Hope, courage & healing: Novena to the Sacred Heart 2025

 

Our 2025 Novena to the Sacred Heart has come to an end, and it is with truly grateful hearts that we thank everybody who helped to make it such a special occasion for all involved. 

This year’s Novena took place from Thursday, June 19th to Friday, June 27th, at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork – newly decorated just in time for the occasion! We were delighted to see so many familiar faces join us during the Novena, and of course to welcome new friends along too. Almost 11,000 people joined us in prayer on our live stream over the course of the nine days, from close to home and across the world, reminding us in such a lovely way that we are all very much interconnected and part of something bigger, part of a great community of faith, wherever in the world we may be located. 

Parish priest Fr Con Doherty MSC introduces Fr Des Farren MSC at the opening Mass of our 2025 Novena to the Sacred Heart 

Parish priest Fr Con Doherty MSC began the opening Mass of this year’s Novena, which centred on the theme “Anchor of Hope, Mercy & Courage for our ‘turbulent times!’”. “A very, very warm welcome to all who are gathered here this morning, and a very warm welcome to all who are joining us on live stream,” he said. “We have a great sense of gratitude to God that we’re here on such a wonderful day as we set out on our boats into this beautiful Novena, within really kind of troubled waters, but we know where to find refuge.” 

An open, loving heart 

This set the tone for the nine days ahead, and Fr Des Farren MSC gave a beautiful opening sermon on the origins of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, as he reflected on the openness of the Sacred Heart itself. “It’s not enclosed, it’s open,” he said. “This is not some distant God, this is God made man, whose heart is opened out of love for all of us.” 

Fr Des returned for Day 2 of the Novena, leading us in thought on how we respond to and accept God’s in our lives. “Whatever the darkness is, illness, events of your past, family difficulties, perhaps financial difficulties, or loneliness… Stop, think, and pray,” he said. “Let God come in, he’ll show you a way.” 

Fr Des Farren MSC 

Day 3 of the Novena saw Fr Des’ final sermon, on the encyclical on the Sacred Heart – the Sacred Heart embodying that “divine love that seeks the salvation and wellbeing of every person, offering a visible and tangible expression of God’s infinite compassion.” 

On Day 4, we welcomed Fr Terry O’Brien MSC, leading us in a reflection on fellowship, hope, and healing. “It has been rightly remarked, in my opinion, that the consumerism of modern life, it’s not that it makes us want too much, but it makes us want too little,” said Fr Terry. “It diverts our attention to lesser things. To live according to modern consumerism principles is full of appeals to our most precious possession – our attention. And there is so much that conspires to steal our attention, which is the most important thing we have to offer to others. And so, we come to Holy Mass, to the Eucharist, to be fed, for the table of the Lord is large and there are many seats around it.” 

 

“Nobody is left out, all are welcome.” 

Day 5 of the Novena brought us a wonderful talk from Cathy O’Sullivan, who has a background in midwifery and education, and specialises in breath awareness. She explained how both breathing, and a devotion to the Sacred Heart, helped her through her treatment for breast cancer, and led us through some useful breathing exercises that can benefit us in coping with daily stresses and strains. “When we trust in the Sacred Heart, we are telling him that we love him, and trust that he will take us through any situation that we will encounter in this life, be it stressful or joyful. Breathing and praying to the Sacred Heart during times of stress and anxiety helps to keep us grounded. We take in oxygen when we breathe to sustain us, and we hand over our concerns and our worries to the Lord.” 

Cathy O’Sullivan 

Deacon Thady joined us on Day 6 of the Novena as we prayed for healing, speaking of the importance of spiritual healing, encouraging and building each other up as a spiritual community. “Somebody with a nourished healthy spirit thinks in a very healthy way, and this then leads to physical healing,” he explained.  

A special day of healing: Mass was celebrated by Fr Seamus Kelly MSC, who was joined by Fr Con Doherty MSC and Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC, with a sermon by Deacon Thady. 

