ACKNOWLEDGING KEVIN EHLEFELDT MSC.

This acknowledgement is for a 90^th birthday, Fr. Kevin Ehlefeldt, 21^st August.

Kevin recently celebrated his 40^th anniversary ordination, August 18, 1979. But, that was just prior to his 50^th birthday.

He made his profession as an MSC brother on February 26^th, 1948 – which means almost 30 years serving as a brother and several apostolates. In the early years and years, he was at Chevalier College as well as Sacred Heart Monastery, Croydon.

In the 1960s and 1970s, he spent many years working in the Annals Office at Kensington and in the development of Chevalier Press.

His studies for the priesthood during the latter part of the 1970s were at St Paul’s National Seminary. His priestly ministry was in parishes, including Camp Hill, and, in later years, in supply in parishes in the northern rivers area of New South Wales.

Kevin presided at John's Requiem Mass

He was one of many sets of brothers in the Australian province, family brothers, his older brother, John, recently dying at the age of 102.

Kevin now lives at the Sacred Heart Monastery, Kensington.

ACKNOWLEDGING GERARD BURKE MSC

This time our acknowledgement is for an 85^th birthday, Brother Gerard Burke, August 21^st.

Gerry went to school at Chevalier College, made his novitiate at St Mary’s Towers, Douglas Park, and made his profession on August 5, 1953. We are acknowledging 66 years of profession and MSC ministry.

In looking at the many decades of Gerry’s life as an MSC, the words from St John’s Gospel come to mind, that if everything about Jesus was to be written down, there would not be enough room in the whole world for the books!

But, here is a brief attempt. First of all, Gerry worked for many years in MSC schools, especially in Monivae. Chevalier and St John’s in Darwin. And, in early years, he was at the Sacred Heart Monastery in Croydon. That was just for some starters…

With Eugene Hurley, retired bishop of Darwn

In many years in Darwin from which he retired to Chevalier several years ago, he was on the staff of St John’s College, at Mission headquarters, a prison chaplain, visited the sick… Speaking of the sick, he did a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program in Canberra, drawing on this experience at such places as the hospital in Mackay, and he was one of the directors of Encompass in Sydney.

As mentioned, he now lives at Chevalier College, back to Bowral and his sources and readjusting to colder climates.

BEST WISHES TO THE MSC DUTCH PROVINCE, 100 YEARS THIS WEEK.

Our confreres in the Philippines, website and Facebook, offer a great deal about MSC life in the Pacific. The photo above, with Filipino Provincial, Bogey Cabrera, appeared this week, along with the letter to the current Dutch provincial, below, from Ray Sabio, from the Philippines and former Vicar Apostolic of the Marshall Islands.  He reminds us that the Dutch Province has an outstanding Mission history, leading to Provinces in Indonesia, Philippines and in Brazil. 

And, during the week a nice Providence, news and photos of the new Postulants in the Indonesian Province - only 25 of them!! An example of the heritage continuing.

And, checking with official MSC Documents, we find that in 1894, a Province with the Latin name of Provincia Septentrionalis was erected which included communities in the countries of North Western Europe. The Dutch province emerged from that group, August 15th 1919 (quick administration within a year of the signing of the Armistice, November 11th 1918).

A JOYFUL AND GRACE-LADEN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE MSC NEDERLAND PROVINCE (AUG. 10-15, 2019)

Dear Fr. Provincial Superior Theo te Wierik, MSC.

Peace and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today is the Feast of the Assumption (Aug. 15, 2019). We send our heartfelt felicitation on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Nederland MSC Provincehood. We do acknowledge the fact the fact the Nederland Province has done exceptionally well in the MSC Family having produced the Provinces of Sao Paulo, Indonesia, Philippines, Rio de Janeiro, with Korea as a grand-son. We render special tribute to all the Dutch MSCs who worked heroically in the Philippine mission since 1908.

Our ardent prayers, warm regards and best wishes for continued good health and joy-filled life to all our MSC Fathers in the Nederland specially: Fr. Jan Schrama (our Scholasticate Rector), Fr. Ben Verberne, Fr. Ton Zwart, Fr.Harrie van Engelen, Fr. Henk de Heij and Fr. Jacques Janssen. Our two Dutch MSC's here in the Philippines: Fr. Kees Swinkels and Fr. Ad van Hest happily join you all in this big centennial celebration in spirit. And may the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd grant us the grace to follow the way of his Loving and Shepherding Heart.

