02 May 2017
Meet Mark Quinn, one of two pre-novitiate students who began his studies in our MSC formation house in Dublin in autumn 2016.
By spending time in personal reflection, and living and working as members of a larger group, MSC pre-novitiate students gain a rich and varied experience of the community, its works, and its mission within our world.
Mark is from Castlebar, Co. Mayo and is a chef by profession. A number of volunteering experiences in Africa led him to consider missionary life, and he has now come to explore his vocation with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Here, he shares his reason for choosing to study with the MSC.
“In the midst of a deep discernment process, I found myself on a volunteer trip in the coastal city of Dar es Salam, Tanzania. One evening, while travelling home from our daily trip to the orphanages, my gaze was drawn to a small girl standing outside a makeshift hut as we sped along the dusty road. While her impoverished surroundings were heart-breaking, it was the expression on her motionless face that captured my attention. Her eyes transfixed on mine, I felt as if Christ himself was looking at me, calling me, or asking something of me that I was yet to fully understand.
A couple of days later, home in Ireland and with East Africa still fresh in my mind, I began to look deeper into religious missionary orders in Ireland. If I am to be honest (and maybe a bit superficial), I was initially attracted by the MSC’s online presence. It showed that the congregation was very much contemporary, and alive and kicking. I contacted Fr Alan, who came to my home to meet with me for a relaxed chat. He was genuinely interested in my story and was honest and informative about the MSC.
A few weeks later, I was invited to stay with the MSCs at their formation house in Dublin. It was great to see and talk to more young men in formation, and I was able to meet a number of priests who are working in a wide variety of roles for a question and answer session. It was a revelation for me to learn about the diversity and internationality of the congregation, and how I could bring my skills to them as well as being formed by their unique charism.
Then, in July, I was also able to take part in their fantastic annual volunteer programme. I travelled to the Holy Family Care Centre for children orphaned by HIV/AIDs or TB in South Africa, where I could see first-hand the heart of Jesus being brought to life. It confirmed for me that God was indeed calling me to be a missionary. But not just any missionary, a missionary of his Sacred Heart!”