Anniversary celebration
“On the day of my ordination to the priesthood, March 7, 1964, I had no idea that 50 years later I would be celebrating my golden jubilee in Franklin, Wis.,” said Fr. Jan de Jong. “The United States at that time was farthest from my mind. To become a missionary in Chile was a possibility, but not Wisconsin, the dairy state of the United States.”
Fr. Jan laughed as he reflected on the day of his ordination during a celebration with Milwaukee area SCJs and friends yesterday at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. Even a few family members from Canada flew south to take part.
“Today I ask you for one gift: continue to pray to the Lord of the harvest, pray for vocations for the consecrated life and the priesthood,” said Fr. Jan. “This day I thank God for the joyful fulfillment I have found in the priestly ministry.”
Click here to read the full homily.
Click here to view a photo album from the jubilee mass on the province Facebook page.
In May, Fr. Jan will have another celebration in his native Holland.
Sacred Heart volunteer too busy to slow down
Adeline Henry worked for 38 years before retiring at age 59. Now 88, she has barely slowed down since handing in her timecard.
“Oh, I don’t like to sit still for too long,” she said, noting some of the many organizations to which she has donated her time as a volunteer. For the past 15 years, the Priests of the Sacred Heart have been one of them.
“I have always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart,” said Adeline. “When I saw an advertisement in the Catholic Herald saying that they needed volunteers here, I called right away. I knew it would be right.”
She started with the gift shop that used to be located near the Sacred Heart Shrine. In recent years, she has assisted at the SHST library after being recruited by one of its librarians, Kathy Harty.
Adeline was also one of the first residents at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake.
Click here to read Adeline’s story on the province website.
Please remember
+Archbishop Aloísio Roque Oppermann, archbishop emeritus of Uberaba, Brazil, died April 27. He was born in 1936, professed in 1956 and ordained in 1961. His episcopal ordination was in 1983.
+Fr. Adrianus Theodorus Maria Ignatius van der Wilk of the Dutch-Flemish Confederation, died April 25. He was born in 1925, professed in 1948 and ordained in 1955.
+Fr. Silvestre Müller, a member of the Brazil – São Paulo Province, died April 23. He was born in 1925, professed in 1947 and ordained in 1951.
+Fr. Luiz Carlos da Silva, also a member of the Brazil – São Paulo Province, died April 21. He was born in 1946, professed in 1975 and ordained in 1980.
+Fr. Albino Elegante, a member of the North Italian Province, died on April 21. He was born in 1919, professed in 1937 and ordained in 1944. Fr. Albino was the founder of La Compagnia Missionaria del Sacro Cuore, a secular institute that follows the charism of Fr. Leo John Dehon. Its headquarters are in Bologna, but members are found in other parts of Italy, as well as Portugal, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Chile, Argentina and Indonesia.
+Colleen Smith, a member of Sacred Heart School of Theology’s board of directors, died April 24. She had just been appointed to the board last year, and recently led a communications workshop with members of SHST faculty, administration and staff. Diagnosed with cancer in 2006, she was 51. Click here for her obituary.
Keep in prayer
Rick Kornacki, the husband of SHST’s ESL director, Kelly Kornacki, has been hospitalized since April 18 with a severe leg infection.
Tom Weis, SHST information systems coordinator, had knee replacement surgery this morning. Many SCJs are familiar with Tom as the “go-to” person for audio-visual concerns at the Provincialate Conference Center.
Fr. Walter van As, a member of the Canadian Region, was hospitalized after a fall earlier this month. Fr. Maurice Légaré writes that “as of today [April 25], he is unable to use his right hand and leg. He had a scan and a lesion (metastasis) was found in his brain. A second scan will determine if there are other metastases elsewhere in his body. He is conscious and mentally alert, but with brief episodes of confusion. We’ll keep you informed as we get more information.”
Snapshots from Triduum and Easter
Br. Andy Gancarczyk, a Polish SCJ in SHST’s ESL program, spent Triduum and Easter at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Houston, Texas. “It was wonderful!” he said of the celebration there. “Full of life.” A former missionary in Uruguay, Br. Andy is at SHST, preparing for possible ministry in Houston. He took the above photo of Fr. Ed Kilianski with newly baptized parishioners during Easter weekend.
The photo at right from the Easter Vigil is from Fr. Mark Mastin (right), who celebrated Triduum and Easter at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii after spending much of the past year in Afghanistan. Fr. Mark is a chaplain with the US Army. His next assignment is expected to be in the Midwest.
In the Philippines
Fr. Tom Cassidy has returned to Asia, but this time the Philippines where he will be teaching English for the next several weeks. As he did during his time in India, he will share reflections in the province blog.
“I met with nine students yesterday and two more will join the group on Monday,” he wrote on April 26. “When all 11 are present there will be eight Vietnamese and three Filipinos. Each group presents pronunciation issues given their native languages. I suspect all the Vietnamese will have similar issues while that may not be the case with the Filipinos as they come from two different language groups: Cebuano and Tagalog.
“They seem like an eager group, but it’s the first day and time will tell how well we work together. I did get one piece of sound advice from Kelly Kornacki, the director of ESL at Sacred Heart School of Theology: use a lot of humor! Having to struggle to learn Italian when I went to Rome in 1991, I think that gives me both empathy for the students and hopefully some ways to help.”
Click here to visit the blog site to read the rest of this post and others.
Dehonian Spirituality
Last week’s update on the Dehonian Spirituality page coincided with the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the North American Province. David Schimmel, director of Dehonian Associates, writes that the formal establishment of the province actually came as a surprise to the first SCJs in the United States:
“Surprisingly, in the spring of 1934, the fledging community received a document from Rome announcing the establishment of the American Province. According to Father Kiefer, an early SCJ pioneer in America, the community had not requested it. He later found out that when the superior general had gone to the Vatican to present his Five-Year Report, the pope advised him to create an American Province as a precaution against the possible outbreak of war in Europe. He reasoned that dependence on Europe in a time of war would hinder the growth of the American foundation. April 25, 1934, marked the establishment of the province. At that time the professed members of the community included 14 priests, seven brothers, 12 students, and four novices, living in six community houses.”
Click here to read more, as well as previous posts, reflections and prayers, on the Dehonian Spirituality page.
Happy birthday
Those celebrating birthdays in May include: Fr. Charles Yost (82) and Fr. Mark Fortner (74) on May 4, Fr. Byron Haaland (65) on May 6, Fr. Bryan Benoit (52) and Fr. Jack Kurps (63) on May 7, Fr. Guy Blair (63) on May 8, Fr. Anthony Kluckman (67) and Fr. Fr. Elié Munzungu Kasongo-Ngoy (47) on May 12, Bishop Joe Potocnak (81) on May 13, Fr. Thi Pham (39) on May 14, Novice Justin Krenke (24) on May 16, Fr. Jim Casper (76) on May 20, Fr. Bob Tucker (62) on May 21, Fr. Wayne Jenkins (67) on May 25 and Fr. Stephen Huffstetter (55) and Fr. PJ McGuire (72) on May 31.
Updates
Fr. Yulius Sunardi
Home phone: 414-858-4605
Also, note that Fr. Greg Schill’s cell phone number has been updated in the online province directory in the Members’ section of the province website.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is in Mississippi this week for a visitation and a meeting with the Sacred Heart Southern Missions board. He will be back in Milwaukee May 2 for graduation at SHST. May 5-7 he will take part in the Spring Assembly of Priests for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. May 8, he meets with the board of directors of the Province Development Office.
