04 Jan 2019
Have you ever felt you were called to be so much more?
So, it’s 2019!
New Year is a time when you stop to think about life and where you’re going. It’s easy to slip into a pattern. It’s familiar, comfortable, and not especially exciting. However, you still feel that you could be called to be more. If that’s the case have you ever thought of exploring a call to be a Catholic priest with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart? It may be an entirely new question or perhaps it has been on your mind for some time and won’t go away. As 2019 begins perhaps now is as good as a time as any to find out more. We are happy to help in whatever way we can. Perhaps there are specific questions you might like answers to or maybe you want to simply have a chat over a coffee. It might be a once off thing or it could lead to a longer conversation. You decide. We believe that God calls everyone, including yourself, and it our role to help you find out what that might be.
Who we are
Fr. Seamus Kelly MSC working with street children in Maracaibo, Venezuela
There are over two thousand of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (or MSCs as we are more commonly known) ministering in Ireland, England, and in fifty other countries around the world. As religious, community life is important to us. We live and pray together, but then work in a wide variety of situations, based on a person’s gifts. We minister in parishes, retreat ministry, schools, hospitals, prisons, universities – well, wherever we think we’re needed. At the moment we have men in Venezuela living in some of the poorest barrios; there are brothers working on islands in the Pacific that are being profoundly impacted by climate change; and we have priests in Ireland ministering to families in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
What we believe
Our spirituality is about sharing the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with all those around us, especially those in any kind of need. Pope Francis speaks about the need for us to be, “Missionaries of God’s love and mercy.” This invitation, better still this challenge, has never been more important than it is today. There is a huge hunger for the Gospel message. What’s needed now are men who have the joy, courage, and faith to share it. In addition since our foundation, the MSCs have emphasised the need for a sense of humour in our way of life. As you get more involved in ministry at the margins you realise what a gift it is!
Where to from here
If you would like to find out more you can call Fr. Alan Neville MSC, our Vocations Director on +353 (0) 86 785 7955 Ireland or +44 (0) 75 2676 4236 UK or simply email him on vocations@mscmissions.ie He will be happy to speak with you and provide a listening ear, as you discern where God is calling you. In the meantime have a look at some of the stories below of people like yourself who were asking some of the same questions and took a leap of faith.
Read about our Novices’ celebration of their first profession.
Giacomo, a doctor in chemical engineering from Italy now studying theology in Dublin, talks about his experience working with people with disabilities in the L’Arche Community in Cork.