Aug 25, 2022
Our most recent update from the Philippines comes from Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor. The Provincial Conference for the Philippines took place in August, in person for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck, and Fr Richie writes with the highlights of a report on the latest progress of the MSC Centre for the Poor.
“What has happened at the Centre for the Poor since it was established four years ago, up to this moment, is beyond expectation!” writes Fr Richie. “It has given birth to an agricultural cooperative movement among farmers that expresses our concerns, especially regarding the poor and the marginalised in our society. Our Centre is a grass-roots, non-profit organisation dedicated to taking care of the environment and well-being of the people by providing services to the community in terms of spiritual, pastoral, and socio-economic needs.”
“A working arm of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.”
“The MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative (MSC-CEPAGCO) is a working arm of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, responding the many difficulties that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, by organising the farmers’ sector to ensure food sustainability and care of our common home,” Fr Richie continues.
The Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative has been recognised by the Cooperative Development Authority in the Philippines, and in June received an award from the Department of Agriculture naming them one of the most outstanding Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country, and running one of the most successful agri-farms in the Caraga region. “This is a great honour for the Centre,” writes Fr Richie, “reinforcing our unique position as we help and better improve livelihoods and the quality of life of the community.”
Empowering the disadvantaged and marginalised
The cooperative currently has 30 young college students, all from disadvantaged backgrounds, working with them in their shared mission to “produce affordable, healthy food for all”. Not only is the cooperative focused on taking care of our earth, and creating sustainable food sources for local communities, it also prioritises development opportunities for young people, or marginalised individuals, who struggle to go beyond backgrounds that may be rooted in severe poverty, hardship, and social issues. “We want to empower the small-scale farmers, youths who are out of school, indigenous cultural communities, those who are working to overcome addiction, and repatriated OFWs (people from the Philippines who have been living and working abroad),” Fr Richie explains. Teaching these young or marginalised people invaluable skills, the cooperative allows them to find a place for themselves, playing valuable roles and being an important part of a bigger picture, while also learning useful skills that will help them to find employment opportunities as they move forward in life.
In essence, “The Centre for the Poor aims to help rural and urban poor communities to develop sustainable livelihoods that will benefit them and will support their daily lives”. Two centres are currently in operation, one in Butuan City and the other in Del Monte, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, which is also home to the cooperative’s demonstration farm.
From “me to we.”
Responding to the “wake-up calls” that our earth is giving us, the MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative are promoting the shift from “me to we”, from “monoculture to diversity”, and from “competing with nature to partnering with nature”. From the construction of brick cooking stoves in several locations, to the installation of rainwater filtration systems, along with a host of further developments and partnerships, the Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative has been going from strength to strength. We send our heartfelt congratulations to Fr Richie, his MSC brothers, and the MSC-CEPAGCO community on their tremendous achievements to date, with every blessing and good wish as they continue in their vital work.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MISSIONARY WORK
Aug 18, 2022
At the end of July, our MSC Mozambique mission visited Ibo Island, an island situated just off northern Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. Situated over 70km from Pemba, where our mission is based, Ibo Island is also in the province of Cabo Delgado.
Fr Eduardo visited Ibo Island with Fr Girley, who travelled from Brazil to visit the mission, and spent three days on the island from July 29th to 31st.
“We were greeted with great joy and affection,” posted Fr Eduardo on the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
“After almost two years I can say that it was a great joy for us, for Father Girley who came from Brazil to visit us, as well as for the Christians living on the island.”
Upon their arrival, our MSC group met with the local community and celebrated Mass together. The second day of their visit incorporated a Confession service and a Sunday school programme, along with a celebration of the Liturgy of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, who is the patron saint of the Ibo Parish. The final day of their visit saw further celebrations, with a total of 18 baptisms and seven young people marking the First Holy Communion.
“It was indeed a weekend of great joy for us and the entire Catholic community of Ibo Island,” concluded Fr Eduardo.
As our Mozambique mission continues in its ongoing work to minister to local families, alongside those who have been displaced by war, we ask you to please join us in keeping our brothers in the Sacred Heart, and the communities they serve, in your prayers.
Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
*
Aug 11, 2022
Early in 2021, the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart joined forces with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Papua New Guinea to raise funds for a laundry in their aged-care centre in Port Moresby, as part of our annual MSC World Projects Appeal.
The Hartzer Centre is an aged-care facility attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea. Eight rooms are dedicated to the care of elderly residents at the centre, and it was an ongoing worry that the facility did not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, with nurses carrying all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area. This has been a pressing hygiene concern, especially in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In December of last year, Sr Rosaleen O’Brien contacted us with an update on progress on the new laundry facilities being installed in the Hartzer Centre – progress that had been slowed considerably due to the effects of the COVID pandemic. We have been delighted to receive further updates in recent weeks, with thanks to our benefactors for their help in getting the project completed.
“Please convey our gratitude to all of the donors for their great contribution to the laundry project for our aged-care facility,” writes Sr Rosaleen. “We have at long last completed the work which has taken time because of COVID, and also a lack of materials when needed.”
“I do not know what to say, as it is such a help to us here – especially with our infirm patients, who, in this climate, need a lot of care each day,” Sr Rosaleen continues. “Sr Gabriella and her helpers are truly happy with this project.”
“We continue to pray for each person who has donated money for this important project, especially during the COVID pandemic, which is still affecting so many people around the world.”
We add our thanks to those of our OLSH Sisters; the ongoing support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province provides immeasurable encouragement to our Sacred Heart family around the world, especially in these particularly challenging times. Sincere thanks to all who helped to provide these essential facilities for the elderly residents of the Hartzer Centre, and to all who continue to offer their friendship and their prayers as we continue on our shared missionary journey to make God’s love known everywhere.
*
Aug 4, 2022
Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 2022
Our annual Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is a beautiful time of reflection and thanksgiving, when we bring our prayers and petitions before Our Lady.
Our Novena of Masses runs for nine days and will take place from Wednesday, August 31st to Thursday, September 8th.
All are welcome to join in this year’s Novena Masses, which will take place daily at 10.00am and 7.30pm at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork. Daily Novena Masses will also be available to watch live from the Sacred Heart Church, as we welcome those who cannot be with us in person.
The Sacred Heart Parish welcomes each and every one of our mission friends and parishioners, from near and far, to pray with us during this year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Be part of this year’s Novena to the Sacred Heart
At this special time of year, you can help us to help others by supporting our ongoing mission projects, and in gratitude for your contribution, we will be glad to remember your intentions at our daily Novena Masses. You can then submit your personal prayers and intentions online, and our MSC priests will remember your petitions specially throughout the course of the Novena.
The theme of year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will be “Mary, Mother of Compassion”, and it will be celebrated several of our MSC priests and brothers over the nine days.
Each year, the Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart offers great solace and comfort to all who take part, as we bring our prayers and personal intentions before our Holy Mother. As we emerge from the immediate difficulties of the past two and a half years, and continue to navigate the ongoing challenges of our troubled world, we come together in the spirit of hope, reflection, and thanksgiving at this sacred time. All are very welcome to join us, in person and online, for our Novena Masses as we come together to reflect and give thanks in the grace and love of Our Lady.
OLSH Novena at the Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork
Daily Novena Masses:
10.00am & 7.30pm
Wednesday, August 31st
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr John Finn MSC & Bro Giacomo Gelardi MSC
Thursday, September 1st
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC & Bro Giacomo Gelardi MSC
Friday, September 2nd
Day of Reconciliation
Penitential Services celebrated by
Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC
Saturday, September 3rd
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr Seamus Kelly MSC
Sunday, September 4th
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr John Finn MSC
Monday, September 5th
Reflection on Mary & Suffering
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
Tuesday, September 6th
Day of Healing
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
Wednesday, September 7th
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr Joe McGee MSC
Thursday, September 8th
Novena Masses celebrated by
Fr Joe McGee MSC
Dates to Note
- Day of Reconciliation: Friday, September 2nd
- Reflection on Mary & Suffering: Monday, September 5th
- Day of Healing: Tuesday, September 6th
For those who cannot be with us in person, you are very welcome to join us for our daily online Novena Masses on our live stream, united in spirit as we pray together as a great family of faith.
We welcome each and every one of you to this year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
We hope and pray that these nine days of prayer will be a grace-filled and blessed time for all of us.
TAKE PART IN OUR 2022 OLSH NOVENA
Aug 4, 2022
As the people of the Philippines continue to rebuild their homes, lives, and livelihoods following the devastation caused by Typhoon Odette in December 2021, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart are ongoing in efforts to help with repair and restoration.
In the middle of July, the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines reported that the MSC Task Force Odette had held a ground-breaking ceremony in Gilutongan Island, located in Cordova, Cebu, to mark the beginning of the housing project here.
The MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project has been in force throughout the first half of this year, with construction beginning in Bayagnan Island in Surigao City in March, and now, with the next phase of the project underway, more than 160 families in Gilutongan Island will be able to live safely and comfortably once again in secure homes.
Our Sacred Heart Sisters, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, are also facilitating the rebuilding of homes, and the restoration of livelihoods in the Philippines – most recently, for fishermen in Barangay. The OLSH community in the Philippines donated motorised fishing boats to the fishing community of Barangay Caw-oy, and these boats were named in honour of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Together, we pray for the continued success of these relief programmes, for all of our MSC brothers and OLSH Sisters in the Philippines, and for the families and communities they serve.
Gilutongan Island images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
PLEASE HELP OUR SACRED HEART FAMILY IN THE PHILIPPINES
Aug 2, 2022
MINISTRY FOR WAR REFUGEES IN MOZAMBIQUE
In March 2018, our MSC mission was established in the diocese of Pemba, Mozambique – a very poor part of the country, with little to no church infrastructure or active pastoral ministry. Since then, the nature of the mission has had to be open to change in the face of war, violence, political unrest, and natural disasters, while in the midst of it all, local communities continue to grow together in faith and prayer.
Since the beginning of the war, the district of Metuge has been an area where those who have been displaced, or forced to flee from their homes, have taken refuge in camps. Here, they have been welcomed with an open heart, despite the region’s serious struggles with severe poverty.
When refugees arrive initially, having had no choice but to flee, the first actions taken are practical ones, incorporating the distribution of food, clothing, hygiene products, and any necessary medication. From there, every effort is made to enable displaced members of the community to become more self-sufficient, generating their own income in order to be able to support their families with a sense of dignity and self-esteem.
DIGNITY & UNITY IN METUGE
CHICKEN FARMING PROGRAMME
A chicken farming programme aims to involve 50 young people living in the Metuge region. Chickens will be reared in order to generate income, while encouraging the development of practical skills. In addition to being part of a community project, the young people involved will be able to take the skills they learn and put them into practice in future roles, promoting a sense of personal independence and self-sufficiency as part of their family unit.
RADIO WITHOUT BORDERS
Diocesan radio station Radio Without Borders is the main means of communication for the faithful within the region. The purchase of a new van aims to provide easier access to the radio station for many who may not have the facilities in place to be able to listen easily. The van will travel around the diocese, visiting refugee camps to ensure that everyone can be included in church activities and avail of helpful productions in local languages, supporting people who are surviving from day to day, having been torn from their homes and all they know.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MOZAMBIQUE MISSION
