred people singing together, “Awake, Rise Up and Follow Me!”
Here’s a little bit of Elation to give you a feel for the sense of celebration we all had during the day.
[youtube 2LBY3Cq45s0]
![What are you so happy about?]()
by admin | Apr 24, 2012 | Latest News, Our Values, The Life
Not so long ago I wrote a blog on the New Atheist bus campaign which extolled the virtues of not worrying about God and getting on being happy in life. It presumed not only the absence of God, but that in the meantime all believers were a pretty glum, worrisome group. Indeed anyone taking a brief look at the popular media could be forgiven for seeing believers as a bunch of hectoring malcontents, who are only really happy when they’re being miserable. The reality, it would appear, is quite different.
An article by Mark Vernon in this week’s Tablet looks at recent studies in the science of happiness. Drawing on the work of psychologists, like Martin Seligman in the US, it argues that being actively religious “means you are less likely to commit crime, get divorced, commit suicide or suffer from depression.” You are also more likely to be healthier and live longer. In Seligman’s 2005 book, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, he presented evidence that having no faith had a more detrimental impact on happiness than losing a job, though not quite as bad as being widowed.
Reasons for a correlation between life, faith and happiness vary. Vernon points to the moral weight and behaviour demanded by world religions. Going beyond the Commandments of the Old Testament we are offered a new vision of humanity by Christ. One that is based on forgiveness, understanding and compassion. In many respects such values seem counter intuitive, but throughout history the reckless love of Christ extended to all has been a movement that has been repeatedly vindicated. I feel this to be especially true in relation to the work of peace and reconciliation in our world today. People in movements in South Africa and Northern Ireland who have offered the other cheek, who have stood up to oppression and who have stood for forgiveness have seemed naive at best and deluded at worst, but have consistently triumphed over bigotry and hatred.
The other important aspect of faith is community. Alain de Botton, one of the New Atheists, in his most recent work points to the role of faith and church in social cohesiveness. Simply put our faith binds us together. Wherever we go we are part of a group of over a billion people who profess the same faith, regardless of location, ethnicity, gender or whatever. We stand as a community of faith and as a family of believers. Today in a world where finding your place is of key importance our faith provides that central need. We belong. Together.
In its essence perhaps this is what happiness is: knowing that we are part of something; being invited to live a life that sees the best in others and in ourselves; and being bound together in the love of our Father. What else could you want?
