Sharing SCJ mission and spirituality is the goal of new spiritual director

One July 1, Fr. Dominic Peluse officially began his new role as spiritual director of the Province Development Office.  He replaces Fr. Paul Kelly, who recently completed 10 years as director.

Although he is new to the office, Fr. Dominic is already becoming a familiar face to many of  the SCJs’ benefactors.  During the past year he has periodically “shadowed” Fr. Paul, learning about his work while joining him on luncheon visits around the country.

Taking a break from unpacking books in his new office, Fr. Dominic sat down for a short interview:

Q: First, a few basics.  Where are you from?  How did you first come in contact with the Priests of the Sacred Heart?

Fr. Dominic: I am originally from, Poughkeepskie, NY, and was the second of three boys.  I went to a Catholic grade school but a public high school.  Indirectly, this is what led me to the Priests of the Sacred Heart.  I decided to pursue my vocation after high school and contacted the Blessed Sacrament Fathers.  They were located just six miles from where I lived.  However, when they found out that I only had three years of Latin in public school, as opposed to the usual four years that guys took in the minor seminary, they said that I’d either have to repeat my senior year or become a religious brother instead of a priest.

I didn’t know much, said that would be “okay,” and was accepted.  Then I went to my parish to complete my application paperwork.  The pastor wasn’t available but the associate was.  An immigrant, he spoke to me in a mix of Italian and English and I really only caught about half of what he said.

“Well, would you like to go there?” he asked me.

I realized that he asked me a question but I didn’t know what he was talking about. Evidently he had been telling me about a seminary operated by the Priests of the Sacred Heart , that specialized in students like me, students who hadn’t attended a minor seminary and had a little catch-up to do.

In a few days he took me for a visit.  I met Fr. Jim Cunniffe, toured the seminary and had a brief interview.  Less than a week later I received a letter of acceptance and I found my home.

Q: What attracted you to the Priests of the Sacred Heart?

Fr. Dominic: When I first arrived I didn’t know the difference between an “SJ” and an “SCJ” except for the “C” in the middle.  But there were such wonderful priests and brothers at the seminary, people like Fr. Kohler, Fr. Rotterman and Fr. Cunniffe.  They talked about who Fr. Dehon was and about the congregation.  The more I learned about the SCJs the more that I wanted to be a part of them.  In 1967 I professed my first vows.

Each year it seems that I learn more about the community and our founder.  And every time I learn more I feel a greater commitment to the Priests of the Sacred Heart and our ministry.  As a student I’d meet people like Fr. Tom Sheehy who ministered to migrant workers, and other SCJs who served the poor throughout the country.  Even now when I read about Fr. Dehon, or when I learn about an SCJ ministry in another part of the world, I feel reconfirmed in my vocation as an SCJ.  I constantly feel like I am getting to know who I am and what my religious family is all about.

Now, I feel an obligation to know more about our community because our benefactors are going to ask me questions and I want to be able to share with them as much as I can about the SCJs.

Q: You have already joined Fr. Paul at some of the benefactor luncheons, and in other settings.  What are some of the questions that you’ve heard?

Fr. Dominic: Mainly, people want to know about our ministries, where we are located here and around the world.  Certainly there is a desire to know where their money is going, but it is much more than that.  They are a part of our ministry and want to know more about our spirituality and our founder.

Q: What have you enjoyed about your ministry during the past months working with Fr. Paul?

Fr. Dominic: It was eye-opening to me to realize how many people in the United States know who the Priests of the Sacred Heart are.  I think that it is important for us to get out and meet with the many people who support us.  Equally, it is good for our benefactors to get to know individuals, like Fr. Paul, who are really trying to live what we profess.  They experience a little of who Fr. Dehon was through us.

In our visits I have encountered so many people who have such a profound holiness about them, a strength in faith that inspires me.

Q: What other ministries have you been a part of?

Fr. Dominic: Except for a short period of time doing vocation work, most of my priesthood has been in parish ministry.  That’s really a ministry that I have loved, being in a parish, making friendships, being a part of people’s lives in both good times and bad.  It is a way that we can be Eucharist to others.

Q: How do you think that your previous ministry –– parish work –– will help you in your new role as spiritual director?

Fr. Dominic: Although it will be very different, my role here will involve much of what I did as a parish priest.  Often as a pastor my role was to counsel and be supportive to those dealing with personal and family concerns.  Here, people come to us asking for prayers for a loved one suffering from cancer, or for a child who is having problems with his marriage.  We talk to parents who might be struggling with a teen who seems to have lost his way.  Across the board, these are the concerns that I dealt with in parish life, it’s just that now the “congregation” is bigger.

Being present to others, being supportive of others is a way to give joy and hope.  You can’t buy joy but in giving of yourself you receive joy.  That’s what I learned in parish ministry and that’s what I bring to my work here as spiritual director.

Q: What are some of your hopes for your new role?

Fr. Dominic: In parish ministry I loved to bring people together.  In several areas I started a tradition of a shared meal in which I’d bring five or six families together who didn’t know each other.  Each would be assigned a dish [including Fr. Dominic, who loves to cook] and we would spend an evening eating and getting to know each other.  In some ways, our luncheons are a way to do that, to bring people together with shared interests to get to know both the SCJs and each other.

I hope to encourage a wide variety of my fellow SCJs to join me at our luncheons.  It’s a great way for our brothers and priests to get a sense of the people who support us in our ministry.  And it’s also a “feel good” moment to realize how much people respect and appreciate the work that the Priests of the Sacred Heart do, and who we are as sons of Fr. Dehon.  That’s something that I want more of our men to experience.  It’s a way to reinvigorate our vocation as SCJs.

Q: Why is it important for you to be a member of the Priests of the Sacred Heart?  What makes you proud of who you are as an SCJ?

Fr. Dominic: When I first came to the Priests of the Sacred Heart you could have told me that Cameroon was a sugar-free macaroon.  There was so little that I knew of the world.  Being an SCJ has expanded my knowledge and helped me see what an impact our spirituality and our ministry can have in so many parts of the world.

I joked about my ignorance of Cameroon, which reminds me that just this year an SCJ priest from the country was named to lead that province.  This is the first time that a missionary has not held this role.  We are not only bringing SCJ spirituality to the world, but also helping others to make it their own.

Being an SCJ has expanded my knowledge of who the Body of Christ is.  The body of Christ is the people, the people of our world.

What makes me proud to be an SCJ is that we are trying to be a living Gospel for others and helping to bring that out in those to whom we minister.  We are the Body of Christ.