Sep 14, 2019
Gospel Reflection
Reflection & Dialogue: Searching for the lost sheep and the prodigal son today
The Gospel (Luke 15:1-32)
There will be rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner.
It was once easy to identify “lost sheep” and have a ministry to them. They were lapsed, or non-practising, Catholics. Certain zealous members of some Catholic organizations might seek them out and attempt to bring them back to the practice of their faith. They might also be visited by preachers during parish missions.
Matters are notably different in our own day. Many Catholics give up the practice of their religion at an early date. Some are just “lapsed” and go no further, remaining believers to a greater or lesser degree. But together with these there is now a growing denial of belief in God, and a tendency to make this denial public, as if such belief were incompatible with a truly human life. And with this goes denial of belief in any afterlife.
This explicit denial can be pronounced among the literati and learned class. It is not new, and has in history tended to accompany high points in physics and literature. We have a good example of it in the biblical Book of Wisdom (2:2-3), composed about 30 B.C., where the ungodly are made to say: “The breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is kindled by the beating of our hearts. When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air”.
For believers, the loving Father in heaven continues to address his saving message to all these, and it will be for believers to make this message known as befits each occasion. Rejection, real or apparent, of the Church among the young can come about from a variety of causes. With these in mind, it is good to pay attention to surveys done on the attitude of the young towards the Catholic faith. Some of their difficulties arise from an incorrect understanding of certain points of doctrine, such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, or in consecrated hosts. The task of bringing the message of God’s loving concern to the many groups in our own day is a daunting one, but not one to despair of, since the chief agent at work will be none other than God, the loving Father and Jesus Christ present in our world in a variety of ways.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC
Sep 11, 2019
Our 2019 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart took place from Saturday, August 31st to Sunday, September 8th, at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork.
A number of MSCs celebrated our daily Novena Masses over the nine-day period, including Fr Michael O’Connell, Fr Tom Mulcahy, and Fr Vincent Screene, who recently returned home to Ireland from the Venezuelan mission.
The Sacred Heart Church was beautifully decorated, with a very special feature this year. A wonderful statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart stood on the altar throughout the course of the Novena, which had been carved by the late Fr Jerry O’Riordan MSC, who ministered in South Africa and Indonesia.
It was wonderful to see the familiar faces of old friends return to the Sacred Heart Church every day, and to welcome new acquaintances to our Novena Masses every day. We were also delighted to see over 2,200 people pray with us via the live stream on our website over the nine days of the Novena – a sure sign that our great community of faith is growing all over the world!
The theme of year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was “Mother-Disciple”, with Sr Merle Salazar FDNSC acting as the special guest speaker at each of our daily Masses.
It was with great joy that we welcomed Sr Merle back to the Sacred Heart Church, following her wonderful reception as leader of the Sacred Heart Novena in 2018. With a fascinating history and varied career path to date, Sr Merle is a firm favourite with parishioners in Cork and beyond.
Born, raised, and educated in the Philippines, Sr Merle was a certified public accountant prior to her decision to join religious life with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 1995. As a young religious sister, she taught accountancy, did treasury work in a parish school, and coordinated a nutrition program in the remote village of Cebu, located in central Philippines. She also obtained a Masters degree in Religious Studies, and following her final profession, she has ministered in Formation and Leadership. She has also taught Marian Theology and Scripture at three theology schools in Manila, and is currently the First Councillor to the General, residing in Rome.
Sr Merle was welcomed with open arms once again this year, and we thank her, and everybody who contributed to this year’s celebrations, in person or online, for taking part in another successful, prayerful, and blessed Novena.
Sep 5, 2019
At the end of July, the Philippine Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart unveiled their newly renovated MSC house in Surigao City, which now takes the form of the new MSC College Formation House.
The launch of the new MSC Formation House also saw the formal acceptance of seven new formands to the college formation programme.
At the Eucharistic celebration, Fr Cabrera, the Provincial Superior of the Philippines, addressed the new formands as they embarked upon this new and exciting stage of their missionary journey. “You are MSC formands because we hope that you imbibe the MSC Spirituality and charism in your initial formation years,” he said, encouraging and motivating the seven new formands for the journey ahead.
The following week also saw great excitement for the Philippine Province, as their Profession Day was held on August 6th, the Feast of Our Lord’s Transfiguration. Two novices, Frt Franz Kim Pelare and Frt Diomuel Carpenteros, made their first profession of vows, while five confreres made their perpetual profession: Frt Ace Yu, Frt Julieto Amaneo, Jr., Frt Ronie Botona, Frt Chris John Awa, and Frt Michael Angelo Dacalos. In addition, three MSCs, Frt Janray, Bro Florris, and Frt Jyrnell, renewed their religious vows at the ceremony.
It was a wonderful day for all involved – and as the Facebook page for the MSC Scholasticate Community in the Philippines noted, “If their sweet smiles imply anything, it might just be, in the words of Fr Provincial, that they did it in joy, in freedom, and in love.”
Our prayers are with each of these men in our MSC family, on the different stages of the missionary journey.
Keep up to date with the MSC Missions Office Philippines on Facebook.
Visit the new website for the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines.
Aug 29, 2019
We were very pleased to see these wonderful photographs from our MSC mission in Mozambique, when the community of Our Lady of Fatima paid a visit to the village of Mitepo at the end of July.
