“I am happy to be an SCJ because I am surrounded by saints. There are so many of them, both deceased and still living. I find that by being with them I discover their saintliness, often hidden, but discoverable through attentiveness and observation. It’s not that my SCJ brothers don’t have faults. It’s that they seek to find them out, work on them, weed them out, and face any fault or weakness that prevents the LOVE and SERVICE to others that Fr. Dehon called for. That takes courage and guts. That SCJ tradition is bonding.”
-Fr. Bernie Rosinski, reflecting on his 70th anniversary of vows.
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Fr. Bernie Rosinski, SCJ, died November 3. In August, he had been diagnosed with metastatic cancer which had advanced to his lungs, pancreas and liver. He was in hospice care with the SCJ community in Chamberlain, SD.
Fr. Bernie was born in 1934, was professed in 1952 and ordained in 1959. He was 88 at the time of his death.
Except for a brief stint in vocations, most of Fr. Bernie’s ministry was in academics or administration. He taught at Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Ind., at Dehon Seminary in Great Barrington, Mass., and at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. In 1990 he was named provincial secretary but stayed with the Provincialate for only a year before being asked to serve on the staff of the Generalate in Rome. He was there from 1992-1998, after which he returned to SHSST. In 2001 he was back to his old job as provincial secretary. He also served on the Provincial Council.
“I don’t really like to use the word ministry when I talk about my work,” said Fr. Bernie. “I reject it because I think that it is a limiting concept, limited by my personal desires, wants or aspirations. I also know that my feelings on the matter run counter to the current trend or wisdom. I believe that my existence, willed by God, consists in being priest and religious. How that is lived is determined by the apostolate given to me by my superiors. This is how I believe that I can become an instrument of God’s mercy and love, and a ‘prophet of reconciliation’ most truly and effectively.'”
Fr. Bernie retired in 2007, but it was an active retirement. In South Dakota he assisted with pastoral ministry and held formation workshops for permanent deacons. Fr. Bernie had degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology and from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
“I am happy to be an SCJ because I am surrounded by saints,” he said, reflecting on his 70th anniversary of vows. “There are so many of them, both deceased and still living. I find that by being with them I discover their saintliness, often hidden, but discoverable through attentiveness and observation. It’s not that my SCJ brothers don’t have faults. It’s that they seek to find them out, work on them, weed them out, and face any fault or weakness that prevents the LOVE and SERVICE to others that Fr. Dehon called for. That takes courage and guts. That SCJ tradition is bonding.”
View the Funeral Mass by click on the image below:
