An MSC Update, photos from Vietnam,

Courtesy of Bob Irwin and Bang, our photographer

Thien, Joseph Vuong,Truc, Bob, Huy, Vuong, Hung....the two Vuongs begin 2nd year novitiate, the other four will be professed on August 6, in Manila. 

Students, and Bang, our photographer second from the end.

Those going to the novitiate... picture taken when they left Vietnam for postualancy in Manila with the Filipinos.

Hien, Dat, Khoa,Vu, and Kien...now the 1st year novices...moved to Novitiate last Sunday

Thi approved for deaconate.

Chung and the novices after the deaconate ceremony

A Weekend reflection and prayer in these times.

With lockdown and covid headlines, there are no so many stories these weeks. It seemed a good idea to post some relevant prayers and reflections.

And the Church

And shared faith

And for a Scripture reference

Solidarity with South Africa as covid-19 spreads in that country. July 18th, Nelson Mandela Day.

Nelson Mandela has many accolades. He’s  an iconic figure that triumphed over South Africa’s apartheid regime. He was a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, and an international peacemaker. And he was the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa (no biggie).

So you see why the United Nations General Assembly would want to celebrate his life. Commemorated on July 18—Nelson Mandela’s birthday—Nelson Mandela International Day celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world and the ability to make an impact. So, in honor of his 67 years of public service, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the UN asks that you spend 67 minutes of your time helping others.

5 Things You Should Know About Nelson Mandela

1.      Legal career

Mandela was one of South Africa's first black lawyers.

2.      Yet another first

Mandela was also South Africa's first black president.

3.      A Nobel Prize

Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his influential work in ending apartheid.

4.      Real name

Mandela's first name is actually Rolihlahla, but was nicknamed Nelson by one of his school teachers.

5.      A loving nickname

Many South Africans referred to Mandela as "Madiba" — which is a title of respect.

An OLSH Parish, Randwick, story.  Tony Chung

The Chung Family

It’s a long way from Papua New Guinea.            

Born in Papua New Guinea in 1952, Tony Chung  has been part of the parish since 1965.  This is his story.

My father, says Tony, was the General Manager of the Burns Philip Company in Papua New Guinea and our family lived in Kavieng the capital of the PNG province of the Island of New Ireland. It was occupied by the Japanese during World War II and was frequently bombed by Allied aircraft in 1943–44.

I went to the MSC school there. Not the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart we know but the American MSCs. My two brothers – Charles and Bernard went to the public school. Bernard also attended the Sacred Heart School in Rabaul, New Britain a few years earlier. Secondary education was lacking in Kavieng so our parents sent us to boarding school at St Joseph’s Hunters Hill. Tony was one of the first groups to complete the Higher School Certificate under the Wyndham Scheme in 1970.

Been back to PNG?  Every year up to and including January 1970. PNG become an independent nation in 1975 and is now part of the British Commonwealth.

As was the way pretty much until the 1980s jobs security meant making a career with the one company.  And so it was with Tony. Graduating from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting in 1974 while living in Randwick he joined Coopers and Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) the next year. He retired from the firm 44 years later in 2019 as one of its Directors. Longest employee?  No, the record is 47 years.

He makes no claim to living in the one place for long periods. Four places, he says, but all in Randwick since 1965. One claim he does make is always sitting at the same desk in the UNSW Library, reckoning that being first in the Library when it opened gave him squatters rights!

Once an accountant, always an accountant says Tony. So now in partial retirement he has his own micro accounting firm. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy goes the saying and for Tony it is Ten Pin Bowling.  Not quite a passion but he has been a keen competitor for many years, beginning in 1993 and he still competes in a team at one centre in Wetherill Park with his two sons.

Family and the church are of course so important. Tony was an Altar Boy at the OLSH Mission Church in Kavieng and has remained part of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart community ever since arriving in Randwick.  

He and Kim were married at our OLSH church on 29th January 1983 by Fr John Conroy.  Kim was born in Malaysia. She completed her training in Perth before moving to Sydney in 1978. They met in Sydney at a picnic at Wiseman's Ferry via mutual friends. Kim worked initially at the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick before moving to South Sydney Hospital. She did not resume her career after the children arrived.

They have three children. Kim has other family in Australia. Her sister Kim Siew and her husband Richard live in Victoria and are regular visitors to Sydney. Like father like son, the boys attended Joeys, being there during the years of 2000 to 2008. All three children attended OLSH Randwick for their primary education. Felicity, who works in child care was born in 1984, Gregory was born in 1987 and is a teacher and Emery is a trainee accountant, born in 1991.  Reversing a likely trend, the boys live at home but not Felicity. They’re full members of the family according to Tony, not exempt from chores.

It’s not just his immediate family with connection to OLSH. Long time parishioners will remember the organ in the loft. It was dismantled in 2008. Where it went is unknown and so too is the crocheted cover for it. What is known however it was Tony’s mother, Angela, who did the crocheting.

