2021 Provincial Conference opens  

Peter Hendriks has sent photos and Chris McPhee's opening address

Welcome to the 2021 Provincial conference; our first since we had to cancel last year’s conference by order of a decree due to Covid19 lockdown...

The Role of the Provincial Conference is:

a) To review the ongoing direction and policies of the Province between Chapters.

b)          To provide a forum for mutual exchange between Local Superiors and the Provincial and his Council, as well as among Local Superiors themselves.

c) To develop strategies of cooperation amongst communities, and between communities and the Provincial Superior.

d)          To study the more important problems common to the Province.

This week we have a lot to get through, and the way we are going to do this is to hear from each of the Directors and Chairs of the different committees that will inform you, our Superiors, as to how the Province is moving ahead after a disastrous 2020.

A question that keeps coming into my mind – I think since I was Novice Director at Douglas Park – is how do we combine our MSC spirituality with reality especially as we come through this Covid19 pandemic?

As we know, it is very easy to talk about heart spirituality, and even in private criticize what we are doing and what we are not doing… but my hope here is not to do that, nor to be judgemental of who we are or what we do… but hopefully to ask some questions and hopefully to be imaginative for the future of being Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Phil Hicks and Leo Wearden

Working in this area of leadership today I would often confront myself with the question, “what do we have to explain to the world about the way that we live.”  I ask it because, am I living any differently to that of the wider community… is my life any different today as it was before I joined the MSC.  I think it is, but what about those considering joining, and throw their lot in with us… how do they, when looking at me/you/us see us MSC     living the gospel and living it within a community of men all wanting to live the gospel and more importantly for us, to live it accordingly to our consecrated life of vows... 

The challenge is, and I wonder, is this question being asked of us by younger generations? Maybe we may think that they have given up on us – but I am certain that God has not given up on us or them, for that matter.

Steve Dives and Paul Cashen

 In a book, that I used while being a Novice Director, called ‘Conversion’ by Jim Wallis, when writing about the Christian life, touched on to something of an answer, an understanding that may help in melding spirituality with reality. He said, “Factors of race, class, sex, and national identity shape and define the lives of Christians just like everybody else. No one expects anything different of Christians. The predictability of the Christian style of life, or, more to the point, the loss of a distinctively Christian lifestyle, has severely damaged our proclamation of the gospel. We have lost that visible style of life that was evident in the early Christian communities and that gave their evangelism its compelling power and authority.”

My life and, I’m pretty certain, others, who have grown up in my generation, have lived through one of the most self-centred times in history.  With self-fulfilment and individual advancement being the goal has led us all to another question of ‘how can I be happy and satisfied?’ And connecting that with spirituality of any kind can come down to; “what can Jesus do for me,” or more to the point, “what can you do for me.”  Here I wonder if our emphasis on heart spirituality is only bringing Jesus into our lives rather than bringing us into his life.

Chris McPhee and Dominic Gleeson

Cuskelly once said that “a spirituality is an integrated way of life, informing one’s whole life, inspiring and colouring one’s whole response to God… to inspire a way of life from heart to heart…” He then continues by saying that “a spirituality of the heart will not survive long without suitable forms of expression… we need in this field a creative fidelity.” 

Further, over the coming days of this conference we will hear from many more in the province who will give us a summary of what is happening – to give a response as to the direction and the resolutions of our last Chapter.

Tony Young

I have often said that our MSC community here in the Australian province is not about age but Spirit…  in other words, to have a sense of mission – a sense of purpose – a common purpose – to be on earth the heart of God has nothing to do with age but has to do with spirit.   To have, to be, to be connected, belonging to, drawing our whole life from this ‘source of living water’ – Jesus – to have a sense of doing this together – oneness – supportive of the group, both individually and corporately – to risk and to say, ‘yes’ we do this together – we imagine together – we put into mission ‘together’.

I think my recent time as Assistant General highlighted the absolute need for us to be doing this kind of thing, this type of process, this time together, to vision, to be, and to sense our brotherhood. 

Mark Hanns and Philip Malone

What I experienced while on the General Council were many MSC men without a vision or identity of what it really meant to be an MSC.  They were ordained – they were priest – they had the identity of priest – then what?  As I listen and observed these guys, I kept asking myself the question – what does it really mean to be a missionary of the Sacred Heart? 

It highlighted for me our own situation here in Australia.  Sure, we may not be as clerical and as focused on ‘priesthood’ as our brothers internationally, but we are probably more sophisticated in hiding our lack of direction and vision.

Frank Dineen and Alo Lamere

Many of us are working hard in ministry, in good works, but are we working out of the… am I working out of the spark, the energy, the reason ‘why’ I am an MSC.  Is our mission part of my everyday life – is it my vision – personally; are the Constitutions, are they my inspiration and driving force – to be on earth the heart of God.  Or am I in ministry and it has become just another job, a duty, without much meaning and direction – but only a sense that I am doing good work, for the church and even for God – but there is no spark, energy or fire. And again, this is not about age, but spirit.

This brings me to our central message: to be ‘Clear at the Core’.

At the beginning of this year, Br Graham Neist fms, guided and facilitated our Provincial Council gathering at Douglas Park. There we certainly looked at the year just past – and all felt it was like no other!

Kimi Vunivesilevu and Peter Hendriks

Here, we shared and discussed together important questions such as: How do we read the reality we are living in? and How do we respond? To questions around where we sense life is inviting us and to how we find a response. 

One of the key outcomes of this process was to be ‘clear at the core’ of who we are, the ‘why’ we do what we do, and to be able to live with it being messy on the edges. I love this idea of being clear at the Core and being messy at the edges. This for me summed up a lot of 2020 and I think is a great help to lead us into 2021.

If there was one thing that taught us anything last year, was to keep our focus, keep our gaze, keep our heart on the one thing we belong to, the one thing ‘why’ we are MSC, the one thing – may the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved. This, I think is what it means to be ‘clear at the core’ of who we are.

Over the coming days we will re-look at our Resolutions of 2016 Chapter with the many reports, presentations, and insights as to the direction from those presenting. We will have a chance to ask questions and to give our own input.

However, unfortunately we have three members of the conference unable to be here and so: We have a tabled report from Vietnam, from Japan Region.