Click here to read the Pope Francis’ text from today’s Epiphany Mass.

New year, new staff member!

We welcome a new member to the Provincialate staff today: Mark Peters has been hired as the province director of Justice, Peace and Reconciliation.

“Having someone focus full time on Justice and Peace issues was a goal of our Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Commission,” wrote Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, provincial superior. “It is goal that was endorsed by the last provincial administration and now the current leadership. Hiring a lay staff member to head up our efforts allows us to move in that direction, though it will be a new learning experience for our province. The commission developed Mark’s job description, and has set forth initial goals.”

Fr. Ed Kilianski, vice provincial, is the council liaison to the commission.

“As SCJs, the justice of God’s reign has a privileged place in our spirituality. Much of the work we do is in response to that call,” said Fr. Steve. “It is our hope that a full-time director will assist the province members in responding to the challenge to be ‘prophets of love and servants of reconciliation’ in today’s American society, the Church, and the global community.”

For the last several years Mark has worked at St. James Parish in Mukwonago (Archdiocese of Milwaukee) as the Director of Adult & Family Ministry; he previously served at St. John Vianney parish as Human Concerns Director, as Director of Project Concern (one of the largest food pantries in Milwaukee County), and as director of the St. Francis Interfaith Older Adult Program. Mark was also a parish consultant with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and worked on the merger of the SCJs’ Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and Holy Assumption parishes (now, St. Martin of Tours, Franklin).

Mark’s office number is 414-427-4229 and his email is justdir@usprovince.org

We’ll have a photo of Mark after the province camera thaws (The Fridge Notes is being typed as Milwaukee enjoys real temps of -15 F and a wind chill of -41 F; for our Canadian SCJs, it’s about the same in Celsius; BRRRRRRR in every language!).

Who was that?

In the last Fridge Notes it was noted that Fr. Adrian Lee, a member of the Canadian Region, had been mistakenly omitted from the annual “Days of Commemoration and Celebration” (Birthday Calendar). He died on died on February 28, 2010.

Soon after, several SCJs asked about Fr. Adrian, where he lived and ministered. Our thanks to Fr. Peter McKenna, who gave us a bit of background on the SCJ. According to Fr. Peter, Fr. Adrian came to Canada in the early 1950s from the Netherlands. He shortened his family name from van der Lee. In Canada he “was a highly creative man who established a well-appreciated ministry for shut-ins,” wrote Fr. Peter. He lived and ministered primarily in the Delaware and London areas, also serving in parish ministry.

He retired to The Netherlands in the early 1980s and died at the age of 96.

SCJ presents in South Africa

Fr. Charles Brown leaves this week to serve as one of the presenters at The Bluff Sabbatical 2014 program in Durban, South Africa. Organized by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), the three-month sabbatical program is for priests and religious.

Fr. Charlie will be giving a week of conferences with a focus on the synoptic gospels and the historical ministry of Jesus as a model for ministry today. He will also serve as an on-site resource person.

Twenty-five priests and religious are taking part in the program. The U.S. Province gave financial assistance toward it. In particular, the assistance allows religious sisters from financially poor communities to take such a sabbatical.

Birthday greetings to our eldest

Fr. Leonard Tadyszak, the eldest member of the US Province, celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday, January 5. Fr. Don Barnd, our second-eldest elder, is just two weeks his junior. He turns 92 on January 19.

The senior statesman of the North American SCJs? Fr. Joseph George Coppens turns 94 on August 29. He is a member of the Canadian Region (Toronto community).

 

Greetings from Afghanistan!

Fr. (Captain) Mark Mastin, an Army chaplain in Afghanistan, was one of many soldiers who were able to tape holiday greetings that were broadcast back home on local television stations. Click here to view Fr. Mark’s message.

 

Not the usual speech

Pope Francis met with the Union of Superiors General (of which, Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, the SCJs’ superior general, is a member) during their assembly last November. However, instead of delivering a speech, he engaged the superior generals in a three-hour conversation. The Italian publication La Civiltà Cattolica published a summarized transcript of it. Click here to access it in English. Our thanks to Fr. Maurice Légaré for sharing the link.

Please remember

+ Frank Eick, the brother-in-law of Fr. Tom Burns, died January 1 of cancer. He was the husband of Fr. Tom’s sister, Carol Ann Eick.

+ Fr. Victor Gilson, a member of the Franco European Province, died December 26. He was born in 1928, professed in 1951 and ordained in 1947.

+ Fr. Luigi Sabini, a member of the North Italian Province, died December 25. He was born in 1931, professed in 1953 and ordained in 1957.

SHST student is diocese’s eldest seminarian

“When Jack Sidler, Sr., was discerning his call to the priesthood, he ran across a plaque inscribed with a quote from C.S. Lewis: ‘You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.’” The sentence is the opening to an article about Dn. Jack, which was published in the Arkansas Catholic.

At 69, the Sacred Heart School of Theology student is the eldest seminarian for the Diocese of Little Rock. On December 14 he was ordained a deacon. Fr. Byron Haaland represented SHST at the ordination. Click here to read the full article in the Arkansas Catholic.

Provincial’s time

Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is in the Milwaukee area until January 10 when he heads to Pinellas Park, Fl., for his first visitation of the year.