MSC World Projects Appeal 2020: MSC Ministry in South Africa

Health and Education at Berea-Albion Football Club

Cougar Park in Pretoria, South Africa, is home to Berea-Albion Football Club and Academy, where disadvantaged youths are given hope and encouragement as they strive for a better future. The academy hosts up to 60 students at a time, with 50% coming from non-privileged backgrounds and 50% coming from more fortunate circumstances.

“The majority of disadvantaged youths in our development programmes are orphans, or they come from single parent families,” says co-founder Neil Bosman. “They have struggled with poverty, HIV/AIDS, abuse, alcoholism, and poor educational backgrounds.”

 

There are currently 21 former Berea-Albion students playing top-level football around the world. However, there is also an awareness that not all students will reach professional level, and every player is prepared for a successful future with the combination of educational, social, and health structures taught at the academy. Students attend Bosman College, where the focus is on providing “a sound education base” as well as full professional training in football.

The academy’s motto is “Passio Pro Perfecto” (a passion for perfection), and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been glad to be able to support them in their great work in the past.

“We sincerely thank you for any support you can provide,” says Neil Bosman. “All donations are being put to very good use as we make sure that our young footballers are housed, clothed, educated, trained, and nutritiously fed at Cougar Park.”

A donation of just €50 will provide a pair of football boots and a ball for a student,
providing essential tools in these invaluable youth development programmes.

CAN YOU HELP OUR MSC MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA?

MSCs working with the Sisters of St Therese

 

A group of Sisters of St Therese from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are working with the MSC community in South Africa to minister to local communities in need of pastoral aid. Together, the Sisters and MSCs do great work in the area of Rabie Ridge, a very poor township in Ivory Park parish, located outside Johannesburg.

Many of the Sisters are qualified teachers, but they live on very little. They have no means of travel apart from public transport, making extended ministry more difficult, and they live on minimal food and provisions themselves.

The house in which the Sisters live has recently undergone some repairs, as it was in a terrible state – particularly the roof, which regularly let rain in. The house is now in better repair, but the Sisters are still in need of a comfortable space in which they can pray. The extension of their chapel space is estimated at a cost of just over €1,500, and this will provide the Sisters with an essential place of prayer.

The Sisters also run a feeding scheme for children in local primary school St Gemma’s, with 25 children who have been orphaned or who come from vulnerable backgrounds taking part in the programme. From Monday to Friday, the children have a nutritious lunch at 11.00am; however, the Sisters are under real pressure to maintain this due to a severe lack of funding.

It costs less than €2 per day to feed one primary school child
– a total of just over €230 for a week’s food for 25 children.
A small donation can make a great difference.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

MSC World Projects Appeal 2020: Riverside communities in the Amazon

Pastoral care for the people of the Amazon

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been operating from the diocese of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, or St Gabriel da Cachoeira, for over 20 years, ministering to the riverside parishes and working with local training and diocesan administration. The diocese of São Gabriel da Cachoeira is situated in the State of Amazonas, northwest of the Brazilian Amazon. Covering the municipalities of Barcelos, Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, and São Gabriel da Cachoeira, it is larger than the state of São Paulo – and three times bigger than the country of Portugal.

Bordered by Columbia and Venezuela, the diocese is crossed by the River Negro and is covered by equatorial forests. It is nicknamed the “Head of the Dog” for its shape, and the main city of the diocese, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, has a population of approximately 45,000. About 95% of its population consists of indigenous people, divided into 23 ethnic groups and speakers of 18 local languages.

Communication with the communities along the River Negro is very poor, and often completely non-existent. Access to these community regions is almost exclusively by water, and it can take a week or more to reach the communities located furthest away, depending on the river conditions. Due to the vast distances involved, many communities can only be visited by priests three or four times a year. In the meantime, lay leaders conduct Sunday services and take over the teaching of catechesis in the absence of a priest.

Distance isn’t the only issue when it comes to the lack of pastoral care in these communities. There is also a severe lack of priests in the region, and the cost of travel is very high.

Currently, there are only five priests native to the diocese. Any other priests in the area are from other regions, providing a temporary service. Parishes often go long spells without the presence of a Catholic priest, and this leads to serious issues with the introduction of alternative theologies, such as the “theology of prosperity”, which generate great rifts and divisions between the local communities.

The local Church faces serious challenges with regard to evangelisation in the region, in addition to problems with social unrest and environmental issues, including deforestation. The MSC community in the area are working to bring hope to the indigenous people of the region who have long been begging for help.

