New hall blessed
Yesterday (July 10) SCJs and other members of the Lower Brule Pastoral Team joined parishioners in celebrating the dedication of a new hall at St. Catherine’s parish in Big Bend, SD. Fr. Joe Dean presided at the Mass (Fr. Anthony Kluckman concelebrated); at the dedication itself Fr. Joe was joined by Fr. Christianus Hendrik (local superior), Fr. Bernard Rosinski, Fr. Vincent Suparman, Dn. Steve McLaughlin and Sr. Charles Palm.
The pastoral team ministers to six parishes: three on each side of the Missouri River, half in the Diocese of Rapid City and half in the Diocese of Sioux Falls.
SCJ bishop featured in hometown paper
The Berwick Press Enterprise, Bishop Joseph Potocnak’s hometown paper, recently did a feature on him. In June he visited Berwick for a family reunion and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a priest. The following is excerpted from the article:
“For 39 years he [Bishop Joseph Potocnak] worked in South Africa…” wrote Susan Schwartz, a reporter for the Press Enterprise. “He met leaders of the movements to bring equal rights to South Africa including President Nelson Mandela and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both Nobel laureates. But one of his biggest thrills, he said, was starting a basketball team made up of black and mixed-race boys in his sheep-farming parish of De Aar and taking them to play a game against a Chinese team in Port Elizabeth.
“The six boys had never seen the ocean before, he said. They had originally planned to play in Feather Market Hall, but that plan was quashed –– people of mixed races couldn’t play together there. He talked with a Chinese priest and they arranged to play the match at a Chinese high school. The Chinese team won –– by a lot –– but the fans cheered Potocnak’s team every time the boys scored. The boys returned home feeling like champions.
“’That just made me happy,’ Potocnak said.
“But it wasn’t always peaceful. Potocnak was once stabbed in the arm and back by a burglar. He had gone outside to investigate after a seminarian staying with him heard the thief. Potocnak thought the man had gone; instead, the thief ambushed him. ‘It was like in the movies; the guy came running at me with a huge knife,’ the bishop recalled. A priest and a brother managed to capture the thief and get Potocnak to the hospital to have the wounds stitched. The burglar was sentenced to six years in prison.
“’God always seems to take care of me, and everything turned out,’ Potocnak said.”
Bishop Joe is now retired and living with the SCJ community in Pinellas Park, FL.
Have you picked a date?
SCJs in the US and Canada are asked to indicate by tomorrow (July 12) which of the Dehonian retreats they play to attend: 1) August 13-19, 2017, at Queen of the Apostles Retreat Center in Mississauga, ON (just west of Toronto), or 2) May 6-12, 2018, at the Siena Center in Racine, WI (about 30 minutes south of Milwaukee).
There will be a third retreat August 5-12, 2018, for those in formation and their directors. This will also be at the Siena Center in Racine, Wis. NOTE: those in formation are asked to indicate that they will attend the retreat.
The July 12 deadline may seem early, but firm numbers are needed in order to reserve the retreat centers.
Click here to register for one of the retreats.
Click here to access the invitation letter.
Update
Fr. Yohanes Yuliwan Maslim of the Toronto community recently updated his cell phone number: 647-532 1318
Provincial’s time
Fr. Ed Kilianski has meetings with the Provincial Council Tuesday and Wednesday. On July 22 he leaves for Poland to take part in World Youth Day. He returns from Poland on August 4.
Happy 80!
On July 5 Fr. Bill Marrevee of the Canadian Region celebrated his 80th birthday. Two days earlier, parishioners, friends and civic and church leaders (including the mayor of Chelsea, a member of parliament, and Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau) filled the parish hall St. Mark’s in Aylmer (Quebec) to both celebrate his birthday and honor Fr. Bill.
Caryl Green, a parishioner at St. Mark’s and an alumna of St. Paul’s University (where Fr. Bill taught for many years) shared a few words about him during the celebration:
“Years ago, I remember Bill mentioning he’d often go to the local coffee shops and the mall to meet parishioners where they were, not waiting for people to come to him,” she said. “And when in the hospital, he’d visit and pray with members of our sister churches, never limiting his service to ‘his’ parishioners only… ‘With and For the People’ captures Bill’s presence among us and for that we know ourselves to have been blessed. And for that, for Bill, we give thanks.”
Click here to read the full text on the Canadian Region’s blog.
Click here to access all of the posts on the blog, including a summary of the region’s recent council meeting.
Latest SCJ News available
The most recent SCJ News is available as a PDF download from the US Province website. Click here to access it. The print version is in the mail.
Closing shot
Alonso Barrantes and Henry Nguyen, candidates in the US Province formation program, are caught here on break in the midst of projects with Sacred Heart Southern Missions. All candidates and SCJs in formation spend part of their summer serving in SCJ ministries.
