Bishop Haines main celebrant at feast-day Mass
Bishop Jeffrey Haines, auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee, was the main celebrant at Friday’s Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart at Sacred Heart Monastery / Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology (he is pictured above with Fr. Dominic Peluse). Each year the SHM community, in partnership with the Province Development Office, hosts the celebration. The main chapel was filled with SHSST staff, lay residents of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake and other friends of the community. Among those around the altar were many of SHSST’s international students. Lumen Christi Ministry led the music at the liturgy, and Br. Diego Diaz, SCJ, and Fr. Fabio Dos Santos, SCJ, serenaded visitors as they entered the dining room for lunch.
Click here to view a photo album of the event. Photos are also posted on the province Facebook page.
Canadian Region holds its chapter
Last week members of the Canadian Region came together in Ottawa not only to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart, but to hold a brief Regional Chapter to select a delegate for the General Chapter. Fr. Gustave Lulendo, SCJ, was chosen as the delegate and Fr. Élie Munzungu Ngoy, SCJ, is the alternate.
Following the chapter, Fr. John van den Hengel, SCJ, (regional superior) gave a presentation on “The Sacred Heart Today,” reflecting on Marcello Neri’s book Giustizia della Misericordia.
“Neri proposes a new approach to the devotion in our time, insisting that the devotion is a way of counteracting the forces of globalization and technological culture that are severely affecting the spiritual well-being of western people,” said Fr. John. “He believes that it is the task of the congregation to be at the vanguard of people who can live faith as agape and mercy in our time.”
Click here to download a PDF of the presentation.
Happy feast day in Vietnam
Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, wrote on the province blog about feast-day celebrations with the SCJ community in Vietnam.
“The study hall was turned into a chapel because our regular chapel was not large enough to welcome everyone for the feast-day Mass,” he began. “Of course, this will all be rectified by next year’s celebration as work continues on the new chapel that will be done sometime before the end of the year. It certainly should have enough room for the entire district.
“Our Mass for the feast was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., so it came as a bit of a surprise to me that our day still began with morning prayer (and Adoration) at 5:30 a.m. Apparently high days are no different from regular days — and I was looking forward to a little more sleep time!”
Click here to read the full post. Note: Br. Leonard Zaworski, SCJ, was also at the celebrations. He is assisting with the ESL program.
Keep in prayer
Novices Phong Paul Hoang and Henry Nguyen are on retreat this week in preparation for their first professions on August 15. They ask that the province keeps them in prayer in during this time.
Preparing for the next novitiate are Hubert Senam Kodjovi Liassidji and Jose “Angel” Romero of the US Province, and John Huan Quang Nguyen of Vietnam. They will enter the novitiate on August 14.
Reflecting on the Sacred Heart
During the month of June the weekly publication Dehonian Spirituality is featuring a four-part series of reflections by Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ. They were originally given at a local superiors meeting in October, 1993, but continue to be very relevant to the concerns of today.
“Please allow me to offer you some reflections of this Jesus I have begun to know, to paint a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that is different from the one today’s dominant culture would have us acknowledge,” starts the June 8 reflection by Fr. Bob. He continued:
“For example, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ very birth so threatens the institutional powers that children are slaughtered to elimination. Thus, his parents are forced to flee with him, to become refugees in a foreign land and culture. And from that day onward, he is always at odds with the institutions of Church and State. What kind of foundational experience does that create for Jesus’ personality and worldview? In what way is his life mirrored by the thousands who come to this country and are forcibly returned to death or extreme hardship?
“…What are we to make of Jesus’ homelessness which is very briefly mentioned in Luke 9 [and Matthew 8] when he says that the ‘Son of humanity has nowhere to lay his head?’ Some would make this merely figurative, but might this not also be the result of fear on the part of those who normally offer hospitality? Or is Jesus simply experiencing the condition of one who has no regular means of income?”
Click here to read the full reflection in last week’s Dehonian Spirituality.
Click here to access the Dehonian Spirituality archives.
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New car insurance
Members of the US Province will soon receive new automobile insurance cards. Kevin Stanke of the Province Treasurer’s Office asks that when they receive them that SCJs tear up the old information and place the new insurance cards in their vehicle. Insurance information for community vehicles will be sent to the local superior.
If you have questions, please call Kevin on his cell phone at: 414-333-8750. Make a note of the number. As many of you may know, Kevin has a hearing impairment. The cell phone has been adapted so that he can more easily understand callers.
Fourth floor nears completion
For the past few months Sacred Heart Monastery (which shares a building with Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology) has been under construction in anticipation of the formation community’s move there this summer. Members of the Provincial Council toured the site last week. The fourth floor, where many of the student rooms will be located, is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Carpeting is in, walls are painted, and most bathroom fixtures are in place. Work on the other floors is scheduled to be finished by August.
Click here to view a photos from the council’s tour.
Provinical’s time
Fr. Ed Kilianski, SCJ, celebrated Feast of the Sacred Heart at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Houston and assisted with weekend ministry (he is pictured at prayer with several other SCJs prior to the feast-day liturgy – our thanks to Br. Andy Gancarczyk, SCJ, for the photo).
June 16 is the diaconate ordination of Frater Juan Carlos Castañeda Rojas, SCJ, June 18 is the Provincial Chapter and June 19-22 is the Province Election Assembly.
Immigration
As noted last week, Attorney Barbara Graham, director of Legal Services for Immigrants for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, gave a presentation on May 29 about the challenges migrants face as they pursue legal residency in the United States. She spoke at the Provincial Conference Center, expanding on a presentation that she gave at the 2017 US Provincial Assembly.
Click here to read an expanded write-up about the conference on the Dehonian Social Justice blog.
Next week!
The Provincial Chapter will begin at 1:00 p.m. next Monday, June 18. The primary task of the gathering will be to elect two delegates and two alternates for the General Chapter. There will also be time to briefly discuss possible topics to submit to the General Chapter.
The Province Election Assembly will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19. The primary task of this gathering is to elect new provincial administration. The assembly is expected to end either Thursday afternoon or Friday midday. As with any such gathering, the schedule remains flexible to allow appropriate time for the tasks at hand.
Be sure to check our province Facebook page for photos from the chapter and the assembly!
Closing shot
Fr. Joseph Dinh, SCJ, sends greetings from Naples, Italy, where he is studying Italian with a multicultural group of SCJs from around the world including four from India, two from Madagascar, one from Indonesia and one from Brazil. Together, they live with SCJs of the South Italian Province in the community house in Naples. The photo below was taken after a feast-day mass and luncheon last Friday. Fr. Joseph is in the front row, third from the left. He is studying Italian in preparation for the extended course on formation that will begin in early fall.
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