Vocation office on the road
Br. Ray Kozuch and Br. Long Nguyen were in Orlando last week for SEEK 2013. A five-day event, SEEK is presented by FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. It is described by organizers as “a gathering of college students on a journey, a place where we can come together to take on some of life’s bigger questions and, like guides along the way, learn from one another where wisdom and experience lead… It is an opportunity for college-aged students to SEEK the big picture in life and think about what direction they might be going.”
Br. Ray and Br. Long spoke about vocations at the gathering.
Speaking of vocations…
Don’t forget that January 13-19 is National Vocation Awareness Week in the United States. SCJs are encouraged to incorporate vocation discussion and promotion in their ministries. Share your vocation story with parishioners and students. Publish the link to the province vocation web page in parish materials, including parish bulletins (www.scjvocation.org).
No matter what your ministry, no matter your vocation (religious or lay), there is something that you can do to promote vocations to the Church and religious life.
For ideas, you can contact the province vocation office at vocationcentral@wi.rr.com, 800-609-5559, or click here to go to the website for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops where there are a variety resources regarding vocation promotion.
Keep in prayer
Sr. Grail McMullen, RSCJ, who served at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston during the 1980s, died shortly before Christmas.
Annette Rastanis, the sister of Fr. Peter Mastrobuono, also died. She was 71
Fr. Tom Burns learned shortly after New Year’s that his brother, Jack, was diagnosed with cancer that has moved beyond his colon and into the lungs. He will soon begin chemotherapy. Fr. Tom is a member of the Pinellas Park community.
Leo E. McKee, father of Lenox alumnus Craig B. McKee (1973 graduate), died of cancer on January 3 in Lakeland, Florida.
Joe, Andre and Paul Chapdelaine, also alumni of the SCJs’ seminary in Lenox, lost their mother, Therese R. Chapdelaine, just before the new year. Click here to read the obituary.
Updates
Fr. Guy Blair
The phone number listed in the personnel directory for his residence is incorrect. It should be: 605-734-6122
Ermin and Pauline Humpal (honorary SCJs)
Clement Manor, No. 167
3939 92nd St.
Greenfield, WI 53228-2140
414-543-0630
Plenty do across the street
For residents at the SCJs’ Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake, a senior apartment community across from Sacred Heart School of Theology, there is plenty to do even in the coldest months of winter. A look at SHML’s January newsletter and calendar shows just a few of the many activities planned for the month, including exercise classes, card games, a hearing aid clinic (at which hearing aids can be checked and cleaned at no charge), movie nights, a Friday fish fry and bingo, as well as sign-ups for computer classes and a choir.
There is also opportunity for Mass at the SHML chapel; the SCJs’ Sacred Heart retirement community attends to the ministerial needs at the complex.
Less than six months since SHML opened to the public the first wing of apartments is just about full and there is strong interest in the second wing, scheduled for completion next July.
For more information about public rentals at SHML, call 414-409-4848 or email
A time for renewal
Fr. Jim Walters, director of Hispanic Studies at Sacred Heart School of Theology, spent the past few months on sabbatical. He recently wrote about his experience:
“Starting on August 12, 26 men and women, religious and diocesan, representing 14 countries, began a sabbatical experience for four months.
“What made this experience unique for me was the diversity of cultural expressions. As each of us entered into the time and space allotted for theological and spiritual growth, we became aware of how much we shared in common and how our vision of Church, although enriched and nuanced by our varied backgrounds, witnessed to a hope for the future. Our time together focused on updating areas of theological study including: Scripture, Ecclesiology, Christology, Missiology, Moral Theology, and Sacraments. Highlighting the program was the integrating component of faith sharing. As I left I felt a deeper sense of connectedness with the universal Church as well as a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to participate in such a unique and memorable experience.”
Fr. Jim is back at SHST for the spring semester.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Tom Cassidy is in Pinellas Park for a visitation until January 9. The week of January 13 he has a visitation with the Sacred Heart community at SHML.
Hello from Rome!
The January 7 and 14 editions of the Fridge Notes for 2013 are being sent from the SCJs’ Generalate in Rome.
Beginning this week SCJ bishops from around the world come together for a conference at the Generalate. Participants will include the congregation’s most recently ordained bishop, Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna of Beira, Mozambique, as well as its former general superior, Archbishop Virginio Bressanelli, of Neuquén, Argentina. Many of the bishops have ties to the U.S. Province, having done advanced studies or ESL in the States.
Bishop Joseph Potocnak, originally of the U.S. Province, is now retired and living in Holly Springs, Miss. After many years of international trips he is going to remain at home where he often does parish ministry and hospital visits.
Reflecting on his years as bishop of the Diocese of De Aar, South Africa, Bishop Joe said that “What I enjoyed was being a pastor, a parish priest. Even as a bishop I usually took care of one parish during the week and three Masses on Sunday. I loved to visit the hospital and to be with families and the sick.”
Bishop Joe continues to do the ministry he loves: being a pastor to others.
News and photos from the bishops meeting will be posted on the generalate’s website (www.dehon.it), the province website (www.sacredheartusa.org) and on Facebook.
Election season begins!
The presidential elections in the United States may be done, but the election process in the U.S. Province is just beginning. Last week SCJs received the State of the Province report; soon after, discernment ballots went in the mail
The province election assembly takes place the week of June 3. Fr. Tom Cassidy’s second three-year term comes to an end this summer.
