Giving Presents
 
W
e all love to give and receive presents. We give presents on many occasions, birthdays, weddings etc. But it is especially at Christmas that we find the urge to express our joy with a present. The mystery of Christmas is truly celebrated when the word of God is made flesh in our mind and heart. Christmas reminds us too that the incarnation comes about in an unexpected way. At the first Christmas most were too caught up in their own expectations, their own ideas, their own lives and were unable to see what had taken place. They were too self-centered. They had confined God to the limits of their own thinking. They had lost the spirit of wonder. Their minds could not adjust to the unexpected. They lacked the flexibility to be informed and to be formed. They could not make themselves small even in the presence of the greatness of God. They could not become as little children.
 
What about us today?
Our mission in life is the same as Christ’s mission during his life. Christ’s mission was and is one of reconciliation, of uniting people with God and with each other, of bringing peace on earth to people of good will. If our mission is Christ’s mission, we must live as those who serve, really serve.
 
 
When we examine ourselves honestly, it is surprising and humbling to see how much of our service is really a thinly cloaked condescension, a way of gaining control over people. Yet Christ’s mission was to set people free. That is how he summed it up in the synagogue at Nazareth. Do we come across as a liberating sort of people? In this edition of our MISSION OUTREACH we will offer some suggestions whereby you may be able to liberate people from thirst, poverty, ignorance etc.
 
                 
 
To the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
Warm greetings on the happy occasion of 150 years of the Foundation of your Institute.
 
Your Founder, Father Jules Chevalier, rightly regarded the establishment of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart as the fruit of the intercession of Mary. With great devotion to the Mother of God he had recourse to her in all the difficulties he faced, honoring her with the title ‘Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus’. As Jesus’ mother, Mary knows his heart; she intercedes with him on our behalf and leads us to him, teaching us to live as she did, in the love of her Son, in the service of God’s word, with solicitous concern for others.
  
Father Chevalier saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the meeting place between God and mankind. Indeed, it is from Jesus’heart that God’s love is lavished upon men and women; it is in Jesus’ heart that humanity is reconciled to God. Jesus invites us to a ‘spirituality of the heart ’ in imitation of his own surrender, obedience, courage, fidelity and love. It is my fervent hope that you, dear Brothers, will continue to draw inspiration and strength from this spirituality and from your Founder’s charism as you fulfill your vocation in the Church and in the world. ‘You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount, but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the Spirit is sending you in order to do even greater things’(Vita Consecrata 11 0) May your Jubilee be an occasion of great joy and thanksgiving, and also an opportunity for deepening your commitment as Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the glory of God and for the welfare of the entire human family.
 
From Castel Gondolfo, 1 September, 2004  
           
  The main purpose of Mission Outreach, a newsletter of the Australian Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, is to inform the people of Australia about our mission work in the world today. We will suggest areas where you can support and assist the missionaries such as by:
(a) prayers and contact with individual missionaries;
(b) becoming lay, religious or clerical missionaries;
(c) giving financial and other support.
  
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