Celebrating 60 years of Profession, Brian Gallagher MSC

The MSC Melbourne community and Brian’s friends from Melbourne and Shoreham gathered at 77 Central Rd Blackburn, Brian’s home.

Our Photographer Trieu (thanks again) caught some of the moments. Our community leader, in his report for the Provincial Conference, has noted that we have some of the oldest members of the Province – and the youngest.

This site editor was pleased with a photo showing the group listening attentively to his overview of Brian from the 1960s to the 1990s, beginning with his being an MSc before he joined, then MSC (MSC squared?), Vocations Director, establishing the Siloam Spiritual Direction Program, beginning the Heart of Life Centre (this year its 40^th year), years as Provincial.

Then Ann Lorkin, longtime friend and Shoreham resident, spoke about Brian and the transformation of The Cliffs from basic living to welcoming Retreat Centre.

We realised as Hoa, Trieu and Daniel listened, they turn 30 this year – which means that listening to Brian’s story, they had to go back to twice their lifetime!

Peter Hendrix did some archive digging.

(L to R) Peter, John, Kevin, Mum, me, Dad, Gerry, (Kneeling in front) my sister Ann and Kevin’s wife, Barbara

But, that was then… this is now!

Have you seen, visited the MSC Vocations Australia Facebook page?

Good Shepherd Sunday is a day of prayer for Vocations.

The Students at Cuskelly House have created this Facebook page, reaching out to any and every visitor, offering images, stories, that might create an interest in the MSCs, and the thought of joining us, the possibility of discerning whether this might be a committed life… and a heart spirituality for life, to be shared.

The page has frequent posts each week, MSC stories and photos, material for prayer and reflection. The team at Cuskelly House, Trieu, Daniel and Hoa contribute, with Trieu as the main editor of the page.

When you visit, don’t neglect the emojis, especially Like – and Love.

First Friday reflection, ‘Reparation’ seen as ‘repairing the damaged, the mutilated, the de-reverenced’.  Gerardine Doherty OLSH.

We used the word ‘reparation’ in a sense of penance and mortification. How can it be understood more challengingly now?

Jules Chevalier was intensely aware of the “evils of his time” and he urgently desired to restore to those wounded by such “evils” their rightful dignity, the truth of their personal value and worth.  He longed to “repair” the “image of God” where he saw it had been damaged, mutilated, de-reverenced. 

To live reparation today, I believe, is an invitation to imagine the world and one’s place in it as quite different from the existing order.  To live reparation has something to do with grieving over what has already been lost and the possibilities that have never actually been realized.   To live reparation is to feel in one’s own heart the enormous tension contained in the paradoxical truth, “Redemption is complete but not yet finished.”

I believe that the quality of our reparation would be considerably enriched if we constantly made the effort to examine, not only from the economical, ecological, and political viewpoints but also from the

theological stance, the grassroots of the evils of our day.  This I think would empower us to act with greater creativity, effectiveness, and awareness of the real anxieties and urgent needs in today’s world.

Introducing the new website of  the Laity of the Chevalier Family

It is with great pleasure, that the international Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family launches the Website that celebrates the life and spirit of the Laity of the Chevalier Family. The vision of our founder, Fr Jules Chevalier reflects the Vision of Jesus of Nazareth for a community of followers where all are equal and every member can participate with their particular gifts to the building of the Body of Christ.

This Website has two important purposes:

Firstly, to be a point of contact for those inside and outside the Chevalier Family for information and contact details. As such, it will prominently link to other national lay Chevalier Family websites and contacts.

And secondly, to be the definitive record of the essential documents that articulate the nature and distinctiveness of the lay charism of the Chevalier Family.

The Website will operate on the following principles;

1. The Website will be relatively static only requiring updating of contact details, posting of new publications and updated material, as required to keep it up to date.

2. The operating language of the Website will be English, but the site will utilise a google translate function to translate into the language of our member countries.

3. It will be linked to our current Facebook page that contains day-to-day information about the global family.

4. The Website will make every attempt for images to be reflective of our inclusive understanding of church, lifestyle and gender and be compliant with international legal requirements for Copyright and Privacy

This website reflects the collaboration of many people including the members of the International Council, many professed brothers and sisters, especially Fr Hans and most particularly the expertise of Brett Adamson and Matt Price.

The URL of the site is: chevalierfamilylaity.org

We encourage each National Council of member countries, and leaders within the professed members to familiarise themselves with the structure and content of the site and to actively use the material to assist in forming members. We encourage members to communicate with the International Council with suggestions for improvement, especially with short histories of the development of the lay movement in member countries.

Our hope and prayer is that this site will assist in making the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved everywhere.  Ametur.

Ending an MSC era

Tiwi Islands and Daly River get new missionaries, Divine Word Missionaries.

Bishop Francis Xavier Gsell MSC, founder of MSC presence in the NT from 1996.  His story as the bishop with 150 wives is well-known. See next photo.

