A happy grad
Fr. P.J. McGuire shared a few photos from Fr. Quang Nguyen’s recent graduation from Claremont Graduate University in California. Last fall, Fr. Quang successfully defended his dissertation “Doi Moi (Economic Renovation) Revisited: The positive economic outcome(s) and a negative externality, especially in the service sector of Vietnam.”
Fr. Quang was awarded his Ph.D. in Economics/Political Science on May 17. Fr. Quang is pictured here with family and friends who attended the graduation.
The Widow’s Mite
In his last blog post from the Philippines, Fr. Tom Cassidy reflected on the biblical story of the Widow’s Mite:
“This morning I was talking at breakfast with Br. Dang van Nuyen, an SCJ from Vietnam, who asked me if I had photos of the ‘Rice Lady’ from St. Paul’s in Ho Chi Minh City. He told me about her and what she does for our community and I think her story is worth telling…
“I met the Rice Lady on my first day in Vietnam when we went to visit St. Paul’s parish and Huong Tam School that the US Province supports. At the end of the visit we met our Rice Lady and two helpers who had a couple of sacks of rice for us to take back for the community. The rice is the ‘widow’s mite’ of the story.
“You see this woman is not wealthy and really cannot afford to pay for two sacks of rice each month to help feed 22 hungry young men trying to master English as they begin their studies in hopes of becoming SCJs. But this woman has figured out a way to solve that problem and provide the much needed rice. Each month she collects money from friends, neighbors and Lord knows who else, to gather enough funds to pay for four sacks of rice….
“When you realize that rice is served seven days a week, and at least two meals a day, it takes lots of pounds of rice to last a month. Our rice lady does her part to make it all possible.”
Click here to read the full post, as well as others on the province blog.
Youth ministry in India
Over 740 people attended a youth gathering in the Eluru Diocese (Andhra Pradesh) organized by Fr. Jojappa Chinthapalli of the SCJs’ Indian District, in collaboration with the diocesan youth director.
“As Dehonians in India we are doing youth ministry in our parishes, hostels, with schools and with college students,” wrote Fr. Jojappa. “It is a very relevant ministry, appreciated by religious sisters, other priests and brothers and our bishop. It was the bishop of Eluru who asked us to help organize a youth gathering on the diocesan level.”
On May 10 the first, of what is hoped to be a regular monthly youth assembly, was held. The theme of the first gathering was “Faith Renewal for Youth.”
Among those who took part were Bishop Jayarao Polimera, as well as the local police superintendent.
Fr. Jojappa first worked with youth group organization during his regency year in Argentina.
Dehonian Spirituality
The most recent update to the Dehonian Spirituality page on the province website focused on Trinity Sunday. It began with a reflection from Fr. Dehon:
“For a long time, I looked for difficulties where there are none, to honor and live the Holy Trinity. I wanted to sound the mystery. Now this devotion seems quite simple to me, it speaks to the heart. We must consider the persons distinctly.
“The Father is my Creator, the author and preserver of life. To him I owe everything. He is much more my father than the one the family gives me. I want to love him with all my heart, with simplicity even with familiarity; I trust in his providence and in his mercy…”
Click here to read the rest of the passage as well as other reflections and prayers:
SCJ publication in recent ATLA releases
Annali di storia dell’esegesi, published by the SCJs’ Edizioni Dehoniane in Bologna, Italy, is one of seven recently added titles to American Theological Library Association’s ATLASerials (ATLAS). The ATLAS is an online, full-text collection of more than 260 major religious and theological journals.
Gregg Taylor, ATLA’s licensing manager, said that “It’s a compellingly global selection of titles in this update. These journals hail from France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Pakistan. The diversity in content is also wide, including Protestant, Catholic, traditional African religion, and three titles on Islam.”
Established in 1946, the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) is a professional association of nearly one thousand individual, institutional, and affiliate members providing programs, products and services for theological and religious studies libraries and librarians. Click here for more information.
Our thanks to Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology librarian Kathy Harty for the information.
Bethsaida expedition
As we noted last week, students from Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology are on their way to the Holy Land to take part in this year’s Bethsaida Archeological Expedition.
Msgr. Ross Shecterle, president-rector, and Dr. Patrick Russell, vice president for academic affairs, are leading the seminary’s archeological project from June 17 through July 7.
The students will be posting stories and photos from Bethsaida on the project’s Facebook page. Click here to view it.
Updates
Br. Andy Gancarczyzk, has moved from Sacred Heart Monastery to Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Houston, Texas. He officially begins ministry at OLG on July 1. Click here to read an article posted about him on the province website in May.
His new email address: deguaram@hotmail.com
Feast of the Sacred Heart
The general curia recently released its letter for the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Click here to download a PDF of the text. The letter will also be posted on the provincial website later this week and linked to the province Facebook page.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Steve is on retreat until June 18. Next week he heads to Mayo for his annual check-up; from there he goes to Chamberlain, SD, to commemorate the feast of the Sacred Heart, as well as the last weekend of Fr. Guy Blair’s ministry at St. James and St. Anthony parishes.
