Never too old to fall in love, or earn a master’s
After 60 years I found my true love,” said Fr. Bernie Rosinski as he began the public defense of his thesis for a master’s degree in Scripture from Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology.
The “true love” he was referring to is Scripture. “It preoccupies me,” he said. “I wish that I knew more about it. There is no end to knowing. You can learn more and more but then you just find that there is more and more to learn.
“It is replete with mystery, and no exercise, no drills, no courses can lead one to its mysteries better than absolute meditation through devoted study.”
The title of his thesis is “The Owner of the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-6; the ‘Evil Eye’ and Other Mysteries.”
After a 30-minute presentation (including a detailed handout on the operation of vineyards), and questions from his thesis director and principal reader (Dr. Richard Lux, professor emeritus of Scripture Studies) and second reader (Dr. Patrick Russell, SHSST academic dean and associate professor of Scripture Studies) Fr. Bernie learned that his defense was indeed a successful one and that he would be awarded his Masters of Arts in Scripture from SHSST.
So what now? He entered into the master’s program so that he would have the discipline to study. At 83 is he going to give himself a break?
“I don’t feel like I need the same structure now,” he said. “There is much that I want to study; the desire to learn is my motivation now.”
Click here to read more on the province website.
Calendar updates for SCJs in the US and Canada:
COUNCIL MEETINGS: The spring meeting of the North American administrations will begin with dinner on Monday evening, April 24, at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. The group will then meet all day on Tuesday, April 25, at the US Provincialate.
The US Provincial Council will have a one-day meeting on Wednesday, April 26 during which it will review the FY18 budgets. The council was originally scheduled to meet April 25-26.
PROVINCE ASSEMBLY: The 2017 Province Assembly will begin with the Province Jubilee Celebration on Monday, June 5, at 4 pm. Invitations for the jubilees will be in the mail by the end of the month.
The assembly has its first full day on Tuesday, June 6 and runs through midday on Friday, June 9. Invitations for the assembly will also be in the mail by the end of the month. However, SCJs are encouraged to make travel and lodging arrangements as soon as possible.
NORTH AMERICAN RETREATS: The first of the three North American Dehonian Retreats will be August 13-19 in Mississauga, Ontario (near Toronto). The next will be May 6-12, 2018, in Racine, Wis., followed by a retreat for those in formation (students and their formators) August 5-12, 2018, in Racine. There is still time to register. CLICK HERE to do so. The retreat is for SCJs in the US and Canada; SCJs can sign up for either date and location.
Questions? Click here to contact one of the retreat organizers.
EASTER SCHEDULE: The Provincialate Offices will close at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 13 and not reopen until Tuesday, April 18 for the commemoration of Triduum and Easter. There will be no Dehonian Spirituality mailing on April 14 and no Fridge Notes the week of April 17.
New phone
Fr. Tom Westhoven
414-704-6429
Are you on the list?
Twice weekly (Tuesday and Thursday) during the Easter Season the Dehonian Associates Office will be sending by email “The Way of Light, Reflections on the Resurrection by Leo John Dehon, SCJ.”
“Via Lucis [Way of Light] is based on the gospel stories of the resurrection and has been cherished since the first century but only formally became a Roman Catholic devotion at the start of the Jubilee Year 2000,” said David Schimmel, director of Dehonian Associates for the US Province.
Everyone who receives Dehonian Spirituality will be added to the mailing list for the “Way of Light.” Click here to add others to the mailing list.
Please remember
Fr. Owen Wynne, a member of the British-Irish Province, died on April 2. He was born in 1932, professed in 1951 and ordained in 1959.
Catholic-Jewish dialogue
The Lux Center at SHSST hosted a public lecture and symposium on Catholic-Jewish dialogue last week which featured presentations by Rabbi Yehiel Poupko and Fr. John Crossin, break-out sessions with other theologians, and a facilitated luncheon workshop. More than 200 people attended across two days of activities. Fr. Crossin is the former director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious affairs of the USCCB. Rabbi Poupko is a rabbinic scholar at the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Published
Former SCJ Dave Jackson shared a commentary that he recently wrote from the McAllen Monitor. Dave is now a volunteer with Valley Interfaith from St. John the Baptist parish; he periodically writes for the Monitor’s Board of Contributors. The topic of his March 27 post was an educational assistance program in the Rio Grande Valley and the lobbying efforts of young people to increase funding for it.
Click here to read the commentary.
Dehonians in the world
The congregation recently accepted responsibility for the parish of San José Patrono de la Iglesia in the Archdiocese of Santiago, Chile. Fr. Johny Li, provincial superior of Chile, was installed as pastor of the parish by Bishop Fernando Ramos, Santiago’s auxiliary bishop.
The bishop thanked the Chilean Province for always having an open heart to the service of the Church and helping those who need it most. “We are grateful to the Dehonians and today receive them in this new place which they will undoubtedly pursue with great intensity,” he said.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Ed Kilianski is in Milwaukee until April 6 when he will go to Texas for a visitation. He will spend Holy Week and Easter with the Houston community and return to Hales Corners on April 17. April 19-21 he will be in South Dakota for a C-POSH board meeting. As noted earlier, the meeting of North American administrations runs April 24 (evening) through April 25. The Provincial Council meets on Wednesday, April 26.
Closing shot
On March 27 Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson visited Holy Family School in Holly Springs, MS, and Sacred Heart School in Southaven, MS. Both schools are a part of Sacred Heart Southern Missions in northern Mississippi. Fr. Thi Pham joined the bishop at Sacred Heart and Fr. Ziggy Morawiec was with Bishop Kopacz during his visit at Holy Family. The bishop is pictured below at Sacred Heart.
