Provincial’s Time
Fr. Tom Cassidy is at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Il., this week for the province gathering. January 24-28 he is scheduled to be at a CMSM retreat in San Antonio, Texas. January 30 is Frater Duy Nguyen’s final vows ceremony and February 2-3 are council meetings.
Province Gathering
Much of the province will be at Our Lady of Snows this week. Photos from the gathering will be posted to the province photo site at http://www.scjusa.smugmug.com. Check throughout the week for updates.
Back in Mississippi
While many SCJs will be traveling to Belleville for the province gathering, a few others will be heading to Mississippi. Fr. Pat Lloyd will be at Christ the King parish in Southaven to join in the 25th anniversary celebration of the Gregory Bezy Knights of Columbus Council. Fr. Pat was pastor of Christ the King when the council was developed. To learn more about the parish go to its website at: http://www.ctkshaven.com
Also, Fr. Charles Yost will be in Mississippi this week filling in for SCJs who will be at Our Lady of Snows. Fr. Charlie had ministered in Mississippi for many years before moving to Florida.
Members’ section
Items recently posted to the Members section of the province website include Fr. Tom Cassidy’s State of the Province report (in preparation for the Election Assembly) and his letter of January 4.
Remember in prayer
FRANCES WONCH, the 88-year-old mother of Fr. Chuch Wonch, died January 14 in Chewelah, Washington.
FR. FRANK CLANCY will have surgery today, January 18, to remove soft tissue from his feet that has not responded to treatment. As you may remember, Fr. Frank had three previous surgeries which resulted in amputations of all of his toes and finally about half of his right foot.
LISA BRAHM, province administrative assistant, had knee surgery on January 15. She’ll be out of the office while she recovers.
Haitian earthquake
Of course, please keep in prayer the many people affected by last week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti.
“As our response, beyond being motivated by the spirit of solidarity that must characterize us SCJs and the appeal issued by the USG (which has volunteered to serve as go-between for all religious institutes who in whatever way have been involved in this tragedy or who wish to express their solidarity concretely), the Curia Generalizia fully intends to do something about requests for help coming from various international organizations dealing with the very urgent needs that the people of Haiti face,” wrote Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, superior general. “With this letter we are asking all provinces, regions, districts that can do so to unite in this expression of solidarity. You can do so by direct contact with the Curia Generalizia, actually with the General Treasurer here in Rome ,who will see to coordinating such assistance that arrives. We will try to ensure that our contribution will be made via the religious institutes on the scene or through other church organizations.”
The U.S. Province has donated $5,000 to Catholic Relief Services towards the efforts in Haiti.
Update
Fr. Charles Brown’s address from January 20 through May 20:
SCJ House
P.O. Box 630 3245
Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal
Republic of South Africa
Res: 011 27-(0) 33-383-0001
Cell: (414) 975-0405
Bishop visits
Bishop Joe Potocnak, retired bishop of De Aar, South Africa, was a guest last week at Holy Family School in Holly Springs, Miss. He gave a presentation to students at the school during Holy Family’s honors program.
Holy Family is operated by Sacred Heart Southern Missions. To learn more about the school, visit its website at: http://www.hfamilyschool.org
From the past
Sr. Corinne Oberembt, a Benedictine who worked with the SCJs in Hales Corners and in South Dakota, recently contacted the Province Development Office in hopes of reconnecting with the community. If you would like to drop Sr. Corinne a note, her address is:
St Joseph Care Center
1005 W 8th St
Yankton, SD 57078
Getting married
Congratulations to honorary SCJ Florence Popp, who is getting married to Bill MacIntosh on January 23 in Ocala, Fl. Cards can be sent to:
3861 SW 30th St.
Ocala, FL 34474
Remembering those who built the province
As we have for the past several months we will continue to share a bit of information about deceased members of the province on or near the anniversary of their death. This week we remember two SCJs:
Fr. Michael Noonan (January 18, 1970): A Chicago native, Fr. Mike was born in 1924. He professed first vows in 1943 and five years later he was ordained a priest.
After ordination, he studied journalism at Marquette University for a summer and then was assigned to teach history, religion and English at Divine Heart Seminary. He also served as assistant dean of boys and as athletic director. In 1951, he became dean of boys.
Several months later, he moved to Ste. Marie, where he became the novice master. While there, he was nominated as a delegate to the General Chapter in Rome in 1966, and soon after was named provincial superior.
As provincial superior, Fr. Mike traveled thousands of miles visiting the missions of Indonesia, South Africa and Zaire (now Congo).
While serving as provincial, he oversaw the completion of the new Sacred Heart School of Theology building.
Br. John Grace (January 22, 1985): Another Chicago native, Br. John was born in 1927 and came to study with the SCJs soon after his return from Germany, where he was stationed with the U.S. Army. He made his first profession in 1950 and his final profession four years later. His work with the SCJs constantly varied and took him around the country. Br. John’s last ministry was at St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Ind., where he was involved in hospital chaplaincy.
He retired from ministry soon after being diagnosed with cancer.
People said that they knew Br. John as sometimes a brusque, hurried type of man. Yet there was also a tender side that seemed to flourish even as his cancer progressed. “I am sure that each one of us who saw that transformation taking place could talk about things that we saw and would treasure about him,” said Fr. John Czyzynski, who lived with Br. John at Sacred Heart Monastery. “We have a child in us and as we get older, we get sophisticated and cloak that child over. And sometimes a transformation has to take place for that child to come to life again. It was beautiful to watch it taking place in Br. John.”
