21 Nov 2024
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.
MSC Golden Book of the Sacred Heart
MSC Blue Book of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
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.
MSCs Fr John Finn, Fr Con Doherty, Fr Seamus Kelly, Fr Tom Mulcahy, Fr John Fitzgerald, and Fr Alan Neville met with mission friends and benefactors at the Sacred Heart Church in Cork.
Fr Alan Neville and Fr John Fitzgerald joined our mission friends’ evening in Waterford.
MSCs Fr John Finn, Fr Con Doherty, Fr Seamus Kelly, Fr Tom Mulcahy, Fr Alan Neville, and Fr John Fitzgerald met with mission friends and benefactors at the Sacred Heart Church in Cork.
“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.
MSCs Fr Seamus Kelly, Fr John Finn, and Fr Con Doherty at our mission friends’ evening at the Sacred Heart Church in Cork.
Sharing stories of how our mission friends and benefactors are making a real and valuable difference all over the world.
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.
