North to South

After taking part in the North American Continental Conference, Fr. Ed Kilianski headed south to join SCJs in South America at their conference last week. Dehonians gathered Santiago, Chile, to reflect on the SCJ vocation and mission in South America.

Fr. Ed wrote that “We began the conference with a tour of the city of Santiago. Later in the day we gathered at el Colegio de San Juan Evangelista (a school run by the Chilean Province). The children put on a cultural performance.

“There has been a good mix of our SCJ charism, our spirituality and the apostolate. Bishop Virginio Bressanelli [former superior general] spoke about Dehonians in Latin America in relationship with and to the larger Church. He also sends his regards to all his friends in North America! There are nine countries and the General Curia represented at this conference. As with our conference in North America, there has been much talk about youth, and the need to minister to them. Also, about serving the poor. There has been, as well, a great deal of enthusiasm and hope for the future.

“It is always a great experience for me to meet my confreres in other parts of the world.”

Fr. Ed is vice provincial of the U.S. Province.

What’s a former provincial to do?

After 12 years on the General Council in Rome, four years as president-rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology and six years as provincial superior of the U.S. Province, what’s Fr. Tom Cassidy’s new assignment?

A sabbatical.

During the next year Fr. Tom is spending time in many of the locations for which he had responsibility when he was on General Council. This month, he is in Poland.

“The chief purpose of this trip is to attend the dedication of a conference center in Kracow that our United Sates Province helped to fund,” wrote Fr. Tom. “It is actually the renovation of a large building owned by the Polish Province. I saw the building several years ago on my first visit to Poland following the meeting of the European SCJ major superiors which Fr. Bill Marrevee and I were invited to attend.

“Fr. Artur Sanecki is the current Polish provincial. He has just started his second three-year mandate. I know Artur from his days as a student in Rome where he obtained his doctorate in scripture. Artur is no stranger to the United States as he spent several months living in Hales Corners while working on his studies.

“Artur invited me to attend the dedication/blessing of the new conference center since the U.S. Province helped fund the project. I reminded Artur that my time as provincial has come to an end, but he said to come anyway. Since Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, our new provincial, is just settling into office I got the chance to represent the United States.”

Fr. Tom is keeping a journal during his travels. Periodically entries from it will be posted on the province blog site. Click here to go to the site.

As for Fr. Steve…

Our new provincial superior, Fr. Stephen Huffstetter, already has a full schedule during his first months in office. On Wednesday he goes to South Dakota to attend board meetings at St. Joseph’s Indian School and to visit the community in Lower Brule. Next week he is back in Milwaukee where he will take part in the SHST board of directors’ retreat.

Keep in prayer

FR. TOM LIND of the Mississippi community has been hospitalized for a few days because of shortness of breath and heart arrhythmia. He received a pacemaker and is expected to be in the hospital a few more days.

FR. CLAUDE BÉDARD of the Montréal community was hospitalized last week for a possible infection that caused pain and weakness in his legs and back.

Update and thanks

Frater Joseph Vu writes with an update on his grandfather who was sick earlier this year: “He has improved greatly, although unfortunately he has to be on dialysis three times a week now. He is also going to physical rehab to regain motor control. But thankfully, he is recovering. I want to share my thanks with the community for their thoughts and prayers for my family.”

Personnel Directory

As we noted last week, Nancy Gray, province administrative assistant, put together a new SCJ personnel directory. It was mailed to SCJs last week.

Corrections should be directed to her at [email protected] or at 414-427-4261.

An online personnel directory is also available in the Members’ section of the province website. For assistance in accessing the directory, contact Mary Gorski.

Come and See

Vocation Central, in collaboration with the Dehon Formation Community in Chicago, hosted a Come and See gathering last weekend for men interested in SCJ religious life.

Fr. Quang Nguyen did the First Friday reflection. Each First Friday the formation community invites a guest speaker to share something about himself/herself in regards to the Dehonian charism and spirituality.

St. Joe’s well-represented

St. Joseph’s Indian School was well represented at the Chamberlain public high school homecoming events last week.

Homecoming court included six St. Joseph’s students. Cody Medicine Eagle, also from St. Joe’s, was homecoming king, and Marilyn Nasomwat, the daughter of St. Joe’s staff, was queen. St. Joseph’s high school students attend Chamberlain’s public school.

 

 Click here to view photos and videos from St. Martin of Tours Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest at St. Martin of Tours

Dave Baudry, formation director at St. Martin of Tours parish in Franklin, Wis., shared video and photos from the parish Oktoberfest celebration. Click here to view them.

Published

Sacred Heart School of Theology just announced that Fr. Javier Bustos’ article “The Uncertainty of Living Wills,” was published in The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, (Summer 2013), Vol. 3, Number 2, 243-251. Fr. Javier is SHST vice president of External Affairs,
 Director of Recruitment, and assistant professor of Systematic Studies