Happy New Year!
The Vietnamese community at St. Martin of Tours parish celebrated a special Lunar New Year Mass yesterday, February 2. Known as “Tết,” it is one of Vietnam’s most significant holidays, a time for families to reunite and honor their ancestors. Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, provincial superior, was the main celebrant and homilist. Fr. Francis Vu Tran, SCJ, is pastor to the Vietnamese community, and Fr. Andrzej Sudol, SCJ, is pastor of St. Martin of Tours. They were joined by Dehonians from around the world, some of whom are students at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology‘s ECS program, and others who are preparing for ministry in the US Province. Happy Year of the Snake!
Click here to view photos from the liturgy. They are also available on the province Facebook page.
We remember Fr. Yvon Sheehy, SCJ
Fr. Yvon Sheehy, SCJ, died on February 1, at Sacred Heart Monastery.
A Vermont native, Fr. Yvon, 74, grew up in a French-Canadian family near the Canadian border. French was his first language. He professed his first vows in 1969 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1978.
Fr. Yvon spent many years in South Dakota ministering on the Cheyenne River, Lower Brule and Crow Creek Reservations. He is credited with being the architect of the team ministry approach that continues to be used on the reservations. Visitors to South Dakota may remember his frequent line: “And all this could be yours” as he waved his hand towards the South Dakota prairie, encouraging other religious to join him in ministry at the birthplace of the US Province.
In 2001, Fr. Yvon was elected to the Provincial Council; he served as vice-provincial from 2001-2010. When elected to his first three-year term, he was also named Province Vocation Director. He continued as director until 2007, when he was named pastor of St. Martin of Tours parish in Franklin, WI; he was pastor for 10 years.
Since 2017, Fr. Yvon has been the Residential Director of the ECS (formerly “ESL”) program at Sacred Heart Monastery. Reflecting on those years, Dr. Paul Monson, Vice President of Intellectual Formation & Academic Dean at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, wrote to staff and students:
“In our community, many of us knew Fr. Yvon as the Residential ECS Program Coordinator. His countless, selfless hours have been the backbone of our English and Culture Studies program through the years. He shared American culture with our ECS students at every turn, from sublime art on the lakefront to a banal run to Walgreens. Every ECS student knew him, and throughout the world there are many ECS alumni who remember him with love. Only a year ago in Brazil, I would occasionally meet someone only to hear, ‘Oh, Hales Corners? How is Fr. Yvon?’ Three years ago, I learned firsthand how much his memory is revered in South Dakota, from parishes in Lower Brule and Crow Creek to three elderly nuns in Marty.”
Funeral arrangements for Fr. Yvon Sheehy, SCJ:
The Mass of Christian Burial for Fr. Yvon will be at St. Martin of Tours parish on Saturday, February 8.
Schedule:
Wake: 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Eulogies: 10:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Mass: 11:00 a.m.
Interment will be in the province mausoleum after the Mass. Lunch will be available at the SHSST dining room.
St. Martin of Tours is located at 7963 S. 116th St., Franklin, WI
Please remember
Mrs. Joyce Barina, an alum of SHSST’s MA program, a former faculty member and an emeritus board member, died on January 20. Click here to view her obituary.
Save the Date!
The SCJ Collaborator Lenten Hour of Recollection will be March 25 at 10:00 am (via Zoom. Dr. Jeremy Blackwood, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology will speak on Dilexit Nos, the recent encyclical by Pope Francis on the Sacred Heart. The official title of the talk and a zoom link will be available soon; the talk will be recorded.
Don’t forget your nominations!
Br. Frank Presto, SCJ, reminds SCJs in the US Province that nomination ballots for the June election assembly must be received in his office by Friday, February 14.
