Jun 2, 2022
At the end of May, the MSC community of Bayagnan Island in Surigao City came together to give their blessing to the new homes constructed by the MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project, and to pray for the families who will live in them.
Hundreds of thousands of families were displaced from their homes last December, when Typhoon Odette hit the Philippines to devastating effect. The strongest storm of the year, the super-typhoon killed hundreds, injured many more, and laid waste to hundreds of thousands of homes, many of which were completely destroyed.
In March, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines began distribution of housing materials to five districts across Bayagnan Island, and with true community spirit, everyone involved contributed to making the project a great success. The materials provided have allowed for the repair and construction of safe, secure residences for over 330 households who had been left homeless by the typhoon.
The end of May saw MSCs from the Surigao District, together with Msgr. Edito Alcala DCS, lead a beautiful blessing ceremony for all of the families involved in the housing project.
“This housing project was established to help the families who were greatly devastated by Typhoon Odette in 2021,” read a placard mounted at the blessing ceremony. “It is made possible through the support of MSC mission partners, friends, and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) all over the world.”
Earlier in the year, Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC received a letter from Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, with deep gratitude for the support of our mission friends in the Irish Province at a time of real and urgent need. “I would like to thank you for your untiring support to the Philippine Province,” he wrote. “We are your extended arms, feet, mind, and heart in reaching the poor, and now with our typhoon survivors.”
Following weeks and months of grief and suffering, and an enormous struggle to rebuild lives that had been shattered by the effects of the typhoon, it is a true blessing to see the hope, joy, and spirit of togetherness and unity that shone through on this special day. We offer up our prayers with those of our MSC brothers in the Philippines, and we wish every blessing of the Sacred Heart upon them, and upon all of the families beginning a fresh new chapter in their new homes.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
Please click here to watch a video of the blessing of the MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project,
via the MSC Mission Office Facebook page.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
May 26, 2022
At the end of April, the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines marked their first General Assembly, where 270 members of the co-operative committed themselves to the Centre, to its ethos, and to being “Food Security Frontliners” in the ongoing struggle to feed the hungry while protecting the earth and its natural resources.
At the MSC Centre for the Poor in Butuan, the MSC community use natural resources to give struggling families the chance to build a life of self-sufficiency and dignity, while protecting and nurturing the local ecosystem. Their core values focus on sustainable farming, environmental advocacy, zero-waste management, fair trade, and promoting a simple lifestyle, with emphasis on the value of sharing and spirituality of the heart.
The MSC Centre for the Poor Agriculture Cooperative (MSC-CEPAGCO) “is bound by the spirit of generosity and resilience, working towards a healthy, sustainable, and empowered society,” according to the centre’s vision and mission. “Together, we are building communities that care for the environment and look towards a better, more holistic growth of society as stewards of God’s creation.”
With current projects including a rainwater filtration system, their “Be a Food Security Frontliner” programme, livestock and vegetable farming, a Living Museum, their Farm to Table system, a scholarship programme for local youths, and several Typhoon Odette relief projects, the community at the Centre are going from strength to strength in their mission. Their most recent developmental plan encompasses several expansion programmes, incorporating the establishment of three greenhouses, an organic farm supplies store, an eco lab, a co-op office, a classroom for students, an organic fertilizer production scheme, and improved post-harvest facilities. Their current goals include:
- Caring for the earth, as our common home.
- Continuing in the development of farming systems that use sustainable practices.
- Transforming and inspiring lives.
- Encouraging participation through community engagement.
A total of 23 local youths are currently availing of the Centre’s scholarship programme, with studies in a wide variety of subjects including Accounting, Education, Environmental Science, Psychology, Business Administration & Marketing, Tourism Management, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Information Technology, Agriculture, Mathematics, and Nursing. In addition, the Centre’s “Farm to Table” scheme is providing local employment and encouraging small businesses in the establishment of a fair-trade system based on an inclusive economy, whereby nobody will be left out through “farm to table connections” that bypass large commercial traders.
Established in 2018, our MSC community at the Centre for the Poor have since been working in harmony with nature to bring hope to vulnerable families and individuals living in areas rife with poverty and unemployment.
“As long as there are people who believe and trust us and regaining one’s relationship with the environment, this work will sustain,” reports Fr Richie Gomez, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor. “We are an emerging social enterprise that allows individuals to create regenerative livelihoods that nourish the soul and take care of the planet.”
