| Launch of Centenary Celebrations |
 2009 is the centenary of the arrival of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Ireland and the establishment of their first house at Western Road in Cork. Throughout the year a series of celebrations will take place to mark the occasion, and the launch of these took place at a large gathering of MSCs with friends and supporters in Sacred Heart Church, Western Road on 6 January. They were welcomed by Fr. Pat Courtney, Irish Provincial.
Launch of Centenary Celebrations2009 is the centenary of the arrival of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Ireland and the establishment of their first house at Western Road in Cork. Throughout the year a series of celebrations will take place to mark the occasion, and the launch of these took place at a large gathering of MSCs with friends and supporters in Sacred Heart Church, Western Road on 6 January. They were welcomed by Fr. Pat Courtney, Irish Provincial. Mr. Pat Cox, Bishop John. Buckley, Fr. Pat. Courtney, Fr. Michael. Curran In his wide ranging and thought-provoking address Pat Cox paid tribute to all the young men who over the years volunteered to follow the spiritual call and to reach out through missionary work. “The missionaries through their personal fortitude and spiritual calling, through their dedicated service, their compassionate engagement, and their selflessness and sense of duty they have honoured their vocations, their Church, their families, and our country. On this Nollaig na mban it is right to recall the contribution of family and in particular of mothers and grandmothers who through the generations in Ireland were the repositories of a strong, simple but sturdy faith whose transmission was the bedrock upon which so much achievement stands” he said.  Fr. Michael Curran also gave a wide ranging address in which he said that: “the Church needs to remain a powerful force for good. Our people, including our children and young people, need to have opportunities to experience something of the goodness of God, the joy of the faith and the attractiveness of the call of Jesus to be his disciples. We have to create spaces for faith, for religion and for love in our homes and in our communities; we need to rediscover and recreate the symbols, the signs and the language of faith, so as to be able to relate to God and to engage with one another in the pursuit of religion and all that it inspires in terms of human development and the pursuit of happiness founded on truth, love, freedom, and our relationship with God”. Choral entertainment was provided by the Waterford and Omagh Peace Choir making their first appearance in Cork. This cross community choir embraces the various Christian traditions north and south in Ireland. With a wide-ranging repertoire of gospel, folk and even some uplifting pop they were received enthusiastically by MSC supporters and friends. Fr. Joe McGee, Deputy Provincial and chairman of the MSC Centenary Committee said that “their youthful dedication to singing and to the promotion of peace and charity made them a very fitting choice for the launch of our centenary celebrations as we remember with gratitude those Missionaries of the Sacred Heart who departed from Sacred Heart Church since 1909 to such far flung places as Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; later to South Africa and Venezuela; and more recently to establish a mission in Russia”  Waterford and Omagh Peace Choir |