Jun 8, 2017
Thereâs something special about getting up before dawn each morning, finding your boots (or runners â weâll get to that later), and heading off with fellow pilgrims in a gentle procession across the Spanish countryside. This is the daily rhythm of those who walk the Camino de Santiago, as we walk from horizon to horizon to the resting place of St James the Apostle.
This is the fifth year that the MSC Vocations team have organised the pilgrimage on the Way. It is the sort of experience that attracts people from a variety of backgrounds. Each day, weâre out walking with the sun rising behind us. We stop for breakfast after a couple of hours, and then take a cafĂ© con leche mid-morning. Thereâs no great rush. In fact, when youâre walking about 25km each day, you have to go gently.
“On the Way, you take time – for yourself and for others.”
This is perhaps the greatest challenge of the Camino, that of slowing down. Our world today is fast-paced and constantly moving. Being under pressure is seen as a virtue for some strange reason. On the Way, you take time â for yourself and for others. You speak with absolute strangers. People come from all over the world, drawn by something they find difficult to put into words. One of our group this year hit it on the head when he said that we were walking in the 
footsteps of millions of people, along pilgrim pathways that stretch back over a thousand years and that will continue into the future.
While itâs a reflective, meditative experience, itâs also good fun. When we arrived into these old towns, we would take a siesta and spend most of the day exploring, before gathering for a shared meal in the evening. We met a navy chaplain who keeps bees, a part-time Mr and Mrs Santa Claus who spend their summers caring for pilgrims, and plenty of people from South Korea, who couldnât speak English but who were ace at sign language.
A small aside for future pilgrims â while runners look great, theyâre not really ideal footwear for a walk like this. One statement from someone in this yearâs group summed it up beautifully. Following a torrential rain shower, she told me, in what has to be the most positive interpretation of an uncomfortable situation ever, âFr. Alan, my soaked trainers make it much easier to walk on my blistered feet!â
Buen Camino,
Fr. Alan
If youâd like to know more about our Camino trips, you can contact Fr. Alan at camino@mscmissions.ie, or call +353 (0) 86 785 7955 (Ireland) or +44 (0) 75 2676 4236 (UK).
On the Camino, we began each day with a moment of reflection. This was one of a number of pieces from the poet Mary Oliver, titled “Invitation”, which we used to inspire us for the day ahead:
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude â
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
Jun 7, 2017
In honour of the anniversary of the 2014 prayer meeting for peace, a minute of prayer for peace will take place worldwide on Thursday, 08th June 2017 at 1.00pm.
June 8th, 2017 marks the third anniversary of the historic meeting that took place in the Vatican Gardens between Pope Francis and the Israeli and Palestinian presidents. This year, we are once again called to join in the âOne Minute for Peaceâ initiative, where the world comes together to pray for peace according to peopleâs own religious traditions and beliefs. Wherever we are and whatever weâre doing, weâre invited to stop for just one minute, and join with Pope Francis in praying for peace in our own tradition.
At the end of his General Audience in St Peterâs Square on June 7th, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of this initiative, which, he says, represents âa short moment of prayer on the recurrence of the meeting in the Vatican between me, the mourned Israeli President Peres, and the Palestinian President Abbasâ.
“In our days, there is a great need to pray – Christians, Jews, and Muslims – for peace.”
In these turbulent and troubling times, with millions of people suffering from the effects of war, violence, and hunger, the appeal for peace in the world is more powerful than ever. The Holy Father reflects, âIn our days, there is a great need to pray â Christians, Jews, and Muslims â for peaceâ.
The official Vatican network writes:
âEveryone is invited to stop their daily activities and dedicate a minute to reflect, pray according to oneâs own religious tradition, and to commit themselves to peace around the world. This âminuteâ can be lived alone or together with others, on the street or in church, in the family, at school, [or] at work.â
ââOne Minute for Peaceâ is a simple proposal that everyone can accomplish.â
Jun 2, 2017
The official hymn for the World Meeting of Families 2018, “A Joy of Love for all the World”, has been released ahead of next summerâs event.
Composer Ephrem Feeley (centre) with wife Giovanna and Cardinal Kevin Farrell at the launch of the official hymn for the World Meeting of Families 2018
Irish composer Ephrem Feeley found inspiration for the hymn in Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love, a document written by Pope Francis in 2016 reflecting on the challenges facing families in todayâs world.
âThe experience of love in families is a perennial source of strength for the life of the Church,â writes Pope Francis, and Mr Feeley draws on that unique and marvellous experience of love in this beautiful hymn.
