Happy Victoria Day, Happy Memorial Day!
Our Canadian neighbors enjoy their unofficial summer kick-off today with the celebration of Victoria Day. Here in the US, Memorial Day is next Monday, May 31. The Provincial Offices will be closed, and there will be no Fridge Notes published. The next issue will be on Monday, June 7.
Memorial Day for many of us brings up images of picnics and other summer activities, but it is actually a commemoration of the women and men who died while serving in the armed forces. It originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official US federal holiday in 1971.
A National Moment of Remembrance is at 3:00 pm on Memorial Day. Americans are asked to pause for a minute of silence at 3:00 pm local time to remember and honor service personnel who died while on duty.
The following prayer for Memorial Day is from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:
God of power and mercy,
you destroy war and put down earthly pride.
Banish violence from our midst and wipe away our tears,
that we may all deserve to be called your sons
and daughters.
Keep in your mercy those men and women
who have died in the cause of freedom
and bring them safely
into your kingdom of justice and peace.
We ask this though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The questions continue (and so do the answers!)
“Why can’t non-Catholics receive communion?” is one of the questions raised by students in our third episode of “Ask a Dehonian.” “That’s very serious question,” said Fr. Byron Haaland, SCJ. “Jesus came for everyone and communion is a gift from God.”
Fr. Andrzej Sudol, SCJ, added that it is vital for a person to really understand that communion isn’t simply a wafer or a piece of bread. “It is the real Jesus.”
“Ask a Dehonian” is a series of videos in which students from our Dehonian schools are invited to ask questions about the Church, their faith and current events. Other questions in this episode include “What would you do if you could go back in time?” and “Why do people make the sign of the cross before the Gospel reading?” Click here or on the image above to view the third episode.
Click here to view the first two videos in the series. Each one runs approximately five minutes.
Click here to go to the US Province YouTube channel, DehoniansUSA.
Rated No. 1 once again
Earlier in the year we noted that St. Joseph’s Indian School was named the “Best Nonprofit by the Chamberlain-Oacoma Area Chamber of Commerce. This month, the school was named “2021 Top-Rated Nonprofit” by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews of charities and nonprofits. It is the fifth consecutive year that the school, operated by the Priests of the Sacred Heart, has received the award.
The rating and number of reviews that St. Joseph’s Indian School received from volunteers, donors and aid recipients are the basis for the Top-Rated Nonprofit Award.
GreatNonprofits is the leading website where people share stories about their personal experiences with more than 1.6 million charities and nonprofits. The GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Awards are the only awards for nonprofits determined by those with direct experience with charities as donors, volunteers and aid recipients.
Happy birthday!
First, a shout-out to Houston SCJs Br. Andy Gancarczyk and Fr. Jerzy (George) Mordalski who celebrate their birthdays today, May 24.
Those with birthdays in June include Fr. Vincent Suparman and Frater Truc Tran on June 5, Fr. Louis Marie Kayamba Butari on June 6, Fr. Ed Griesemer on June 9, Fr. Roger Phaneuf on June 12, Fr. Yvon Sheehy on June 18, Fr. Nick Brown on June 22, Fr. Paul Tennyson on June 23, Br. Matt Miles and Fr. Francis Vu Tran on June 26, and Fr. J. Claude Bédard on June 28. Happy birthday!
Home and doing better
Last week Bishop Joseph Potocnak, SCJ, spent a few days in the hospital after suffering a fall in his room. Fr. Vincent Suparaman, SCJ, local superior, reports that Bishop Joe is now back at home with the Sacred Heart Community in Pinellas Park. He is using a walker, at least initially, but is otherwise doing much better. Many thanks from the bishop and the local community for prayers.
A little piece of Dehonian history
Friday, June 4, will be the 167th anniversary of Fr. Leo John Dehon’s First Communion. He was confirmed three years later on June 1, 1857.
Summer SCJ News
Click here to download the most recent issue of the SCJ News; the hard copy (print edition) will be in the mail by early June. The newsletter is printed quarterly and primarily contains highlights and/or updates on stories that have appeared in many of the province’s and congregation’s online communications. Anyone is welcome to receive the newsletter. Click here to add a name to the list.
The summer issue focuses on interculturality and multiculturality. “Most members of the province, of which one-third is international, welcome intercultural living in theory, but are unaware of the consequences,” writes Fr. Andrzej Sudol, SCJ, in the opening article.
Speaking about multiculturism in American society, Bishop Joseph Perry warns that “singing songs and saying prayers about being brothers and sisters in Christ but then living separately and worshiping separately; our words ring hollow.”
The theme of multiculturalism continues in stories with an educational focus: cross-border education via telecommunications, SCJ students from around the world earning degrees in the United States.
How about you?
Do you have a news item or story idea for province communications? Photos from local communities and ministries, as well as news tidbits – large or small – are always welcome. Click here to submit an idea or send a photo.
Canadian newsletter
Last week the SCJ Canada Migration Committee published its seventh newsletter. In it are links to a variety of resources and stories regarding migration concerns, including information about an online presentation by Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, on Sunday, May 30, titled “Everyone and Everything Connected: Pope Francis’ Vision of Our World.”
Building on Pope Francis’s two encyclical letters, Laudato si’ and Fratelli Tutti, Cardinal Czerny invites people to consider what the letters have to say to the Church and society. Cardinal Czerny has been involved with issues of social justice and human rights for 40 years in Canada, Latin America and Africa. For the past five years, he has worked with Pope Francis on the important issues of migrants and refugees; he also played a significant role in the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon.
The presentation takes place from 2:30–4:30 pm EST (1:30-3:30 Milwaukee/Chicago). Viewing information is in the newsletter; click here to download it.
Date for blessing set!
Over the past year (almost two!) we have shared photos and updates of the construction of the Sacred Heart Chacon Family Safe Shelter in Eagle Butte, SD. Ground was broken for the building in October, 2019, but a few months later the pandemic brought work to a halt. The challenges of South Dakota weather and the remote location of the project added to project delays.
But the work is just about completed, and the date of the dedication and blessing of the center is set for June 22. Br. Frank Presto, SCJ, will represent the province. Now provincial secretary, he had served as director of the Sacred Heart Center for several years. The shelter is a ministry of the center, which was begun by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and continues to be sponsored by St. Joseph’s Indian School.
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