Happy New Year!

Yesterday, January 26, Sacred Heart Monastery hosted a Lunar New Year celebration (“Tet” in Vietnamese). The “Year of the Rat” began on Saturday, January 25. The monastery community invited SCJs and members of the community at St. Martin of Tours, where the Vietnamese Catholic community in Milwaukee is based.

The main chapel at SHM was filled; priests and deacons from both SHM and St. Martin of Tours were present. Fr. Joseph Quang Tran, SCJ (associate pastor of St. Martin of Tours), was the main celebrant, and Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ (associate professor at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, as well as a member of the Provincial Council), was the homilist.

After the liturgy, the SHSST lobby filled with vibrant colors as dancers in traditional costumes performed in the hall. Visitors enjoyed Vietnamese foods and were treated to entertainment provided by the Vietnamese community at St. Martin of Tours. Jacob Smith, a candidate in the province formation program, donned a traditional outfit and performed a song in Vietnamese. Games were also played during the celebration.

Our thanks to Frater Henry Nguyen who shared information and photos from the celebration. He noted that over 300 visitors attended. Photos have been posted on the US Province Facebook page.

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! [Happy New Year in Vietnamese]

Young authors

Students at St. Joseph’s Indian School are writing their own books! The books are published by the school and made available for check-out from the school library. One of the student authors, Aurora, already has four image-based novels. They focus on the lives of her favorite animals: cats and wolves. Other students have published short novels, and an anthology of poems written for Native American History month in 2018 and National Poetry Month in 2019 is available.

Catholic Schools Week

This week, January 26 through February 1, is national Catholic Schools Week in the United States. The theme is “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”

To commemorate the week, Joe Tyrell, Director of Mission Integration at St. Joseph’s Indian School, wrote a “Lived and Shared” reflection in last Friday’s Dehonian Spirituality publication.

“Immediately when I think of Fr. Dehon I think of his love, his love for the Lord, and his love for others,” wrote Joe.  “That is what I try to best model in my role as the Director of Mission Integration at St. Joseph’s Indian School.  I try to show others my love for Jesus Christ, my love for the Lakota Culture, and always try to display my love for others.  Here at St. Joseph’s Indian School, and especially during Catholic Schools Week, you can walk around campus and see that love is being expressed considerably.

“Because of Fr. Dehon, Fr. Hogebach, and the SCJ Order, our students have the wonderful privilege of learning about the Lakota culture as well as getting to grow closer to God in their religion classes.  St. Joseph’s Indian School students have the opportunity to find out more about who the Great Spirit made them to be.  They can connect their culture and their spirituality and be proud to be Lakota students, be proud of their heritage, and be proud to have a relationship with the Great Spirit.  St. Joseph’s Indian School provides the chance to connect both spiritualities to assist each student on their personal journey to find who the Great Spirit created them to be…

“Dehonian Spirituality and Fr. Dehon to me represent love. During this Catholic Schools Week, students will continue to grow into the children that God created them to be. Fr. Dehon would be proud of what is happening at St. Joseph’s Indian School.  He would be proud of our students and he would continue to show his love for all people, and so will I.”

Click here to read the full January 24 issue of Dehonian Spirituality.

Please remember

+Fr. Hans Schädle, a member of the German Province, died January 24. He was born in 1936, professed in 1959 and ordained in 1965.

+ Amelia Abreu Rapozo, the grandmother of Fr. Willyans Prado Rapozo (Toronto community) died January 24 in Pindamonhangaba, SP, Brazil. She was 93 years old.

+ Germain Lavictoire, Fr. Richard Woodbury’s brother-in-law, died from cancer on January 16. Fr. Richard is a member of the Montréal community. An obituary in French is available at: www.desforges.ca.

Keep in prayer

Fr. Ed Kilianksi, SCJ, provincial superior, is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, January 29, to amputate his left foot and the lower part of his shin. This is to treat a bone infection that has developed in recent months. The surgery will take place at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.

Aggressive physical therapy is expected to begin at the hospital within two to three days of the surgery. It is anticipated that he will be released from the hospital one to two weeks after to continue his rehabilitation at home.

Fr. Ed notes that the surgery will take place on his 37th anniversary of priesthood ordination (he was ordained on January 29, 1983).

Congratulations!

During last week’s Provincial Council meeting councilors voted to approve Kenneth Anyanwu and Celsus Robert for postulancy.

Upcoming council meetings

The Provincial Council set its meeting dates through the end of the year. They are: March 3-4, May 5-6, June 11 (evening), August 12-13, September 15 and 17 (the Dehon Lecture, featuring Fr. Carlos Luis Suarez, SCJ, will be on September 16; Fr. General will meet with the council on September 17), November 10-11, and December 15-16. The council will also meet by conference call tomorrow, at  10:00 a.m.

SHSST receives grant

Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology recently received a $20,000 grant from the Erica P. John Fund to cover the expenses of last year’s Collegial Gathering of Bishops at SHSST. A requirement of the grant is that a second such meeting be scheduled.

Happy birthday!

Those celebrating birthdays in February include Dn. David Nagel (Feb. 6), Br. Diego Diaz (Feb. 10), Fr. Duy Nguyen (Feb. 17), Fr. Quang Nguyen and Frater Henry Nguyen (Feb. 18), Fr. Greg Murray (Feb. 19), Fr. Mark Mastin (Feb. 21) and Fr. Peter Sanders (Feb. 28). Happy birthday!

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