We welcomed Julianna Crowley to the Sacred Heart Church on Day 8 of the Novena, healthcare chaplain in Cork University Hospital and Cork University Maternity Hospital. Julianna spoke of bereavement, grief, and loss – the stillness of time in a very desolate and difficult place, and hearts that continue to search for “healing, consolation, answers, and hope”. In a beautiful reflection, she reminded us that our loved ones are “at the heart of Jesus, in the home of Heaven.” “As we hold each other together here in this church, it’s okay to be tearful, it’s okay to remember, it’s okay to feel sad,” Julianna said, and invited everyone present, and watching online, to remember lost loved ones in a very special and sacred moment.  

Julianna Crowley 

Irish Provincial Leader Fr Joe McGee MSC celebrated the final two days of Novena Masses, reminding us of the “wonderful, inclusive, hospitable, generous love of our welcoming God.” “That’s for you and me, for all of us here in the Church, for all of us watching online, for all of our people who have sent in petitions – nobody is left out, all are welcome.” 

“Ours is a God who takes a personal interest in each one of us – he doesn’t just look down through the crowds here, and say, ‘oh that’s the crowd in the Sacred Heart on the Western Road this morning’. He looks down and he sees, oh that’s Margaret, and Dearbhla, and John, and Patrick, and Joseph, and he sees each one of us personally – and as the Gospel says, he takes great delight in each one of us,” Fr Joe reflected.  

“Even with our faults and our failings and our scars and our wounds, he takes great delight in each one of us. He cares passionately about what ails us, and what are our deepest desires. He desires to hear our prayers, to walk with us on the journey of our lives – and all of our lives are so different, and take so many different paths. He walks with each one of us.” 

Fr Joe McGee MSC 

With heartfelt thanks 

Each of our speakers provided us with great pause for thought in their daily reflections, helping us to look ever deeper in our spiritual reflection and healing. As Fr Con reminded us, “The Sacred Heart is like a jewel – turn it this way and there’s one dimension, turn it another way and there’s another dimension.” Each of our daily speakers helped us to see the beauty of so many of these different dimensions, leading us down useful, interesting, and healing paths of prayer and thought. 

We are truly grateful to all who contributed to making this year’s Novena such a resounding success, as we take with us, as Fr Joe said, “the wonderful message to be the heart of God in our world, in whatever little part of the world we inhabit.” The time and effort that went into the many details, big and small, from the flowers and music and readings, to the teas and coffees and socialising, and the planning of all the details in between, is always hugely appreciated. “This couldn’t happen without a community effort,” said Fr Con. “We’re full of gratitude to God, and full of gratitude to all here at the Sacred Heart Parish. And we’re always conscious that we’re building on the shoulders of others, what we’re doing now, it has been done before, and when we’re gone, there’ll be others to carry on the flame.” To all who joined us in prayer, be it in person or online, your presence has been a blessing and a gift. God bless you all. 

 

If you would like to watch this year’s Novena Masses,
please click here to view recordings of all nine days. 

 

Sharing memories throughout the generations at our 2024 MSC Light Up a Memory Mass

On Saturday, November 23^rd, we brought the Month of the Holy Souls to a close with a beautiful candlelight memorial in tribute to loved ones who have gone before us at our annual Light Up a Memory Mass. This year marked the tenth anniversary of what has become a much-loved and highly anticipated tradition each year, and once again we lit up the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, with the flame of remembrance and the everlasting warmth of treasured memories.

November weather was out in full force with stormy conditions all round, but that did not deter local mission friends and parishioners from joining us at the Sacred Heart Church for a truly special evening of music, reflection, and prayer in honour of loved ones who have gone before us in the Lord’s eternal embrace. Almost 900 people also joined us via our live stream to remember and pray with us, from Ireland, the UK, and Europe, to Canada, the United States, and the Philippines.

An evening of love and goodwill

Fr John Fitzgerald, director of the MSC Missions Office, celebrated this year’s Mass with Fr Con Doherty and Fr Seamus Kelly, and opened this year’s ceremony by speaking of what the annual Light Up a Memory ceremony means. “We in the Missions Office next door to this church, where we communicate with so many benefactors, so many helpers, so many people who keep our missions going… where we try to look after as many projects as we can in different places… we make a promise, every year, that apart from having the Novena to the Holy Souls, as you’d find in most churches, we promised that we would always have a ceremony towards the end of the November, a Light Up a Memory Mass for your dead, for my dead, and for the dead who have no-one to remember them at all.”

