Homily for the 150th Anniversary of the Arrival of the MSC in the USA

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church – Watertown, New York. August 2, 2026.

Your Excellency, Bishop LaValley; Father Mike Miller, our Provincial Superior; dear MSC confreres from the USA Province; Brother Bernard, from the MSC community in Canada; dear members of the Chevalier Family, dear parishioners and friends:

One hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of missionaries arrived in Watertown carrying very little. They had crossed the Atlantic on a difficult journey that lasted thirteen days. Father Joseph Durin wrote that they had been given 1,500 francs for their travel and food and that, when they arrived, very little remained. They spoke little English and had no secure income, no stable home, and no assurance that their mission would succeed. They had very little. And today, in the Gospel, the disciples also have very little: five loaves and two fish.

The history we commemorate did not begin with abundance, certainty or strength. It began with a small offering placed in the hands of God. And when what is small is placed in the hands of Jesus, it can become enough to feed a multitude. It can even become the beginning of a 150-year story. On May 6, 1876, Father Durin and Father Chappel celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving in what the chronicles call “the little church of the Canadians” on Factory Street. It was a modest beginning among a small and rather neglected Catholic community. But that day, here in Watertown, something greater than anyone could have imagined was taking place: the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were establishing their first community outside Europe. The dream born in the heart of Father Jules Chevalier in Issoudun had crossed the ocean.

That is why today we do more than remember the arrival of a few missionaries. We celebrate a decisive moment in the unfolding of our charism. Here, the mission to make the Heart of Jesus known everywhere began to take on a truly universal character. From generation to generation, the people of Watertown—including all of you here today—have never been merely recipients of this mission; you have been its companions. Through sacrifice, generosity and faithful service, you helped build the Church, sustain the missionaries and make this charism your own. These 150 years are not only the story of the MSC; they are your story too—a story that continues to bear fruit.

We also express our heartfelt gratitude to the Diocese of Ogdensburg and to its clergy, who throughout the years have welcomed, supported, and deeply valued the presence and mission of the MSC. With deep affection, we thank the Sisters of St. Joseph, who joined this missionary story in its earliest years. From this small beginning came a parish, a church, a school and a seminary. Missionaries went out to surrounding communities; children were educated, vocations were formed, the poor were served, and the spirituality of the Heart was proclaimed. Even today, through the Sacred Heart Foundation, the formation of future MSC missionaries worldwide continues to be supported.

Today we remember with gratitude the many MSC priests and brothers who served here, some of whom now rest together in Calvary Cemetery. We remember Father Chappel, Father Durin, Brother Benjamin Grom, Father John Neenan, who died at only twenty-eight years of age, Father Benoit Dostie and his closeness to the poor, and the MSC brothers whose quiet and faithful service sustained this community. Their love remains written in the heart of God and in the life of this community.

We warmly welcome the MSC who once served here and have returned for this celebration, as well as the other members of the MSC USA Province for whom Watertown remains a meaningful part of their missionary journey. You know them well, and throughout this week I have witnessed the deep affection and appreciation you have for them. With special affection, we also remember Father Mark McDonald, MSC, former Superior General and a son of this community, whose missionary service carried the spirit of Watertown far beyond its borders.

As Saint Paul reminds us in today’s second reading, through every change and every passing generation, one truth has sustained this story: nothing can separate us from the love of God revealed in the Heart of Jesus. But an anniversary cannot be only a grateful look at the past. Christian memory is never nostalgia. We remember in order to recognize what God is asking of us now. The question before us is not simply: “What did the first missionaries do 150 years ago?” The question is: “What is the Heart of Jesus asking of us today?” In the Gospel, Jesus says: “Give them some food yourselves.” Do not send the hungry away: the young searching for meaning, families carrying hidden wounds, the poor, the migrants, the lonely, the elderly, or anyone who feels there is no longer a place for them in the Church. We may answer: “We have only five loaves and two fish. We are fewer now, we are older, and our resources are limited.” But Jesus simply says: “Bring them here to me.” The future of the MSC mission will not be a repetition of the past. But it must carry the same fire: closeness to people, care for the poor, courage to cross borders, communion among cultures, and an unshakable trust in the love of God.

Dear brothers and sisters, as Superior General and on behalf of our entire Congregation, present in 52 countries around the world, I offer our profound gratitude to God for these 150 years; to the MSC who have served here; and to the people of Watertown, who have walked beside them and made this mission their own. Today, however, we celebrate not the conclusion of a beautiful story, but the grace of a new beginning. In 1876, a few missionaries arrived with very little, and God made it enough. In 2026, once again, we place our five loaves and two fish in the hands of Jesus. We place in his hands the present multicultural MSC community of Watertown: Frank Natale, serving here at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish; Raymond Diesbourg, at St. Vincent de Paul; David DeLuca, serving as local bursar; Jay Kumar, from India, serving at St. James Parish in Carthage; Joe Kanimea, from Fiji, chaplain at St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center; and Corneille Boyeye, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, serving as a hospital chaplain in Syracuse. In their lives and ministries, the international missionary spirit that began here 150 years ago continues today. Together with them, we place in the Lord’s hands our history, our gratitude, our limitations, our communities and our future.

And we ask Jesus to receive what we offer, to bless it and to multiply it, so that his Heart may continue to be known and loved—here in Watertown, throughout the United States and to the ends of the earth. One hundred and fifty years ago, Watertown became the first place outside Europe where the MSC dream found a home. Today, may Watertown become once again a place where that dream finds a future.

Amen.