SCJs’ Akta Lakota Museum a favorite stop for blogger
“This was one of my favorite museums that I have been to in a long time – it’s now a favorite part of Chamberlain for me and I plan to get back frequently as there was so much information to take in for just one visit.”
The quote about the Akta Lakota Museum at St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota was recently posted by a travel blogger following her first visit.
“It [the museum] sits on the pristine grounds of St. Joseph’s Indian School. The museum serves as an educational outreach portion of the school. Inside is a collection of art, artifacts and educational displays that proudly showcase the heritage of the Lakota people.
“For me, it was more than a museum. The recent updates to the museum made it feel as though I was re-living history step-by-step. The format made the information very easy to digest and understand. The octagon shaped building allows you to embark on a circular tour exploring the Camp Circle, Two Worlds Meet, Broken Promises, and Continuity and Change sections of the museum.”
Click here to the read writer’s full story on “South Dakota Traveler.”
It pays to speak up!
Laura Grisham, public relations and communications manager at Sacred Heart Southern Missions, was watching a charity poker tournament at Harrah’s Tunica. Her husband took part in the Texas Hold-Em event, the winner of which was to receive $1,000 for the charity of his choice.
“Of course, my husband’s charity was Sacred Heart Southern Missions!” she said.
He was knocked out of the event early on, but the two stayed until the end to see who would come out on top. Laura, always a curious reporter, asked the final players about their charities. When she learned that two of them hadn’t picked one out yet, Laura told them about SHSM and suggested that the organization would be a good recipient for the top prize.
It pays to speak up! Mike Bullard, one of the two players who spoke with Laura, won the tournament. And so Sacred Heart Southern Missions was a winner too! SHSM received the $1,000 prize soon after.
Updates from Vocation Central
Welcome to Fr. Quang Nguyen, SCJ, who recently moved to Milwaukee where he has begun ministry with the province vocation office; he joins Br. Ray Kozuch, Br. Long Nguyen, Keith Burdick and Jacquelyn Nasby. Although Fr. Quang is currently with the SCJ community at Sacred Heart Monastery, he’ll be moving across the street to Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake when renovations from the water damage are complete.
As to recent activities of the office, Br. Ray, will be attending a post-graduate fair at the University of Dallas on Wednesday, February 19. This is an event for upcoming graduates to get a grasp of what is available to them in regards to jobs, as well as vocations. Br. Ray will be on a panel discussing religious life.
Br. Long will be attending an event called FOCUS 11 sponsored by the Diocese of Orlando from February 23-26. This is an event for students in the sixth and eleventh grades to come and learn about religious life. It includes a day specifically for public school students to learn about religious life.
A warm-weather birthday visit
The people of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Raymondville, Texas, sang “Happy Birthday” to Fr. Frank Clancy, SCJ, at Sunday’s 11 a.m. Mass. The temperature outside was just about the same as Fr. Frank’s age: 82 degrees.
Pictured above are Frs. Tom Westhoven and Fr. Richard MacDonald, along with the associate Fr. Arturo Castillo and Deacon Juan Gonzales.
Fr.Mac says that “Parishioners enjoyed Fr. Frank’s visit, but rumor has it that he decided to celebrate his birthday in Texas simply to get away from the cold weather in the north!” Eighty-two degrees was not a bad birthday gift for Fr. Frank.
SCJ receives Bronze Star
Fr. Mark Mastin, an Army chaplain in Afghanistan, writes that he is to be awarded the Bronze Star this week, the fourth highest military award one can receive. Fr. Mark shared the words of his executive officer, who was writing to his higher command. Although it might take a military dictionary to sort out some of the text, it seems to boil down to the fact that Fr. Mark is doing wonderful ministry with the troops in his care:
“Chaplain Mark Mastin has performed remarkably as the Chaplain for the duration of our deployment, providing tremendous support to RC-N. His willingness and proactive approach has not gone unnoticed by senior commanders, to include the 101st Sustainment Brigade Commander and the Deputy Commanding General of the 1st theater Sustainment command. As a result, he was rated with an Above Center of Mass OER, and ranked #1 of the 6 Battalion Chaplains in the 101st Sustainment Brigade. The ACOM is a tremendous achievement, as he is competing against a lot of talented Officers, totaling over 90 Captains across Task Force Brigade. To top it off, he will be awarded with a BSM (Bronze Star Medal) at the end of the deployment. On behalf of our Task Force, we thank you for your support to our Chaplain and our Soldiers. We are truly lucky to have Chaplain Mastin on our team.”
Congratulations Fr. Mark!
Seminarians’ papers presented at SBL conference
Sacred Heart School of Theology seminarians Dn. David Orsak and Dn. Justin Lopina presented their exegetical papers, written as part of their Master of Divinity Program, at the Midwest Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). Orsak’s paper is entitled “The Faith of the Centurion in Matt 8:5-13.” Lopina’s is “The Double Ending of the Gospel of John.”
The meeting took place February 8-9 at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. The SBL is the largest and most prestigious academic society for biblical scholarship in the world.
Click here to read more on the SHST website.
Everyone pitches in on fish day
One of Fr. Tom Cassidy’s latest posts from India is about fish day at the theology house. He writes:
“Fish –– It is a very popular dish around here. More fish is served than chicken or any other kind of meat. A fair number of our SCJs come from fishing villages in Kerala and naturally have a taste for fish. Here in Eluru we are about 2 1/2 hours from the coast so I can’t say the villages around here hold many seafaring men. However, I suspect fish may be the least costly source of protein in the local diet.
“About 2:00 PM the jeep came rumbling up our driveway with its horn a-blaring. The signal for: ‘All hands on deck.’ The jeep was packed with three or four large styrofoam boxes containing the iced fish. When asked how many kilos he brought back, Fr. Mariano replied: ‘Oh about 200 or maybe 250 kilos. That should last the community of 20 around two months…’
“The fish cleaning party took place behind the kitchen. It took a little while to round up all the students but before too long music was a blaring and laughter and chatter could be heard even from the roof when I was up there to send my afternoon e-mails…
“The students worked all afternoon before they could call it a day and put the 200-plus kilos of cleaned fish in the deep freezer for future use. They enjoyed the fruits of their labors at our evening meal. A small token of thanks showed up at the end of the meal in a dish of vanilla ice cream for all.”
Click here to read Fr. Tom’s full post and others.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is on vacation this week; he returns on February 21. March 2-4 he will be in Montréal for the North American councils’ meeting.