Currently, MSC priests in the region are working from a newly established parish on the outskirts of the city of St Gabriel da Cachoeira, due to a new and worrying factor – an exodus of families from riverside communities to more urban areas. This migration has contributed greatly to existing urban issues with poverty, unemployment numbers, alcohol and drug abuse, prostitution, diseases such as AIDS, hostility towards indigenous communities, and suicide rates that top the national rankings.

This parish serves 25 communities – a total of 18 riverside communities, populated by indigenous people speaking various languages including Tukano and Nheengatú, and seven urban communities, made up of people of varied ethnicities.

MSCs in the area are doing their best to improve the quality of life for the communities they serve, but it is an ongoing struggle in the most difficult of conditions. In general, when conditions are good, it takes approximately three hours to travel from the parish headquarters to the farthest riverside community.

MSC Fr Girley writes to appeal for help for our missionary communities in the area, who are in great need of financial support in order to be able to continue their work with both urban and riverside communities in the parish. “Even in the face of challenges and difficulties, whether they be cultural, geographical, or financial, we are always confident that God’s grace and providence accompany us,” he writes. With a growing multitude of problems facing our MSCs and the local communities they serve, even the smallest donation can help to make a real difference in the lives of people facing hugely varying, but equally powerful, struggles for survival.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONARIES IN THE AMAZON

Gospel Reflection for the Second Sunday of the Year | January 19th

Gospel Reflection

Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

The Gospel (John 1:29-34)

This is the Second Sunday of the Three Year Liturgical cycle, Year 1 (A) of the cycle, in which the Gospel readings will be from the Gospel of Matthew. But this will only begin next Sunday. We are still under the liturgical influence of the Feast of the Epiphany. Three great manifestations were recalled by the Church for the liturgy of the Feast of the Epiphany: on Epiphany itself the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles (the Magi), at the Baptism the manifestation by the Father’s voice, and on the Sunday after this (Second of the Yearly Cycle), Jesus’ manifestation of his glory at Cana. In the earlier liturgy, the narrative of the wedding feast at Cana was read on this the second Sunday of each year. It is now read on the Third Year (C) of the cycle while other manifestations from the Baptism period, as in John’s Gospel, are read in years one and two (A and B) of the cycle.

“The Spirit will be given as a gift to the Church by Jesus.”

Thus, in today’s reading we are in the Jordan area with John the Baptist, and the text speaks of the Baptist’s witness concerning his own status and his witness to Jesus. In the Fourth Gospel, there is no account of the actual baptism of Jesus by John, as there is in the other three gospels. Yet this reading tells of what happened there. John calls Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, as if one great sin were involved in the many sins. Jesus is described as the Lamb led to the slaughter of Isaiah (53:7), and as the Passover Lamb offered up each year. By his death he will take away the sin of the world. In this Epiphany, the Baptist manifests Jesus to the world, detailing also the essential detail of his baptism at the Jordan: the Spirit coming down on Jesus and remaining on him. He stresses this point by repeating it, an emphasis in keeping with that of the other three Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. This same Spirit will be given as a gift to the Church by Jesus.

Fr Martin McNamara MSC

MSC Pilgrimages 2020

“The invitation is open to all, so what’s keeping you?”

As we begin to settle into the rhythms and routines of 2020, we look ahead to a year full of potential, with new opportunities just waiting to be discovered. Many of us will decide that this will be the year to do something different – and what better way to embrace the spirit of faith, hope, and love than by joining us on one of our 2020 MSC pilgrimages? This year, we will be going on pilgrimage to Fatima in May/June, and to Lourdes in September.

Every year, people travel with us on pilgrimage for different reasons. Some may be struggling with illness, grief, stress, or other personal challenges. Other wish to take part in a traditional pilgrimage journey with like-minded travellers, sharing stories, experiences, and reflections on life. Many wish to simply pray, reflect, and offer thanksgiving for their blessings.

The experience of pilgrimage is different for every individual; the major common denominator, however, is joy, and an awareness of something bigger, of something more. A sense of something special comes into being on a pilgrimage; the Holy Spirit moves amongst those making the journey, while strangers become friends and unite in the solidarity of faith. Community spirit comes out in force – no matter where you may find yourself in the world, the message of God’s love overcomes all cultural barriers in a true celebration of faith, togetherness, and intimacy with God.

“A powerful, life-changing experience.”

Historically, pilgrims would leave their homes, their families, and all of their creature comforts, embarking on journeys that could stretch to hundreds of miles with nothing but what they could carry on their backs. Today, the circumstances of pilgrimage may be less extreme, but they are nonetheless powerful for it, and modern-day pilgrims continue to leave their homes and their daily comforts behind in the quest for spiritual fulfillment.

“Pilgrimage is about freedom,” says Fr Alan Neville MSC. “It’s about walking to the horizon – and when you get there, you keep on going. It’s about taking part in something that is at the same time enjoyable and profound. I’ve yet to meet one person who regretted making the trip. For every one of them it has been a powerful, even life-changing experience. The invitation is open to all, so what’s keeping you?”

If you’d like to find out more about the pilgrimage experience, you are welcome to read all about our 2019 pilgrimages to Fatima and Lourdes. All are welcome to take the first steps towards another wonderful pilgrimage journey with us over the coming months, and make 2020 a year to remember.

******This year’s Pilgrimages have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic we hope to resume in 2021.******

Read more about our MSC Pilgrimages

MSCs educating for a brighter tomorrow in the Philippines

Members of the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines recently paid a visit to the students at an MSC-run educational programme in Saints Peter and Paul Parish Learning Centre, in Tubod, Surigao del Norte.

For the past two years, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines have been supporting the programme, which provides educational assistance to children who have difficulty in continuing their studies because they and their families live in circumstances of severe poverty and hardship. The Philippine Province of the MSC provide financial support for their tuition fees, plus the necessary books for their studies, through this programme. “These children are very willing to study, but their parents are financially incapacitated,” say the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines. A total of 21 children are currently taking part in the programme – children who are all too pleased with the opportunity to be able to continue their studies, but who would not be able to without the help and financial assistance of the MSC Mission Office and the mission friends around the world who support our work.

The team at the learning centre include Mrs Norma Porcil, who is principal of the school. A retired teacher, she now works voluntarily to take care of the school and its students. The project manager of the programme is Mr Boni Dano, who is also the coordinator of the Chevalier Family Lay Associates in Tubod. He also volunteers his services in making sure the programme runs smoothly and benefits the children involved as much as possible. Finally, Fr Sansin Ebuna MSC is leader of the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines, and has been instrumental in ensuring the success of the programme for children who are in great need of help in order to be able to hope for a more positive future.

We send our best wishes and blessings to everyone involved in this wonderful project, as we continue to work together all over the world to make a difference where it is most needed.

Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. on Facebook

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Celebrating the sacraments in Mozambique

November was a busy time for the MSC mission in Mozambique, where the celebrations of Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation took place throughout the month.

Early November saw Confirmations taking place in the community of Our Lady of Fatima in Meluco. The MSC Mozambique Facebook page described it as a “beautiful” day, and the accompanying photographs give us a glimpse into a very special celebration of faith.

Just over a week later, the community of St Augustine in Muaguide celebrated the sacraments of Baptism and First Holy Communion. Again, this was an exceptionally blessed day for all involved. “This is a time of grace and blessings from God,” said the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.

It is a truly great thing to see communities across our MSC Mozambique mission marking these joyous occasions, particularly as recovery from the devastation caused by two cyclones earlier this year is still ongoing. The strength, resilience, and spirit demonstrated by local communities is an inspiration to behold, and while the journey to recovery is a long and arduous one, moments such as these provide much-needed encouragement and motivation to all involved in the mission.

Blessings to all who received the sacraments, and to the families, communities, and MSCs who joined them in celebration!

Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 MSC Christmas Raffle!

MSC Christmas Raffle 2019

Prize Winners:

1st Prize: Shopping voucher to the value of €1,000

J. & J. Cassidy

Nenagh, Co. Tipperary

2nd Prize: Festive Feast Hamper

O. McGahon

Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan

3rd Prize: Supreme Christmas Hamper

J. Dunne

Dundalk, Co. Louth

4th Prize: Festive Celebration Christmas Hamper

S. Coakley

Frankfield, Cork

5th Prize: Christmas Pantry Hamper

N. Carmody

Tarbert, Co. Kerry

6th Prize: Deck the Halls Hamper

C. Commane

Ennistymon, Co. Clare

7th Prize: Deck the Halls Hamper

J. Noonan

Tralee, Co. Kerry

8th Prize: Deck the Halls Hamper

S. Donnelly

Lucan, Co. Dublin

9th Prize: Deck the Halls Hamper

E. Fogarty

Newtown, Co. Kildare

10th Prize: Deck the Halls Hamper

P. Gilbert

Killmallock, Co. Limerick

Special Seller’s Prize: Christmas Pantry Hamper

K. McEvoy

Portlaoise, Co. Laois

This year’s Christmas Draw took place on Thursday, December 19th 2019.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone for taking part. 

Click here to read a special Christmas message from Fr Michael

A 2019 Christmas Blessing from Fr Michael

Dear Friends,

As we prepare to bid farewell to another year, I wanted to take a moment to pause in reflection and gratitude for the blessings that 2019 brought, and of course, for your friendship to our missionaries.

2019 has been another year to remember. Beginning with my visit to Venezuela in January, we have continued to keep track of the progress of our missions all over the world, from Mozambique to the Philippines and beyond. As we are all too often faced with bleak news of death, disaster, and destruction, it truly is a breath of fresh air to see our mission family joining together to do something that is nothing short of astonishing in its power. Together, we are a force to be reckoned with, and thanks to our great community of faith, I look to 2020 with a hopeful and grateful heart. With your continued support, we will make it another year of positive change.

Each and every time you send one of our Mass cards, support an appeal, or join us in a special celebration, you are a vital part of a far bigger picture. What may seem like a small gesture, completed from the comfort of your own home, has a tremendously far-reaching effect, touching the hearts of MSCs and the communities they serve in towns and villages far across the world, surviving in conditions we can’t even begin to imagine. From orphaned children to elderly people who are faced with the abyss of poverty and loneliness, you are a friend to those who live with hopelessness, fear, and despair.

On behalf of our extended Sacred Heart family, you have my heartfelt thanks for your generosity in reaching out to those in need, though they may be a world away. You and your loved ones are not only in my prayers this Christmas season, but in the prayers of our MSCs everywhere. We remember all those in our great family of faith – those who are surrounded by the warmth of family this festive season, and those who may be struggling with personal challenges of different kinds. We remember those who may find Christmas difficult, and those who sacrifice the home comforts of Christmas to help others. As I have said before, love knows no bounds, and we are every one of us a loved and valued part of this great family of faith.

In the spirit of the season and on behalf of our MSC community around the world, I would like to extend my warmest wishes for a joyful Christmas, and I pray that the coming year will bring you and yours an abundance of peace, happiness, and blessings.

Wishing you and yours a happy and holy Christmas,

Fr Michael O’Connell MSC

Click here to view the winners of our 2019 Christmas Raffle

“Thank you for your great generosity of heart!”: A message from Yaoundé, Cameroon

It is with great joy that we recently received an update from our MSC brothers at the Sacred Heart Bilingual College in Lada II, a small village situated 25km from Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon.

Back in the summer of 2018, we appealed to our mission friends in the Irish Province to help the Sacred Heart family in Lada II, an area racked by extreme poverty and hardship. The Sacred Heart Bilingual College opened in 2016 to both male and female students, but remained in an unfinished state of construction with minimal facilities and equipment.

Poverty is a huge challenge faced by local families, who cannot afford to send their children to school when they are struggling to find enough food for daily meals. The students of the Sacred Heart Bilingual College are grateful for amenities that we take for granted every day; “I appreciate the toilets,” student Wilfried said, “because they have taps around them where we can wash our hands.”

The MSC community in Yaoundé contacted us in recent weeks with “great joy and satisfaction” that the project has made excellent progress, thanks to the support of our mission friends here in the Irish Province. “The new MSC community is now established,” they wrote. “It was blessed on October 21st by the UAF MSC Superior, Fr Yvon-César Banackissa, who installed also the new Superior of the community on that day, Br Magloire Njankou Samen. This structure will be greatly helpful in strengthening our abilities, our aims, and our dreams, particularly in running our school.”

“We are sincerely grateful to everybody who supported our project for your great generosity and openness of heart, for your support, help, and care. By so acting, you show us the real proof of your commitment to help people to live and to enhance their fundamental right to dignity.”

The Yaoundé MSC community sent us some pictures of the progress as the building works have been completed, and of the blessing of the community at the end of October. The MSC Mission Office on Facebook have also made photos available from a recent visit to the school in October, when they captured photos of Br Magloire and his team undertaking extensive carpentry projects, making the desks and furniture from the school.

“Thank you, once again, for your unceasing kindness and generosity towards our African community and mission,” wrote the MSC community in Yaoundé. “Thank you for your great generosity of heart!”

Read more about the Sacred Heart Bilingual College in Lada II

Gospel Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent | December 15th

Gospel Reflection

Jesus Christ, the cause of our joy.
Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?

The Gospel (Matthew 11:2-11)

In that Gospel passage, John, the precursor of the One who was to come, proclaimed that One to Come would have the winnowing-fan in his hand to separate good from evil and burn the wicked (chaff) in the fire. Jesus, proclaimed by him as the One who was to come, was doing the direct opposite, a friend of the marginalized and of those reckoned as sinners by the godly. On hearing in prison of what Jesus was doing, John had doubts about Jesus, and this explains sending the messengers with John’s query. In his reply, Jesus lists his actions one by one, all the fulfilment of prophecies, especially those listed in Isaiah chapter 35 (today’s first reading), and in other places in the book of Isaiah (26:19, the dead; 29:18, the deaf; 61:1, the good news to the poor). Jesus’ message for the new age was one of hope, of joy, which fits in nicely with the central theme of today’s liturgy.

Traditionally, this third Sunday of Advent was known as “Gaudete Sunday” from the opening word Gaudete, “Rejoice” in the Latin Entrance Antiphon: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near”. In one sense, the basis for rejoicing is the nearness of the Lord. Some biblical scholars believe that the “nearness” in question refers to the second coming of Christ – a point by no means clear. In any event, Christian joy is not founded on belief and expectation of the second coming of Christ. Together with peace, it is a gift from Christ. This joy is a gift that no one can take from believers in Christ (John 16:22). Jesus’ desire is that believers may have his joy made complete in themselves (John 17:13). He told his disciples to rejoice and be glad when people revile them and persecute them and slander them for his sake, and Paul and his early Christians so rejoiced.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say Rejoice. The Lord is near.”

All this may appear to be too theoretical, with little or no bearing on any dialogue with the world in which we live. This is not quite the case. If joy is a gift from Christ it is active in the entire life of believers, not just in religious affairs. The Church currently is kept aware of the scandals and weaknesses within her, but believers know that with the grace of God she is being purified and these will become a thing of the past. Christian joy comes from belief in God who is ever present. When we look around us we can perceive joy – joy at sport events, at football matches where one’s favourite team is supported, but in case of defeat there is no recrimination for something that is but a game. This is evidence of joy and peace. There is joy in conversation, over a drink, with “craic” and music, and in many of the ordinary events of life. And in times of trouble there can also be joy, in the belief that God is near and will see us through. These are a few of the thoughts worth reflecting on on this “Rejoicing” Sunday – recalling St Paul’s words: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say Rejoice. The Lord is near”.

Fr Martin McNamara MSC

Praying together: 2019 Pastoral Assembly in Mozambique

At the end of October, the 2019 pastoral assembly took place over a period of three days in the missionary area of Melquibi, Mozambique.

Over 70 people from the surrounding regions joined in the assembly, celebrating the work that has been done and the progress that has been made over the past year, along with discussion and reflection on the year to come.

This year’s theme was “Being the Church, Being People of God”, a wonderful celebration of faith and unity in the Lord’s love, with a specific focus on how our MSC missionary work can continue to make positive change in the region in 2020.

As the MSC Mission in Mozambique began just a year and a half ago, in March 2018, it is especially rewarding to see the great sense of community that is already evident between local areas. The mission has been faced with some extremely challenging setbacks, namely the devastation caused by the two cyclones that hit in the space of six weeks earlier this year, but this has not deterred our Mozambique family of faith – indeed, their strength, resilience, and faith been truly inspirational in the face of destruction and despair.

We send our congratulations and blessings to the MSC Mozambique Mission on a successful 2019 assembly, and we wish them a positive, prayerful, and productive year ahead.

Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.

An evening of remembrance at the MSC Light Up a Memory Mass 2019

The evening of Saturday, November 30th, saw the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road in Cork filled with the light of hundreds of candles, each flame marking the memory of a treasured loved one who is no longer with us.

November is traditionally a time to remember, and every year, our MSC missionaries in the Sacred Heart parish mark the end of the month of the Holy Souls with the Light Up a Memory Mass, a beautiful memorial service which serves as a beacon of light and love in the winter darkness.

Now in its sixth year, the first Light Up a Memory Mass took place in 2014 and it has since become a much-beloved tradition for local parishioners in Cork, and for mission friends located far and wide, all over the world, thanks to our live streaming service. As always, we were glad to welcome familiar faces of old friends on the night, and we also had many visitors who come specially to celebrate the service with us. This year, we also welcomed over 400 viewers on our website, coming together to pray with us in Cork from across Ireland, the UK, Germany, the US, Canada, Spain, Australia, Malta, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Bereavement touches us all and the Light Up a Memory service is a lovely way for families to remember together at this special time of year. From 6.30pm on Saturday evening, the Sacred Heart Church was aglow in the light of hundreds of candles, each one burning brightly in celebration of lives and the memories of those we will always hold dear.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who took part in this year’s Light Up a Memory celebrations, both in the Sacred Heart Church and around the world. Once again, it was a very poignant and truly special evening of prayer, reflection, and fond remembrance for everyone involved.