Yours sincerely in Corde Jesu, Raymundo T. Sabio, MSC (Prefect Apostolic Emeritus)

ABZALON, SUPERIOR GENERAL, ABROAD AND AT HOME/ ROME.

Last month we featured Abzalon, our Superior General, being welcomed at De Boismenu College, PNG, a chief's welcome.

He also went over to the diocese of Kaviang, the diocese of Bishop Rochus Tatamai  MSC - again some local welcome.

But, back to Rome.

Activity report: The first week of this hot month of August, was dedicated to meetings between the new MSC superiors elected or appointed in the last twelve months, with the members of the General Council, in Rome.

The following Superiors joined us at the General House: Yvon Banackissa (UAF); Richard Kennedy (USA); Benedict Ko (South Korea); Darwin Thatheus (Indian Union), and Juan Rodriguez (Dominican Republic).

We had moments of meeting, planning and fraternal conviviality through which we supported one another in our mission to be leaders according to the Heart of Jesus.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HIS LETTER, UNCLE BOB BACK IN VIETNAM

Greetings to you from Saigon again.  Pardon the intrusion, but I thought it time for me to drop you a line, to fill you in a bit about this extraordinary place, and the MSC presence here.

Visitor from the NT,  Pat Mara MSC.

This would have to be my 15th or 16th time here, and it never ceases to amaze me. Of course, many things have changed over those years, but some stay the same.

The changes include massive development: I am now staying in an apartment, about one block from where I was last year, but now surrounded by 5/6 new apartment blocks...the place is like Meriton on steroids! Is a nice new apartment looking out over a large park, which is filled with hundreds and hundreds of exercisers, every morning and evening, ably assisted by a loud mouth on a loudspeaker,..if not raining, ...all traveling in an anti clockwise direction!  You can watch the planes land, without hearing them, and the street below is much quieter than the one last time. The building has a pool, which has been closed for quite a while, as it leaks on the rooms below....doesn't worry me, as doctors won't let me swim.There was a fire drill in the next door building during the week. The water from the hoses reached the 9th floor, I noticed. I am on the 10th!

The dreaded barber ( who could clean out your ears for a small  extra charge) is too far away so I have found one nearby, a rather attractive woman, who took my photo before and after the haircut ($4..expensive), but don't panic, we were watched by her large dog, which stared at me the whole time, with some distrust. Not sure if the photo makes me a criminal or film star. Maybe next time my hair style will be on the wall!

Special photo sent by Bob in case there was need to show the tough life. (But, the postulants are good cooks!)

Captain Hornblower is still driving the 35 Oz cent bus trip to town. Traffic seems  to have got worse with a lot more cars and delivery trucks which are not as flexible as the bikes, hence crossing roads has taken on a new, more dangerous, dimension. Even the locals have changed their methods.

The weather is great....minimum 26, maximum about 31, and often there is a nice breeze.

BUT, of course I am not a tourist on holidays. Thought I had better get that in, to avoid contrary suggestions!

The MSC are doing fine. Most of the senior students are away working in parishes all over the country, as this is their long break from seminary studies. The new academic year begins in the second half of the calendar year. However, the postulants (5 +1 extra...aged 22-29) are here and come to class, normally for about 4 hours, every second day. So it has been a gentle start, for this septuagenarian, which suits me fine.

Yesterday, in the Philippines, Danh was ordained priest and Chung a deacon. Danh will soon go to Oz to experience working with aboriginal people. He is already learning Tiwi. Many of us will go to Bao Loc on Saturday for Danh's mass of thanksgiving. Bao Loc is home of quite a number of MSC, including Thoi Tran...will be a long day..leave here at 3.30am. Last month quite a number renewed their vows as MSC and two took them for life.......So it all moves on, and it is my privilege to be part of it, watching the next generations take on all the responsibilities for running the ministry here. Does one's heart good!

Enough. Be well everyone. I am fine, considering two years ago, so not allowed to complain. Take care and God bless you, and those you love. Spare us/me a prayer when you can.

Lots of love.        Uncle Bob

MSC EDUCATION ANNUAL VISIT TO ISSOUDUN.

Each year a group of staff members from the MSC Australian Colleges, Downlands, Chevalier, Monivae, Daramalan, visit Issoudun for an experience of Heart Spirituality and its being part of Education ministry.

This year the group was led by Alison McKenzie from the Chevalier Institute with Paul Cashen MSC (Adelaide) as chaplain. Australian Provincial, Chris McPhee, also attended.

The Facebook page of the Cor Novum Centre in Issoudun provided photos. (There was also a description which Facebook had translated into English, more or less, with the European custom of using lower case letters where we would use Capital Letters for proper names – and they were a bit literal translating the Chevalier Family as the Knight Family.)