“When I looked here about 15 minutes ago, there was hardly anyone in the church really, a few stragglers getting to know each other,” said Fr John. “Then a nice crowd arrived, considering that here in Cork tonight, just to let the whole world know, that it is something like 15 degrees, so it is very warm, but we’re in the middle of a storm that’s going to finish tomorrow so it’s not a night really for the faint-hearted! I congratulate the people who have made their way here tonight, it is great, but I am also very aware of so many people tonight who are at home and listening to us, not only from Cork, but from all over the place.”

As the Mass progressed and the candles were brought to the altar, Fr John once again remembered those joining us in spirit from home, saying, “I am also very much aware of yourselves at home… I know you wish you could have brought your own candle tonight, but we have plenty of love to go around for you, we have plenty of goodwill, because we know what it is.”

A language of the heart

Reflecting on loss and grief, Fr John spoke of the language of the heart – the mourners who tell us they are heartbroken, the sympathisers who say that their heart goes out to the bereaved, those who come to a funeral with heavy hearts. “We should not take that sort of language for granted,” reflected Fr John. “It is a sort of an explanation of what has happened, or that description of a feeling. Heart language is a beautiful way of speaking to grief, to loss, to love, and to pay sympathy to somebody else… It is a language to do with a healing of the heart, the love of the heart and the heart of Christ, and it is a language of hope. Heart language is a language of hope. So here in the Sacred Heart Church tonight, on this big night for us who promised we would pray for the dead, we believe in the power of the risen Christ and the promise of the hereafter – we believe in that. And we believe in the language of the heart when we deal with loss, with grief, with healing, and with joy as well when we try to move on.”

“We are invited to be a people of hope.”

In a lovely personal moment, Fr John shared the importance of also being able to move on and look ahead in life, even as we carry the love and sorrow of loss that never fades away. “My father is dead for many years,” he explained, “and there was a family friend one time, I was giving her a drive, and when I had my hand up on the gear lever, she said to me – ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘you have freckles on your hand like your father.’ She said, ‘I remember his hands, he had freckles on his hands, and he had a scar on his finger’ – which he had. And I then kind of funnily said, ‘Well, I have a scar on my thumb.’ And she said, ‘Yes, well we all have to carry our own freckles and our own scars.’ So, there is this kind of a movement, that while I was thrilled that I had a scar like my father, she was saying, well you have to get on with your own troubles and your own freckled life – so, you know we have that little thought as we move out of here tonight.”

This year’s Mass once again featured a wonderful musical accompaniment from Gerry and Deirdre Tuohy, while Fr John’s homily incorporated a selection of poems and prayers, each one a fitting reminder of the power of grief, of faith, and of love everlasting as he prayed for those we have loved and lost, and for those who have nobody to remember them at all.

Bringing the ceremony to an end, Fr John prayed for protection, grace, and hope on this sacred night: “We are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven itself, and we are here very close to it in the kingdom of this world. So, we are invited to be a people of hope, a people who listen to the voice of God, and a people who can be assured that our dead are in the hands of God.”

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who took part in this year’s Light Up a Memory celebrations, in the Sacred Heart Church and beyond. All of us, and one point or another, in one form or another, have been touched by grief, and our annual Light Up a Memory Mass is always a very poignant and moving way for us to commemorate treasured memories of those we hold dear, while praying for healing and hope in our hearts as we navigate life without them, carrying memories and generations of love and remembrance down throughout the years. Sincere thanks to all who took part in this truly special evening of prayer, reflection, and fond remembrance on the tenth anniversary of this very special ceremony – may God bless you all.

Please click here to watch a recording of our 2024 Light Up a Memory Mass.

