A MSC Mission for Europe

Ton Zwart MSC (The Netherlands), Con O'Connell MSC (Ireland) and Mark Van Beeumen MSC (Belgium): members of the MSC Cordate Community

The modern environment demands of us an honest openness to dialogue with the different cultures and "areopagi" of today (cf. Acts 17:16-34), to new ways of thinking and relating in the tradition of our way of the Heart.   MSC General Chapter 2005

Welcome to the website of the Cordate Community of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), an international Catholic Religious Congregation.

This is a European MSC pilot project seeking to develop a Christian ministry of presence, as members of an international religious community, in the heart of the English city of Birmingham. 

The community is based in the Aston area of the city, described in most literature as a multi-ethnic, multi-faith and deprived neighbourhood.  In Birmingham it has a reputation for being a neighbourhood of high unemployment, high crime, and significant problems with drugs, gangs, guns and knives.  But it is also a neighbourhood of great friendliness, a fantastic mix of faiths and cultures, and a place of opportunity for bridge-building, dialogue and befriending.  In the heart of this neighbourhood the Cordate Community brings together MSCs from three of our eight different European Provinces in a common project of all the MSCs in Europe.  Read more about the project here...

Cordate means heart-shaped and expresses our desire to model, incarnate and share the inclusive love and compassion of Christ who loved with a human heart.  Read more here.

We hope you will enjoy browsing the pages of this site to find out more about the mission, and return often to keep up to date with our progress. 

This website is updated regularly.  Please feel free to e-mail us with your comments.

Site Highlights
Latest News All the latest news from the Cordate Community.	The Cordate Blog Ton's regular blog reflecting on aspects of our life in Aston
Purpose of the Mission Developing a ministry of Presence.	Building Community The journey of a small religious community.
Why Aston in Birmingham? The process we followed to our choice of Birmingham.	The Aston Neighbourhood Information about Birmingham and Aston
Resources for Further Reading A collection of book reviews and downloadable articles.	Spirituality of the Heart Seminar Access all the resources from our spirituality seminar.
More News stories from the recent past
Intercultural Mass On October 22 Mark and Ton attended the Intercultural Mass at St. Catherine’s Church in Bristol Road. This year it was Archbishop Longley who presided at the Mass. As usual the church was full with worshippers from every colour and culture, who all played their musical or dancing part in the liturgical celebration.  After the Mass the lively celebration continued in the sharing of food and drink.	New Member Arrives Con O’Connell, the new member of the Cordate Community, has arrived!  Con, who replaces Carl, arrived in Aston on 29th September and has been gradually beginning to find his way around the neighbourhood. The week of Carl's farewells has provided Con with a great opportunity to meet many of the people of the parish and the neighbourhood.  Con, who is originally from South Dublin (Kilmacud), was previously ministering as part of the parish team in Tamworth, Staffordshire, the parish that the Irish MSC Province returned to the Archdiocese of Birmingham during the summer.

Featured News

The Aston Voice Residence Association (AVRA) met again on the 22th of November. The important decisionwas made to ratify the draft constitution and to postpone the election of officials until next year. The committee that had prepared the meetings so far would continue to do so. We also decided to have a fixed day for our monthly meetings, starting in February 2012. It was hoped that this will improve the low attendance.

Interfaith Week

Con and Ton took part in the Faith Walk organised by the Broadway School, the biggest secondary school in Aston. Con had arrived that morning from Dublin and was up and around again after only a few hours sleep. We visited a mosque and a Christian church in Aston, a Hindu temple in Handsworth and a Sikh temple in Lozells. Hindus and Sikhs are few in Aston and they do not have their own places of worship.  After a simple lunch of sandwiches there was a panel discussion in the afternoon in which Con took place.

In the meantime Mark as community champion of Tesco kept himself busy with his fundraising activities for the Alzheimer Society.  There was another Motown in the Irish Centre on November 25 and during the month of December various collections took place in the Tesco store itself. At one such an occasion Mark dressed up as Aladdin to give the fundraising campaign a more playful appearance.

Christmas

As they do every year the Sacred Heart Primary School performed a nativity play, which Ton attended. It is amazing how the teachers get the infants to sing and perform so well. They also sang Christmas carolls in our Catholic church and for fundraising purposes both in Tesco and in the One-Stop Shopping Centre. The collection was for the homeless in Birmingham.

We attended at least three Christmas dinners before December 25 and were busy for days writing Christmas cards to family, friends and fellow MSC. We hope we did not forget anyone as we tell ourselves time and again that ours is a mission of inclusivity, not leaving anyone out. So please feel included as we wish you a  Merry Christmas, in the spirit of joy of Christmas, and many blessings in the Year to come.