Our Yearly Feast of the Jubilarians and the Blessing of Our New Residence “Huize Chevalier”. Antwerp, Belgium

On Monday 21 September, 2026 was a feast day in Borgerhout. Fr. Abzalon arrived in Antwerp on his birthday 20 September and came to celebrate with us our yearly feast of the Jubilarians in the morning. Our dean, Fr. Jan De Nil presided over the eucharistic celebration and Fr. Absalon challenged us in his homily on the feast of the apostle Matthew: “stand up and follow” me. We understood that even with 60 years of priesthood or religious profession: our mission is not finished.

In the afternoon, we celebrated with all the confreres and our guests the blessing of our New Residence called “Huize Chevalier”. To move out of the Old Provincial House and to enter in a much smaller home with only six apartments is a way of saying again “yes” to a missionary future.
Our charism and spirituality, Fr Absalon said, “Perhaps mission is saying: now you must leave again. Not necessarily for another continent. Perhaps only a few streets away. But spiritually, the journey may be just as real. Because the great question for us today is not: where will the MSC live in Belgium? The deeper question is: how will the Heart of Jesus remain alive in Belgium through us?”.

Fr. André Claessens, MSC