Year: 2014

Weekly News: September 22, 2014

Celebrating the life of Blessed Juan María de la Cruz, personnel directory available, follow-up to the North American Continental Conference, photos from the Dehon Formation Community, blog posts from Asia, and living a “life of Eucharist.”

Weekly News: September 15, 2014

Fr. Steve writes from the Philippines, Fr. Tom shares information from India; St. Joseph Indian School principal writes about her years with the SCJs; general superior has audience with Pope Francis; prayer requests; St. Joseph’s Indian School holds its annual powwow.

News for the weeks of September 1 and 8

International ESL liturgy at Sacred Heart; SCJ seminarian learns first-hand the horrors of human trafficking; former Philippine missionary a member of Toronto community; a story of physical as well as spiritual healing; congrats to a new citizen; and other updates.

SCJ seminarian reflects on the horrors of human trafficking

Frater James Nguyen is member of the Dehon Formation Community, studying at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The following is his reflection on volunteering this summer with One Body Village, an organization that focuses on rescuing children from sex trafficking, and educating and emplowering communities to prevent such exploitation. “It was not easy seeing what I saw,” he wrote.

Reflecting on Labor Day

“The most striking fact concerning the condition of the working class is that workers are, for the most part, experiencing conditions of misfortune and unearned misery. Despite a certain amount of superficial progress, the worker is, in many places, less happy than formerly.” This contemporary sounding assessment came from the pen of Fr. Leo John Dehon, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, in 1894…

A winding road to Toronto

Pastoral ministry in the Amazon, mission work and administration in the Philippines, ministry to young people at World Youth Day… Fr. Benedito de Maraes Machado’s path to Toronto was a winding one. On July 31, Fr. “Bene,” as he is more often known, joined the international SCJ community in Toronto.

Fr. Dehon and “The Social Question” (Part 1)

We don’t seem to use the phrase “the social question” anymore, which is telling. Apparently there’s no longer any question that the Church should be concerned about social issues and the social life of society, nations, and the world – though there is certainly no agreement about what she should do about it.In Leo Dehon’s day, the social question was huge and much debated, for many reasons.

Called to live the Dehonian charism

Life-threatening complications from a badly injured knee set Silvia Bertozzi on a path toward her vocation as a consecrated virgin living the Dehonian charism. She was 33 and in an intensive physical therapy program near Bologna, Italy, when “I realized that I needed to mend more than my body, I needed to mend my heart and my faith,” she said. As Silvia struggled to regain her physical health, her faith began to heal with the help of an SCJ priest who became her spiritual director.

Weekly News: August 25, 2014

Fridge Notes publication schedule, youth ministry day, a gift well-appreciated, Spanish with a Polish accent in Houston, updates, new publications available for download, prayer requests, website updates and other news…

Dehonian youth initiative

From the general level to local communities, over and over SCJs cite outreach to youth as a priority for the congregation. At the US Provincial Chapter, it was youth themselves, the youngest members of the province, who once again emphasized the need to be present to young people. Energized by what he heard Fr. Christianus Hendrik felt called to respond to them “and get something started!”