Portuguese SCJ does research in SD
Fr. José Agostinho de Figueiredo Sousa, an SCJ from the Portuguese Province, is spending four months at St. Joseph’s Indian School; he arrived just in time to take part in Mission Education. Fr. José is finishing a master’s degree in “Economy and International Action” at the Catholic University in Paris. “He is studying human rights as it relates to minority communities and we will be very interested to hear his observations about life in South Dakota,” wrote Fr. Stephen Huffstetter.
A significant part of Fr. José’s time in South Dakota will be devoted to research and study. “But, he also wants to improve his conversational English,” continued Fr. Steve. “Children are wonderful language teachers because they have a limited and simpler vocabulary. Where adults are often too polite, kids will laugh when you use the wrong word and correct you. We ate supper in the Dennis Home (first through third grade girls) and the Lakota girls helped Fr. José make sure he knew the names of all the foods, plates, utensils and condiments on the table.
“We had some fun moments on the playground with the kids. We didn’t quite know how to translate ‘Red Rover’ into Portuguese! Fr. José had his first attempt at tetherball.
“When the kids asked Fr. José to say something in his language they sat spellbound as they heard the Lord’s Prayer in Portuguese and the Hail Mary in French. Then they in turn taught him some of their bedtime prayers.
“Friday, our Native American drum group had a practice scheduled in the church and I took Fr. Jose for his first experience of a Lakota drum song. I could see him tapping his foot in time to the drumbeat. Drum music truly is contagious, and you can almost feel your heart beating along.”
St. Joe’s staff takes part in “beauty pageant” fund-raiser
We have another tidbit from St. Joseph’s that was just too good to pass up. Several members of the school staff helped to organize or were contestants in a Chamberlain “beauty pageant” to help raise funds for cancer research.
“All the contestants in the ‘Mr. Relay for Life’ competition were incredibly good sports,” wrote Fr. Steve, describing a pageant in which men were the stars. “Several of our staff joined Chamberlain’s mayor and other local dignitaries in scouring our St. Joseph’s Thrift Store for evening gowns for a runway walk.”
But like the real thing, the competition wasn’t just based on “pretty faces.”
“They were each given a humorous philosophical question to answer,” added Fr. Steve. “And, of course, the night had to include a talent competition. Contestant challenges ranged from juggling rubber chickens, to catching tennis balls with a fishing net, and stringing plastic Barrel-O-Monkeys together.
“There were constant belly laughs and a tremendous spirit of fun and community. Originally, the committee had hopes of raising $500 for the cause, but as spectators voted for their favorites by filling donation jars, over $4,400 raised in support of local people with cancer!”
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.
The following is taken from his most recent post:
“A phenomenon takes place virtually every day on this Island of Mindanao that in the United States occurs only twice a year. I am referring to the fact that here the sun rises at about 6:00 a.m. and sets each day at about 6:00 p.m.
“Imagine, if you are a farmer, never having to change cow milking time due to a change to daylight saving time. Imagine, if you will, always having the kids traveling to and from school during daylight hours. Imagine. Once the sun goes down in the evening the body can relax, the family gathers together around the table and each one has time for each other. Imagine having a constant electrical power bill that barely fluctuates due to seasonal variation. Now you begin to have some idea of the daily rhythm of the Philippines.”
Click here to read Fr. Bernie’s post, as well as others.
This week at SHST
Eight seminarians from Sacred Heart School of Theology will receive Candidacy for Holy Orders during the All-School Eucharist on Wednesday. They represent the (arch)dioceses of Knoxville, Davenport, Portland, Winnipeg and Crookston.
The next day, April 25, the SHST community will honor Fr. Thomas Knoebel (Archdiocese of Milwaukee), Fr. André Papineau, SDS, and Fr. Robert Schiavone (Diocese of Green Bay) on the occasion of their retirement. The celebration will begin at 5:15 p.m. in the Sacred Heart Chapel with Vespers of St. Mark the Evangelist,
Do you have your room?
A reminder to SCJs that U.S. Province Election Assembly will begin at noon on Monday, June 3. If you have not made room arrangements please contact Marlene Zepecki at Sacred Heart Monastery/School of Theology (414-425-8300, ext. 0) or Fr. Jim Brackin at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake.
Also, be sure to mark your calendars for the North American Conference, which concludes Fr. General’s visitation of Canada and the United States. It will begin with prayer on Tuesday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m., and conclude with lunch on Friday, September 27.
The jubilee celebrations for the U.S. Province will Monday, September 23.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Tom Cassidy is on his way to Vietnam today where he will attend the inauguration of the first SCJ house in the country. He’ll be back for Provincial Council meetings next week Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s budget time in the council room!