From the SVD information:  In the Word

The Divine Word Missionaries have accepted an invitation from Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci to take up the pastoral care of the people of the Tiwi Islands and Daly River. Source: In the Word.

The SVDs are already active in Darwin Diocese, having been present in Central Australia for the last 20 years in Alice Springs, Santa Teresa and in the Aboriginal Catholic Chaplaincy.

Provincial Fr Asaeli Rass SVD said it was this existing relationship which fostered the invitation to take on the ministry in Bathurst and Melville Islands, off Darwin, adjoining the Timor Sea, and Daly River, which is near Katherine in the Northern Territory.

“Bishop Charles invited us on behalf of the Tiwi people, to take on this ministry,” Fr Rass says.

“It is part of our very strong commitment as a Province to addressing the ongoing plight of Indigenous people in this country.”

Fr Rass says the SVDs will be building on the legacy of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart who are withdrawing from ministry in the Tiwi Islands after more than 100 years.

“The MSCs have been in the Tiwi Islands since 1910-1911, since the time of Bishop [Francis Xavier] Gsell and now they are finishing their mission there. We will definitely be building on their legacy and the strengths they brought to the ministry there for more than a century, as well as bringing our own SVD charism and willingness to take on another challenging ministry,” he says.

During a visit to Bathurst Island, Fr Rass met the elders and key leaders of the community.

“They are feeling sad because the MSCs are leaving, but also they are very welcoming to the SVDs coming to work with their people,” he says.

Last MSC parish priest, Pat Mara

Wishing the SVDs every blessing

Acknowledging Margaret O’Loughlin, Lay MSC, 85^th birthday

Today is the day to wish Margaret a very happy 85^th birthday – John’s widow, mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother.

Margaret is also one of the Australian Lay MSC with the longest association with the MSC, dating from the early 70s, helping to lead the Melbourne group over many decades.

She was a long-serving member of the Lay MSC Council. Besides being present at some Australian Provincial Chapters, she is one of the few Lay MSC who has attended an MSC General Chapter (1995).

Some Significant May Days for the Chevalier Family 2022

A reminder, May 6^th, that the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Randwick was opened in 1888, only a few years after the arrival of the first MSC in Sydney. The parish in those days extended to Botany.

1 May, 1863

An article on Our Lady of the Sacred Heart appears in the Jesuit publication, "Messager du Sacré-Coeur", founded by Fr. Henri Ramière, SJ. It is the first presentation of this new title for Mary.

3 May 1928

Mother Liboria Loeper, Provincial of the American Province MSC Sisters, arrived in Sydney to begin an Australian foundation that would be of support to the established Mission in Papua New Guinea. 

6 May, 1883

The shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Sittard, Netherlands is elevated to a Basilica by Pope Leo XIII. Today, it is the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Netherlands.

            

6 May, 1888

In Randwick, Australia, the church built by Father Michael Tierney, is dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Today, it is the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Australia.
  

10 May, 1888

The first MSC Fathers Edouard Bontemps and Joseph Leray, and Brother Conrad Weber arrive in Kiribati! Fr. Leray would later become the first Bishop of Gilbert Islands.
          

12 May, 1931

Father Eugène Meyer dies in Issoudun. He was the Superior General of the MSC from 1905 to 1920, the second after Father Jules Chevalier.

14 May, 1926

Father Pierre-Marie Tréand, founder and first Provincial of the Australian MSC Province, dies this day.

18 May, 1856

Still early days of the MSC foundation. Father Charles Piperon joins the budding community of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, in Issoudun. Two days later, the Archbishop of Bourges appoints him as Prison Chaplain at Issoudun.

21 May 1928.

At Station Pier, Melbourne, she welcomed Srs Eulalia, Aquilina, Maurilia, Zaccharia, and Margareta. Their first destination was Rupertswood, Sunbury where they provided practical support to the Salesians. 

22 May, 1839

Jules Chevalier is 15 years old. On this day, he received the sacrament of Confirmation at Richelieu. He received his First Holy Communion three years earlier on 29 May, 1836, again in Richelieu.

26 May, 1860

Henry Verjus is born in Oleggio, in Italy.
           

31 May, 1865

The feast of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is publicly celebrated for the first time.

By 1872 the feast is celebrated worldwide in 950 churches or chapels.
For quite some time, this feast was held on this date, but today, globally, the feast is observed on the last Saturday in May.

Fr Leo Wearden and Wadeye

Peter Hendriks writes: Wadeye has been in the news lately with reports of a death, riots and much violence. Leo presents information that hasn’t reached the mainstream press that is important to share, but first to say that Leo is fine, safe and in good health.

• Tensions have been rising between two families for some time. Recently a death occurred which then escalated the violence. Fr Leo celebrated a mass for the deceased and has also celebrated mass for the person who is considered responsible for the death. He is speaking to both families

• This afternoon Leo attended an interagency meeting which included, the School, Police, Council, Clinic, Save the Children, and himself. The purpose of the meeting was for each agency to check in with each other and chat about how they will respond to the situation. Contrary to media reports, the nurses haven’t been attacked, the teachers were at school and school was open and the police did not experience violence against themselves.