 

A warm thank you: On the road with MSC friends and benefactors

October was an especially busy month for the MSC Missions Office here in the Irish Province, as our MSCs hit the road to meet with some of our many friends and benefactors in different parts of Kerry, Waterford, and Cork. Fr John Fitzgerald, Director of the MSC Missions Office, was at the helm of a team of MSCs who ventured around Munster to meet with just some of our wonderful mission family here at home, in great gratitude for the invaluable support and friendship we see in action every day.

A series of four thanksgiving evenings took place throughout the month of October. Everybody in attendance was enrolled in our Golden Book of the Sacred Heart and our Blue Book of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, while the books themselves were a special part of each evening’s celebrations. Those present each received a little flameless candle, all of which were placed around the Golden Book and the Blue Book display at the beginning of each evening, so that everybody’s intentions would be remembered throughout the night.

During our Thanksgiving Mass, a video played in the background, highlighting our mission projects around the world, and the life-changing work our MSCs undertake every day. Fr John Fitzgerald regaled the congregation with stories from the mission fields, explaining just how vital the help we receive from home is, and how the support of our mission friends makes an unimaginable difference in places many of us will never see in person. Gerry and Dee provided beautiful music throughout each Mass, and after each ceremony, there was an opportunity for our mission friends to chat with our MSCs over tea and coffee. Each evening was a special way for our MSCs to reconnect with just some of the benefactors who make our work possible every single day.

“An honour and a privilege”

The first event took place in the Killarney INEC at the beginning of October, where Fr John Fitzgerald, Fr John Finn, and Fr Seamus Kelly met with some of our Kerry friends. Then it was on to Waterford, where Fr John Fitzgerald and Fr Alan Neville met with some of our benefactors at the Tower Hotel in Waterford City. Finally, the month ended with two events at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road in Cork, where Fr John Fitzgerald was joined by Fr John Finn, Fr Alan Neville, Fr Seamus Kelly, Fr Tom Mulcahy, Fr Con Doherty, and Fr Tony Horgan. Our Head of Fundraising, Mary Morrish, also joined the team to thank just some of the mission family that make our work possible. Our MSCs met over 400 people over the course of four evenings, giving us a great chance to chat with people who are changing lives across the world, through the kindness and compassion that begin at home.

“It was our absolute honour and privilege to celebrate Mass with our mission friends and benefactors, and to meet with those who could come along to our evenings,” says Fr John Fitzgerald. “I am astounded at the knowledge they have, both of our projects and of our MSCs, and I have been equally amazed at the fact that so many of them have continued the tradition began by parents or loved ones who have now passed in supporting our missions. It is always humbling to have the opportunity to hear personal requests for prayer, for those who are sick or facing different challenges, and it really has been our privilege to be able to hear these intentions in person, and to pray with some of the people whose kindness is encouraging and motivating our MSC communities across the world.”

It really was a very special thing to be able to chat in person about our current projects, as MSCs and mission friends alike both heard stories and told their own. Indeed, it brought home to us all the fact that, despite distance and differences, we all have our own challenges and goals at heart, and we are all doing our best in our own situations. It is truly heartwarming to see the great generosity of mission friends and benefactors who are dealing with their own struggles in life, reaching across the miles to help beneficiaries on the mission fields who might be facing similar family problems, albeit in different circumstances. The generosity that begins in your own home, through our Missions Office here in Cork, quickly reaches our MSCs who are ministering in places like rural Guatemala, remote villages in the Amazon, and the barrios, or slums, of Venezuela, to name but a few. It just goes to show that the boundaries set in place by distance or language are nothing in the face of compassion, and that is the true missionary spirit and the love of Jesus in action in human form, here on earth.

While our team of MSCs were fortunate enough to meet with a great many of our mission friends and benefactors on this occasion, we are of course acutely aware of so many more people who all provide fundamental support to our ongoing missions. Constraints of time and space mean that we cannot meet with everybody in one swoop, but rest assured that every single donation we receive is put to the best possible use with heartfelt gratitude, and every one of our benefactors across the province is in the prayers of our MSCs priests daily. Having received such a warm welcome in Kerry, Waterford, and Cork, we hope to be able to meet even more of our extended mission family in the not-too-distant future, and in the meantime, we thank you sincerely for your continued friendship and support, which means so much to so many.

