On the First Friday of each month the Dehon Formation Community in Chicago invites a speaker to talk about his or her vocation, faith journey and/or ministry. Besides the presentation, the visitor is invited to lead the community in prayer and a reflective discussion.
Most presenters have been SCJs. Many, but not all, have been from the U.S. Province. They have included visiting missionaries, and other SCJs from around the world.
“Traditionally, First Friday is a day of recollection in our SCJ congregation,” said Fr. John Czyzynski, commenting on the formation house tradition. “Over the years, the way that the day is observed has evolved. At the formation house, we established an evening of recollection.
Fr. John went on to say that the formation team invites outside presenters for a variety of reasons. “First, it is to emphasize the fact that ‘it takes a village’ –– a whole community –– to form those aspiring to join us. It isn’t just the work of the formation team.
“It is also a way for our men in formation to get to know more members of the community and it gives the members of the community a chance to get to know the students, as well as find out what is going on in formation.”
Occasionally, non-SCJs have spoken to the formation community, including employees who have worked with the SCJs for many years and who feel called to the charism of Fr. Leo John Dehon.
“This is a good learning experience for our students,” said Fr. John. “They see that the SCJ charism is not a private, secret possession, but a treasure we share. The students, and members of the formation team, hear from those who collaborate with us as to how our charism and mission is experienced by those who are not professed SCJs.”
“I think that non-SCJs leading the First Friday is a natural progression,” said Br. Duane Lemke, director of the formation program. “There are many people who work for the SCJs whose labor furthers our charism in remarkable ways. I’m thinking of teachers, pastoral associates, school administrators and many others who respond to God’s love by offering love to God and neighbor in return. We can be tempted as SCJs to think we have the corner on SCJ spirituality, but often these men and women are animated by it in very intentional ways. It often happens that they participate in our mission for many years, decades even. There are even a few employees who have participated in the SCJ mission in multiple apostolates, not unlike the way we ourselves do. Kathleen Donahue is one. She spent many years dedicated to our mission in Mississippi, and at St. Joseph’s Indian School. That is where I got to know her.”
This Friday, May 6, Kathleen Donohue, will be one such presenter. She is principal of St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota.
Kathleen’s history with the SCJs goes back longer than that of the students who are a part of the formation community. For many years she was principal of Sacred Heart School in Walls, Miss. The school is under the umbrella of Sacred Heart Southern Missions.
After several years there, she decided that it was time to go home to Pittsburgh. She had two young grandchildren and she wanted to be available to help her daughter. “But then Mary Jane called and offered me an opportunity,” said Kathleen. Note the word “opportunity.” Kathleen never speaks in terms of jobs, or assignments. Everything is an opportunity, a gift.
“Mary Jane” is Mary Jane Alexander, a member of the St. Joseph’s staff. There were several positions (“opportunities”) available at the school. Moving from rural Mississippi to an even more rural South Dakota wasn’t in Kathleen’s plans. But she decided to visit the school and talk with staff.
She has now been principal of the school for the past three years.
What about the grandchildren? “Opportunities opened up for my daughter and it worked out okay,” said Kathleen. “I believe that if something is meant to be, it will work out. If it isn’t, there will be roadblocks along the way. People say that I am brave when I try something new. But it has nothing to do with bravery; it’s a matter of faith.”
During her presentation this Friday, Kathleen will speak of her faith journey, a journey that she said has become intermingled with the faith journey of the SCJs. “The SCJs have influenced my faith journey through their openness. They allow you to question, they allow for a growing faith that is always unfolding. Their spirituality and charism invites exploration that leads to discovery and often a better sense of faith.”
She said that she has been working to develop an academic curriculum that better includes that sense of Dehonian questioning and discovery.
As are all presenters, Kathleen was invited to talk about the gospel reading. She said that this Friday’s reading –– the story of loaves and fishes –– is appropriate. “Sometimes I think of words as loaves and fishes, as in the gospel story; they spread and continue to nourish.”
“Words are like seeds,” she continued. “It is wonderful to plant seeds. If you are lucky, you are able to see those seeds take root and grow. It’s great to run into a former student, or someone else whose life you have touched, and find out years later that something you said made a difference. The words took root and grew just as the loaves and fishes multiplied and nourished.”
What did she think when Fr. John called and asked her to speak to the formation community?
“Honored,” she said. “My faith is who I am and it is an honor that someone who knows a little bit about my faith journey wants to know more.”
Educator inspired by the love of the Sacred Heart
When asked about the choice of Kathleen as a First Friday presenter, Br. Duane Lemke talked about someone who impressed him as an educator inspired by the love of the Sacred Heart:
“As an educator, I have seen Kathleen take the love of the Sacred Heart to students through careful attention to their education. I’m reminded of Fr. Dehon’s emphasis on educating young men for the priesthood, and believe that her involvement with SCJ Schools in Collaboration is the natural evolution of that. Certainly, there isn’t a single seminarian who participates in the coming together of teachers, staff, and students with SCJSC. However, what Dehon was doing was bringing together those who had influence within the mission of the Church, and who had a wider audience. In the case of SCJSC, Kathleen included, this is a bringing together of educators and students from different schools to learn together about how to make the love of Christ visible in real and concrete ways.
“Kathleen has participated in our mission, for years, and in two of our apostolates. I’ve seen her reflect the love of Christ through her dedication to education, and also through her interaction with individual students. She is interested in them and is supportive and encouraging. And, students being students, on occasions when ‘tough love’ is needed, she is able to provide that in ways and with an attitude that makes it clear she disciplines with the goal of also being supportive and encouraging, that the student is capable of change and will even be ‘more’ of who he or she is when the student learns to express him or herself in a more creative way.
“Finally, I am reminded of the Easter readings that make it clear that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the first to witness and proclaim the resurrection of Christ. The voice and witness of women is essential, especially in today’s Church. It is important for seminarians to have opportunities to hear women witness about their faith and perspective on the Gospel. Asking non-SCJs gives us the rare opportunity to include the voice of women in our Dehonian program in an explicit way.”