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
May 24, 2022
Preparations are well underway at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road in Cork, as we look ahead to our much-beloved annual Novena to the Sacred Heart, which will take place this year from June 16th to 24th.
This year’s Novena will see the return of a familiar face, as Fr Paul Clayton-Lea, who led us in prayer during last year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, is joining us once again in celebration of our 2022 Sacred Heart Novena. A firm friend of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Fr Paul writes to parishioners in Cork and mission friends everywhere ahead of the Novena celebrations.
“Dear Friends,
I am looking forward to joining you all soon for the annual Novena to the Sacred Heart, from 16th to 24th June 2022, and reflecting with you upon the theme for the Novena this year, “Jesus – The Compassion and Mercy of God”.
By way of a little personal background information, I am a priest of the Archdiocese of Armagh and I live in the parish of Termonfeckin in Co. Louth. I was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and over the past thirty-six years have been a teacher (in St. Patrick’s Grammar school, Armagh), a college chaplain to Dundalk Institute of Technology and parish priest to two great parishes, Clogherhead (2008-2013) and Tallanstown (2013-2018) in Co. Louth. At present, I serve as editor of the monthly pastoral and liturgical magazine Intercom, and I assist in parishes where priests are sick or on leave, which thankfully leaves me free to join with you all for the Novena.
The founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Fr Jules Chevalier, said, “Our greatest need, if we are to find meaning in life, is to learn to believe in God’s love for us and let it transform our life.” Whatever words may be used during our Novena this year, Fr Chevalier’s message of the transformative power of God’s love will be their foundation.
We are still emerging from the effects of the pandemic, which changed the world and scarred many lives. We are daily watching the horrors of war in Europe and the ongoing effects of climate change, especially on the world’s poorest people. To cope with such events and with the challenges in our own personal lives, we are strengthened and encouraged by the gift of faith, which teaches us that God is always with us.
I hope that the time we spend in prayer together and in celebrating the Eucharist each day of our Novena will bring us fresh reasons to be hopeful and confident in God’s saving power for us in his son Jesus, and that we will end our Novena with renewed praise and gratitude in our hearts.
I am very grateful to Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC for the invitation to celebrate the message of compassion and mercy which is at the heart of the Gospel, and look forward to meeting you all soon.
With every blessing till we meet,
Fr Paul”
This year’s Novena to the Sacred Heart will take place from Thursday, June 16th to Friday, June 24th.
Novena Masses will take place daily at 10.00am & 7.30pm
at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork,
and all are very welcome to join us via the live stream here on our website.
For more information on this year’s Novena, and to find out how you can participate, please click here.
*
May 18, 2022
Welcome to the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message!
• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• Find out more about the visit of our MSC Superior General, Fr Absalón Alvarado MSC, to the Irish Province.
• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from our MSC brothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, and our OLSH Sisters in Brazil and Papua New Guinea.
• Read more about the latest updates from our global COVID-19 relief ministry, with a report from the Pacific Islands.
• Discover the ways in which our MSC community in the Philippines is helping survivors of Typhoon Odette.
• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.
• Read all about recent celebrations in the Venezuelan Region, where two members of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have marked milestone steps on their missionary journeys.
Read the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message
*
May 12, 2022
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart has bid farewell to MSC Superior General Fr Absalón Alvarado, following a three-week visit throughout April and May. Spending a great amount of time travelling around mission projects and ministries across Ireland and the UK, Fr Absalón met with MSC members across the Province and gained a true sense of the challenges and triumphs of mission and ministry here.
Arriving in Ireland from Rome on Easter Monday, Fr Absalón enjoyed a fruitful visit that took in trips to MSC communities in Cork, Dublin, and Galway, visits to schools and nursing homes, a four-day stay with MSC communities in Kirkby and Princethorpe in England, and meetings with the Irish Provincial Council in Dublin.
Speaking during Fr Absalón’s trip, MSC Missions Office Director Fr John Fitzgerald said, “Our Superior General is here on a visit; firstly, to meet all the members individually, to experience all our ministries, here, there, and yonder, and he’s also conveying an awful lot to us about the rest of the provinces throughout the world.”
