Mission Day – Sacred Heart Language College

On Thursday morning, Oct 8^th, a group of Missionaries and co-workers associated with mission   were invited to spend the morning at Sacred Heart Language College, Wealdstone, to share their stories with Year 8 as to why they made choices to work as missionaries overseas or working for charities and societies that promote mission in the world.  During the week before the missionaries arrived the whole College were involved in classes about their own Mission Statement: “Confident in God’s love we commit ourselves to His service” and they took some time in their classes to discuss their place in the local society, their family and in the Church.

The discussions were lively on Thursday and we were led by a great youth worker, James Trewby who works for the Columban Missionaries and for their Mission England, and he was a great hit among the girls. We gathered missionaries from various communities and mission societies: the Sisters of St Peter Claver, the Comboni Missionaries , Samantha, who works for the Jesuit Mission Services, Fr Paul Harris, our Salvatorian associate pastor of St Joseph’s Wealdstone, Katherine Costello, a former student from Sacred Heart , who had spent some time with our sisters in Bangladesh in her gap year before university. Srs Elizabeth Hartigan and Rose Mary Harbinson represented the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.

Miss Geraldine Higgins the Head Teacher of Sacred Heart Language College and her staff were so accommodating and the welcome and hospitality shown by Year 11 was proof that the girls were well prepared for our visit and they waited at the end to have their own conversation with the guests.

The week of Mission really spiralled from our Parish Event of celebrating the International Year for the Consecrated Life. Where we gathered the two primary schools, St Joseph’s and St Teresa’s and the Salvation College and Sacred Heart to a combined Liturgy held in St Joseph’s Parish Church, Wealdstone, Friday, Oct 9^th. (See article and photos of that event).

This event was a long-term and tedious, yet committed preparation of visits to each school and college, plus in-depth discussion with staff and a series of assemblies to share the story with the rest of the school/college as only representatives of each place could attend the final liturgy. The role of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions was paramount and Euphrasie Barbier’s  prayer was our guiding force:  “Tell our young people that I bless them with all my heart and beg God to make them very humble, very gentle, lovers of prayer and very faithful.”

This was a “first” to bring the schools together to celebrate our RNDM contribution to education.

Sr Rose Mary Harbinson, Rndm

 

Photos of the Participants and Missionaries for the Mission Day – Sacred Heart Language College