Australian Province, preparing for our Chapter, April 2023
We invite our site visitors to reflect with us and to pray with us. And some photos from Chapters 2010 and 2016.
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are facing a period of transition – be it here in Australia or in Vietnam, the forces of change are taking place.
Since Covid19, environmental damage, climate change, refugees, migration, and the First Nations ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, and from all our reports from the province consultations, the world and the local Church have changed.
We constantly need to review and re-vision our current ministries as well as explore the possibilities for new ones. Transition requires detachment and creativity. This will depend on a true evaluation of our resources and capabilities.
Many movements in Church and society suggest the way: justice for our First Nations people, renewal programs in parishes, environmental movements in the Church and beyond such as the Laudato Si Action Platform; flood and fire victims, victims of violence, abuse, and street people
Can we discern new ways of engagement with our traditional ministries among Indigenous people (in Australia and Vietnam) and in parish ministry (such as missions and supply work), and in spirituality?
We know that our spirituality of the Heart can enable us to respond creatively to the challenges of our times. We have evidence of this being done in our MSC colleges, Heart of Life Centre for Spiritual and Pastoral Formation, the Chevalier Institute, and in many of our parishes.
As a Province, we are conscious of the need “to continually revisit the vision of the founder and nourish and nurture it by our personal study and reflection on the Charism and message of the Founder”. We believe that we have a message and a mission that is, now more than ever, universal (‘ubique’).
It is important to listen to the voice of the Spirit within each of us personally and especially within our communities: “we need to listen to and observe where we find the fire, the passion for mission, individually and in our MSC communities.” In what direction does this point us?
