Welcome!
On Saturday Henry Minh Bui Nguyen, 26, was accepted as a candidate for the Priests of the Sacred Heart. From Orange County, CA, Henry works as an agency intern specialist at State Farm Insurance. Active in his local church, Henry is also a leader with the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (TNTT).
He will join the Dehonian Formation Community in Chicago in fall and will attend St. Xavier University. Henry joins Liem Nguyen, Patrick Skahill and Luis Barrantes in the candidate program. Professed SCJs in formation are Fraters Justin Krenke, James Nguyen, Juan Carlos (“Juancho”) Castañeda Rojas and Joseph Vu.
When Tuesday feels like Monday
Because of holiday schedules, the Fridge Notes will be published on Tuesday instead of Monday the next two weeks.
Next week’s issue will be posted on March 31, and the following week the Fridge Notes will go out on April 7.
The Provincial Offices will be closed as of 2 pm on Thursday, April 2, through Monday, April 6, for Triduum and Easter.
Province assembly
Members of the US Province are reminded to make sure that the 2015 assembly is on their calendars. The gathering begins with lunch on Monday, July 6. The first session is at 1:30 pm; province jubilees will be celebrated Monday evening at 4:30 (with a reception and dinner to follow). The assembly concludes on Friday, July 10, at noon.
Sessions will take place at the Provincial Conference Center; liturgy and meals will be at Sacred Heart Monastery/Seminary and School of Theology. SCJs are encouraged to make room reservations soon if they have not yet done so. Please call Marlene Zepecki at SHSST at 414-425-8300 to get a room there, or Marge Lirette at 414-409-4844 to find out if there is availability at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake.
The theme of this year’s gathering is “Celebrating the Year of Consecrated Life.”
The Dehonian cross
A simple cross with a heart in the middle has become the popular logo of the congregation. What many don’t know is that its origins are in a 1979 youth gathering in Germany. A contest invited students to come up with a logo for their assembly. The winning logo was adapted into what is now commonly referred to as the “Dehonian cross.”
Click here to read more on the Generalate’s website about the adopted logo’s origin.
DehonDocs celebrates its first year
Dehon.docs, the online archive of the writings of Fr. Leo John Dehon, is a year old. Much has been added to the site in recent months. Click here to read more about it.
Among the contributors to the project is Fr. PJ McGuire of the US Province who has translated a significant number of the founder’s writings into English.
Keep in prayer
Larry Mayo, the brother-in-law of Fr. Johnny Klingler, died March 21. Please note that there was a change in the time of the wake that was emailed to SCJs yesterday. The arrangements now are as follows:
Wake: Friday, March 27, Richards Funeral Home, 1440 Union Valley Rd., West Milford, NJ. 2-4:00 and 7-9:00 pm. Phone: 973-728-8989.
Funeral: Saturday, March 28, 12:00 noon at Our Lady Queen of Peace, 1911 Union Valley Rd., Hewlitt, NJ.
Budget deadline
The deadline to submit FY16 budgets to the Provincial Treasurer’s office is this Friday March 27.
Questions? Contact John Kuxhause (414-427-4269) or Kevin Stanke (414-427-4270) for assistance.
Sacred Heart is “grand mediator”
March 19 was the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For many years, this was the traditional date for SCJ brothers to make their first profession. Because of this, last week’s Dehonian Spirituality update focused on the vocation of the religious brother. Included in it was a reflection by Br. Frank Presto, provincial secretary, on his own vocation. In it he wrote:
“As an SCJ brother for 39 years, the Sacred Heart continues to be the prism by which I try to focus my life, my spirituality, my ministry. There are times when my relationships are not unifying or reconciling. There are instances when heart does not mediate the work of head and hands. There are moments of separation.
“It is the Sacred Heart, wounded by a lance from which flowed blood and water, that provides the key to hope. It is the Sacred Heart that helps repair the breach I create in my relationship with God, with other SCJs, with the people who are part of my life. It is the Sacred Heart who provides my heart the courage and strength to go forth and live as an SCJ brother and repair what I have broken. A grand mediator indeed.”
Click here to view last week’s Dehonian Spirituality mailing.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter is in the St. Louis area much of this week for CMSM meetings. April 13-14 he will be in Ottawa for the twice-yearly meeting of the North American councils.
