A HAPPY MSC DAY: PROFESSING HIS FIRST VOWS, KENJI KONDA, MSC
Saturday, December 14, in the community Chapel at St Mary’s Towers, Douglas Park, Kenji Konda completed his novitiate and made his first profession - a province celebration, a community celebration.
Provincial superior, Chris McPhee, received the vows.
Kenji’s mother was present at the ceremony.
His Novice Master was Peter Harvey-Jackson MSC.
Kenji and his family have had a long contact with the MSC, originally in Japan, but especially in Sydney, the parishes of Randwick and Coogee where he served on the Parish Councils, and long involvement with Adrian Meany in the MSC Missions Office.
We share the community blessing over Kenji
We have some quotations from Kenji, from a recent article in the MSC Magazine.
With his work in preparing the novitiate for the incoming new novices, Kenji noted: “for these reasons and others, the thought of taking vows never really entered my mind. In fact, were it not for my community, it may have taken even longer to register. The belief started to set in when I began noticing the subtle changes in the way the members here behaved towards me. Of course, over the course of the past 12 months, I had grown accustomed to being showered with the joy and delight as I progressed through each stage of the novitiate program – the community have been totally supportive and encouraging throughout the process – but things were a little different now. It is difficult to describe because the experience is at the effective level, a genuine sense of being brought into the fold and accepted as “one” – much more and at a far deeper level than ever before.
It is like an expression of their approval, a sign that I am now welcome to make my profession as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, following in the footsteps of many great men who have gone before them and now me. As it was for my community members, it is a significant moment in my life and a day that all MSC share in common regardless of their vocation. Whether he is a brother or priest, each MSC is professed, giving the vows a unifying and universal quality.
Through this experience and also with guidance from my Novice Master, I have come to the realisation that much of the undertaking and understanding of the vows has to do with perception and how I view these commitments in light of my faith through the person of Jesus. The vows, therefore, should not carry a negative connotation, and are certainly not about control. There is a liberating element which transcends beyond the limitations of my worldly consciousness – a source of uninhibited freedom to seek and explore God’s love for me and the opportunity to allow this love to continually transform my life and beyond.
With thanks for photos taken by Sean Donovan, MSC Mission Office.
