Homily Delivered
by Fr Bob Irwin MSC
at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Randwick
ON THE OCCASION OF THE YEAR OF
CELEBRATION FOR THE SESQUICENTENARY OF THE SOCIETY OF THE MISSIONARIES
OF THE SACRED HEART
 
Today, we come together to celebrate the year of thanks for
the 150 years of existence of the Society of the Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart, to publicly and solemnly celebrate this
year of grace with the Chevalier Family, friends, benefactors
and the whole people of God.
It is a day to remember and celebrate the ways that God has
being creative through the lives and the mission of the members
of the Society. It is a time too, to renew and so we share the
Eucharist in a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness which leads
us to humility.
| We remember that on 8 December
1854, Fr Jules Chevalier, a small, determined, 30 year
old French Priest in the Diocese of Bourges founded the
Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, now ministering
in more than 50 Countries. They first came to Australia
in 1882. He had prayed a novena prior to that date and
asked Mary for a sign, which he received. Later, he pledged
our MSC would honour Mary with the new title of Our Lady
of the Sacred Heart, hence this church of Our Lady of
the Sacred Heart here at Randwick, hence this Shrine,
hence many of the Sisters in the Congregation today, the
Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. As the years
progressed, he was able to bring to fruition his plan
for a lot more then just a Congregation of Priest and
Brothers. Jules Chevalier was indeed a Prophet of his
time. He founded not just a Congregation of Priest and
Brothers, but in due course, a movement of people who
were called to manifest a God who is near, a God who loves
each person in the world, especially the poor and the
lonely. He wished to establish a congregation of priest
and brothers, congregations of Sisters (which he did found
in 1874 viz the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart,
and he commissioned an MSC Priest to found the Missionary
Sisters of the Sacred Heart). He also wanted to set up
groups of lay people and diocesan clergy who would live
their lives based on God's love for them, and as a united
family spread the news of God's love for each and every
one of us. |
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We remember, that in the time of the foundation of the Congregation,
in the France of his time, he read the signs of the times, he
discerned the 'mal moderne'. As he had grown up, in the small
town of Richelieu, built by Cardinal Richelieu some centuries
before, he saw the Cardinal's palace being dismantled, literally,
stone by stone. In his time, he saw that the Church was in difficulty,
and he saw that there was indeed a considerable amount of what
he might call, 'bad religion'. He saw the 'evils' of his time
as contempt for all authority, especially that of the Church;
he saw the abandonment of prayer and the sacraments; and he
saw what he called "an ignorance of revealed truth that
could enlighten humanity, keep it aware of its duties and to
halt its moral depravity". His solution to the times was
devotion to the Sacred Heart. We, in our time, must read the
signs of the time, we read the good and the bad in the time
in which we live, and need to find the same solution, in our
own way and in our language.
It is not difficult to list the negative
aspects of our own times.
" In the areas of religion: we see a decrease in,
or little experience of God, we see secularization, fundamentalism,
religious rites that have become unintelligible for the
people, atheism, the crisis in the clergy and vocations
to religious life. |
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" In the family: we see stress in human relationship,
huge numbers of broken marriages.
" In the society in which we live: we see that we are moving
to a less compassionate society, perhaps, but certainly a society
of hedonism, an exaggerated sense of self-importance, consumerism,
urban and rural violence, urban sprawl and intolerance of neighbours.
" In our politics: we see imperialism and narcissism and
North American and Western arrogance, we see terrorism everyday.
Recently, we saw a weakening of the role of the United Nations
and thus the capacity of the world community to deal with its
difficulties.
In economics: we have seen an impoverishment and exclusion on
the one hand, and consumerism on the other.
" We have seen a re-arrival of a form of Jansenism, which
seems to stress that everything is wrong with the present time
and with the flesh.
" It is not difficult to become depressed. It is not difficult
to wonder what is the solution? It is no wonder that many people
race back to the past to whatever they believe was the 'golden
era'. We watch our families break up; we watch our children
leave the Church and; we watch the numbers of vocations decrease;
we watch our clergy be besmirched; we watch different people
trying to come up with different solutions.
