From the letter to the province, Alison McKenzie.
The full letter appears in the recent issue of the MSC Magazine (which also appears on the website home page). After her initial reminiscence, Alison makes three points about the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, highlighting Heart Spirituality – and some wise observations about how we live in a wounded church today.
My initial encounter with the MSC family occurred in 1976, when, as a very young woman, I picked up Tony Bolt as he walked along a country road near Toowoomba, after his car had broken down. That led to meeting the Downlands MSC community in the late 70s, later to the MSC community home for Vietnamese refugees, followed by many years of teaching at Chevalier College and finally, to the Institute and the International Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family. They have been blessed years and, if I had my life over again, I don’t think I would change a thing.
Firstly – I would like to say to each and every one of you how much your lives have mattered. You are deeply valued, respected and appreciated by so many. Your lives are unremarkable in many ways, but in that ordinariness, outstandingly remarkable, because we can relate to you as human beings and see in your lives and work, and hear in your words, a way of being that is a remedy for the ills of our time. Please know that it would be a rare person whose personal and professional lives are not better for seeing and hearing Spirituality of the Heart in you and from you and through you. You have deepened our humanity and we are grateful. Thank you.
Secondly – thank you, during these tumultuous post-Vatican years, for your struggle to find language that expressed often incomprehensible, high-end theology and scriptural interpretation into words and concepts we could understand. You have pointed us towards the life of Jesus of Nazareth, with a constant reminder that Jesus way of living and loving reveals the source of his spirit – a God who is Love. You have not burdened us with rules and dictates. Your God is not to be feared but rather to be sought. You never said that belief was a starting point. You reminded us, if we too want to live like Jesus, we simply had to be present and open to our hearts and we would find there that same source of life. And, for so many of us, what you said has taken root and our spirituality has been deepened and we say thank you.
Thirdly – in these very challenging times for the institution of Catholicism, you are showing us how we can, with integrity and authenticity, belong to a flawed and damaged human institution, respecting and drawing from the wisdom and treasures about human living and loving that are contained deep within, while retaining our right to think for ourselves and to express our own opinion on matters of importance. You have shown us how to carry our collective shame and to be disappointed and critical of our structures and even of our leaders, while still belonging to the family. We have such a rich tradition within our Catholic heritage and when it does not shackle us, it can offer deep and timeless wisdom that can shed light on troubled times. Thank you for finding ways to be faithful and showing us how we too can belong but not to be burdened and how we can draw deeply but not be shackled. I want you to know that the people you have so gently nurtured over the years of your ministry are now standing beside you as we see your collective reputations besmirched and mocked. We are beginning to find a voice to wear our Catholicity with pride and to point to you and our shared spirit on examples of ‘good religion’.
