The world converges on Daly Avenue
Walk into the kitchen at the SCJs’ house on Daly Avenue in Ottawa and you can literally taste the international flavor of the community. One evening it is chicken filled with Indonesian spices. But on another night it could be food from Cameroon, Congo, the Philippines or Holland. The cupboards have the usual staples of flour and sugar, but all come marked in bilingual containers of French and English, the official languages of Canada.
The Canadian Region’s Dehon House has long been an international one. Even residents who hold Canadian citizenship are often naturalized citizens, transplants who have adopted Canada as their home.
Many of the community’s members have, and continue to be, SCJ students from around the world. Often they come for post-graduate studies in theology or scripture at St. Paul University. Some have studied canon law.
“I came because I want to know the congregation; I want to know other realities,” said Br. Yohanes Sismadi, an Indonesian member of the Philippine District in Ottawa on a sabbatical.
Click here to read more about the Daly community and see a brief slide show of its members.
General website gets a facelift
The Generalate’s website for the Priests of the Sacred Heart is undergoing a facelift. The primary address is the same as the old site: www.dehon.it. In the upper right corner you can click on the link for the English version of the site. The direct URL for English: http://lnx.dehon.it/en/.
The lead story as of today (February 27) is about the formation program in Angola. On January 31, Dehon House in Viana received four candidates. These men join seven seminarians who began their studies in Angola last year. They are accompanied by a community of six SCJs.
The congregation has been in Angola for eight years. Currently, there is one professed Angolan and one novice (the novice is doing his novitiate in Mozambique).
Speaking of websites, don’t forget that the U.S. Province is on Facebook. Often brief news items are posted there in-between the weekly editions of the Fridge Notes. You are encouraged to “like” the page and share it with friends and coworkers.
Comments, suggestions, news ideas, questions and corrections are welcome in regards to any of our province communications. Contact Mary Gorski at the Provincialate Offices.
In the news
The Memphis Commercial Appeal featured Sacred Heart School in Southaven, Miss., in an article about Ash Wednesday. The school is an apostolate of Sacred Heart Southern Missions.
“Eighth-graders Katie Shaver and Daniel Cianciolo had different ideas Wednesday about what they’d give up this year for Lent,” wrote reporter Chris Van Tuyl.
“’I’ve been thinking about a lot of things,’ Shaver said in the hallway of Sacred Heart School after the Southaven school’s Ash Wednesday Mass. “’Instead of giving up something, I want to try to do something like be nicer and try to get all A’s.’
“As for Cianciolo: ‘(In years past), I’ve given up candy and video games, but now I can do other stuff like participate in community service; do work for others.’
“The pair were among more than 350 students who attended Wednesday’s mass to mark the beginning of the Lenten season leading up to Easter.”
Click here to read the full article.
Keep in prayer
Fr. Tom Fix: We’ve had several updates on Fr. Tom from the Indonesian Province; as you may remember, the American SCJ is being treated for cancer in Jakarta (he is a member of the Indonesian Province).
Last week, Fr. Tom’s brother, George Fix, arrived in Jakarta, along with Fr. Mark Fortner. Together with members of the Indonesian Province they celebrated Fr. Tom’s 79th birthday on February 24. Fr. Aloysius Suyoto reports that over 50 people were at the hospital for the special Mass and birthday celebration. Fr. Mark was the main celebrant of the Mass, George Fix did the first reading and ESL alumnus Fr. Donatus Kusmartono read the Gospel.
Although Fr. Tom is very tired from his cancer treatments, he is said to be in good spirits and often enjoys visiting with his guests.
Fr. Jerry Sheehy: Many SCJs in the U.S. Province know Fr. Jerry of the British Irish Province from his many years of ministry in Asia. He was part of the first group of SCJs who went to the Philippines in 1989, and has spent time in Vietnam. Last week Fr. Jerry was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer that has spread to his liver and stomach.
Please remember
Marie Wynn: Marie, the half sister of Fr. Frank Bursnick, died last week. Fr. Frank is a member of the Pinellas Park community.
Fr. Enrico Ceroni: Fr. Enrico of the North Italian Province died February 22. He was born in 1927, professed in 1946 and ordained in 1955.
Prayer cards available
We now have prayer cards from Bishop Evert Baaij’s funeral. If you would like to receive one, please contact Mary Gorski.
Happy birthday!
Fr. Richard MacDonald sent the photo posted above of he and two of Fr. Frank Clancy’s friends, Dr. Charlie Fox and Dr. Tom Clark, celebrating Fr. Frank’s 80th birthday on Saturday, February 25. The doctors are among the many friends Fr. Frank came to know during his days as a hospital chaplain in Harlingen, Texas.
In March, it will be Fr. Frank’s turn to take Fr. Mac out for his birthday, which is on March 18. The former provincial will be 73. Others celebrating birthdays in March include: Fr. Joe Dean (65) and Fr. Ziggy Morawiec (47) on March 3, Fr. Jim Brackin (66) on March 4, Fr. Terry Langley (62) on March 12, Frater Joseph Vu (26) on March 13, Fr. Pat Lloyd (70) on March 17, Fr. Charles Brown (58) on March 19, Fr. Frank Wittouck (74) on March 23, Br. Gabe Kersting (90) on March 27, and Fr. Frank Burshnick (75) and Fr. Jim Schroeder (68) on March 30.
Provincial’s Time
Fr. Tom Cassidy will be spending most of his time in the Milwaukee area until he goes to the Philippines March 8. He is going there to take part in celebrations tied to the district becoming a region.
Upcoming meetings and events:
March 5-6: Local Coordinators/Superiors Meeting (Hales Corners)
March 27-28: Provincial Council Meeting
April 15: Easter Concert at Sacred Heart Monastery/School of Theology
May 15: Mass for the Anointing of the Sick, SHM/SHST
May 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
June 15: Feast of the Sacred Heart
June 28: Provincial Council Meeting (conference call re: formation)
July 9-12: Province Assembly, Hales Corners
July 16-21: General Conference, Neustadt, Germany
July 23-25: SCJ Major Superiors Meeting, Neustadt, Germany
2013:
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly
