Happy New Year!
This is the last Fridge Notes for 2012; the next edition of the weekly news will be published on Monday, January 7. Click here to send news items for the issue.
The Provincial Offices will be closed next Monday and Tuesday (December 31 and January 1) for New Year’s, reopening on Wednesday, January 2.
Preparing to move
In his Christmas letter Fr. Mark Mastin, a chaplain with the US Army, told friends and family that he will be moving in 2013, but does not know yet “where or when I will go.” He and his battalion are scheduled to leave Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and head to a war zone in the months ahead.
“This has been a very challenging 2012 in respect to not only managing my brigade and battalion duties and preparing to go to war, but my ministry obligations for some 3,500 garrison Catholic military families on the island,” he wrote. “I have to travel over the entire island to serve three major chapels (parishes). There are only a couple of us Catholic chaplains on the island. I help the Air Force and Navy as well. I perform over 200 counseling sessions a year, dozens of marriage preparations and an average of five baptisms at Sunday Masses. It is great to see so many young families in church.
“I am still involved with youth and music ministry. I’m also the one and only RCIA teacher. I cannot believe how many adults want to become Catholic, especially those in senior positions.
“I ask you to pray for our soldiers at war, here at home, and for the spouses and children. Similarly, pray for our single soldiers. It is rough on them at this time of year. People do not realize that the time zone difference and cost of air fare affect them greatly in a way that prevents them from calling home at reasonable times, or going home.”
Until Fr. Mark’s deployment overseas you can contact him at:
95-1022 Meahou St.
Mililani, HI 96789
mark.mastin2@us.army.mil
Please remember
Joseph Ngoy, the uncle of Elie Muzungu Ngoy, a member of the Canadian Region, died on December 27 in Kitchener (west of Toronto). Mr. Ngoy just celebrated his 62nd birthday on December 25.
Also in Canada, Berthe Bédard-Thibault, Fr. Claude Bédard’s sister, died on December 23. She was 88 and would have celebrated her 89 birthday on December 28.
In the United States, Sr. Madeleine LeCompte, OSBS, died December 19 in Rapid City, S.D. She was a student at St. Joseph’s Indian School from 1929-37 and was in first grade when the school burned down. She had two brothers and a sister who also attended St. Joe’s. Many SCJs knew Sr. Madeleine from her years of ministry first in Marty, SD, and then on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
Mark Turner, a former SCJ, died December 20; he was 76. Professed in 1955, Mr. Turner left the community in 1972. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and three children and seven grandchildren. Click here to read his obituary online.
A new Christmas tradition
Holy Family School in Holly Springs, Miss., started a new tradition in 2012: “Reading Around the Christmas Tree.” Students from preK-3 through sixth grade gathered in the school gym to hear books read to them by older Holy Family students, students from nearby Rust College, alumni and community leaders.
The new tradition began with a phone call from Dr. Wonso Hayes, assistant professor of education at Rust College, to Clara Isom, principal of Holy Family. Dr. Hayes had taken part in a similar program in Memphis; it was a way of instilling a love of reading in children. Participants read a portion of a book to children and then give them a copy of the book to take home and finish.
Sacred Heart Southern Missions donated money to help cover some of the book costs; participants also brought books to give to the children.
Rust College has a long history with Holy Family; students from the college do student teaching at the SHSM school.
Happy birthday!
Those celebrating birthdays in January include: Fr. Leonard Tadyszak (91) on Jan. 5, Fr. Tom Westhoven (72) and Fr. Rein van Leeuwen (84) on Jan. 9, Fr. Don Barnd (91) on Jan. 19, Fr. Ralph Intranuovo (76) on Jan. 20, Fr. Bernie Rosinski (79) on Jan. 22, and Br. Andy Lewandowski (79) on Jan. 26.
The printed version of the North American “Days of Celebration and Commemoration” (previously known as the “Birthday Calendar”) will be in the mail to SCJs next week. Click here to download a PDF of the calendar.
Birthday celebration comes to a close
This year also marked the 85th “birthday” of St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, S.D. Opened in 1927, the school was one of the first SCJ ministries in the United States. In its 85 years it has facilitated the move from dorm to family-style living for its students, helped young people enhance their knowledge of Lakota culture, established the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, provided thousands of dollars for college scholarships for Native Americans (seven St. Joseph’s alumni graduated during the past year with college or technical school degrees), and operated social service programs for Native Americans throughout South Dakota.
Click here to learn more about the school.
Final professions
Several SCJ entities celebrated perpetual professions of their members before the end of 2012. Among them, the Polish Province, which saw six men profess their final vows, and the Indian District which also celebrated the perpetual professions of six SCJs.
Congratulations!
Vocation Awareness Week
January 13-19 is National Vocation Awareness Week in the United States. SCJs are encouraged to incorporate vocation discussion and promotion in their ministries. Share your vocation story with parishioners and students. Publish the link to the province vocation web page in parish materials, including parish bulletins (www.scjvocation.org).
No matter what your ministry, no matter your vocation (religious or lay), there is something that you can do to promote vocations to the Church and religious life. If you haven’t done specific vocation promotion in the past, make it a New Year’s resolution to do at least one vocation-related activity in 2013.
For ideas, you can contact the province vocation office at vocationcentral@wi.rr.com, 800-609-5559, or click here to go to the website for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops where there are a variety resources regarding vocation promotion.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Tom Cassidy starts the new year in the office and then heads to Pinellas Park on January 6 for a visitation with the retirement community. The week of January 13 he has a visitation with the Sacred Heart community at SHML.
Continental gathering
The continental conference following the general visitation of North America will take place in Hales Corners, Wis., September 24-27, 2013. All SCJs in Canada and the United States will be expected to attend. More details will be shared about the conference following a February 25-26 planning meeting.
Upcoming events
December 31 – January 1, Provincialate Offices closed for New Year’s
2013:
January 29-30: Provincial Council Meeting
March 13: Local Superiors Meeting
March 14: Provincial Council Meeting
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
April 30 – May 1: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly.
September: Fr. General’s visitation to North America
September 24-27: North American Conference, Hales Corners
2014:
July 7-11, 2014: Provincial Chapter
