Holiday break

The Provincialate Offices will be closed December 24 – 27 for Christmas, and December 31 for New Year’s Eve.  There will be no Fridge Notes published on December 27.  As always, if you have an urgent news item to share, such as a death in the family or other information that needs quick distribution, please contact Mary Gorski at marygorski@sbcglobal.net.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy birthday!

Members of the U.S. Province and Canadian Region will receive their 2011 “Days of Celebration and Commemoration” calendar (formerly known as the “Birthday Calendar) with the December Cor Unum, which will be mailed shortly after Christmas.  A PDF of the calendar is also available for download from the province website.  Click here.

Those celebrating birthdays in January include Fr. Leonard Tadyszak (89) and Fr. Mike McMillen (69) on Jan. 5, Fr. Tom Westhoven (70) and Fr. Rein van Leeuwen (82) on Jan. 9, Fr. Don Barnd (89) on Jan. 19, Fr. Ralph Intranuovo (74) on Jan. 20, Fr. Bernie Rosinski (77) on Jan. 22, and Fr. Andy Lewandowski (77) on Jan. 26.  Happy birthday!

Keep in prayer

Fr. Bob Bossie will have a cancerous blemish removed from his face this week.

Please remember

Fr. Antoine Werlen, a member of the Franco-European Province, died December 10.  He was born in 1923, professed in 1941 and ordained in 1950.

Necrology

A necrology of the U.S. Province is available on the Province website.  You can find it under the “News” tab or go directly to it by clicking here.

Update

Fr. Quang Nguyen
7125 Archibald Ave. # 20
Alta Loma, CA 91701

Pastoral year comes to an end

This month Br. Clay Diaz completes his pastoral year at St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, S.D.  He will soon return to Chicago to continue his studies.  He writes:

“As my year at St. Joseph’s Indian School officially comes to an end I want to thank Fr. Stephen Huffstetter and Fr. Anthony Kluckman for giving me the opportunity to be a part of their lives and ministering with them. I also want to thank the province for allowing me to come to St. Joe’s to do my pastoral year. I have grown a lot in different areas of my life during my time here and I truly appreciate that.

“I want to thank the staff, teachers, house parents and students for being a wonderful community; I learned much about Native American culture and about the State of South Dakota. I will take with me all of the friendships I developed and learning experiences I had with me.

“To my fellow students in formation I highly recommend St. Joe’s as a place to learn about Native American culture and about working within a school system.

“Thank you St. Joe’s.  You will always be in my prayers and thoughts.”

Why Chad?

As noted in October, the Priests of the Sacred Heart have begun ministry in Chad.  The Province of Cameroon is spearheading the new mission.  In an interview on the congregational website (posted in Italian), Fr. Antonio Panteghini, provincial superior of Cameroon, talked about why the SCJs have gone to Chad.

“We Dehonians went to Chad at the invitation of the Bishop of Lai, Bishop Miguel Sebastian.  [A new diocese, Lai was established in 1998.]  During his travels in the diocese, the bishop learned that the Priests of the Sacred Heart had started evangelization in the area of Kelo [southwestern Chad].  The SCJs were there from 1935 – 1939.  The bishop asked if we could return to this area.

“We accepted the invitation because the mission spirit is present among our young Cameroon SCJs.  We are a mission country that has developed to the point that we can now be missionaries to others.”

Fr. David Dagsou, an alumnus of Sacred Heart School of Theology’s ESL program, is one of the two SCJs from Cameroon now in Chad.

Members info

Several items of interest for SCJs have been, or will soon be posted to the Members section of the province website.  These include the proposed Province Plan sent last week to SCJs in the U.S. Province.  The Provincial Council hopes to approve this plan at its January 11-12 meeting.  Members of the province are asked to give their input on it to Fr. Tom Cassidy or a member of the council by January 7.

Also in the Members section are the dates and locations of upcoming Praesidium training workshops.  Later in the week the December Cor Unum will be posted in the Members section as well.

SCJs who need assistance in accessing the Members section should contact Mary Gorski at marygorski@sbcglobal.net.

Calendar updates

January 7: Deadline to give feedback on the proposed Province Plan
January 11-12: Provincial Council meeting
January 15: Celebration of SCJ ministry in the Rio Grande Valley (OLG Raymondville)
February 17-18: Provincial Council meeting
March 1-2: Local superiors (coordinators) meeting, Hales Corners
March 29-30: Provincial Council meeting
May 9-11:  Provincial Council meeting (budgets)
May 23-24:  North American councils meeting (Chicago)
Week of July 11: Province Assembly, Hales Corners, Wis.

Provincial’s time

Fr. Cassidy is in the Milwaukee area through the holidays.