• Such reports are a setback to attracting workers there. The Clinic, for example, should have 14 nurses, however, it only has two. Teachers are difficult to employ…and so on.

• The MSC presence has been in Wadeye continuously from the beginning, when the Government asked the Church to set up a mission. Coincidentally, it will be 87 years this Sunday since Fr Richard Docherty founded the Port Keats Mission. The Heart of Jesus is needed more than ever, and we thank Leo, who has been there for 15years, for being the one to live the charism given to Chevalier that the love, compassion, forgiveness of God is a solution and a way forward rather than revenge, hate and violence.
• Leo, our prayers are with you and all of Wadeye.

For those who have not read/ heard/ seen any news from Wadeye recently, the reporting has been rather sensationalist, sometimes alarmist.  This is a quieter selection of items from ANC news.

Wadeye is an isolated community about 420 kilometres south-west of Darwin, with a population of around 3000 people.

Tensions have been building in the community for the past month. 

An 18-year-old man was last week charged with manslaughter, following the death of another man, after he suffered severe head injuries during an alleged altercation. 

"Mothers, grandmothers, children run into the bushes carrying their blankets to camp and sleep for the night, our young people have lost their way."

Traditional owner Margaret Perdjert said she was saddened by the fighting among Wadeye's young people. "In our heart we feel empty," she said.

"Our strong elders have passed away and we don't have enough activities for our young people in our community."

An image of hope from the Church

St Mary’s Towers: Some future retreats and weekends:

• Sinews of the Heart 6 Days: 6-12 May $930/ Weekend: 6-8 May $310 (Presenter: Paul White)
• Men's Weekend - Journeys Homewards: 13-15 May 2022 $310 (Presenter: Paul White)
• Living More Deeply in God - Praying with Ignatius of Loyola: 6 Days: 20-26 May $930/ Weekend: 20-22 May $310 (Presenters: Retreat Team)
• Seeing with Fresh Eyes: Encountering the Risen Christ: 6 Days: 27 May - 2 June $930/ Weekend: 27-29 May $310 (Presenter: Elizabeth Lee)
• Enquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ph 02 46300233
• https://www.towersretreat.org.au.
• 
• A NEW AND EXCITING WEEKEND SERIES!
• This weekend is one part of a series of five weekends (see all dates below) or can be attended as a standalone weekend.
• Each weekend is an opportunity for us all, women and men, to hear and see the Good News through the words and the lives of named and unnamed women in the Gospels and allow these women to speak into your life.
• There will be the opportunity to enter and explore each story through Lectio Divina, poetry, Visio Divina, photography, labyrinth walks, art, midrash and silence. Spiritual accompaniment will also be available with the retreat team.
• 
• PRESENTER
• Elizabeth Lee is a Spiritual Director, Retreat Facilitator and Pastoral Supervisor. 
• DATES
• 4-6 March - Woman at the Wedding
• 22-24 April - Woman at the Well
• 22-24 July - Woman with the Haemorrhage
• 7-9 October - Woman at the Tomb
• 25-27 November - Woman with an Angel

• COST
• Weekend: 2 nights: $310
• INCLUSIONS
• All inclusive of meals, accommodation, presentations and spiritual direction.
• TIMES
• All retreats commence with a 5.30pm welcome and conclude with the Eucharist at 1.45pm.
• TO REGISTER:
• For further details and application forms, contact:
• The Administrator
• St Mary's Towers Retreat Centre
• PO Box 19A
• Douglas Park 2569
• 02 4630 0233
• Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Unusual MSC Statistics, episode three.  MSC priests and brothers with sisters nuns. 

More than you would ordinarily expect.  But it makes a statement about Australian Catholic families in the 20th century.

A generic picture!

MSC and Sisters, and Congregations

Albert Chan,  OLSH

Bob Mitchell, Mercy

Brendan Sykes, OLSH

Chris McPhee, Marist

Cuthbert Hoy, Presentation

Frank Crilly, Josephite

Jack Burford, three Joseph-ites

James McNamara, three (or more) Josephites

Jim Littleton, Ursuline

Joe O’Brien, Brigidine

John Dempsey, OLSH

John Franzmann, Presentation

John, Jim McMahon, Little Company of Mary

Leo Hill, Mercy

Malcolm Fyfe, OLSH

Noel Mansfield, John of God

Norbert Earl, Josephite

Patrick Carrigan, Sister of Charity

Paul Jennings, OLSH

Peter Carroll, Josephite

Russell, Frank Andersen, Little Company of Mary

Stan, Michael Reis, OLSH

Ted McCormack, Presentation

Terry Barry, Josephite

Terry Naughton, Holy spirit Sister

Tony O’Brien, OLSH, Loretto

Vincent, Jim Dwyer, Little Company of Mary

William, George, Philip Henschke, OLSH

If any have been missed out, let us know,