Vocation office on the road
Vocation Central was on the road this past weekend, meeting with young people taking part in Marian Days in Carthage, MO. Marian Days is a pilgrimage of Vietnamese Catholics and their descendants done in honor of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, as well as in memory of their homeland across the Pacific. The festival is highlighted by a huge outdoor Mass held on the grounds of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix. The vocation office staffs a booth at the celebration to share information about the Priests of the Sacred Heart and vocations to the church.
Back to school!
After staff orientation last week, this week students return to St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota.
“We fittingly started orientation with a prayer service in the Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel,” wrote Mike Tyrell, St. Joseph’s director. “We asked for guidance and inspiration from the Great Spirit in meeting our important mission for the children and families we serve.”
Fr. Anthony Kluckman adds that in addition to the familiar noise of children returning to campus this week is another sound common to Chamberlain in August: the roar of motorcycles! “Bikers are passing through on their way to the Black Hills and the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis,” writes Fr. Anthony. Often the bikers will make a stop at St. Joe’s to have their motorcycles blessed. “We always wish them safe travels and an enjoyable time!”
Click here to read about the start of the new school year on the school’s blog site.
New email addresses at SHSST
Last week we noted that as of August 15, Sacred Heart School of Theology officially becomes Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. With the name change comes new email addresses for faculty and staff at SHSST.
Starting Friday, email addresses associated with the seminary will change their ending from “SHST.edu” to “SHSST.edu.” The old addresses will work until the end of the year.
The first part of the email address remains the same.
On the road to the General Chapter
This week the Canadian Region is having its chapter. Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is attending as an observer.
The Canadian chapter will take place at near Montréal. Some of the tasks and topics discussed will be similar to those addressed at the US Provincial Chapter in July, including preparation for the General Chapter.
On Wednesday, the chapter moves to the community house in Montréal to celebrate jubilees in the region including Fr. Walter Van As (70 years of profession), Fr. Herman Falke (65 years of profession and 60 years of ordination) and Fr. Reinier van Leeuwen (65 years of profession).
Information from the chapter will be posted on the province Facebook page later in the week.
Please keep in prayer
Tom Wilkes, an SCJ from 1960 – 1977, is suffering from prostate cancer. His wife, Sharol Wilkes, writes that Tom was diagnosed in September, 2013; recently the cancer has become more aggressive.
Please remember
Fr. Jan Hojnowski, a member of the Polish Province, died August 9. He was born in 1937, professed in 1953 and ordained in 1962.
Remembering Fr. Dehon
Tomorrow, August 12, is the 89th anniversary of the death of Fr. Leo John Dehon, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
“For him I lived, for him I die. He is my everything, my life, my death and my eternity,” said Fr. Dehon, pointing at a portrait of the Sacred Heart just moments before his death.
At the founder’s funeral, Bishop Binet eulogized Fr. Dehon as a citizen and priest, saying “What a prominent place this city of St. Quentin had in the life of the octogenarian, of the great French citizen, of the excellent priest whom we mourn! He came from La Capelle with a vast accumulation of knowledge seldom found in a young priest. But like all good priests, he did not shut himself up in the ivory tower of his intellectual superiority, but threw himself wholeheartedly into work, especially among laborers.”
Click here to more about Fr. Dehon on the Dehonian Spirituality page, as well other reflections and prayers. Also, note that previous postings from the page can be found in their respective sections on the left of the page, which include “Fr. Leo John Dehon,” “Heart of Jesus,” “Oblation,” “Lived and Shared,” “Prayer,” and the reflection questions that often accompany the Dehonian Spirituality texts.
Other resources on Fr. Dehon
Click here to view a brief album of photos from the founder’s last residence, the SCJs’ house in Brussels, including Fr. Dehon’s study and the room in which he died. It remains as a museum and memorial to the founder.
Click here to visit a multi-lingual website with information and images of the founder
Click here to go to DehonDocs, an electronic library of Fr. Dehon’s writings.
Promoting the Dehonian heritage
One of the priorities identified at the 2009 General Chapter was a desire to deepen the understanding and experience of the Dehonian charism at all levels of the congregation. A number of initiatives developed in response to this, including the opening of “DehonDocs” (as noted above, it is an electronic library of the founder’s writings), a reorganization of the Dehon Study Center, the establishment of a scholarship fund for young SCJs who would like to do advanced studies in Dehonian spirituality, and the naming of a new International Theological Commission.
Members of the commission include Fr. Joseph Kuate (Cameroon), Fr. Francis Purwanto (Indonesia), Fr. João Carlos Almeida (Brazil), Fr. Fernando Rodriguez Garrapucho (Spain); Fr. John van den Hengel (General Curia); and Fr. Stefan Tertünte and Fr. Juan José Arnáiz (Dehon Study Center, Rome).
Click here to read more about the commission and other initiatives on the general website.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is in Montréal this week to be an observer at the Canadian Regional Chapter. He returns to Milwaukee on August 15 –– just in time to receive Justin Krenke’s first vows.
When is that?
Justin Krenke will profess his first vows at St. Martin of Tours church on Saturday, August 16 at 10:30 a.m. Check the province Facebook page for photos from the ceremony.
