Provincialate welcomes international visitors
After nearly two years of Zoom meetings, the General Finance Commission had an in-person gathering at the Provincial Conference Center last week. Pictured above are Fr. Luca Zottoli, SCJ, (general treasurer), Aldo Ivaldi (assistant to the general treasurer) and Fr. Gerd Hemken, SCJ, (German Province), along with Dn. David Nagel, SCJ (US provincial treasurer and commission member). Meeting topics included requests to the General Aid Fund, a review of the balance sheet of the Congregation, congregational investments maintained in the United States, and financial information about Villa Aurelia (the hotel on the SCJs’ Generalate property in Rome).
“Covid, Faith, and the Fallibility of Science”
Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, director of the Vatican Observatory, will be the speaker at the February 9th Dehon Lecture at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. His topic: “Covid, Faith, and the Fallibility of Science.”
“In the fight against the COVID pandemic, the scientific evidence in favor of vaccination is overwhelming, with firm support from the Holy See,” write lecture organizers. “Nevertheless, many faithful Christians remain conflicted. This dichotomy has implications beyond vaccine skepticism. The arguments both for and against vaccination too often assume a false view of what science is and what it can promise. The reality of human fallibility, a consequence of original sin, demonstrates our need to accept uncertainty and imperfection in our science and in our religious lives.”
Br. Guy is the Director of the Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. A native of Detroit, he earned undergraduate and masters’ degrees from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona; he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989. If you aren’t familiar with Br. Guy, you might find his TedTalk to be a good introduction to him, click here to view it.
Due to the pandemic, in-person attendance is very limited. However, anyone is welcome to view the lecture via livestream. No registration is necessary. Click on the desired link below.
WATCH THE 10:30 AM LIVE STREAM
Click here for more information on the SHSST website.
Zoom Installation
On January 17 the Canadian Region celebrated the start of SCJ Fr. Gustave Lulendo N’dotony’s second three-year term as regional superior. Due to a surge in COVID cases in Canada, SCJs in the region participated in the ceremony via Zoom. Members of the new Regional Council include Fr. Willyans Prado Rapozo, SCJ (1st councilor) and Fr. Gregory Murray, SCJ (2nd councilor). Fr. Paul Tennyson, SCJ, is regional treasurer.
Fr. Gustave is originally from the Congolese Province. After many years of study and ministry in Canada, he was elected to his first term as regional superior in 2019. Click here to read more about him.
A reminder – Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, and his council will be installed on February 2 during a liturgy at Good Shepherd Chapel at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. Due to the pandemic, attendance will be limited primarily to SCJs. Photos, a video and other information from the installation will be shared soon after.
SHSST’s Cor Unum program welcomes applicants
Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology’s Cor Unum Master of Arts Pathway program invites applicants for its next cohort. It is a master’s program that welcomes people seeking a master’s degree for their job, volunteer work, or simply personal enrichment in theology.
“The Cor Unum program has been life-changing for the students and graduates. It has helped them come to understand more deeply their personal call from God, and their personal mission to go out into the world. The students and graduates of the program continue to transform our parish communities and other apostolates in the archdiocese.” The quote is from Susan McNeil, director of lay ministry for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She spoke about the program in an article published in the Milwaukee Catholic Herald.
Click here to learn more about the Cor Unum MA program on the SHSST website.
Reminder
On Wednesday, January 26, the Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies will host a webinar with Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich, Ph.D, who will speak on “Jews, Jesus and the Jerusalem Temple.” She is the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and the director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The lecture runs from 7:00 – 8:15 pm (CST).
Click here for registration and more information.
Please remember
+ Fr. Enrico Jemma, a member of the South Italian Province, died on January 19. He was born in 1939, professed in 1957 and ordained in 1966.
“Formation is happening all around us”
“The essence of anyone’s formation is self-reflection or self-examination,” said Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, at last week’s Opening Mass for the Spring Semester at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. Formation is a continuing process, with each layer of one’s life impacted by the people and experiences that came before it. “Formation is happening all around us.”
It is a theme that Fr. Vien also spoke of in his address to SCJs shortly after his January 4th election as provincial superior when he named and thanked his formators, the people “who taught me to breathe the SCJ spirituality and charism.”
With a foot in two worlds, Fr. Vien is preparing for his new ministry as Provincial Superior while attending to the tasks of his current position as SHSST vice rector. As noted earlier, he will be installed as the 16th Provincial Superior of the US Province on February 2.
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