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Missionaries of the
Sacred Heart
Last Update:
22/01/2010
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• Up • Readings • Visits • Choosing a City • Tilburg Seminar •
Seminar on MSC History, Charism and Spirituality
Tilburg, The Netherlands, February 6th – 28th, 2006
Jules
Chevalier MSC
Founder of
the Missionaries of
the Sacred Heart |
The Word,
coming
from the Heart of his Father,
made the
world emerge from nothing;
and from
the Heart of the incarnate Word,
pierced on
Calvary,
I see a
new world emerging,
the world
of those he has chosen.
And this
creation,
so
fertile, full of grandeur
and
inspired by love and mercy,
is the
Church, the mystical body of Christ,
which
makes this new creation present on earth
until the
end of time.
Jules Chevalier, 1900 |
Contents:
(click the links to go to a specific item)
A Journey deep into the heart of the MSC spirit
On Sunday 5th February 2006 the three of us
left Princethorpe early in the morning and took the car across the English
Channel to the Mother House of the Dutch Province, the Mission House at Tilburg.
So began an exciting month of immersing ourselves deep into the story and
spirituality of the MSC Congregation. As a type of mini-novitiate (half
study, half retreat), the
month gave us the opportunity of re-discovering the person of our Founder, Fr.
Jules Chevalier, and exploring the MSC charism and spirituality from the point
of view of our new project. You can trace the development of the seminar on this page
where you will find links to photos, as well as the texts of the seminar and
audio clips of interesting excerpts from our conversations
with the many partners who generously came to spend time with us.
The first day of the Seminar - discussing the characteristics of contemporary
Western European culture
with André Claessens MSC
Reasons for having the Seminar:
-
Having done
our initial formation in different eras and in different countries/cultures,
it seemed important for us to come to a shared understanding of our
history and spirituality.
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To re-evaluate
the historical setting of our Founder, Fr. Jules Chevalier – how did he come
to evaluate the France of his day as suffering from egoism, indifference,
liberalism and individualism? What was his methodology? What were his
solutions?
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To look afresh
at Spirituality of the Heart and our founding charism – What was Fr.
Chevalier’s intuition? How has this been carried by generations of MSCs?
What are the core values and elements? How might this inform our reflection
and discernment?
-
To examine Fr.
Chevalier’s understanding of the incarnation and how this might inform our
reflections on inculturation and a ministry of presence.
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To reflect on
the elements of a Spirituality of the Heart for today, based on biblical
sources. To address questions such as; what spirituality will we be living out
of? What spirituality can we offer to those with whom we live and work?
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An opportunity
to discover more in our charism and spirituality than we have previously
realised.
-
Time to
reflect on the symbol of the heart as a strong symbol for our time.
-
An opportunity
to recast our spirituality in the language of our contemporary culture such
that it can touch and resonate with the people of our day.
-
How can we
cultivate a spirituality of the heart in our own lives as members of the new
community living in the heart of a Western European city?
-
What are the
problems of our time today - to use Fr. Chevalier's phrase, the "mal moderne"?
How can we enter into a conversation between these problems and our charism
and spirituality?
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To discover
new pointers and challenges and to give space for
reflection on the connections to be made between our history/charism/spirituality
and contemporary Western European Culture; to help us further hone our
criteria for discerning the choice of city and ministry; and to help move us
towards identifying key elements for a future mission statement.
| Photo Gallery of the Seminar |
|
|
Click
here for all the photos from the
seminar
Fr Mark
McDonald MSC (Superior General) with Carl, Mark and Ton in the garden of
the Mission House, Tilburg on the last day of the seminar, 27th Feb
2006.
Click
photo for full size image |
|
The Schedule of the Seminar and
Seminar Resources
Regarding the
Resources: Click on the thumbnail pictures for a full size image.
Click on the links for text and audio resources from the sessions (audio
requires a media player. To download Real Player
click
here). If the audio file does not play when you
click on it, right click and select "open". To download the mp3 audio
files right click the links and select "save target as" and then specify the
target directory.
|
Date |
Conversation Partner and Theme |
Links to Resources |
|
6th Feb |
 André Claessens MSC
(Belgian Provincial)
The characteristics of
contemporary Western European Culture
|
Text:
Presentation of Andre Claessens
Text:
Globalisation as a Context - book notes
Text: Where is Your God?
