Jul 9, 2024
Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of the MSC Message!
• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• Read all about the ordination of Fr Gabriel Shikongo MSC, which took place in Swakopmund, Namibia, as he celebrates his first year as an MSC priest.
• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from the Holy Family Care Centre in Africa, from our OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa, and from our MSC brothers as they celebrated Holy Week & Easter around the world, .
• Join us as we celebrate the new Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in India.
• Find out the latest updates from the team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines.
• Discover more from Centro Faustino Villanueva in Guatemala, where staff and students are celebrating 40 years of ministry at the MSC-run vocational centre this year.
• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.
Read the Summer 2024 edition of the MSC Message
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Mar 28, 2024
Warmest congratulations to our MSC brothers in India,
on the establishment of the new MSC Indian Province!
Previously the Indian Union, Saturday, March 16th saw the official erection of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart India as a formal Province. Fr Darwin Thateus MSC, who has been the Indian Union Superior since 2019, will continue to act as Provincial Leader until December of this year.
(Image: https://www.misacor.org.au/item/30164-india-the-new-msc-province with image credit to Fr Tijo.)
Celebrations on the day also included a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of MSC founder Fr Jules Chevalier, the Ordination to the Diaconate of three MSCs, and the official opening and blessing of the Chevalier Academy, a primary and secondary school at Bellandur Gate in Bangalor.
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been active in their ministry in India for over 30 years, from training enthusiastic new MSCs to tending to those living in often unimaginable poverty in urban and rural shantytowns. Our MSC brothers have ministered to vulnerable communities living in the slums of Bangalore, have worked to educate thousands of local children at the Chevalier Academy in Dindigul, have helped survivors of severe flooding in Kerala, and maintain a dedicated formation house for new MSCs at Hridhayala, or the Temple of the Heart, in Mysore.
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart has an enduring relationship with our MSC brothers in India, with our mission friends and benefactors here providing immeasurable support throughout the years, from helping to MSC pre-novitiates on their missionary journey, to funding dedicated presbyteries in disadvantaged parishes, to facilitating desperately needed emergency aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart also helped MSCs in Coimbatore to raise funds to set up the Chevalier Centre for Change, a day-care centre for the elderly with the aim of “changing the lives of those who have little hope”.
Meanwhile, this year, our mission friends here in the Irish Province have been helping MSCs in Therkukalidaikuruchi Village, in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu, to raise funds to establish a new environmentally sustainable agricultural programme that will preserve and encourage the local ecosystem, while also providing opportunities for employment in the rural population.
We continue to support and encourage our MSC brothers on our shared missionary journey, and we keep the communities of the newly erected Indian Province in our prayers as they look to a hopeful future. May God bless them all as they embark on this new chapter in our united mission of making the love of the Sacred Heart known all over the world.
Selected images via misacor.org.au, with credit to Fr Tijo.
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Feb 27, 2024
Empowering communities in India
For almost 40 years, MSCs in India have provided practical, spiritual, medical, and educational aid to communities in real need of help and encouragement. Today, we continue in our ministry as we adapt to the specific needs of changing times.
MSCs in Therkukalidaikuruchi Village in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu are working to raise funds to establish a new environmentally sustainable agricultural programme that will preserve and encourage the local ecosystem, while also providing opportunities for employment in the rural population. With approximately 30 acres of land devoted to the fulfilment of the project, the MSC Indian Union is working to develop a model farm that cultivates crops and native trees, while also rearing cattle and poultry, with the aim of “contributing to both environmental conservation and economic empowerment”.
The project will see 1,000 trees planted on the farm, promoting biodiversity and combating deforestation. A variety of crops and fruit-bearing trees will be cultivated alongside the farming of cattle and poultry, while a dedicated MSC team will also provide an educational programme for the local community, covering modern agricultural techniques, marketing strategies, and sustainable practices. The land will also serve as a spiritual sanctuary, “inviting people to connect with nature and experience its transformative power”.
The MSC Indian Union are working to raise a total of €35,300 for the establishment and development of their agricultural programme in Therkukalidaikuruchi Village. This budget includes expenses for tree planting, agricultural infrastructure, livestock management, educational programmes, and the development of a spiritual sanctuary for the local community.
€11,765 will cover the cost of planting 1,000 native trees.
€11,765 will be spent on the cultivation of the land, including the installation of an irrigation system,
planting and caring for crops, developing the land, and paying for essential labour.
€10,594 will purchase cattle and poultry,
along with the necessary equipment, feed, and labour for rearing.
€588 will be spent on educational initiatives and workshops.
€588 will be spent on the development and promotion of a spiritual sanctuary on the land,
including workshops and development programmes.
CAN YOU HELP US TO CHANGE LIVES IN INDIA?
Sustainable living in rural India
In his encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis calls for a harmonious relationship between humankind and the world around us, highlighting the inevitable connectedness between environmental, social, and economic issues. The new agricultural programme proposed by the Indian Union of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart will address the pressing needs of local communities in deeply impoverished villages, providing job opportunities, promoting sustainability, and enhancing education and quality of life for rural families.
With your help, MSCs in Tamil Nadu can work to encourage self-sufficiency and community empowerment, while also answering the global call for environmental stewardship.