A season of compassion: MSC Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 2022

Sincere thanks to all who participated in our 2022 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which took place from Tuesday, August 31st to Wednesday, September 8th at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork.

It is with great delight that we were able to welcome friends and parishioners back to the Sacred Heart Church for this year’s Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, after such a prolonged period of private prayer due to COVID-19 restrictions. In addition, almost 7,500 people joined us in prayer via our live stream over the course of the nine days, from all over the world, reminding us once again of the remarkable spirit of our extended Sacred Heart family, at home and across the globe. This is always a special time of year to put aside for prayer before the late Autumn and Winter seasons come upon us, and it was with grateful hearts that we celebrated the much-beloved and sacred tradition of prayer to our Blessed Mother.

The theme of our 2022 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was “Mary, Mother of Compassion,” and Masses were celebrated by several of our MSC priests and brothers over the nine days.

Fr John Finn opened the Novena, welcoming those present in person and via our live stream, and starting us off with a simple thought: “We begin simply by inviting Jesus to touch our hearts and our lives. We ask Mary to lead us to the heart of forgiveness, the healing love and compassion of Jesus her son.”

Having reflected on the meaning of compassion during our first Novena Masses, Br Giacomo Gelardi returned with a second sermon on Day Two, reminding us that, “We need to return to the simplicity and enthusiasm, to the beauty of realising that we are instruments of the spirit.” In essence, “Let your heart beat in harmony with God’s heart,” he told us.

Day Three saw Fr Tom Mulcahy sharing the powerful message that “God is forgiveness – it isn’t that God gives forgiveness, God is forgiveness, God is compassion, God is mercy.” Following this, Day Four saw Fr Seamus Kelly pray for us all to listen to God’s signs to us as we bring his love to others, and “for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on each and every one of us, that we too can bring the love of Christ to people throughout the world.”

On the fifth day of our Novena, Fr John Finn returned with a homily on faith, and the importance of our attitude towards our daily lives – whether we live, or simply endure. “Each day you have, each moment you live, is God’s gift, it is given to us as a gift, as something to be lived, not as a torture to be endured,” he reminded us. “Faith calls us to life. Faith calls us that when moments hit us and pierce our soul, we too would have that trust, that no matter what happens, God is present, God is there.”

Fr John Fitzgerald celebrated Mass on Day Six, with a reflection on Mary and Suffering, reminding us of the fact that Mary was human too, and “that is how we connect with her, on these days of suffering, the days when we need her”. Drawing from the theme of suffering the light of hope, Fr John prayed “that we might have patience, that we might be courageous as well, and that we might hold hope in our hearts.”

Fr John returned on Day Seven of the Novena, a special day of healing. “Our prayer today is for healing in our bodies, for healing today, physical and emotional and spiritual,” he said, along with praying for the healing power of acceptance of those things that we may not be able to change. Together, we prayed for all who are sick, suffering or in pain, for those who are healing from a broken heart in any form, for those healing through learning to walk with their past, for those suffering with anxiety, darkness or depression, addiction, and mental health issues, and for those learning to accept sickness and heal in a recovery of the soul. Fr John finished for a prayer for healers everywhere, giving thanks for the “magnificent people who are carers and healers in our world”.

Fr Joe McGee journeyed from Dublin to celebrate the final two days of the Novena, bringing a blessed nine days of prayer to a beautiful close. “My wish for all of us at the end of the Novena, for all of us here and those joining us online, that in some way this Novena will bring us closer to Mary, who brings us closer to the Lord, who helps us to ponder the mysteries of our lives,” he said.

At the closing Masses, parish priest Fr Tom Mulcahy paused to thank everyone who contributed to making this year’s Novena such a special one, particularly as it is the last Novena that he will prepare as parish priest of the Sacred Heart parish. Giving sincere thanks to everybody involved in the preparation and the celebrations, Fr Tom also prayed in gratitude for all who took part in this year’s Novena Masses, in the Sacred Heart Church and on our webcam streaming service. “We thank God for your presence,” he said. “I hope it has been a blessing for you as it has been for us.”