God's Foolishness, A Spirituality of Heart - a new book by Brian Gallagher MSC

From the Coventry Press flyer and website:

God's Foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25).

Reflecting on his own life and on the lives and teachings of a range of spiritual writers, Brian Gallagher discovers God's foolishness, 'wiser than human wisdom'.  He gladly acknowledges the influence of these women and men on his personal spirituality, a spiritual heart.

He calls them 'prophets, leaders, saints', and though human wisdom held little expectation for any of them, God's foolishness saw them with very different eyes.

Brian Gallagher has degrees in science, theology and spiritual direction, including a doctoral thesis that researched discernment of spirits.  His ministry for fifty years has been in spirituality and spiritual direction, predominately at the Heart of Life Centre in Melbourne; and now in retreat ministry in Shoreham.  Brian is the author of two earlier books Pray As You Are and Taking God to Heart as well as the first edition of Communal Wisdom, co-authored by Sue Richardson pbvm, Set Me Free and The Eyes of God

Greater Melbourne locked down for a second six weeks’ period. hope and humour.

This site comes from Melbourne, from lockdown again for millions of us, more than five weeks to go.

Here is a quote from Pope Francis’ Easter prayer, still relevant to us.

And, then, please share some humour with us…

May Jesus, our Passover, grant strength and hope to doctors and nurses, who everywhere offer a witness of care and love for our neighbours, to the point of exhaustion and not infrequently at the expense of their own health. Our gratitude and affection go to them, to all who work diligently to guarantee the essential services necessary for civil society, and to the law enforcement and military personnel who in many countries have helped ease people’s difficulties and sufferings.

Christ’s resurrection is not a “magic formula that makes problems vanish,” he continued, “it is the victory of love over the root of evil.” This victory “does not ‘by-pass’ suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss, transforming evil into good,” he added.

Varssha Sheth is an environmental designer and artist from Chicago

An Appeal from the Director of the MSC Mission Office, Roger Purcell.

REPRINTING: GEORGES DELBOS, THE MUSTARD SEED

“FROM A FRENCH MISSION TO A PAPUAN CHURCH”

Published in 1985 for the centenary of the founding to the Catholic Church on Yule Island in 1885 this is a very readable and comprehensive history of those 100 years.

Here we have the history of a mission, including the history of the time from popes to rulers, from explorers to geography. It includes the story of our Founder, Fr Jules Chevalier msc, the history of the church in Oceania with Protestants and Papist, missionary from Picpus, Pime, Marists, MSC, SVD and more. We read as interesting background “the stories before the story”, the beginnings, the growth, the expansion; the progress and setbacks, the disasters and disruptions; it is about evangelization, pastoral care, health, education and economics all interwoven with the stories of exploration and politics in an evolving world of colonialists, planters, miners, civil servants and our own missionaries. Valuable reference is made to documents from church and secular sources from Rome to Paris to Papua.

447 pages including index and bibliography, charts and photos.

CAN YOU HELP US TO REPRINT THIS VALUABLE AND INTERESTING BOOK??

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

ESTIMATE OF COPIES:

I am interested in the book and would order copies:   2      5     10    Other ________

COST

On the present quotation a copy will cost $30 (K72.00)

If we can get sufficient support we can bring the cost down. CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE PLEASE?

• Mail: MSC Mission Office, PO Box 177, Kensington NSW 1465 Australia
• Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Online/Paypal: mscmission.org.au
• Telephone: (02) 9697-0983

MSC Good News – new venue for Heart of Life: Kildara Centre, Malvern

Following several meetings between the Brigidine Victorian Community Office, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and the Heart of Life Centre for Spiritual and Pastoral Formation, an agreement was reached for Heart of Life to lease the Kildara Centre, a free-standing, two-storey building in Malvern, which is in the heart of Melbourne, for a period of 5 years.

The Brigidine Victorian Community Leader, Sr. Anne Hill csb, members of the Brigidine Council and Brigidine finance and property managers  met with Provincial, Fr Chris McPhee msc, the Director of Heart of Life, Paul Beirne, and Heart of Life’s Business Manager, Cecilia Rogers, to discuss Heart of Life’s use and occupation of the Centre from January 2021 to December 2025 (initially).

This is a very exciting development for Heart of Life, as it establishes the Centre for the foreseeable future in a holy and sacred environment with the additional gift of an ideal location close to the crossroads of Glenferrie Road and High Street, and  excellent train, bus and tram connections.

We are very blessed indeed and we thank the Brigidines for this opportunity of a spiritual connection where hearts meet each other through this partnership of utilising the gifts of two religious traditions.

We look forward now with great hope and thank all those involved with this new and exciting relationship – thank you!

Acknowledging Tony Young MSC, 85.

From Melbourne, Tony Young was born on July 10^th. 1935. He made his novitiate in 1955 and was professed on February 26^th 1956. His studies for the priesthood took place at Sacred Heart Monastery, Croydon, Victoria and was ordained in Melbourne on July 23^rd 1962.