It was especially nice to see so many children and young people join the gathering, where they “animated the celebration” with their joyful presence.
This was a “very meaningful and blessed morning” for our missionary community, said the MSC Mozambique Facebook page. The visit ended with a special lunch – which, in Mitepo, is referred to as “a glass of water”.
The Mozambique mission began almost a year and a half ago, in March 2018, when MSC missionaries from Brazil began ministering in the Pemba diocese. This is an extremely poor part of the country, which was sadly lacking in any church infrastructure and functioning pastoral ministry. Here, our MSC brothers began the construction of a community house from which they could undertake their ministry and parish outreach, and they immediately began working to bring positive change to the district.
Just a year after the mission began, in March and April 2019, two cyclones hit north-eastern Mozambique over the space of six weeks, killing hundreds and rendering over 21,000 people homeless. Floods and mudslides destroyed homes, crops, and livestock, with no means of recovery. Many houses in the area were built of mud, bamboo, and wood, and so they didn’t stand a chance against the tremendous force of nature that struck them. “We have lost everything,” said one survivor. “Our house and most of our belongings were taken by the wind and the waves.”
MSC missionaries had already been working to rebuild struggling communities in the area before the cyclones hit, and in the wake of these disasters, they have been continuing to help devastated families to restore the shattered pieces of their lives.
We are sending every blessing to our MSC brothers and the communities they serve in Mozambique, from all in the Irish Province.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Aug 22, 2019
We were delighted to welcome Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC to Cork this August, as she kindly took the time to visit the MSC Missions Office during her trip to Ireland. Sr Jenny originally hails from Australia, and now resides in Rome in her role as International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH).
An invaluable branch of our Sacred Heart family tree, we have been very glad of the opportunity to work with our OLSH Sisters over the past year, with particular attention to the projects that Sr Jenny highlighted in our 2019 World Projects Appeal. The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart do truly wonderful work on a global scale, from education projects in the Philippines, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, and South Sudan, to the provision of emergency aid to the survivors of domestic abuse in Kiribati. The OLSH Sisters also founded the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa, where they currently care for 70 children who have been abandoned, abused, or are suffering the effects of serious illness such as HIV/AIDS and TB.
Sr Jenny has been professed for over 29 years, and has held a number of varied ministries in that time, including teacher, educational administrator, and Provincial Councillor. She has completed Masters degrees in Education and Theological Studies, and now works tirelessly to make a difference where it is most needed in her role as International Development Officer for the OLSH.
The support of our mission friends here in the Irish Province has been a tremendous help to the OLSH Sisters around the world. “The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart would like to thank you most sincerely for the support of your prayers and interest, and for any donations to our mission areas,” says Sr Jenny. “Indeed, support such as yours help make our work possible, and for this we thank you and assure you of our continued prayers for you.”
It was wonderful to have Sr Jenny pay us a visit in person, and we look forward to working closely with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on their ongoing projects around the world.
PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH GLOBAL OUTREACH
Aug 17, 2019
Gospel Reflection
I am not here to bring peace, but rather division.
Reflection & Dialogue: The Church in dialogue with division.
The Gospel (Luke 12:49-53)
Reflection
Today’s readings give us rich material for reflection. We, present-day Christians, are heirs to a great cloud of witnesses. From the very beginnings of the Church’s history, the followers of Christ experienced persecution of one kind or another. Early in his ministry, we find Paul and his fellow missioner Barnabas encouraging new converts and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). In the passage from the Letter to the Hebrews read today, strong stress is laid on perseverance. The same messages holds true for our own day.
Dialogue
What Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading on the connection between his person and division, even the absence of peace, provides us with a strong invitation for dialogue. Christ is the Prince of Peace who has made a strong plea for unity. All are well aware of his words that he is the good shepherd and that there were other sheep that were not of his fold, sheep that will heed his voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:14-16). These words are often cited. But this does not permit us to forget the divisions connected with the person of Jesus by reason of the demands he makes and the mystery that is his person, continued in the Church which is his body. And indeed, already after his statement about himself as good shepherd, the Gospel text goes on to say that there was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Jesus came to the world and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. In the early Church there was division between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. Division continued between Christians over the centuries, the major division in the West coming with the Reformation, and remaining with us today.
The examples we have considered concern divisions among Christian believers. The divisions today between Christ and what he stands for and much of contemporary society run far deeper, between the Christian vision and that of atheism, humanism, liberalism and other movements. For believers, Christ is the saviour of the world, and the Christian vision of personal and public morality covers many aspects of human behaviour. These other ideologies mentioned also have a vision of life and human society which they believe should be governed without any reference to, or influence from, the voice of God or of Jesus. The Church and believers must, as far as possible, engage in dialogue with the new reality.
It is a question of dialogue, not criticism. Both Christ, the Church and humanism have a rather absolute vision of the world, the human person, and matters relating to them. In the view of philosophical humanism faith is an impediment to human development. For Christ himself and his followers, Christ is the Saviour of the world. This dialogue implies that the arguments of humanism be examined and responded to by the Christian position. Believers should not be afraid of such dialogue. In a sense, fidelity to Christ and the Christian inheritance indicates it.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC
