Oct 14, 2014
Spirit in the City Festival in London
It has been a summer of celebration for the MSC vocations team, filled with festivals, pilgrimages and volunteering. Most exciting of all we opened our new student community in Dublin on September 8th with two candidates, Kevin and Henry. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In fact we’ll start at the very beginning of summer. It is, as the song goes, a very good place to start.
Arriving after 111Km on the Camino
June opened with a young adult pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. For those of you who haven’t heard of The Way it’s an 800km walk across the north of Spain to the resting place of the Apostle James. It has been part of Catholic tradition for well over a millennium. Each year it inspires hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to leave hurry and noise of life behind, to walk or cycle or ride on horseback to Santiago in a spirit of reflection and prayer. Our group this year came from Scotland and Ireland and they were profoundly moved by the experience, in spite of the torrential rain once or twice. June was also a good time for festivals and we took part in Brightlights young adult weekend and the Spirit in the City evangelisation day in Leicester Square. They are at the forefront of engaging young adults and exploring what faith means today. (more…)
Sep 8, 2014
Kevin, Clare, Fr. Alan and Henry
It’s a real day of celebration for the Chevalier Family. Today we have three young adults entering formation in Dublin, two with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) and one with our sister congregation, the Daughters of our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH). It is an exciting new departure, as they take that courageous next step exploring where God is calling them in life.
Meet the Students (more…)
Aug 31, 2014
Clare Brady, a nurse from Monaghan, shares her experience in South Africa with MSC Volunteering.
We arrived in South Africa on 12th June and traveled to Holy Family Care Centre with Fr Frank Bray one of the MSC priests. On arrival to Holy Family we were greeted by the children, Sisters and other volunteers. From the moment arrived we were welcomed into their family and it really began to feel like home.
So far I have really enjoyed getting to know the children and as time goes on I am beginning to learn their routine, their likes and dislikes. At the moment some of the girls are teaching me the games they like to play. I enjoy spending time with the older girls and boys who tell me about their local traditions, and are eager to learn about other traditions. I am having a great time here and I just hope that the children are having half as much fun as the volunteers are. (more…)
Aug 5, 2014
Pilgrims from absolutely everywhere!
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive for the first time for the Medjugorje Youth Festival is the heat. It’s hot and I mean roasting. The second thing you notice is the sheer diversity of young people gathered from all around the world for a week of prayer, testimonies and fun. You have pilgrims from Paraguay, Vietnam, Congo DRC and even the UK and Ireland.
Prayers offered in every imaginable language
There are even pilgrims from Syria and the Ukraine, who share on how their faith has helped them to deal with the challenges of life in their countries. This what the Medjugorje Youth Festival is about. The week is not about being some sort of holy huddle, separated off from the world. It’s about sharing stories and exploring faith. Above all it’s about celebrating what we feel and know to be true about God’s love for us and His invitation to share that message with the world. As part of the celebration pilgrims are adding their prayers to a hundred metre tapestry that will brought up during the final Mass on Tuesday. It represents the hopes and petitions of over 40,000 pilgrims, written in every language imaginable. During each of the youth Masses this week we have had over 500 priest concelebrating. Honestly we look likes clowns coming out of a mini there’s so many of us – if that’s not too irreverent!
Cenacolo Community’s production of Credo
Later tonight I’m going to see Credo, a musical and theatrical presentation by the Cenacolo Community. Cenacolo is an integral part of the Medjugorje experience. It is not simply a residential centre for people struggling with addiction. Rather it is a place of hope. Working without psychiatrists, doctors and social workers it bases itself on a Catholic ethos of prayer and compassion. The results speak for themselves and the community has spread and there are now 60 houses world wide. I’ll let you know how it went.
Aug 3, 2014
Shelter from the Storm on the Camino
Travelling Light and The Journey are the themes of two of the biggest Christian festivals this summer. It seems that the idea of being a pilgrim is becoming increasingly popular in our world today. It’s not really a surprise, as many of the aspects of a pilgrimage echo that of life.
As part of our young adult ministry and vocations programme we ran two pilgrimages along the Camino in June. It was a perfect opportunity to leave everything behind, except for a sleeping bag, a small backpack and comfortable boots. There a freedom to The Way, that is difficult to find elsewhere. It’s about waking up before dawn each morning and heading off with the rising Sun at your back. As you walk to the first horizon, you know that when you get there you’ll simply walk on to the next one. (more…)
Jul 23, 2014
MSC Volunteering on Safari
It’s another day in the Holy Family Centre ( HFC ) during the winter holidays. Along with the staff the MSC Volunteers took the kids out to Moholoholo Animal Rescue and Game Preserve. The children were roared at by lions, got chased by a cheetah and were able to pet a hawk. When you follow that up with a picnic in the park it makes for an amazing day and a typical one for our volunteers. This is the second year that we’ve run the MSC Volunteering Project in South Africa. It’s an opportunity to give a number of young adults from Ireland and the UK an experience of making a difference by sharing their gifts and talents in the developing world. (more…)