Here is the text:

The Vision of Jules Chevalier, to make known and loved the Sacred Heart everywhere, led him to the deep desire to found several congregations. He also wanted a distinct branch of laity, which would be trained and share the spirit, charisma and mission of the congregations.

In 1854, Jules Chevalier founded a society of priests and brothers that he called the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Twenty years later, he founded a congregation of sisters called Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (F.D.N.S.C.). In 1900 , the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart were founded in Germany by a Dutch MSC, Hubert Linckens. These three religious families, with their lay members, form the Chevalier family.

Every year, Australian laity go to Issoudun for a pilgrimage as well as to deepen the spirituality of the heart. This year there were 18 people. They were led by Alison Mackenzie. The pilgrimage took place from 7 to 13 July 2019.

The Provincial MSC of the province of Australia, Father Chris McPhee, MSC also took part in this holy pilgrimage. In addition, Father Paul Cashen, MSC, who had just celebrated his 50 years of priesthood, came to Issoudun with the group.

Everything was well organised. Hans Kwakman, MSC who lives in the Netherlands and sister Merle, fdnsc who works in Rome, came to Issoudun for this pilgrimage. Both of them have brought contributions to help meditation on the spirituality of the heart and on Notre-Dame of the Sacré-Cœur for the members of the pilgrims of Australia.

Roland Douchin who lives in Issoudun and knows very well the spirituality of the Chevalier family also made an important contribution to the Australian group.

AN ALERT FOR LAY MSC, OLSH, MSC - GATHERING COMING UP

Lay Gathering and Commissioning of the Australian National Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family

13^th – 15^th September 2019

Bringing the Family Together

Context:

This is an historical moment in the life of the Australian Chevalier Family as the laity associated with the MSC and OLSH come together with the blessing of the MSC Sisters. This retreat will celebrate our shared history and affirm our shared charism as people of the Sacred Heart. It will be a ‘working retreat’ flowing out of our prayer and our resolution to move forward, recreating the vision of Chevalier in this place and in this time. The opportunity to explore our own, personal spirituality will take a back seat to the work of Bringing the Family Together. The image and symbol of a loaf of bread being created will be the thread that ties the retreat together and will become the bread we break and share at Eucharist.

Program Outline:

Friday Evening

5.00 pm           Gather for finger food

7.00 pm           Opening of the retreat: Welcome and introductions.

                        Opening Prayer - Here I am, Lord

9.00 pm           Conviviality

Saturday

9.00 am           Session One    Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it                                                       remains a single grain …

                        Sharing our Spirituality of the Heart charism through prayer and reflection

10.30 am         Morning tea

11.00 am         Session Two    Listening to each other – what did I hear?

11.30 am         Session Three The development of the lay Chevalier Family

12.30               Lunch

2.00 pm           Session Four   Leavening the Bread

                        A reading of the attached article: Ministering is at the Heart of Christianity by                   Mary Thorne. Please read the article before arriving at the retreat.

3.00 pm           Session Five    The Australian National Guidelines

                        A very brief overview of the Guidelines for the Australian National Council of                    the Laity of the Chevalier Family and the implications of those Guidelines.

                        How this development might help grow different active ministries and how                        these different ministries can cross-fertilise, support and collaborate with                                    each other.

4:00 pm           Free time

6.00 pm           Dinner

7.30 pm           Introduction of the Council members.

Sunday

9.30 am           Eucharist and blessing and inauguration of the Council members.

                        Closure of the retreat.

11.00 am         First meeting of the National Council

Attachments:

Booking form

Ministering is at the Heart of Christianity      an article by Mary Thorne.

Booking:

Accommodation includes finger food on arrival, Saturday breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday breakfast.

Ensuite (limited number)                                                                    $200

Single room shared facilities                                                              $180                           

Dormitory with shared facilities                                                         $140

Name:

Preferred accommodation:

Address:                                                                                  Phone:

Email:

My connection with OLSH/MSC:

Next of kin in case of emergency:

Special dietary requests:

Important medical information:

Please return form before September 1st to:

Fred Stubenrauch

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

“Snail mail”           C/o Fred Stubenrauch PO Box 19A Douglas Park 2569

Bank account details for remittance:

BSB: 062 784, Account number: 29785403, Account name: Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, St Mary’s Towers, Reference: Your Surname.

ABORIGINAL PASTORAL COUNCIL – ANNUAL MEETING 2019.  DURING THE DRY!

With thanks for this report to Pat Mara MSC, parish priest of Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island

Every year during the dry season the Darwin Diocese holds an Aboriginal Pastoral Council meeting which is comprised of church leaders from the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory where there is a Catholic Church. It is held at Nungalinya College and begins on a Monday evening with a welcome to country by the Larrakia people dinner and concludes on Friday morning when people travel back home to be with their families again. Roughly three to five members from each community attend over these days where they meet, talk, and share about many things.

TUESDAY

Tuesday morning begins with morning prayer which is led by the church leaders from one of the communities and then there is a time of reflection “sharing our story of the last 12 months.” This takes some time and usually sees out the rest of the day which concludes with mass. Again, one of the communities will lead the mass, sharing language, song, and dance with one another, bringing a

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday is a time where we listen to various people working in the diocese. Nungalinya College inform us of their work, subjects on offer, and the ratio of Catholic students in relation to the other Christian denominations who also study bible courses there. We also heard from our Safeguarding Officer about the important nature of protecting our children and making our churches and schools child safe environments. The diocesan coordinators of the 2020 Plenary council updated us on the latest happenings with the steering committee before we concluded the days meetings with mass. 

THURSDAY

Thursday was an opportunity to hear about NATSICC (National Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Catholic Council) and the work they have been involved with along with re-electing the Darwin Diocese representative. Prison chaplains described the ministry which takes place in Darwin and Alice Springs, and finally we heard about the youth ministry taking place in the diocese.   

It is a wonderful opportunity for church leaders to come together and share their joys and struggles, often discovering that they the communities have many things in common. It is through that commonality that we can support and nurture one another in the image of Christ.

KHOI NGUYEN MSC, PRE-NOVITIATE DIRECTOR, CUSKELLY HOUSE, BLACKBURN.

As he explains, Khoi recently did a brief course in Chicago and sent a copy of his paper. It is reproduced here for those who would like to read it and see something of what is required for MSC formation in our contemporary world.

INTEGRATING OUR SEXUALITY

Khoi Nguyen msc

In June 2018, I was sent to Chicago to study at the Institute For Sexuality Studies (connected with Catholic Theological Union). As the result of this one month in-depth course, the students (who were mostly formators) were asked to write an integration paper in which we synthesise what we had learned, personally and professionally. This article is a result of my paper with some modification to make it more suitable and relevant for readers.  

Let me begin this article by one of the most fundamental affirmations and truths about human sexuality. To be human is to be sexual. To be sexual is to be relational – with self, others and God. Kevin McClone, my professor at the Institute of Sexuality Studies, Chicago, used to say: “There is no spirituality without sexuality.”

Our sexuality is essential, vital, and fundamental to our being as human and spiritual. We cannot talk about humanity without touching on our sexuality. We cannot live fully a human life without living wholeheartedly our sexuality. This is because our humanity is all about relating, loving and being loved, caring for others with our affection, emotion, physical presence, thoughtful gesture and ultimately unconditional love, and longing for the same (or similar) care from others, especially those we love. All of this is fundamentally founded upon our sexuality – our awareness, acceptance, integration and channelling of our sexual energy, desires and feelings.

Kevin McClone, CTU

Sexual feelings, desires and longings are indications of God’s Spirit working in us. It is a grace of God urging us to connect, to commune, to unite. Firstly, we are called to touch into who we are, to connect with ourselves. Regardless of our sexual orientation, gender and sexual attraction, we are created in God’s image and likeness. This means that we are an image of love, and we are free to love and to accept love that is offered us. This is true for those who are women or men as well as those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex. If one should not be discriminated by the variation of their skin colour, race or culture, one also should not be looked down or condemned because of their sexual variation. The identifications of homosexual acts and homosexuality as ‘intrinsically disorder’ or ‘intrinsic moral evil’ are more and more understood in psychology and sciences to be misunderstandings or myths. I think the Church needs to listen to the LGBTI people with a more open mind and heart, with a compassion that of Jesus than with a claimed institutional authority that filters our ears and closes our hearts. As Brian McNaught, an American corporate coach and author on LGBT issues, said: “No one would choose to be gay so to be rejected, discriminated and ostracised by his family, friends and community.” The LGBTIQ issues in religious life today are wake up calls for me and those who are heterosexual or straight from our lack of vigilance and awareness of the sufferings of our brothers and sisters; some who are very close to us – our community members, our families, our close friends, our parishioners, or our young people.  

