Veterans Day, November 11
Let us remember those who have served their countries, remember those who have lost loved ones in conflict, and pray that all of us may some day find the path to peace and a true love of neighbor. Amen.
Fr. Nardi presents his thesis
Fr. Yulius Sunardi will present information from his recently defended doctoral thesis “Predictive Factors for Commitment to the Priesthood: Insights for Seminarians and Priests in their Vocation” during the Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology Rector’s Conference on November 19. The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Provincial Conference Center.
Members of the community are welcome to attend.
Please remember
Br. Edward Francis Murphy, a member of the British-Irish Province, died on November 7. He was born in 1923 and professed in 1967.
Praying and hoping
“Praying and hoping!” That’s how Dn. David Nagel begins his reflection on last Friday’s Dehonian Spirituality update. “I find myself praying and hoping today as the provincial treasurer. The spirituality of the Priests of the Sacred Heart is one of oblation, or offering, of oneself with Christ to the Father. In the morning prayer of oblation I offer myself with Jesus to the Father and along with this offering I give to Christ the worries of my ministry as treasurer.
“Any day can present problems so prayer helps. When you stop and look at the cost of operating our various ministries you have to stand in wonder at what the Sacred Heart makes possible through the generosity of our donors. The average donation from a caring donor is $12. I like to stop and think how many donations of $12 it will take to operate a seminary at $2.8 million. The number of donations is 233,333 to make the total of $2.8 million. So you get the idea that it takes a lot of generous donors giving frequent gifts to operate the various ministries of the Province.”
Click here to read the rest of Dn. David’s reflection, as well as other reflections and prayers based in the Dehonian charism.
If you would like to receive the Dehonian Spirituality updates by email, click here.
Vocation office on the road
On Saturday (Nov. 8) Br. Long Nguyen brought the province vocation office to the “Encounter Milwaukee” young adult conference at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Cousins Center.
The “Encounter” conferences, held around the country, feature talks and workshops by nationally known Catholic speakers. Given in a TED talk style, the presentations are on topics of particular concern to young adults.The Milwaukee conference had participants from throughout the Midwest.
Also on the road for the office is Br. Ray Kozuch, former vocation director. He was recently part of a youth presentation at Lumen Christi parish in suburban Milwaukee and last week served at a directed retreat for young people at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.
Reflecting on the first SCJ novice master
“A hundred years after his death, André Prévot remains virtually unknown in the Congregation. And yet, as the first novice master, serving from 1885 until 1909, he, more than any other follower of Léon Dehon, set the spiritual course of the Congregation until the major reforms of Vatican II.”
The quote is from one of two extensive articles on Fr. Prévot in the recently posted Dehoniana, a publication of the Generalate’s Dehon Study Center. Fr. John van den Hengel’s article is available in English and Spanish, and Fr. Heiner Wilmer’s is in Italian and German.
The publication also includes an interview by Fr. Stefan Tertünte with Fr. André Perroux on the SCJ Rule of Life.
Click here to access all three articles.
Update
Br. Mike Fette’s cell phone number has been updated in the personnel directory in the Members’ section of the province website.
Slight change
Last week Br. Ben Humpfer invited SCJs to join the Sacred Heart Community in Pinellas Park during one of its two upcoming reflection gatherings. The first will be led by Fr. Tom Cassidy Dec. 8-10.
However, the second, led by Fr. Wayne Jenkins, has been rescheduled from FEBRUARY 23-25 to MARCH 23-25.
As noted last week, there is room for seven guests. Any SCJ who would like to join the community for the days of reflection and relaxation should contact Br. Ben. Click here to email him. brobenscj@gmail.com
International Theological Commission meets
The newly organized theological commission held its first group of meetings last week. Among the topics covered: inculturating the Dehonian heritage and charism, the development of a critical text on the life and work of Fr. Leo Dehon, the direction of Dehoniana (publication of the Generalate’s Dehon Study Center) and the working theme for the next international theological seminar: “Toward an inculturated charism.”
Click on the following links to read reports from each day:
Just a hoax!
We’ve had several calls to the province office from SCJs concerned about a variety of hoax emails they have received. Many share some variation of a story about an SCJ being on a trip and in need of money because his wallet has been stolen. Others are emails from airlines such as Delta and U.S. Airways with confirmation of an airline ticket that the SCJ did not purchase.
If you know that your email address has been used to send spam email, change your email password as soon as possible.
If you receive a receipt for an airline ticket that you have not purchased, change the password on your frequent flyer account (if you have one) and contact the airline directly to ensure that the receipt was indeed fraudulent.
Never click on a link or open an attachment from an email that seems suspicious. If you are not sure if a suspicious email is “real,” contact the business (bank, credit card company, airline, etc.) directly, not from a link within the email. Customer contact information is always on a company’s website.
Another good source to check on suspicious email is Snopes.com, a website dedicated to debunking false rumors and fraudulent emails.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is in the office most of this week, attending a board meeting at the Province Development Office on Thursday (Nov. 13).
Next week, Fr. Steve leaves for the Democratic Republic of Congo to attend the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Congolese Province and a memorial to the SCJ martyrs who were killed during the 1964 rebellion.
Joining him from the U.S. Province will be Fr. Leonard Elder and Fr. Charles Brown. Both had served as missionaries in the country.
Closing shot
As noted above, Fr. Leonard Elder will be joining Fr. Steve and Fr. Charlie at the upcoming anniversary events in the Congolese Province. Reflecting on his years there as a missionary from 1982 to 1991 Fr. Leonard said that what he enjoyed most was “Learning new cultures, languages, and the daily struggle to overcome the lack of almost everything I was accustomed to using.
“But joined to this was the discovery of a people eager to celebrate God’s love and to share in their lives and struggles.”
Pictured above is a photo of Fr. Johnny Klingler (far left) visiting the U.S. missionaries in Congo years ago including Fr. Charlie, Fr. Leonard and Br. Jerry Selenke (Br. Jerry passed away in 1999).
We’ll have more about the commemorations in the weeks ahead.