- summary of recent document from the Pontifical Council for Culture
|
|
7th Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
|
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8th Feb |
 Jan Kaandorp MSC
(Member of the Team promoting the cause for canonisation of Fr Chevalier - Dutch Province)
Fr. Chevalier and the Spirituality, History and Society
of 19th Century France and the importance of this for our time |
Text: Summary of
presentation
mp3 audio: Chevalier's
understanding of indifference (11'43")
mp3 audio:
Chevalier's understanding of devotion to the Sacred Heart as a remedy
for the ills of the time (4'35")
mp3 audio:
Fr Chevalier's schema of the place of devotion to the Sacred Heart in
salvation history (16'20") |
|
9th Feb |
 Jan Bovenmars MSC
(Theologian and Member of the Team promoting the cause for canonisation of Fr
Chevalier - Dutch Province)
The person
of Fr. Chevalier |
Text:
Biographical Profile of Fr
Jules Chevalier
Text:
The characteristics of Fr Chevalier
Text: Dimensions of Chevalier's Spirituality
Text: Interview with Fr Jan Bovenmars from 2002
pm3 audio:
The characteristics of Fr Chevalier as recalled by Fr X Maillard in 1923
(7'15")
mp3
audio: The impact on Fr Chevalier of the conversion of his father in
1846 (3'26")
mp3 audio: Fr Bovenmars' respect for Chevalier and the
characteristics he notes (4'25") |
|
10th Feb |
 Frans Van Segbroeck MSC
(Emeritus Professor of New Testament Studies, Louvain, Belgian Province)
Jules Chevalier and
his sense of the
Future |
Text: Fr Frans Van Segbroeck - Jules Chevalier and his sense of the future at the end of his
life
Text: Address by Fr Chevalier to the Daughters of Our Lady of the
Sacred Heart, 1903
Text:
Memories of Bro Van Heugten MSC, Fr Chevalier's valet
mp3 audio:
Fr Jan Bovenmars' response to Fr Van Segbroeck's thesis (4'27") |
|
13th Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
|
|
14th Feb |
 Kees Braun MSC
(Previous Superior General - Dutch Province)
The key intuition of Fr Chevalier |
Text: Summary of Fr Kees Braun's input
Text: Quotations
used by Fr Kees Braun in the course of the seminar
Text: Schema for representing Fr Chevalier's founding charism
mp3 audio: The founding charism of Fr Chevalier (explanation of
schema) (13'27")
Text: Vatican II on the
renewal of Religious life (Perfectae Caritatis 2)
mp3
audio: Kees Braun on Perfectae Caritatis 2 and our MSC charism
(9'20")
mp3 audio: Prayer in our missionary MSC Society (8'08") |
|
15th Feb |
 Gerardine Doherty FDNSC
(Director of Cor Novum, Issoudun)
Psychological aspects of a
Spirituality of the Heart and a feminine approach towards a Spirituality
of the Heart |
Text:
Psychological dimensions of a Spirituality of the Heart (notes)
mp3
audio: Theological foundations - a holistic approach (7'43")
mp3
audio: Psychological foundations - growing into our full humanity
(8'56")
mp3
audio - Spiritual foundations - to live like Jesus who loved with a
human heart (8'58")
Text: A
feminine approach to a spirituality of the heart (notes) |
|
16th Feb |
 Hans Kwakman MSC
(Member of the Cor Novum Team, Issoudun)
Spirituality of the Heart for our
times in a multi-cultural and multi-religious context |
Text: Living a Spirituality of the Heart in the mission of the
European MSC Community (paper presented by Hans)
mp3 audio:
Being a missionary is not so much about what to do as who to be (4'54")
mp3
audio: Mission without limits (5'20")
mp3 audio: Dimensions of compassion, attitudes of heart (4'17") |
|
17th Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
|
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20th Feb |
 Fons Meijers
MSC (Founding member, Chesed Community in Nijmegen - Dutch Province)
Street-Church (with the homeless) and the biblical notion of
Chesed (Covenant compassion and fidelity) |
Text: Reflections on
the "Crossroads" street-church ministry
Text: Bringing Chesed into practice
Text:
Without Protection in the Heat of Life: Bringing Biblical Chesed into
Practice by Sjef Van Tilborg MSC
mp3
audio: The shape of the street-church Sunday service (9'40")
mp3 audio: The studio of the Art of survival (4'29")
mp3 audio: Speaking the language of their experience (4'03")
mp3 audio: Maintaining pastoral presence (3'32") |
|
21st Feb |
 Mieke Vrints
(Teacher, Youth Minister and University Chaplain in Belgium)
Living a Spirituality of
the Heart as a young lay person living by choice in a lower-class
neighbourhood |
Text:
Notes on the conversation with Mieke Vrints
mp3 audio: Being present in a lower-class, multicultural
neighbourhood (7'35")
mp3
audio: Acting without judging - creating space for conversation
(3'31")
mp3 audio: Fruitfulness rather than productivity - an approach to