“When Fr Absalón says he wants to meet everybody in the Province, he actually means everybody!” continued Fr John. “He goes into every street alley, every foundation… Anything at all that happens, this man calls to see the place, he knows what it’s about, and he makes sure that the job is done.”
Fr Absalón enjoyed the Irish sunshine with Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter (left),
and with MSC Missions Office Director Fr John Fitzgerald (right).
Making life possible
One highlight of our Superior General’s visit was a beautiful ceremony at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, where Fr Absalón concelebrated Mass with his MSC brothers Fr John Fitzgerald and Fr John Finn on Sunday, April 24th. Over 700 people tuned into the live stream of the ceremony, joining the parishioners and mission friends who filled the church in Cork City.
In his sermon, Fr Absalón expressed his gratitude to the mission friends and benefactors in the Irish Province who make it possible for our MSCs to do the work they do, at home and abroad. “I am originally from Guatemala, in Central America,” said Fr Absalón. “Through my service as Superior General, I have had the opportunity to visit many projects throughout the world, where you, and the Mission Office of Ireland, have made life possible. All of you have made it possible.”
“Thank you so much for being with us, for being part of our history, for being part of our lives,” he said. “You are the reason for us to be MSC, you give sense to our consecration as Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Thank you so much for that.”
Our Superior General also spent some time in England, meeting with MSC members in
Kirkby and Princethorpe.
Building hope together
Fr Absalón also acknowledged his MSC confrères in the Irish Province for their “testimony of missionary life”.
“May we continue to build together hope for today’s world, convinced that the Risen One walks the path with us,” he prayed.
We are very grateful to Fr Absalón for his time, his enthusiasm, and his dedication, and we wish him every blessing as he leaves our shores having brought these great gifts to the members of our Province, as we continue to journey together in the Way of the Heart.
MSC Superior General Fr Absalón Alvarado meets with the members of the Irish Provincial Council.
Please click here to watch a recording of Mass concelebrated by our MSC Superior General.
*
May 10, 2022
Novena to the Sacred Heart 2022
The Feast of the Sacred Heart is fast approaching, and with it comes our special Novena to the Sacred Heart – a beautiful time of reflection when we bring our prayers and petitions before the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Our Novena of Masses runs for nine days, up to and including the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
This year’s Novena will take place from Thursday, June 16th to Friday, June 24th.
All are welcome to join in the Novena by watching our daily Masses live from the Sacred Heart Church in Cork. Novena Masses will take place daily at 10.00am and 7.30pm.
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 this year’s Novena is “Jesus – The Compassion & Mercy of God”, and it will be celebrated by Fr Paul Clayton-Lea.
Fr Paul will make a welcome return to the Sacred Heart Church to celebrate this year’s Novena, following his wonderful contribution to our 2021 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Fr Paul is a priest of the Archdiocese of Armagh, who has enjoyed a wide and varied ministry to date and is currently the priest in residence in the parish of Termonfeckin, Co. Louth. Having studied Education and Family Ministry at Fordham University in New York in 1988, he also ministered in the Riverdale area of the Bronx at the time, and has since served as a teacher of politics and religion, a college chaplain at DKIT, a Diocesan Advisor for Religious Education, and a parish priest. Author of In The Light Of The Word: Family Life Through The Lens Of Scripture, which was published by Veritas in 2018, Fr Paul is also editor of Intercom, the monthly magazine of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. We very much look forward to welcoming Fr Paul to the Sacred Heart Church once more as we celebrate this year’s Novena together.
Novena to the Sacred Heart at the Sacred Heart Church
Daily Novena Masses: 10.00am & 7.30pm
Dates to note
Sunday, June 19th
Novena Mass at 10.00am
Corpus Christi at 7.30pm
(beginning with Rosary & Benediction, followed by Mass)
Monday, June 20th
Penitential Services at 10.00am & 7.30pm
Thursday, June 23rd
Novena Masses at 10.00am & 7.30pm
Mass of Healing at 3.00pm
Each year, the Sacred Heart Novena is a time of great solace, peace, and prayer, as we bring our intentions before the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All are very welcome to join us for our daily Novena Masses on our live stream as we come together to reflect and give thanks in the grace and love of the Lord.
We welcome each and every one of you to this year’s Novena to the Sacred Heart.
We pray that these nine days of prayer will be a grace-filled and blessed time for all of us.
TAKE PART IN OUR 2022 NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART
