30 Dec 2013
It’s been a busy year. There’s an understatement. It’s like saying that Pope Francis is doing a pretty good job. Strictly speaking it’s true, but it doesn’t do the year or our new Pope justice. Our MSC vocations ministry programme has taken us from all over Europe to the US to Brazil to South Africa to Venezuela and back. More than that though it has been an amazing year filled with countless opportunities to journey with people reflecting on their call to be a priest or brother with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. We’ve been at festivals, walked the Camino, took part in World Youth Day on the Copacabana Beach, and organised ‘Vocations Road Trips’ to name a few of our events. We also launched our hugely successful Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Volunteering Programme, with three volunteers working in the Holy Family Care Centre, South Africa.
While it has been busy, it has also been a graced time. Each of these events have created a space that allowed people to reflect on their lives and discern how God was calling them. They were about celebrating faith and reminding us that God has a plan of everyone, a plan that encourages us to be our truest selves. It can at times be challenging, even difficult, but it is the one that leads to the deepest joy and fulfillment that we can know.
Now we’re getting ready for 2014. It’s a new year and it’s full of promise. We’re already looking at new and exciting festivals, including the Spirit in the City in London and Kingdom Come in Walsingham. We are developing our work on the Camino by organising a young adult pilgrimage and taking part in a ministry of welcome in Santiago Cathedral. World Youth Day was the big event of last year, but this August we’re planning to take a group to Medjugorje for the Annual Youth Festival. exploreAway has begun in Dublin with seven people seriously reflecting on their vocation. We’re planning to set up a Samuel discernment group for the north of London. As usual we’ll be in Lourdes on pilgrimage over Easter with the HCPT / Irish Pilgrimage Trust. Finally we’re expanding our volunteering programme in South Africa for those who want an experience of missionary life in a range of challenging, but amazing projects that make a real difference.
If you feel that you might be called by God to explore a vocation to priesthood or religious life you would be most welcome to get in touch with us by phone or email. We’re always happy to have a chat and coffee and see where that may take us. That first step can be a bit daunting, but it could be one of the best decisions you ever made.
If you thought that 2013 was busy, you ain’t seen nothing yet!