North American Theological Commission meets
On January 28, members of the North American Dehonian Theological Commission met in Hales Corners. Those who took part in the meeting: Fr. John van den Hengel, SCJ (chairperson), Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, Fr. Gustave Lulendo, SCJ, Fr. Guy Bertrand, SCJ (via Zoom) and Fr. Paul Hoang, SCJ, (via Zoom).
Topics discussed included the pope’s encyclical letter Dilexit Nos; the commission is exploring ways in which to make it more accessible for Dehonians in North America. A special edition of the publication, Dehoniana, is planned that will focus on the encyclical; the North American commission plans to submit a reflection on “The Importance of the Heart.”
Fr. John shared a report from the meeting of the International Dehonian Theological Commission that took place in Rome in December, as well as the announcement of the next international theological seminar entitled “Dehon and His Texts,” scheduled for July, 2026, in Taubaté (Brazil).
Commission members also talked about opportunities for collaboration with the faculty at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. To further this collaboration, Fr. Joseph has arranged a meeting with Dr. Jeremy Blackwood, of SHSST.
Members of the commission are involved in a variety of projects: Fr. Gustave will present a reflection on Cahiers Falleurs 48 at the upcoming meeting of the coordinators of the Congregation’s geocultural zones in Rome, and Fr. Paul will lead a Lenten Recollection for SCJs in North America.
Fr. Vando Marques Gomes, SCJ, was welcomed as a new member to the commission; he is a Brazilian SCJ now serving in Canada. The commission will next meet via Zoom on February 20.
Appointed
Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, has been chosen as coordinator of the International Dehonian Spirituality Commission. Also, Fr. Jack Kurps, SCJ, has been appointed to the international Justice, Peace of Integrity of Creation Commission.
Congratulations to both.
Published
Congratulations to Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, who recently had several book reviews published:
Nguyen, Vien. “Awakening of the Self to the Interconnectedness of Life: Stewardship and Caring for Creation Through Religious Lens.” Review article of Religious Self-Cultivation and Environmental Flourishing: A Humanistic Relational Approach, by Anthony Le Duc. Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae 23, no. 1 (2025), pp. 101-108. https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.5831
Nguyen, Vien. Review of The Heart in the Heart of the World: Re-Visioning the Sacred Heart for the Ecozoic Era by Mary Frohlich. Religion and Social Communication 23, no. 1 (2025), pp. 207-209. https://doi.org/10.62461/VVN230125
Nguyen, Vien. Review of Liturgical Hermeneutic of Sacred Scripture by Marcos Benini. Translated by Brian McNeil. Homiletics and Pastoral Review (February 2025). https://www.hprweb.com/2025/01/book-reviews-february-2025/#liturgical
Fr. Vien wrote that readers of the Liturgical Hermeneutic of Sacred Scripture “will find comprehensive explanations of some significant questions, including: ‘What are the hermeneutical consequences for the understanding of Sacred Scripture when it is employed in the liturgy?’ ‘How does the liturgical celebration influence the interpretation of Scripture or of the specific pericope?’ ‘What theological aspects can be discerned behind the phenomenon of the liturgical reception of Scripture?’ ‘What relation between the Old Testament and New is mediated by the Liturgy?’ ‘What is the reciprocal relationship between Bible and celebration?’ ‘What accents do the liturgical year and the liturgical setting, or the selection and combination of scriptural passages in readings, prayers, and hymns, introduce into the understanding of Scripture and of individual pericopes, and what accents are thereby blurred?’ (p. 10).
“The book is a valuable resource for readers interested in understanding the use and connection of Scripture and liturgy.”
Fr. Vien is pictured above, speaking to youth at the Lunar New Year’s Mass at St. Martin of Tours.
Update
Fr. Dominic Peluse, SCJ, has a new personal email address: [email protected]
The pope’s intention for February
Pope Francis announced that the intention for February is for vocations to the priesthood and religious life: “Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.”
Below, Fr. Henry Nguyen, SCJ, and Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, concelebrated the monthly Mass for Vocations at the Provincial Conference Center chapel last week.
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