MSC Magazine | Issue 4 | Summer 2020

Page 38| Missionaries of the Sacred Heart O ne of the surprising, but wel- come, side-effects of the COVID- 19 lockdown in most states is that people seem to have become more aware of one another. Ironically, the lockdown has brought people together. We know that this is one of the fruits of God’s Spirit at work. God’s Spirit is always construc- tive: God’s Spirit builds relation- ships, builds community. God’s Spirit brings people together. Reflecting on the significance of this, I recalled the MSC celebration of our 150 years in 2004. I was invit- ed to speak at the Mel- bourne gathering of priests, brothers, sisters and lay MSC, with families and friends. The celebra- tion was significant in Melbourne because of the numerous other ses- quicentenary celebra- tions that were happen- ing around the same time. It seems relevant still. In 1854, unbeknown to Jules Chevalier in Issoudun, in a small town called Melbourne on the other side of the world – and around about the same time – a local doctor, John Singleton, and a prominent philanthropist, Hes- ter Hornbrook, were working to- wards the foundation of an insti- tution they named Melbourne Citymission. All three men were inspired by what they saw as real need in the people with whom they lived and worked. All recog- nised that these needs were not confined to their small local in- volvements (indeed, Chevalier referred to the need as the mal moderne, the needs or struggles of the time ). And all trusted their conviction – their not dissimilar convictions – that God’s love in their own lives asked a strong response from them. I wondered about the coinci- dence. Or is it some kind of prov- idence that the same inspiration, the same vision, the same Spirit pops up in such unconnected places and people at the very same time? The providence goes further: in the same year 1854, also in Mel- bourne, a newspaper called The Age was founded, the new State Library was opened, the first steam train travelled from Flin- ders St. to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), and an old pad- dock was levelled, mowed and surrounded by a beautiful picket fence, and named the Mel- bourne Cricket Ground . All were celebrating their 150 years that year. 1854 was a year of consid- erable energy and fecundity. To understand the coincidence / providence, I turned to Pope John’s opening the Second Vati- can Council when he spoke of the signs of the times . For John, the signs (all those years ago) were: formerly colonised nations were calling for independence and a rightful role in their own government, the so-called work- ing classes were breaking through former oppression and demanding an equal share in the profits of their work, and the women of the world were stand- ing up and asking to be seen as equal with men. According to Pope John, it’s a sure indication of the work of God’s Spirit that much the same sign – the signs of the times – pops up, seemingly randomly and inde- pendently, all over the world. He saw peo- ple’s yearning for recognition and for equality as this sign. What were the signs of the times in 1854? The BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER- Brian Gallagher msc