In his almost 60 years of priesthood, he has spent most of his ministry in Papua New Guinea, principally in the diocese of Sideia, now Alotau, many years on the island of Nimowa.

In the last decade he has been working in establishing and maintaining the online education institution, Hope Academy – significant for developments in education (and important for these coronavirus times).

Companion of the Order of Star of Melanesia" (CSM), for service to the Catholic Church as a Priest in the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart working for over 50 years in Milne Bay Province.

From Tony Young’s 2017 report indicating the hopes of Hope Academy

Hope Academy began in 2007 as the first online education provider in PNG. For most of the time since then it remained on the fringe of the formal education establishment, and has been regarded by the few who noticed it is an interesting, but probably temporary, initiative.

Certainly, the Academy has had a lot to overcome: a cyclone the trashed years of work, technical and financial problems, unreliable Internet providers and expensive connections, the forced abandonment of the classroom on which much money had been spent: these were a few of the difficulties are nearly forced to closure of the Academy on a number of occasions, including in 2017.

However, during the 10 years of Hope Academy’s existence, the shape of education has gradually changed as the number and quality of the courses offered on the Internet increased very quickly, and as the advantages of the use in education became widely accepted – more quickly, it seems, by students then those whose obligation it is to provide for their education.

In 2017 Hope Academy had nearly 200 students enrolled at Allison, an Internet school-based in Ireland, with a total enrolment of 4 million learners worldwide. Of those nearly 10,000 were from PNG. That makes Allison the second largest education provider in the country. That 10,000 PNG students are being educated at Allison with no discernible cost to the national budget should give a elected Members much food for thought.

Alison, now aligned with Google, has encouraged Hope Academy to host an Allison Learning Centre in PNG, the first of 15 such centres it wants to establish in various countries of the world.

There are still questions to be answered, but if this happens, it will be a feather in the cap of PNG, as well is an affirmation of the worth of the years of generous support from our friends in church, government, and in private life, together with the hard work of our staff, students, and parents. For the first time the continued existence of Hope Academy will have support from a substantial online organisation.

 Choir practice for Most Sacred Heart.

News from MSC Vietnam: The Day of Grateful Hearts.

With thanks to Quy Thien Bui MSC

Mass for the Most Sacred Heart. Presider: Fr. Hoang, MSC.

Many of us have known very well the house of the Lover of Holy Cross Sisters in Long Hai where Vietnamese MSC Community often choose to have some yearly events such as summer courses of the scholastics, holiday of aspirants, and community outing. Here, we encounter a lot of beautiful memories with people and MSC's events. For this time, we decided to celebrate the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart (19.06.2020) and to include the 25^th ordination anniversary of Uncle Thoi and those who have birthday and the coming feast day of saint John the Baptist, saint Paul and Peter the apostles of June. Many reasons for a day making it more meaningful and grateful.

Speech from Fr. Hoang, MSC to Chevalier’s Family.

It took almost three hours from Saigon City to Long Hai. We arrived the place around 5 p.m. and had the Solemnity Mass of the Sacred Heart at 6 o'clock. The chapel was small but full of loving presence of all MSC members: Frs. Hoang, Thoi, Minh, Quang and all Scholaticate brothers together Trong, a postulant.  Hoang was the main celebrant and Minh was the preacher. In his homily, he gave an impressive words concerning to the Heart of Christ that all of us is carrying in this world in order to make it known and loved not only among us but also in our society, especially those who are poor and little ones. After the Mass, we had an agape meal outside. It was really a fraternal night when we could share stories and laughed together.

Speech from Fr. Hoang, MSC to Fr. Thoi. MSC (25^th ordination anniversary)

On the next morning, we celebrated the Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the intentions of giving thanks for the 25^th ordination of Uncle Thoi and those brothers who have birthday and feast day in June. This was a very special Mass because of the presence of all of members of Chevalier's family: OLSH Sisters, MSC Sisters, Young Lay MSC who came to make it more fervent. Uncle Thoi, who gave a heartfelt homily, mentioned some beautiful features of the Heart of Mary drawn from the Gospel that we could reflect and learn from so that through Her we came to know and love more and more Her Son, Jesus.

A gift from MSC community to Fr. Thoi, MSC.

He also shared a significant memory of his vocation journey attached with the spirituality of heart since he was childhood. It was really a wholehearted celebration that we could feel the love and compassion of the Heart of Christ drawing our hearts into the same family, the Church which our Founder, Jules Chevalier foreseen. Following by the cordial meal that we enjoyed much with delightful foods, some wishes coming from members, and some funny games.

Speech from Fr. Thoi. MSC to Chevalier Family.

All of those days were so grateful that we thanked to God for what He has done and blessed us. The prayer of St. Francis was sung as it was our wish for our presence and mission in the world today.

Chevalier family in Viet Nam.

Fr. Thoi, MSC with 25^th ordination anniversary.