Preparations are currently in place for the celebrations in August 2018, as Ireland looks ahead to the much-anticipated visit of Pope Francis. The theme of the World Meeting of Families is âThe Gospel of the Family: Joy for the Worldâ, and it is with this in mind that we remember Pope Francisâ encouraging words:
âYoung love needs to keep dancing towards the future with immense hope.â
Listen to “A Joy of Love for all the World” and watch the official video on the World Meeting of Families 2018 website.
Jun 1, 2017
Locals in the community of Waterval, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, have been working together with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart to raise funds for a new church in their parish of Louis Trichardt.
Waterval residents at the site of the new Sacred Heart Church
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been working to make positive changes in the region since their arrival in 1950, with a primary focus on medical care, education, AIDS awareness and prevention, and care programmes for orphans and vulnerable youths. MSC missions in the area have made a real difference in the quality of life enjoyed by the local community, and today, our MSCs work with the people of Louis Trichardt to promote self-sufficiency with the prospect of a better and brighter future.
In Waterval, the local community began their own fundraising drive and were able to raise enough money to buy building materials and lay the foundations of their new church. The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart will provide the balance of funds needed to complete the building, and the new church will be named the Sacred Heart Church.
The tin shack where Waterval residents have celebrated Mass to date, alongside some of the building materials that will be used to construct the new Sacred Heart Church.
As construction begins, MSCs in the region are documenting the progress made with photographs of the build. In this small and close community, the promise of a new church is an encouraging one. Locals are extremely dedicated to their faith, and the significance of having a special place of worship is huge. To date, locals have been celebrating Mass in the tin shack pictured above; now, thanks to the combined efforts of the community and MSCs in the area, the population of Waterval can look forward to having a dedicated place of worship to call their own.
With local enthusiasm matched by the goodwill and generosity of mission friends and benefactors around the world, itâs clear to see the power that comes of unity â together, we can make a real and lasting difference.
PLEASE SUPPORTÂ OUR MISSION PROJECTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
May 29, 2017
Sunday, 28th May 2017 marked the 51st World Communications Day. In todayâs world, where communicating a message of hope and love is more important than ever throughout these turbulent times, the theme is an encouraging one:
âFear not, for I am with youâ: Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time
In his message for the 51st World Communications Day, Pope Francis said:
âAccess to the media â thanks to technological progress â makes it possible for countless people to share news instantly and spread it widely. That news may be good or bad, true or false. The early Christians compared the human mind to a constantly grinding millstone; it is up to the miller to determine what it will grind: good wheat or worthless weeds. Our minds are always âgrindingâ, but it is up to us to choose what to feed them (cf. Saint John Cassian, Epistle to Leontius).
I wish to address this message to all those who, whether in their professional work or personal relationships, are like that mill, daily âgrinding outâ information with the aim of providing rich fare for those with whom they communicate. I would like to encourage everyone to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust.
I am convinced that we have to break the vicious circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear resulting from a constant focus on âbad newsâ (wars, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure). This has nothing to do with spreading misinformation that would ignore the tragedy of human suffering, nor is it about a naive optimism blind to the scandal of evil. Rather, I propose that all of us work at overcoming that feeling of growing discontent and resignation that can at times generate apathy, fear or the idea that evil has no limits. Moreover, in a communications industry which thinks that good news does not sell, and where the tragedy of human suffering and the mystery of evil easily turn into entertainment, there is always the temptation that our consciences can be dulled or slip into pessimism.
I would like, then, to contribute to the search for an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamourize evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients. I ask everyone to offer the people of our time storylines that are at heart âgood newsâ.
Good news
Life is not simply a bare succession of events, but a history, a story waiting to be told through the choice of an interpretative lens that can select and gather the most relevant data. In and of itself, reality has no one clear meaning. Everything depends on the way we look at things, on the lens we use to view them. If we change that lens, reality itself appears different. So how can we begin to âreadâ reality through the right lens?
For us Christians, that lens can only be the good news, beginning with the Good News par excellence: âthe Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of Godâ (Mk 1:1). With these words, Saint Mark opens his Gospel not by relating âgood newsâ about Jesus, but rather the good news that is Jesus himself. Indeed, reading the pages of his Gospel, we learn that its title corresponds to its content and, above all else, this content is the very person of Jesus.