“May God bless you, and all your prayers that you have placed in the hands of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart; she is the hope of the hopeless,” Fr Tom continued.

“The Lord knows how to work, and the mother of the Lord is always with us. God bless you all.”

Year upon year, the MSC Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart offers great solace and comfort to all who take part, as we bring our prayers and personal intentions before our Holy Mother. Once again, we send our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part in what was a truly blessed occasion this year, and for your ongoing friendship and support. God bless you all.

If you would like to watch this year’s Novena Masses,
please click here to view recordings of all nine days.
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The Way of the Heart: Novena to the Sacred Heart 2021

It is with grateful hearts that we thank everyone who participated in this year’s Novena to the Sacred Heart, which took place in the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, from June 3^rd to June 11^th 2021.

This year, ongoing COVID restrictions meant that our Sacred Heart Novena once again had to take place online; while our doors may have been closed, our hearts were open, and it is with sincere joy and gratitude that we welcomed members of our great family of faith from all over the world. Well over 1,000 people joined us daily to participate in our online Masses on each of the nine days of the Novena, close to home and in far-flung corners of the world. Together, we prayed with mission friends from Ireland, the UK, and America, as well as Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Romania, Spain, and many more.

“The Way of the Heart”

Irish Provincial Fr Carl Tranter MSC opened the Novena on June 3^rd, reminding us that “this year’s Novena has a special character for us as we begin to emerge from the long lockdown of the last months, and these long 15 months of living with COVID.”

“We’re conscious that we’ve all been changed by this experience,” reflected Fr Carl. “We have experienced an enormous disruption to our lives – loss, sickness, grief. People have felt isolated and lonely. People have been afraid and have had financial worries and business worries. We’ve been disconnected from each other, from friends and family. We’ve had so many hard and tough experiences this past year.”

“The theme for the Novena this year is ‘The Way of the Heart’,” he continued. “It invites us into the language of journey, a process, a way living, a way of praying, a way of walking our path in life: the way of the heart. So over these coming nine days we’ll be inviting you to embrace this time, this space that we’re given to allow our wounded hearts, our pained hearts, our grieving hearts, our confused hearts, but also our longing hearts and our hopeful hearts, to go on a journey, to be taken on a journey deep into the heart of Christ, that unique place where we discover the intimacy of God’s love, of God’s gentleness, of God’s embrace, of God’s care for each of us.”

Living as God’s creation

Fr Michael O’Connell MSC, Director of the Missions Office, celebrated the second Novena Mass, on the theme of Mission, where he spoke about “The Way of the Heart” and how it “it opens us up to a whole way of being, of really living as God’s creation”. “If you are living according to questions like, how can I make money, or how can I get a bigger house, or even how can I get my children to be the biggest earners or get the best qualifications – that’s really very narrow, and it’s very finite”, he said. “But when it’s the heart, when it’s the way of the heart – wow, that can go anywhere. COVID has shown us that questions like, when can I go on my next holiday, when can I buy my next car, or when can I go out for dinner… Living for those things that are just so finite, they can all be taken away at the stroke of a regulation. At a cough or an infection, they’re gone. But the way of the heart, that’s something inside us, that inner strength we have, that inner way of being – nobody can take that from us.”

Day three of the Novena, on the theme of Reconciliation, was celebrated by Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC, who spoke of the power of grace and love: of loving a person “exactly as they are, with all their rubbish and brokenness and all the rest… Not a pretended love, not an act put on, but an absolute giving.” Fr Seamus Kelly MSC also spoke of love on the fourth day of the Novena, which celebrated Corpus Christi, calling on the grace of the Holy Spirit “to be able to bring God’s love to people throughout the world”.

The fifth day of the Novena was celebrated by Fr John Finn MSC, who spoke at length about caring for our planet, and planets beyond. Bringing us from outer space back to our own earth, he reminded us that, “The earth is given to us by God as a gift, life is given to us by God as a gift, and we are called to a deeper appreciation, to a gratitude of heart for that gift that God has given to us, his blessing.”

“A love that’s beyond our knowledge, more than our minds can grasp.”

