| President of Ireland honours MSC Centennial year with visit |
 On Wednesday 10th June the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary McAleese, together with her husband, visited the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at their place of foundation in Ireland on the Western Road in Cork. The visit was a special and significant moment in a year long celebration of the hundredth anniversary of that foundation. During the course of the visit President McAleese launched a photographic exhibition depicting the early departures of missionaries from Ireland and the humanitarian work they undertake in mission countries. She is pictured here with Fr Michael Carrick MSC; at 98 years he is the most senior member of the Irish Province. President of Ireland honours MSC Centennial year with visitFr Michael Carrick MSC with President McAleese During the course of the visit President McAleese launched a photographic exhibition depicting the early departures of missionaries from Ireland and the humanitarian work they undertake in mission countries. In her address she paid tribute to the many MSC who have served the Church at home and overseas during the last 100 years: “It is good to be in your company in particular to celebrate 100 years of service by Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Ireland, and to say ‘thank you’ for all that you have invested in this country and in your outreach missions to so many other countries.”  President McAleese addresses the gathering “It is important to say ‘thank you’, so richly deserved for 100 years of humble and compassionate work that was driven by the heart. I know that Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have a special charism that focuses on and around the heart. The heart is the engine that drives us. It is a symbol of all that is good. It showcases for us what we are capable of doing. It is about giving rather than about receiving. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart found that love has the capacity to change first of all the individual person committed to this vocation, and then through their show-casing of that love and the generous giving, to draw from them a loving response that in turn is generous across the world with things that are good, things that are uplifting to help us get through life, things that heal people, reconcile, and make sense of their lives and their suffering.”  Part of the gathering of MSCs and friends In expressing her gratitude for all that has been undertaken by the MSC, she was also keen to recognise the importance of the support of countless benefactors and friends. “I know that that outreach could not have been possible without the support and generosity of local people here and throughout Ireland. The priests came back with their stories … stories that inspired people to help them in their expression of love and compassion... and inspired them to be instruments of care for others.”  Fr Michael Carrick MSC (left) and Fr Pat Courtney MSC, Irish Provincial, offer President and Mr McAleese a gift of a representation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at the foot of the cross. In response to the words of the President, Fr Patrick Courtney MSC (Provincial Superior) expressed his deep gratitude for the honour paid to the Irish Province by this visit. “I thank you for launching our photographic exhibition, which shows the early days of our MSC society in Cork, some places of ministry, as well as missionaries departing for the various missions overseas. “ “I thank you for your well chosen words to us. I note with keen interest and deep appreciation your knowledge of our history as a religious congregation, of our spirituality, of our expansion and developments within Ireland and abroad and of our ministry undertakings, in various places, in particular in our missionary involvement overseas. This latter has been and is today a priority ministry for us. “ “We treasure very much your kind words of appreciation and encouragement. They offer us affirmation, energy and inspiration. Above all they enable us to keep focused on the core values of our identity and mission as religious. “  President McAleese pictured with Fr Alan Neville (left) and Fr Michael Carrick MSC (centre). After the speeches the President was presented with a representation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by Fr Michael Carrick MSC (at 98 years, the oldest member of the Province). She was also introduced to the youngest MSC priest in the Irish Province, Fr Alan Neville MSC who was ordained in Sacred Heart Church, Western Road just two weeks ago.  Accompanied by Fr Michael O'Connell MSC and Fr Pat Courtney MSC, President and Mr McAleese view the exhibition. President McAleese and her husband then took time to look at the photographic exhibition and to meet many of the MSCs and friends who had gathered at Sacred Heart Parish Centre. A full transcript of the President's address and Fr Pat Courtney's response can be read here. |