Happy birthday Br. Gabe!
Br. Gabriel Kersting, a member of the Sacred Heart Community in Pinellas Park, FL, turns 95 today. Originally from Pittsburgh, Br. Gabe worked in the Merchant Marines before following his vocation with the SCJs. He professed his first vows in 1949 and served in support roles at province seminaries and parishes, as provincial secretary, and as a missionary in South Africa for over 20 years. He and Fr. Leonard Tadyszak are the elder statesmen of the province; Fr. Leonard turned 95 in January.
Br. Gabe said that he was inspired to go to South Africa after being sent to the airport to pick up Fr. John Strittmatter, a visiting missionary. “He told me about what he was doing in South Africa and it really stayed in my mind,” said Br. Gabe years later. “He told me to come and give it a try. By the end of that car ride I was ready to go!”
April birthdays
Upcoming birthdays in April include: Frater James Nguyen (28) on April 6, Fr. Jim Walters (67) on April 17, Fr. Jim Schifano (72) on April 19, Br. Duane Lemke (45) on April 26, Fr. Tom Lind (85) on April 27 and Fr. Paul Casper (87) on April 29.
Communications about communication
The newly developed International Communications Commission held its first meeting on March 23-24 at the Generalate in Rome. Its task is to develop a communications strategy for the congregation, including a redesigned congregational website and other communication possibilities. Members of the commission include Fr. Radek Warenda (vice general secretary), Fr. Stefan Tertünte (director of the Centro Studi Dehoniani), Mary Gorski (communications director of the US Province), Fr. Antonio Rufete Cabrera (responsible for communications in the Spanish Province) and André Lorenz. Working with the commission is Fr. Pedro Iglesias Curto, secretary general.
“Good communication is at the very core of our charism,” said Fr. Heiner Wilmer, superior general. “It is exemplified by the image of Fr. Dehon with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. When we tell the stories of our works, when we really reach the people we want to address, then we carry on the heritage of our founder.”
Click here to read more about the meeting.
Click here to view photos from the meeting that were posted on the DehoniansWorldwide Facebook page.
Prayer request
Fr. Louis-Marie Butari, a member of the Montréal community, was hospitalized with abdominal pain. He is currently undergoing tests.
Hall of Famer visits OLG
The Houston Chronicle recently shared the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe students and family visiting with Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz. Click here to read about it on the paper’s website.
Sharing Dehonian spirituality
The Toronto community is hosting a Lenten series about Fr. Leo John Dehon which they hope will serve as a starting point for a Dehonian Associates program in the area. Held at St. Thomas More parish in Scarborough (suburban Toronto), the first presentation was on March 14 with a focus on Fr. Dehon, his life and spirituality. The March 22 gathering featured a video of Fr. John Czyzynski speaking about Fr. Dehon’s spirituality during an event in Hales Corners. A third presentation will be held March 29. Sixty-five people attended the first session and 75 the second; participants are from the parish, the local Indonesian community (UKI) and Becoming Neighbors (an outreach program for immigrants).
Click here to read more about the program on the Canadian website.
New pastor named for St. Martin of Tours
Fr. Terry Langley has been named as the new pastor of St. Martin of Tours parish in Franklin, Wis. He will begin on July 1 and replaces Fr. Yvon Sheehy, who will be joining the community at Sacred Heart Monastery to serve as residential director of the ESL program.
“I have enjoyed my time at St. Martin’s very much,” wrote Fr. Yvon in the SMOT parish bulletin. “It will be nine-and-a-half years by the time I leave… You have been a wonderful group of people, which has made the decision [of accepting a new assignment] hard to reach.”
Fr. Terry currently serves as administrator of St. John the Evangelist in Twin Lakes and St. Alphonsus in New Munster, both within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Spirituality of the Heart
Sr. Mary Carroll, a lecturer in Systematic Studies and associate director of Pastoral Formation at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, was last week’s speaker at the “Spirituality of the Heart Coffee Break” hosted by SHSST’s Leo Dehon Library. Library staff described her presentation as speaking about “the heart, blood, and guts of the spiritual life as evidenced by St. Catherine of Siena, St. Therese of Lisieux, and Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ.” Click here or on the image above to view a video of her presentation.
Updates
Fr. Francis Vu Tran
Dehon House I – District Curia
686/16 Quoc Lo 13
Khu Pho 4, Phuong Hiep Binh Phuoc
Quan Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City 70000
Vietnam
US phone number: 714-248-8385
Vietnam personal phone number: +84 93-207-7643
District phone number: +84 83-727-0816
Personal email: francisvu@yahoo.com
District email: scjviet@gmail.com
Fr. Bob Naglich
San Camillo
10200 W. Blue Mound Rd.
Apt 625
Wauwatosa WI 53226
New phone number: 414-259-6325
Cell phone number: 219-614-2367
Email address: fatherbob@gmail.com
“A meaningful growing experience for me as a Dehonian”
“I am continuing with my pastoral experience in Brazil where I have the opportunity to really understand the meaning of going out of the sacristy and being among those who are in need and more vulnerable than most people,” wrote Frater Juan Carlos Castañeda Rojas in a recent post on the province blog site. “My getting to know more about the different ministries and the impact that the Priests of the Sacred Heart in the various regions of Brazil has been a meaningful growing experience for me as a Dehonian. It has made me able to understand the needs of others and to be present to help them.
“There is no more perfect time than this season of Lent for me to reflect on my vocation and my response to God’s call to strengthen my relationship with other people… I reflect on my own vocation and of hearing God’s call, which took me to a foreign land: the United States where I have been blessed by many experiences and all the amazing people I have met during my time in formation there. And today, after following my heart and missionary call, I am again in another new land –– Brazil –– and I am experiencing more amazing experiences and countless blessings during my pastoral year here.”
Click here to read Frater Juancho’s full reflection
In Portugal
Fr. Dominic Peluse, spiritual director of the Province Development Office, is in Portugal with an organization that puts together tours for religious groups. The group hosts “fact-finding”excursions to help potential users get a sense of what they could offer to their audiences. In recent years the Province Development Office has hosted tours to Ireland and France.
Fr. Dominic writes that yesterday he celebrated Mass at Igreja de Sao Roque Church, one of the most well-known churches in Lisbon, Portugal. Today, Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho, former superior general and now bishop of Setúbal (near Lisbon) will visit with the group.
Contemplations Impact on Aging
Fr. Jim Schroeder, a member of the Senior Life Commission, shares an article by Sr. Liz Sweeney, SSJ, that appears in the Spring issue of Engaging Aging, the newsletter of the National Religious Retirement Office.
“Aging calls each of us to plunge into our depths ‘and drink in the life/ that reveals itself quietly there,’” wrote Sr. Sweeny. “Two summers ago at our congregational retreat house in Cape May Point, New Jersey, I had a conversation with two retreat directors (like me, over 70) that still reverberates in my psyche. We talked about the profound reformation we’d experienced after Vatican II, noting how that had prepared us for new forms of prayer, community life and ministry. All three of these aspects of our lives changed radically in those years. At the heart of the shift, and what made it possible, we realized, was a profound and energizing spiritual reorientation that grounded us in scripture, discernment and God in ways we hadn’t experienced in our initial formation. As we spoke, we wondered what was needed now as so many of us face the stressors and the gifts of loss, suffering, aging and dying. The three of us sensed the urgency of a new individual and communal response that would prepare us to deepen to the next stage of letting go into aging and transforming union with the Mystery of God.”
Click here to read the full article. Please print and share it with senior community members who may not have internet access.
Final reminder
If you haven’t done so already, get your budget to the Province Treasurer’s Office ASAP. The deadline is March 31. Questions? Contact Dn. David Nagel, John Kuxhause or Kevin Stanke.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Ed Kilianski is in Milwaukee this week for a number of meetings. His next visitation is in Texas from April 6-17. He will spend Holy Week and Easter with the Houston community.
Closing shot
Twin sons of different mothers! Fr. Wojciech Adamczyk and Fr. Frank Wittouck celebrated their shared birthday on March 23. Both are members of the Houston community. Happy birthday!!
