“What is the best and worst part of your job?”
“When did you know that you wanted to become a priest?” “What’s your favorite book?” “What’s the best and worst part of your job?”
These are the questions asked by children in the first of our new video series, “Ask a Dehonian.” The students are invited to ask SCJ priests and brothers questions about any topic, including the Catholic Church, faith, vocations, or even current events. This episode features students from Holy Family School in Holly Springs, MS, St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, SD, and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston.
Our novitiate team of Fr. Byron Haaland, SCJ, and Fr. Andrzej Sudol, SCJ, worked together to answer the questions.
“What is the best part of my job?” said Fr. Byron? “You get to meet so many wonderful, wonderful people. We get to see how people live their lives, but it is a challenge because it makes me have to think how I live my life.”
Click here or on the image above to view the video.
Welcome to Wisconsin!
Fr. Richard MacDonald, SCJ, is now settled in at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake (Room 109). His brother, Norman, and sister-in-law, Nancy, joined him for the 1,600-mile drive from southern Texas at the end of April. “I am happy to be settled in,” said Fr. Mac, who last lived in Wisconsin when he served as provincial superior. He joins three other previous SCJ provincial superiors at SHML: Fr. Tom Cassidy, Fr. John Czyzynski and Fr. Johnny Klingler.
Calendar notes
The Provincial Council will meet briefly by conference call tomorrow afternoon; the next council meeting will be June 8 to review advancements in formation. The next full council meeting will be September 14-15.
The provincial jubilarians for 2020 and 2021 will be honored during a ceremony at the January 3-7, 2022, Province Election Assembly.
Congratulations graduates!
On Friday, May 7, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology celebrated the graduation of 17 students. Among them were two SCJs from the District of India, Thomas Raju and Prem Kaleel Raguman, who completed their master’s degrees through the Adveniat Regnum Tuum Pathway, an MA program designed in partnership with the District of India and SHSST.
Reflecting on the program in February when he completed his coursework, Thomas said that “I am very grateful to the US Province and all the members of the SHSST faculty for their constant love and great support. This course made an integral impact on my life. It was a beautiful opportunity to experience a new kind of learning, particularly by contextualizing and concretizing the subjects, allowing me to become aware of the challenges of proclaiming the gospel and at the same time, encouraging me to prepare myself for future ministry with much hope.”
Click here or on the image above to view a video of the commencement, which took place during Solemn Vespers. Fr. Ed Kilianski, SCJ, was the presider, and Fr. John Hemsing, rector of St. Francis de Sales Seminary, was the commencement speaker. Click here to download an order of worship.
Good luck to students completing their final exams at SHSST this week!
What I did on my summer vacation…
From June until mid-July, Dehonian students in formation will be on summer ministry assignments in Texas, Mississippi and South Dakota. Who will be where?
Frater Hubert Liassidji, SCJ, Frater Thuan Nguyen, SCJ and Postulant Michael Wodarczyk will be in Lower Brule, SD, serving with the pastoral team on the Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations; Postulant Jacob Smith and Postulant Jonathan Nguyen-Vuong will be at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston; and Frater Truc Tran, SCJ, and Frater Hung Pham, SCJ, will be with Sacred Heart Southern Missions in northern Mississippi.
Frater Phong (Paul) Hoang, SCJ, will do his CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) in Houston and in August will move to Lower Brule to begin his pastoral year assignment.
Grant awards
Congratulations to Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, which was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Lilly Foundation’s “Pathways for Tomorrow” initiative. The money is to be used for planning and assessment purposes which can lead to further grants from the foundation. While significant, the Lilly Grant is just one of several being sought by the seminary to fund programs, technology, and other initiatives.
Although it has a few less zeros, congratulations as well to Sacred Heart School in Southaven, MS, which recently received a $500 ExxonMobile Education Alliance Grant for the school’s math and science programs. The grants are given to local retailers to distribute to schools within their communities. Sacred Heart received its grant from Exxon Z-Express in Southaven.
Please remember
+ Fr. Thomas Michael Dieter, who studied with the SCJs at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, died on April 28. Click here to view his obituary.
Fr. Francis Jordan beatified
Fr. Francis Jordan, founder of the Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorians), will be beatified this Saturday, May 15, at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. Fr. Raúl Gómez-Ruiz, SDS, SHSST president-rector, is one of many members of the Salvatorians who have partnered with Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) at SHSST. Please keep the community in prayer as they celebrate their founder’s beatification.
Click here to read more about Fr. Jordan.
When a horse becomes a canvas
St Joseph’s Indian School high school girls worked with their four-legged ancestors, the šúŋkawakȟáŋ (horse) through a collaboration between St. Joseph’s Equine Therapy and Daughters of Tradition programs. To the Lakota, a šúŋkawakȟán is a relative. In equine therapy, the horse mirrors the student, providing healing from trauma, anxiety, and mental and emotional distress.
The young women were challenged to a contest where they paired up to groom and decorate an assigned horse. They had 45 minutes, paint, ribbons, feathers, hair ties and other art supplies to create a theme of their choosing.
Once black, brown, and white, the horses’ coats morphed into colorful works of art, displaying the sky, water, stars, feathers, flowers, tipis and more. Afterward, a panel of judges toured the round pen. They asked the girls about their horse, the theme, why they chose that theme and what it meant to them. Public speaking and creative expression were part of the judging criteria.
Once pictures were over and prizes announced, the girls offered their thanks and gratitude to the horses by feeding them apples, grass and hay.
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