“Our proposed project will contribute to both environmental conservation and economic empowerment… addressing the needs of the local community while fostering environmental stewardship. By supporting this project, the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart will play a pivotal role in fostering environmental sustainability, rural development, and community empowerment in the MSC Indian Union. Thank you for your support – we look forward to working together to bring about positive change.”
~ Fr Thatheus Darwin MSC
Indian Union Superior
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY IN INDIA
Jan 31, 2023
For more than 35 years, young men have joined our mission in India,
answering the Lord’s call to be Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
Today, 71 priests and 14 professed brothers are fulfilling a shared vision
to bring the compassion of the Sacred Heart to those in need.
Journeying together in the love of the Sacred Heart
In India, training to be an MSC priest is a long process, involving spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and personal formation. The formation programme takes 10-12 years, and is divided into several stages, each focusing on different aspects of personal and spiritual development: Pre-Novitiate Formation, Graduation in Philosophy, Novitiate and Post-Novitiate Pastoral Year, and Graduation in Theology.
Pre-Novitiate Formation takes place at our formation house, Hridayalaya (the Temple of the Heart), which is situated in Mysore, a city located around 160km south-west of Bangalore. Here, a great emphasis is placed on academic and intellectual formation during the two-year Pre-Novitiate programme, ranging from spoken English for new students, to sermon preaching as deacons. As many of our students with vocations come from rural backgrounds, they require intensive training in English.
A spirit of community life is a core focus at every stage of formation. Members of the community wake up to pray together, celebrate the Holy Eucharist together daily, and spend time in meditation in order to deepen spiritual awareness. Students are trained in music, singing, washing, cleaning, cooking, and driving. The students themselves take responsibility for organising the kitchen and the weekly grocery shop, while they also take care of the garden, and must ensure that the house is kept clean and tidy. A great sense of brotherhood is nurtured here, as members celebrate birthdays and special occasions together in the spirit of family.
At present, there are 17 students and three priests in the Hridayalaya community, studying scripture, spirituality, and the history and vision of the MSC mission. Mysore student ministry includes parish ministry, education for underprivileged children, youth ministry, visits to the elderly, and prison visits, along with a dedicated daily routine of prayer, study, household chores, gardening, and meditation. After completing their Pre-Novitiate programme, students will begin a three-year graduate and philosophy programme.
MSCs in India are appealing for help with funding
college and boarding fees for the formation programme,
including travel, food, and expenses, at a total of €17,550.
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN INDIA
Family of the heart
From humble beginnings, with just 20 students when it opened its doors in 2006, the Chevalier Academy Matriculation School in Dindigul now cares for and educates 800 students. “Mrs Mary” has dedicated over a decade to serving the needs of students and staff as care-taker at the school for the past 15 years.
In turn, MSCs have taken care of Mary, a widow, by providing an education for her three daughters. One is now working, another has dedicated her life to the Lord, having joined a religious sisters’ congregation, and the youngest is currently studying nursing.
Now, the MSC Indian Union are raising funds to build a house for Mary, who currently lives in a thatched shed with no electricity, no security, and no proper facilities. The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are helping to fund the project, which will cost approximately €15,400 in total, removing the fear of an uncertain future for Mary and creating a safe, secure space in which Indian MSCs can provide accommodation for generations to come. In the spirit of our founder, Fr Jules Chevalier MSC, who believed that “our spirit is one of love for justice and concern for all, especially the very poor,” MSCs in India continue to extend the hand of friendship, support, and God’s love to our extended family of the heart, in response to the signs of the time and the needs of the people.
“Please keep us in your prayers as we continue in sharing our mission to love through our Formation Programme. With sincere gratitude for your support; we will keep you in our prayers during our daily mass, our every prayer, and at every meal.”
~ Fr Darwin Thatheus MSC
Indian Regional Superior
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN INDIA
Jan 27, 2022
MSCs in Coimbatore, India, are raising funds to set up the Chevalier Centre for Change, a day-care centre for the elderly that aims to “change the lives of those who have little hope”.
MSCs in Coimbatore are responding to the needs to the local community by setting up the Chevalier Centre for Change with the aim of caring for senior citizens from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may be alone or struggling financially. The centre will allow those in need to benefit from a life with dignity, with health care, good nutrition, and access to recreational and other facilities that will ensure an enjoyable and enriched life experience in their later years.
“We wish to create a world where human dignity and equality prevail”, writes Fr Darwin Thatheus MSC, Indian Union Superior, “upholding the dignity of abandoned elders in society by creating a platform for their progress and growth.”
The Chevalier Centre for Change aims to welcome between 20 and 25 elderly people four days a week, from 9.00am to 4.00pm. Senior citizens will be able to avail of a range of facilities, including a nutritious lunch and evening meal, health and medical workshops, yoga and meditation sessions, recreational facilities including movies, games, embroidery, and gardening, a worship space for prayer and peaceful reflection, a creative space with facilities for drawing, painting, and sculpture, and a reading space, with plenty of books and a peaceful environment.
MSCs in Coimbatore are raising funds to run the Chevalier Centre for Change for one year, at a total of 31,20,000 Indian Rupees – approximately €36,705, or just €7.65 per person, per day.
A donation of €125 will fund one month’s costs for an elderly person
at the Chevalier Centre for Change,
bringing warmth, light, food, health care, and company
to someone who would otherwise be hungry and alone.
PLEASE HELP US TO CARE FOR THE ELDERLY AND ALONE IN INDIA