Our sexuality is not merely something we are experiencing just now but it is a life or a self that has been building up, growing, developing and maturing over time. In other words, our sexuality has a history we need to look back on, reflect and accept. Only in doing this, we become more aware of how we are with our sexuality now, how much we accept or feel at home with it, how we deal with our current sexual desires, feelings and longings, how we react or respond to our today’s relating with others, and how we pray and see where God is in our sexual and relational realm.

Looking back on my psychosexual history, emotional life was poor and at times impoverished deeply. This led me to a fragmentation in my sexual desire and gratification, a disconnection between emotional intimacy and physical pleasure, a separation between human body and emotional effect. Emotional need and intimacy I lacked when growing up became driving forces for me to involve in many romantic relationships so to indulge what I missed. Of course I never felt satisfied and always restless in heart. I considered emotional disconnection as a lack of love, and emotional realm was a sole, decisive factor in my intimate relationship with others, and ultimately with God. When I don’t feel ‘good’ in prayer, when prayer doesn’t feel wonderful or fruitful, I tend to perceive it as a lack of being loved by God. When bad things happen to me, when sickness strikes, it means that God is unhappy with me. I fail to see a God of Jesus, a God who endures with me through pain and suffering, through the ups and downs of life, through my successes and failures, through my weaknesses and glories. Love is much more than how I feel emotionally.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean that emotion means nothing. Over the years, I have grown and learned more deeply and consciously about my emotional life. Without this, my sexuality will go unchecked – repressed, acting out or both. Tending to my emotional life is as important as tending to my physical body and health, my intellectual development, as well as my spiritual journey. In fact that the more I tend to my emotional life, the better I am aware of and growing in other aspects of myself. One thing I realise is that one aspect of human being cannot be replaced or substituted by others. If my emotional life is going wild, I need to attend to it. I cannot use intellectual life, e.g. my studies, to suppress it for too long. We cannot excuse ourselves from dealing with our emotions and pains by sublimating them to pastoral responsibility. Sooner or later, we will need to attend to it – being aware, accepting, expressing appropriately and integrating them, at times (or many times) with the help of others. If sexuality is the energy for connection, we cannot deal with it alone. We need the graces of God and others whom we trust to help us integrate and thrive with our sexuality.

Our sexuality is manifested in ways we are interacting with others. Interacting with others is how to seek intimacy at the circumstances given us. We ourselves need our own personal intimacy – affectional intimacy, physical intimacy, and spiritual intimacy. We also have ministerial intimacy, crisis intimacy, communication intimacy, intellectual intimacy, or community intimacy. All these intimacies are fundamental to our identity and integration as human being. Intimacy is a human constant and permanent need. Without this need, there is no sexual desire and energy flowing through human bodies.

Having said all these points, I now turn to pay attention to their applications in formation for men in community. A community and environment of acceptance and sensitivity needs to be built in terms of human sexuality. The men entering initial formation need to feel safe and accepted talking, discussing and revealing their sexuality – feelings, fantasies, longings, experiences. This needs to happen in formation discussion, formation education and relationships between formators and students, students and other members of community. The men in formation need to have spiritual directors, supervisors and/or counsellors who accompany them individually according to their needs and who can accept and deal with issues of human sexuality in positive and meaningful ways. Avoiding giving the students mixed messages or conflicting messages about sexual issues and sexuality. Friendship and interaction with others beyond formation and religious community are encouraged with a humility that community/religious life is not always providing enough intimacy that one needs.

Lastly, being informed, educated, self-aware, self-attentive and self-responsible in our sexuality are not merely applied for students in formation, but also for formators who are called to be models in this area. One of my respected formators used to say: “Don’t teach anyone to do what you yourself cannot do. And even if you can do what you are supposed to do, don’t judge but be compassionate.”

CONGRATULATIONS, FR DANH MSC, ORDINATION IN MANILA

July 27, 2019 Quezon City, Philippines The MSC Australian Province, together with the MSC Philippine Province, celebrated the Ordination of our two Vietnamese confreres:

Doan Nguyen Thanh Danh as Priest

and Tran Minh Chung as Deacon.

Echoing Pope Francis, the Most Rev. Narciso V. Abellana, MSC, D.D., in his homily, reminded the ordinands about two most important things for them to be genuine shepherds: to have the smell of their sheep by being one with them in their joys and struggles and to have the heart of the Good Shepherd.

Blessed and embraced by the Australian Province

We thank God for the gift of vocation to our dear brothers, for their commitment as MSCs, and for the generosity of their parents.

And community

And family

Let us continue praying for more priestly and religious vocations to the Church, especially to the Chevalier Family.

With thanks to the photographers.