Catholic Schools Week

January 27 – February 2 is Catholic Schools Week in the United States. In Mississippi, celebration of the week started on Friday with basketball games between Holy Family School in Holly Springs and Sacred Heart School in Southaven. Both schools are apostolates of the SCJs’ Sacred Heart Southern Missions.

Game results were split with the girls from Sacred Heart winning their game and the boys from Holy Family winning theirs.

Activities are planned at both schools for the rest of the week including assembling care packages for shut-ins, writing notes to nursing home residents, and taking part in games such as Catholic Trivia. Throughout the week there will also be lots of school cheer as students and staff wear school shirts and take part in a variety of school spirit events.

Both schools get high marks in academics. Bridget Martin, principal at Sacred Heart, notes that one of the school’s seventh graders, Bridget Dockery, just won the DeSoto County Spelling Bee and will represent the county in the Mid-South spelling bee in Memphis.

Click on the following links to learn more about each of our SHSM schools:

Sacred Heart, Southaven, Miss.
Holy Family, Holly Springs, Miss.

Lay Dehonians meet

Representatives of Dehonian lay associations from Italy, Portugal and Spain met with SCJs from throughout Europe and the General Curia January 18-19 in Foligno, Italy.

The general administration is dedicating 2014 to “the sharing of the Dehonian heritage with the laity,” said a member of the general curia. Preparation for the year began in June, 2012, when a group of SCJs started work on “Iter Formativo,” or “The Spiritual Path.” The project is basically a four-year-long formation series designed to introduce lay people to the spirituality of the congregation and the charism of Fr. Leo Dehon. It is hoped that the project can be done in time for a planned meeting of lay Dehonians in April, 2014.

Although discussion of activities for 2014 were a part of the Foligno meeting, it was also a time to brainstorm on ways of connecting Dehonian laity from throughout Europe.

“We need to work together, the various groups that constitute the Dehonian Family,” said Fr. Claudio Weber, general councilor, in his introduction to the January meeting.

A week later Fr. Claudio was in Argentina for a similar meeting of lay Dehonians from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela. The group of 14 met in Buenos Aires to discuss the formation project (Iter Formativo), share experiences and talk about possibilities for collaboration.

In Rome

Fr. Wayne Jenkins, province archivist, will be at the Generalate in Rome until April 9, assisting the General Curia with archival work. You can contact him via email at either provarch@usprovince.org or wlj5scj@yahoo.com. His phone extension at the Generalate is 318.

In San Antonio

Fr. Jan de Jong arrives in San Antonio this week to take part in the Ministry to Ministers Program at the Oblate School of Theology. He will be there until May 25, returning to Milwaukee May 28.

While there you can contact Fr. Jan at:

Pat Guidon Center
Oblate School of Theology
109 Oblate Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78216
210-349-9928

Fr. Jan’s email address remains the same:
JDejong343@aol.com

Please remember

Fr. Harry Peels, a member of the Dutch-Flemish Confederation, died January 21. He was born in 1934, professed in 1954 and ordained in 1959. From 2000 until last year he served as provincial superior of first the Dutch Province and then the Dutch-Flemish Confederation. Although he studied to be a teacher, most of his years of ministry prior to administration were as a college chaplain and in social services.

Karen Powers, a former Dehonian Lay Missioner and art curator at the Waseda Gallery at St. Joseph’s Retreat Center, died January 23. She was 61. The Funeral Mass will be at Stella Maris Parish, Baileys Harbor, Wis., on Saturday, February 2, at 11:00 a.m. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until the start of Mass.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research, Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4777, NY, NY 10163-4777. Click here to view the full obituary.

And just as we were putting the Fridge Notes together we learned that Fr. Giovanni Gadotti, a member of the North Italian Province, died today. He was born in 1920, professed in 1940 and ordained in 1947.

News from Raymondville

Although the province no longer has a community in the Rio Grande Valley, Fr. Richard MacDonald continues to “babysit” the former SCJ residence in the Valley and do ministry in the area. He recently wrote with an update on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Raymondville.

“Some of our SCJs know the property in Raymondville pretty well and they might like to see the picture of the new rectory [photo below] that the diocese built on the property of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” wrote Fr. Mac “In the background of the picture is the parish hall, which means the new home for Fr. George Kerketta, the present pastor, is between the hall and the parish office.”

The new rectory has three bedrooms and two baths. Fr. George is expected to move in shortly after he returns from vacation in early February.

Mission Ed reminder

All SCJs should have received invitations to the Mission Education Conference, April 8-9, hosted by St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota. The organizing committee asks that you respond by February 15 so that they can begin planning for the number of attendees.

Mission Ed is for both SCJs and those with whom they collaborate. Members of the province are encouraged to invite co-workers from their ministries. It is an excellent opportunity for employees and volunteers to learn about the charism of Fr. Dehon and the worldwide congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, as well as meet peers from various ministries.

If you have questions, contact Mike Tyrell, chairperson of the Dehonian Family Ad Hoc Committee, at 605-234-3410

Catholics, Nazis and Jews: the complex history

The Holocaust Study Institute, which is partially supported by The Lux Center for Catholic Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart School of Theology, is offering a public lecture on Sunday, February 10, at 2 p.m., at SHST. The topic will be “Catholics, Nazis and Jews: the complex history,” and will be presented by Fr. Kevin P. Spicer, C.S.C., Ph.D, the James J. Kenneally Distinguished Professor of History at Stonehill College in Boston.

The lecture will explore the actions of Germany’s Catholic priests in the face of the Nazi’s persecution of Europe’s Jewish population. It is meant to provide a greater understanding of the role of Christianity during this time.

The lecture is free to the public but reservations are required. To reserve a spot or receive more information contact Bonnie Shafrin at 414-963-2719, bonnie@milwaukeejewish.org or visit the website at www.holocaustcentermilwaukee.org

Provincial’s time

Fr. Tom Cassidy is home this week for council meetings Wednesday and Thursday (January 30-31).