This good news â Jesus himself â is not good because it has nothing to do with suffering, but rather because suffering itself becomes part of a bigger picture. It is seen as an integral part of Jesusâ love for the Father and for all mankind. In Christ, God has shown his solidarity with every human situation. He has told us that we are not alone, for we have a Father who is constantly mindful of his children. âFear not, for I am with youâ (Is 43:5): these are the comforting words of a God who is immersed in the history of his people. In his beloved Son, this divine promise â âI am with youâ â embraces all our weakness, even to dying our death. In Christ, even darkness and death become a point of encounter with Light and Life. Hope is born, a hope accessible to everyone, at the very crossroads where life meets the bitterness of failure. That hope does not disappoint, because Godâs love has been poured into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5) and makes new life blossom, like a shoot that springs up from the fallen seed. Seen in this light, every new tragedy that occurs in the worldâs history can also become a setting for good news, inasmuch as love can find a way to draw near and to raise up sympathetic hearts, resolute faces and hands ready to build anew.
Confidence in the seed of the Kingdom
To introduce his disciples and the crowds to this Gospel mindset and to give them the right âlensâ needed to see and embrace the love that dies and rises, Jesus uses parables. He frequently compares the Kingdom of God to a seed that releases its potential for life precisely when it falls to the earth and dies (cf. Mk 4:1-34). This use of images and metaphors to convey the quiet power of the Kingdom does not detract from its importance and urgency; rather, it is a merciful way of making space for the listener to freely accept and appropriate that power. It is also a most effective way to express the immense dignity of the Paschal mystery, leaving it to images, rather than concepts, to communicate the paradoxical beauty of new life in Christ. In that life, hardship and the cross do not obstruct, but bring about Godâs salvation; weakness proves stronger than any human power; and failure can be the prelude to the fulfilment of all things in love. This is how hope in the Kingdom of God matures and deepens: it is âas if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and growâ (Mk 4:26-27).
The Kingdom of God is already present in our midst, like a seed that is easily overlooked, yet silently takes root. Those to whom the Holy Spirit grants keen vision can see it blossoming. They do not let themselves be robbed of the joy of the Kingdom by the weeds that spring up all about.
The horizons of the Spirit
Our hope based on the good news which is Jesus himself makes us lift up our eyes to contemplate the Lord in the liturgical celebration of the Ascension. Even though the Lord may now appear more distant, the horizons of hope expand all the more. In Christ, who brings our human nature to heaven, every man and woman can now freely âenter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his fleshâ (Heb 10:19-20). By âthe power of the Holy Spiritâ we can be witnesses and âcommunicatorsâ of a new and redeemed humanity âeven to the ends of the earthâ (Acts 1:7 8).
Confidence in the seed of Godâs Kingdom and in the mystery of Easter should also shape the way we communicate. This confidence enables us to carry out our work â in all the different ways that communication takes place nowadays â with the conviction that it is possible to recognize and highlight the good news present in every story and in the face of each person.
Those who, in faith, entrust themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit come to realize how God is present and at work in every moment of our lives and history, patiently bringing to pass a history of salvation. Hope is the thread with which this sacred history is woven, and its weaver is none other than the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Hope is the humblest of virtues, for it remains hidden in the recesses of life; yet it is like the yeast that leavens all the dough. We nurture it by reading ever anew the Gospel, âreprintedâ in so many editions in the lives of the saints who became icons of Godâs love in this world. Today too, the Spirit continues to sow in us a desire for the Kingdom, thanks to all those who, drawing inspiration from the Good News amid the dramatic events of our time, shine like beacons in the darkness of this world, shedding light along the way and opening ever new paths of confidence and hope.â
Pope Francis
May 29, 2017
The wind beneath our wings
I love cycling, but I hate cycling into a headwind. The wind is invisible but I feel its effects â and this makes all the difference.
In Latin, the word for wind is “spiritus”. The Spirit of the risen Jesus is invisible, but its effects can be seen. When the early Christians were trying to explain their experience of the Spirit, they used images of wind and fire â powerful images that describe a force that can move people.
It was the Spirit that moved the disciples out of the upper room and into the streets. Despite their fears and better judgement, they allowed themselves to be blown by the Spirit out into the world and to attract many to Jesus.
This same Spirit is blowing in our world today. Yet are we as Church and as individual Christians paying attention to the movements of the Spirit? Do we make our decisions in line with the Spiritâs urgings, or are we guided by intellectual caution and our fearful hearts? To return to the image of cycling, are we pedaling into the wind and getting nowhere, or are we allowing the wind to blow us in new, unexpected directions?
Pentecost is called the birthday of the Church. It is the day when the Spirit of Jesus became really alive and effective in His disciples. That is because His followers allowed the Spirit to blow them where It wanted. Our call is to let go of our fears and of old dead structures, and to allow the Spirit to surprise us and blow us in the direction that God wishes.
Fr Con OâConnell MSC
