Daniel's Story. MSC today.
Reflection on the Feast of the Sacred Heart (presented at the St Thomas the Apostle Parish, Blackburn on 16th June 2023)
When I was asked to speak two weeks ago, I was initially excited. Then it quickly turned to dread, considering the people who have spoken in the past. They were individuals whose experience and credentials make me a tiny fish among whales. But I was reassured by my confreres that I have something the others cannot offer, and that’s myself and my story, and how I understood and have lived the MSC charism, the Spirituality of the Heart.
Firstly, what is the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart? What drove our founder, Jules Chevalier, to establish the MSC? Aware of the world around him, and contemplating the Heart of Christ, it was revealed to the young Chevalier the remedies to the ills of the world. It was the compassionate love of God revealed in the Sacred Heart. Inspired by that love, and guided by the Spirit, Chevalier founded the MSC. The mission was to make that love known. To this, I reply, what is with the Sacred Heart?
The late Frank Perry and John Rate, Henley Beach
I paused here and realized how privileged I am, for this charism was not introduced to me when I joined the congregation in 2019. I have been exposed to it in different ways for the last sixteen years. In 2007, my family migrated from the Philippines to Adelaide, and we first settled in the suburb of Henley Beach. The local parish was Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. At that time, it was under the care of the MSC. I was first introduced to the congregation, its charism and spirituality there. Of all the parishes in Adelaide, it was the MSC parish. Providence (the finger of God) played a part for sure. Surely my life would be so different if my family started elsewhere. At Henley, I was not taught the compassionate love of God in classes or retreats. It was through the lived witness of the parish community, especially the MSC priests, who were my heroes. They were there to cry with my family in our challenging times. They celebrated with us in our moments of joy and triumph. It was not a theory. It was the charism in action. It was attractive. And it reignited the flame to enter religious life, a fire I once thought died in my childhood. It was in my formative years in SA that I learned that the Spirituality of the Heart involves sharing with the lives of others. It is learning their hopes and dreams, and empathizing with their pain and loneliness. I also learned about the Sacred Heart of the Shepherd who, to quote Pope Francis, has taken the smell of the sheep. In short, a Heart for others.
After much discernment, I joined the MSC in 2019, to start my pre-novitiate in Blackburn. During this stage of formation, I learned about living in a community. I was taught about Jules Chevalier and the history of the congregation. Most importantly, I learned about myself, and how it is understood within the context of our spirituality. It was during these early years that an aspect of the Sacred Heart was revealed to me. In contemplating the Heart of Christ, I contemplate the Heart of the Beloved. From this, I was invited to claim my identity as the beloved and to base my life on that knowledge. In one session, Khoi, my formator then, played a video of the Dutch priest and spiritual teacher Henri Nouwen. He started his talk by telling his audience: you…we…are the beloved children of God. Claim that truth! Unfortunately, this is easier said than done in our world today, a world that tempts me to base my life on what I do, what others think of me, and what I have. Those were the powers that tried to entice Jesus during his time in the desert. Luckily for Jesus, he had that profound experience at the river Jordan. During his baptism, he heard with great clarity: you are my son, the beloved, to whom I am well pleased. This consolation and identity allowed Jesus to live amongst humanity, in a world that either accepted or rejected him; exalted or mocked him. It did not manner, because he was the beloved. During the novitiate in 2020, aka the “corona-vitiate”, I had the space and time to dwell on this more. I even drew a picture to express my reflections on being the beloved. When Trieu and I made our first profession, I suggested that Jesus’s Baptism was the Gospel passage read. That was how much that realization meant. Before moving to the next image, I invite you to say: I am the beloved… and God delights in me!
The last facet of the Sacred Heart I will be sharing tonight is the vulnerable pierced heart. When I was new in the MSCs, I asked myself: what is with our fascination with the pierced side? My question was answered during my 30-day retreat as a novice by two images: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Caravaggio’s painting of Jesus and Thomas. It was Day 27 of the Spiritual Exercises and the passage to reflect on was the interaction between Thomas and the risen Jesus in John’s Gospel. During my meditation, I got distracted. I gave up, stood up, left the chapel, and went for a walk around the retreat house. Then I noticed the wooden carving of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart pointing to Jesus crucified. This brought me to the Anima Christi, an old Catholic prayer. I stayed with the line: “Within your wounds hide me. Permit me not to be separated from you.” I then turned to Caravaggio’s painting. Here I saw Jesus inviting me to enter his life through his wounds. But the challenging part was the call for me to invite Jesus into my life through my wounds, my brokenness, and my vulnerabilities. For me, it gave new meaning to “you in me, and I in you.” Being intimate with God finally made sense.
Fast forward to 2023, and a new opportunity to contemplate the vulnerable Heart of Jesus arose in my internship at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. I described my course there as an experiential education in spiritual care. The primary resource was not books or lectures, but “the human document,” namely the people I encountered in the wards. Those clinical visits taught me a lot about ministry and about who I am. Firstly, my personhood (warts and all) is the best gift I can offer as a spiritual carer. Second is the value of listening and presence. I used to discount these actions as mere nothings. Third, who do I go to in times of dryness, discouragement, and fatigue? Who is my spring of living water? This is where our Gospel reading unlocks the answer:
‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
As we move to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, let us in silence reflect again on our identity as the beloved, the truth that fuels our mission as we say:
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved…Forever!
