Storm brings Mission Ed to a quick close
The Priests of the Sacred Heart began ministry in the United States near Chamberlain, S.D., in the early 1920s.
Upon hearing this fact during the Mission Education Conference one of our province employees said she that could easily guess why:
“They were stuck!”
The tongue-in-cheek comment came in midst of news updates about an impending storm. Mother Nature turned what was to be a two-day Mission Education Conference into an abbreviated one-day event on April 8 at St. Joseph’s Indian School. Some travelers made the decision to leave before the storm. Some stayed, assuming that their travel might only be delayed by a day
Later in the week, many found themselves still stuck in South Dakota, waiting for roads to re-open and planes to resume flying.
Mission Education was held in South Dakota to give participants a first-hand look at SCJ ministries on the Great Plains.
“We sure got that,” said one participant, “but even more so I have a greater appreciation for what those early SCJ priests and brothers had to endure. I cannot imagine being here in the winter, with blizzards shutting down contact to the outside world for days on end… traveling to those small reservation churches, not knowing if you would be stuck there and for how long…
“I identify with Fr. Dehon’s call to ‘Go to the people,’ but taken literally, that is a very challenging call during a South Dakota winter!”
Click here to read the full story about Mission Education posted on the province website.
Click here to view a photo album on the province Facebook page from the event.
Also, members of the St. Joseph’s staff, as well as a few others, were asked to write a reflection on the statement “I am a Dehonian because…” Click here to read their reflections.
Musings from the Philippines
As noted previously, Fr. Bernie Rosinski continues to be a faithful blogger from the Philippines where he is spending April and May as an ESL instructor. He did similar work two years ago (not in 2012 as we mistakenly reported last week).
“Frs. Francis, Jacek, and I recently traveled from the largest island at the northernmost end of the archipelago, Luzon, to the largest island at the southernmost end, Mindanao, where the SCJs have a college level seminary and a novitiate,” wrote Fr. Bernie in a post last week about travel in the Philippines. “Fr. Francis is the regional superior of the Philippines and conducts business from his office there. Fr. Jacek, a psychologist, gave the first week’s series of presentations to the men from the four entities of Asia who are preparing to make their final vows in May and went to visit his SCJ friends. I went to offer instruction in the English language to college-level seminarians.
“To avoid interminable traffic jams on the streets leading from Dehon House in Quezon City to the inter-island airport in Manila and catch our flight, we had to leave the residence at 1:30 a.m. to catch a 5:20 a.m. flight to Mindanao.
“What makes travel among the islands such an adventure? Inter-island travel is conducted necessarily by plane or boat, both of which ferry people between the various islands. Such traffic permits commerce, government administration, and the continuance of strong family ties. The mere frequency with which ferry boats conduct their operations and the high level of fishing and marine traffic in the surrounding seas almost invariably leads to boating accidents, of which there have been a number in recent years. Plane travel permits safer, more rapid service and even daily commuting.”
Click here to go to the province blog and read Fr. Bernie’s posts.
Keep in prayer
Fr. Steve Wiese was hospitalized last week for cardiac concerns.
Update
As we noted last week, the SCJ house in Raymondville has been sold. Fr. Richard MacDonald, who was staying at the house while it was on the market, is now moved out. Until he is settled, send his mail to Our Lady of Guadalupe, 693 N. 3rd Street Raymondville, Texas 78580.
Fr. Mac’s email address and cell phone remain the same.
Calendar notes
The U.S. Province Election Assembly will begin at noon on Monday, June 3.
The North American Conference, which concludes Fr. General’s visitation of Canada and the United States, will begin with prayer on Tuesday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m., and end with lunch on Friday, September 27.
The jubilee celebrations for the U.S. Province will Monday, September 23.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Tom Cassidy made his way home from South Dakota on Friday. April 18 he goes to Mississippi for board meetings at Sacred Heart Southern Missions. He leaves for Vietnam on April 22, where he will attend the inauguration of the first SCJ house in the country.
