Another day at St. Joseph’s
Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, SCJ, maintains a blog about life at St. Joseph’s Indian School where he is the executive director. Here’s a look at the entry for March 22. Note the compensation that a 40-year employee got when she first began at St. Joe’s development office: “1 ½ cents for every beaded Indian figure she could place on a card and stuff in an envelope.”
Fr. Steve writes:
“Another full day of meetings. We met with the architect and creative designers for our museum expansion project. We hope to break ground at next September’s St. Joseph’s Indian School Annual Powwow. A part I am most excited about is a space for our alumni to come back to and visit the campus and tell their stories – a place where we can create a living and ongoing display of history…
“Our Child Service Team met with updates and sharing. Now that spring break is over it feels like the end of the year is rushing towards us and we have so many end of the year activities to start planning. After that, I met with my management team. We are spending significant time working on our new strategic plan. We are surveying students, their families, people in the community and several of our donors to look at what we need to work on to keep St. Joseph’s Indian School strong and relevant for years to come.
“Tonight was our annual Service Awards Banquet. Before I passed out other people’s awards, I was given some gifts for completing five full years at St. Joseph’s Indian School. When I took those back to my table I spontaneously placed the long-stemmed rose in my teeth and did a couple of tango steps, which drew chuckles. I overheard the remark, ‘He must be feeling better now!’
Thanks be to God! [Editor’s note: Fr. Steve was treated for cancer last year]
“Marina picked up her appreciation award for 40 years of working at St. Joseph’s Indian School! When she started in the development office she got paid 1 ½ cents for every beaded Indian figure she could place on a card and stuff in an envelope. She told the crowd she’s seen so many changes over the years and so appreciates what St. Joseph’s offers both students and staff. The dedication and commitment of our staff really does make St. Joseph’s Indian School a great place to be a part of.”
You can read Fr. Steve’s blog at
http://stjosephsindianschool.wordpress.com/
Transitions
Juan Carlos Charum Monzon has left the formation program and returned to his native Colombia. Please keep him in prayer as he discerns new directions in his life. You can reach him by email at jucachamo@hotmail.com.
Preparing for the Philippines
Last week the ESL program received two SCJs from Brazil: Brs. Jonathan Luiz Schneiders and Sérgio Shoiti Matumoto. The men are studying English in preparation for future missionary work in the Philippines.
After they’ve settled in, “and learned a few more words of English,” joked Br. Jonathan, we’ll feature an interview with them on the website.
Vocation Central news
The vocation office shares a couple of items planned for the coming months:
Vocation Panel –– on April 7 the vocation office will host a round-table discussion with 7th – 8th graders at St. Martin of Tours School in Franklin, Wis. There will be a priest, brother, sister and lay minister on the panel to talk about vocations and answer questions students may have about the call to religious life, ordained ministry or service to the church as a lay person. The round-table will take place from 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. at the school.
Teen Discovery Weekend –– Preliminary details are being put together for a three-day summer youth experience in Milwaukee. Aimed at boys aged 10 to 16 who are just starting to learn about vocations to the Church, the gathering will include prayer, visits to SCJ ministries in Milwaukee and recreation activities. Participants will be young people who are on the office’s “active” list (in regular contact with the vocation office). If you know of someone who might benefit from such an experience, contact the office at 414-529-4255 or email Keith Burdick at keithburdick@wi.rr.com to learn more about the weekend.
Promoting Sacred Heart devotion
This month the Polish Province opened a center in Tarnow (Poland) to promote Sacred Heart devotion.
The center plans to offer workshops on the spirituality of the Sacred Heart, publish books and other materials about the devotion, and offer support to priests, religious and other pastoral ministers in developing Sacred Heart devotion in parishes and other religious organizations.
Back on line
It looks like the server problems (knock on wood!) have finally been addressed and the province website is up and running once again. If you have access problems in the future, please let Mary Gorski know.
New Facebook name
The URL for the Facebook page for the US Province is now: http://www.facebook.com/PriestsoftheSacredHeart
If you have “Liked” the page, the new name will automatically appear when you click on the link on your homepage. If you haven’t visited the page, please take a moment to do so. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to view the page, but you do need to be a member to make comments on it.
Recently, we posted the question, “What are you doing for Lent this year? Giving something up? Taking on a new task? Volunteering? Working the parish fish fry? Let us know how you are observing Lent this year.”
So far, people have posted that they have taken up exercise, committed to praying for a special intention, and been reading and reflecting on a book of parables. We invite you to go to the Facebook page and share how you are observing Lent this year.
Please remember
Fr. Thomas Aquinas Bhakti Dwi Prabowo, SCJ, of the Indonesian Province, died March 23. He was born in 1949, professed in 1976 and ordained in 1979.
Kenneth Vega, the nephew of Fr. Ray Vega, SCJ, died last week of cancer. He was in his mid-50s and is survived by his wife and children. Arrangements are pending. Fr. Ray is a member of the Pinellas Park community.
Lucille Bédard-Beaudoin, the sister of Fr. Claude Bédard, SCJ, of the Canadian Region, died on Saturday. She was 82. Fr. Claude is a member of the Montréal community.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Tom Cassidy is in Milwaukee this week; March 29-30 he has council meetings. April 4 he will be at the Brewers’ opening day game in Milwaukee, and then from April 7-9 he will out of town for Fr. Mark Mastin’s graduation from basic training (Fr. Mark is preparing to become a chaplain with the US Army). The week of April 11 Fr. Tom will be in South Dakota for C-POSH board meetings. April 18 – May 5 he will be in Rome for CMSM meetings.
Calendar updates
Did you know that the province website has an “Upcoming Events” calendar? To access it, click on the “News” tab on the top of the web page. “Upcoming Events” and a calendar are available on the right side of the page. There is also a “Search” tab found on the news page. If you are looking for information on a particular topic, person, or a prior news story, just type the information into the search box.
Upcoming meetings and events:
March 29-30: Provincial Council meeting
May 1: Easter Concert, 2 p.m. (SHST)
May 9-11: Provincial Council meeting (budgets)
May 17 & 19: Masses for the anointing of the sick, (SHST) 1 p.m.
May 21: Dn. Greg Schill’s priesthood ordination (San Antonio)
May 23-24: North American councils meeting (Chicago)
July 1: Feast of the Sacred Heart, Mass at SHST, 11 a.m.
Week of July 11: Province Assembly, Hales Corners, Wis.
August 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting
October. 2: Pet Blessing (SHST)
October 4-5: Provincial Council Meeting
November 14-16: SCJ Retreat, Pinellas Park
December 14-15: Provincial Council Meeting
December 18: Advent Concert, 2 p.m.