presence (3'26")
mp3 audio: Simple interfaith dialogue in the Cyber Café
(2'49")
mp3 audio: Christ's vulnerable heart - wounded by both sides of
reality (8'16") |
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22nd Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
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23rd Feb |
 Nico Tromp MSC
(Emeritus Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dutch Province)
The heart of God in Exodus 3 |
Text: Notes from the session
Text: The Heart
and JHWH, this is my name - two
poems by Nico Tromp MSC
Text: Exodus 3 -
the text
Text:
Exodus 34 - the creative mercy of God |
|
24th Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
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27th Feb |
 Mark McDonald MSC (Superior General)
Reviewing the Seminar and looking forward towards
mission. |
Text:
In conversation with Fr Mark McDonald MSC
Text: Key
insights, learnings and questions arising from the seminar
Text: Bishop Henry Verjus MSC, missionary
Text: A Spirituality of the Heart in the Service of Evangelisation -
by Nick Harnan MSC
Text: Spirituality of the Heart and Spiritualities Without Churches
- by Jean Richard MSC
mp3 audio: Ministry in the context of mission (4'47")
mp3 audio: Bishop Henry Verjus MSC - an example of a ministry of
presence (6'29") |
|
28th Feb |
Quiet reflection day |
|
Bibliography for the Seminar
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Jules Chevalier –
Notes Intimes/Personal Notes, Fontes MSC S.1, V.2.
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Jules Chevalier - The Annals of the
Little Society, Fontes MSC S.1, V.1.
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Jules Chevalier - Manuscrits sur le Sacré-Coeur
de Jesus, Fontes MSC, S.1, V.4.
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Charles Piperon - The Life of Rev. Jules
Chevalier (Unpublished text, translated from the French by Fr. William Byrne
MSC)
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Charles Piperon - Writings on the Life
of the Founder, Jules Chevalier, Fontes MSC
S.2, V.1/A
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E.J. Cuskelly MSC - Jules Chevalier: A
Man With A Mission, Rome, MSC Generalate, 1975
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E.J. Cuskelly - A New Heart and a New
Spirit: Reflections on MSC Spirituality, Rome, 1978
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E.J. Cuskelly (ed.) - With a Human
Heart, Kensington, Australia: Chevalier Press, 1981
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E.J. Cuskelly - Walking the Way of
Jesus: An Essay on Christian Spirituality, Strathfield, NSW: St Pauls, 1999.
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Jean Tostain MSC - Father Jules
Chevalier: Who Was He? Issoudun, 1995
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Retraite des Pčres
Maitres des Novices ŕ Issoudun, 19-26 Julliet 1959
(Unpublished Paper)
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Jan Bovenmars MSC –
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
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Jean Tostain MSC –
Talk given at General Chapter of 1999
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J.F. Lescrauwaet MSC - Triptych for a
Spirituality of the Heart, Chevalier Press, 1975
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Ton Zwart MSC – A
Framework of the Spirituality of the Heart, (Unpublished Paper)
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Bro. Van Heugten MSC
(Brother who cared for the aged and dying Chevalier) – Reflections on Fr.
Chevalier’s last month.
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Jan Bovenmars MSC –
Article in the General Bulletin on liberalism and the evils of Chevalier’s
time. (July 1999 4/99-EN)
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Dennis Murphy MSC –
Collected articles
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Papers of the Symposium in memoriam E.J.
Cuskelly MSC, Issoudun, September 2002
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Fons Meijers MSC –
Reflections on Hesed and Crossroads Project
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Jean-Marie Kohler MSC
– Source d’Eau Vive – Reflections on the Constitutions.
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MSC Generalate –
Reflection books on the Constitutions and preparations for the 150th Jubilee
of the Congregation.
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Frans Van Segbroeck MSC - Unpublished
paper: Fr. Chevalier and the Future - Reflections on Chevalier's book:
L'Apocalypse et le Temps Present
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