SCJ parish organizes eye examiniations

Fr. Abraham Lazar of the SCJs’ Divine Mercy parish in Thane (near Mumbai, India) sent photos of a free eye clinic organized by the parish over the weekend. Divine Mercy serves many people who do not have the means to get appropriate medical care. The US Province helps to support the ministry of the Indian District.

Fr. Dehon reflects on the missions

Each Friday the Dehonian Spirituality page on the province website is updated

with reflections and prayers centering on Fr. Leo John Dehon and his charism. Last week’s update begins with a reflection from the founder written on his 70th birthday:

“Establishing a congregation was a great work, we have been working together at it for thirty-five years… I have placed the foreign missions in a special category; they deserve it. At the outset there were eight wonderful years of work in Ecuador, with anxieties and sufferings, but also with successes and abundant harvests. A barbarous persecution drove us out. Our ghosts from Ecuador retook the mission trail towards Congo and Brazil.

“Fifteen more years have now passed, and our fine Congo vicariate numbers 20,000 descendants of Ham [a biblical reference to Noah’s son, who is identified as the ancestor of African peoples] won over to the gospel; and in the vast regions of Brazil, both north and south, faith is reawakening, Christian families are being rebuilt, and innumerable souls are returning to the use of the sacraments.”

Click here to read the full text, as well as other reflections and a prayer for the week. The webpage is updated each Friday, and postings (including prayers, personal testimonies, reflection questions, and text from the founder) from previous weeks are available from links on the left side of the webpage.

Lose the link? You can find the Dehonian Spirituality section by clicking on the link found on the province website home page at www.sacredheartusa.org.

 

Dedicated to the children of immigrants

Fr. Tom Cassidy has been writing posts for our province blog. Moving from the Philippines to Vietnam, he recently reflected on his visit to Huong Tam School, a project partially supported by the US Province:

“This morning Fr. Rino and Br. Bat and I headed off by taxi to visit Huong Tam School. It is a social project close to the heart of any Dehonian and one that the US Province adopted about 10 years ago. On the far right of the picture partially hidden by the bush (top of page) is Fr. Paul Tong. He is pastor of St. Paul parish, which founded Huong Tam School for Migrant Children. The congregation became aware of the school and its needs when SCJs began doing their pastoral year with him at the parish. In fact, Br. Bat has just begun his year at St. Paul’s.

“Huong Tam serves the needs of the children of migrants from the north who come to Ho Chi Minh City looking for work. They are not able to pay the fees for public school and without Huong Tam the students could not afford to be in school. At present it is located in a factory area renting five or six small rooms that house 40 to 48 children in each room… The school has many needs from such simple things as notebooks and pens/pencils for the students to blackboards, and fans to improve ventilation…

“If I were to sum up my impression of Huong Tam School I would say that it accomplishes a great deal with very limited means. The staff (all women) are very dedicated to their task of teaching young minds who represent the future generation for their country.”

Click here to read the full post as well as others on the province blog site.

Bethsaida expedition

Some of the seminarians taking part in this year’s Bethsaida Archeological Expedition, sponsored by Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, are starting their travels to the Holy Land.

Dan Dorau, a second year seminarian for the Diocese of Davenport, wrote on the Bethsaida Facebook page that he is now in Rome for a bit of pre-dig sight-seeing.

“At 54, I think I’m the ‘old man’ on this expedition to Israel,” he wrote. “June 18 is just around the corner and I am very excited to visit the Holy Land, especially the area around Galilee and Jerusalem. What I have learned so far about the area is really helping me to understand Scripture and see Christianity in a new light. This is not just a joy trip. I believe all of us are participating in this adventure as part of three courses: Archeology and the Bible, Biblical Geography and Social History, and Spirituality of the Holy Land. All nine of us going from Sacred Heart have studies and specific jobs to do.”

Msgr. Ross Shecterle, president-rector, and Dr. Patrick Russell, vice president for academic affairs, are leading the seminary’s second Bethsaida Archeological Expedition June 17 through July 7. Click here to keep up with SHST’s expedition on its Facebook page.

Dehon Formation Community hosts walkers

Fr. Bob Bossie wrote to say that June 3-4 the Dehon Formation community in Chicago hosted ten people who are participating in a 160-mile walk from Chicago to Battle Creek, Mich. They are a part of a 20-person group called “On the Road to Ground Drones” who are walking to call attention to the manufacture and use of drones in military campaigns. They note the number of innocent targets that are affected by such use.

The walkers began June 2 at Boeing headquarters in Chicago. On the way to the Michigan Air National Guard Base in Battle Creek they are engaging in presentations at schools, colleges and churches. On June 14 they will have a nonviolent presence at the gates of the base.

Remembering Fr. Cremer

Our Sunday Visitor invited readers to share the story of a priest who had “positively affected” their lives. Joan Brigman Krueger of Racine, Wis., shared the story of Fr. Matthias Cremer. “Rarely in life do we meet someone who makes such an impression on us that even after many years we can still recall with fervor the emotion attached to such an encounter,” wrote Joan. “Such was the case with Father Matthias Patrick Cremer, who taught at Priests of the Sacred Heart Monastery in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, and where I first called on him back in 1992.”

Click here to read the full tribute on the OSV website:

Please remember

+Fr. Seamus Jones, a member of the British-Irish Province, died June 4. He was born in 1922, professed in 1944 and ordained in 1949.

+Gloria Standish, the niece of Fr. Frank Bursnick, died as the result of an automobile accident last week. She was 51.

REMINDER from the Treasurer’s Office

A reminder for members of the US Province: the new 2014-15 auto insurance cards were sent to you last week. Please keep the old card until June 15 when the new cards become effective. Then, you may discard the old card. If you have questions regarding this please contact Kevin Stanke at provtreas3@usprovince.org or by phone at 414-427-4270.

Provincial’s time

Fr. Steve is in the Milwaukee area June 9-11 (doing a visitation with the Dehon House Community on Tuesday), and then on retreat June 12-18. At the end of the month he will be in Chamberlain, SD, to commemorate feast of the Sacred Heart there, as well as the last weekend of Fr. Guy Blair’s ministry at St. James and St. Anthony parishes.