| Spirituality of the Heart Day in England |
 On July 5, 2008, about 40 people gathered at Sacred Heart Church in Tamworth, Staffordshire, for a day of reflection centred on Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. People had travelled from across many of the MSC places of ministry in England.The day was in continuity with a series of similar days organised over the last couple of years by the Spirituality of the Heart Group in England. The resource person for this gathering was Sr Gerardine Doherty fdnsc (Daughter of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), director of the International Centre ‘Cor Novum’ (New Heart) in Issoudun, France (the place of foundation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart). Spirituality of the Heart Day in EnglandOn July 5, 2008, about 40 people gathered at Sacred Heart Church in Tamworth, Staffordshire, for a day of reflection centred on Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. People had travelled from across many of the MSC places of ministry in EnglandThe day was in continuity with a series of similar days organised over the last couple of years by the Spirituality of the Heart Group in England.  Sara Nash and Ton Zwart MSC - members of the Spirituality of the Heart Group The resource person for this gathering was Sr Gerardine Doherty fdnsc (Daughter of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), director of the International Centre ‘Cor Novum’ (New Heart) in Issoudun, France (the place of foundation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart).  Sr Gerardine In the afternoon the focus was on Fr Jules Chevalier (founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart) and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the title he accorded to Mary. In it he combined the two prominent devotions of his time: the Devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Devotion to the Immaculate Conception. What he tried to express was the multifarious relationship between Jesus Christ and his mother Mary. Spirituality is about relationships more than anything else.  The gathering listening to Sr Gerardine Sr Gerardine went on to describe a spirituality of the Heart (another name for the traditional Devotion to the Sacred Heart), as developed by Bishop Eugene Cuskelly MSC (auxiliary bishop of Brisbane, Australia, and former Superior General of the MSC) and how Mary finds her place in that spirituality and we ourselves as well. She ended by summing it all up in words from the prayer of the Memorare to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart : “Let us live like you in the love of your Son, so that his Kingdom may come”.  Rita Cleuren and Mimi van Poppel Before the break for lunch two visitors from abroad spoke about their involvement in the lay branch of the Chevalier Family. Rita Cleuren from Belgium shared about her work as the international coordinator of the worldwide lay branch, and Mimi van Poppel from the Netherlands gave witness of her being a member of one of the five local groups in the Netherlands. The day concluded with the celebration of Eucharist in Sacred Heart Church led by Fr Tom Hewitt MSC. |