On day six of our Novena to the Sacred Heart, Fr John Fitzgerald MSC led us in prayer for our dearly departed – “a special day,” Fr John observed, “because the dead visit us so many times in our memories.” Reading from a selection of beautiful poems, Fr John reminded us not to worry about those we have lost: “Our loved ones are at peace; that is the promise, and we need have no fear of them or for them.”

Day seven saw Fr Michael return to celebrate the theme of Healing, emphasising the power of compassion, of active compassion, not just passive pity, for others and for ourselves. The idea of compassion carried through to the following day’s Masses, where Fr John Fitzgerald led a service of thanksgiving for our front-line workers, and all who have worked behind the scenes during the COVID pandemic. Showing us an ornament of an open hand, sculpted from timber, he said, “If there ever was an apt ornament for today, it is this, in thanksgiving for the people who opened their hands freely to offer what they had freely for us and for the people around them, and we are very, very privileged to devote a day of the Novena in thanksgiving.”

“This is the time to pray a massive thanksgiving, lest we forget and take for granted.”

On the final day of our Novena, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Fr John Finn was joined by Bishop Fintan Gavin to celebrate the closing Mass. Reflecting on “The Way of the Heart”, Bishop Fintan spoke of Christ’s love, a “love that’s beyond our knowledge, more than our minds can grasp.”

“All we can do,” he said, “is place ourselves in love and in faith. And if we can do that, then Christ’s love begins to grow in our hearts, and so through faith our hearts will reflect something of the Sacred Heart, something of his love will flow into our human hearts, to bring life to us so that we can bring life to our world.”

“Our faith is a missionary faith,” Bishop Fintan continued, “and so our faith is never turned in on itself, it is always reaching out to others, always selflessly self-emptying so that we can share that love and that encounter with others – that’s the Christ we’re called to follow, that’s the Christ we hear about in this evening’s Gospel, that’s the Christ I invite you to take deeper into your lives, so that others, through our witness, may come to know the love of Christ.”

“Love begins to work its changes…”

At a time when we are beginning to slowly emerge from the fear, stress, sorrow, and uncertainty of the last 15 months, this year’s Novena to the Sacred Heart was a wonderful way to pause and to give thanks for the daily blessings that have meant so much, and continue to do so. “COVID has changed so much of our lives,” Fr Carl reflected. “It has had such an enormous impact on us, but as Pope Francis has wisely observed, it’s not just what COVID has done to us, but it’s also what COVID has revealed to us, about ourselves, about our lives, about our world.”

In the different ways the pandemic has impacted us, Fr Carl reassured us, “we bring that to the heart of Christ, and let him know how we are feeling and what it is we want and we need. And in that space, maybe if we just stop talking for a while, and allow him to hold us and embrace us and love us, and that love begins to work its changes. And as it works its change, we find ourselves opening that little bit more.”

As Fr John Finn closed our 2021 Novena, he said “I thank you, from our community house here at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, for joining us in this Novena. I thank you for praying for us, for praying with us, as we pray for and with you, and I pray that you will come to know ever deeper the love that God has for you, revealed in the heart of Christ.”

Our heartfelt thanks to all who took part in this year’s Novena celebrations. May the Sacred Heart bless you and your loved ones, now and always.

Watch our 2021 MSC Novena to the Sacred Heart:

June 3rd: Opening Mass by Irish Provincial Leader Fr Carl Tranter MSC
June 4th: Mission, celebrated by Fr Michael O’Connell MSC
June 5th: Reconciliation, celebrated by Fr Tom Mulcahy MSC
June 6th: Corpus Christie, celebrated by Fr Seamus Kelly MSC
June 7th: Care of Our Earth, celebrated by Fr John Finn MSC
June 8th: Pray for Our Dead, celebrated by Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
June 9th: Healing, celebrated by Fr Michael O’Connell MSC
June 10th: Thanksgiving for front-line workers, celebrated by Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
June 11th: Feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated by Fr John Finn MSC (Morning Mass)
June 11th: Feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated by Fr John Finn MSC and Bishop Fintan Gavin (Evening Mass)