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We ask ourselves the question
sometimes. How can we continue to believe in these difficult
times? In one sense, the times are not much different
from the times that Jules Chevalier lived in, and the
solution is the same. That is why he founded us. That
is what we must be consistent with. |
When Missionaries of the Sacred Heart look at the present world
we see the 'evil' but we also see the good, and we believe that
God is at work in the world today:
* We see good things in religion: we see an increased in presence
of women and of laity, we have rediscovered that the laity have
a dramatic role to play in the Church of now of the future.
* We see a search for spirituality but dissatisfaction with
authoritarianism in the Church.
* We can read the clergy scandals as a time of cleansing, a
time in which we come back to the basic call to religious and
priestly life. The young men and women who wish to consecrate
themselves as priest or religious, must indeed take on the dream
of what chastity and celibacy are about.
* We see good things in politics: in many people struggling
for justice and the defense of human rights.
* We understand that globalization can make the spread
of the Gospel easier if we can only tap into its usefulness.
* We have seen volunteers for all kind of ministries and missions,
not necessarily Church ones, but people of generous heart.
One of the things that strikes me as most interesting is that
the greatest weakness of our present time (according to many
people), is this exaggerated sense of self-importance, this
over emphasis on the importance of the individual. Yet if we
read it right it is a sign of great positiveness.
At last, individual people are known as individuals and are
to be respected as such. They are neither cannon fodder nor
are they sheep, each of them is known and loved by God. Certainly,
there are many excesses but there are just as many excesses
when authoritarianism has its way. A strong emphasis on the
importance of the individual is, in fact, the foundation of
our Christian ethic. If we combine the fact that God loves the
individual with the message of Jesus that I must love others,
we have the whole basis of what our Christian message is meant
to be.
| WHAT DO
WE STAND FOR? |
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Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
are sure of who they are. We are a movement of people who believe
in the love of God for each one of us a love that is individual,
concrete, and eternal. We go out to all people to tell them
this good news and we work together with people of similar mind,
because we know that Jesus' heart and the love of God, revealed
in the heart of Christ, are the only way forward. It is what
gives us the confidence to believe, in these special times.
We are people of the heart; we are lovers of the gifts that
God has given us. We don't condemn the world outright; we see
the energy of the Spirit in this crazy beautiful world in which
we live.
- The MSC form a brotherhood and by extension,
a brotherhood and sisterhood in mission, focused on Jesus who
shows us how much God loves us.
* We are not pessimists, nor naive optimists, but we are people
of hope and courage.
* We are people who love our Church, which must work conscientiously
to make sure it understands the times but not just condemns
them; to make sure it is relevant to the needs of today's people.
* We believe in a Church of compassion, not of fear.
* We believe in a Church that was founded for the salvation
of all and not for the condemnation of people.
* We see the hand of God in the times in which we live.
* We believe that love is the only way, not a soft sentimental
love but a love that challenges and yet comforts, a love that
is courageous and yet is humble, a love that is hopeful and
yet not blind to the problems of our world. It is a love that
it is strong and determined but does not crush the bruised reed.
It is a love that is faithful and generous. Like Christ, it
is compassionate, tender and merciful.
* We as Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have a consistent ethic
of life; all our responses are seen in the light of God's love
for each person.
As the Psalmist says today: "Our soul gives thanks to the
Lord and we never forget all his blessings, for the Lord is
compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy."
Our ministries, our jobs, our roles may very, but our core mission
remains the same.
Our mission is the love of God we give all of our life to Christ.
Christ gave us his Spirit of love, putting love into our hearts,
giving us the will to serve the people of God and to free them
from their fear by reminding them and convincing them of God's
love for them.
Our way forward remains hopeful only if we remain consistent
with our vision, for only if our mission is clear can we engage
in many different ministries. Our way forward is to recognize
the gifts of our charism, of our spirituality of the Heart,
and of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, as gifts to the world of
today. Our way forward consists in recognizing the giftedness
of the Spirit of God in the laity, in remembering that we are
a movement not just of clergy and religious but a movement of
the whole world. Our way forward is to work together as a Church
family, to stand strong in our belief of a loving God, a compassionate
Church, a people who are led by love and not by fear. Beware
the cynic who suggests this is not possible. Beware the cynic
in your own heart.
We are a gifted people. Let's give thanks to God for that, and
get on with the job.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved. Forever.
Bob Irwin MSC
Provincial
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