The ministry of education
For many, September brings to mind the start of a new school year. In the September 2 issue of Dehonian Spirituality, Bridget Martin, principal and alumna of Sacred Heart School in Southaven, MS, reflected on the ministry of education.
“When I began my calling to teach, I knew I wanted to help young people achieve their greatest potential inside and outside of the classroom,” she wrote. “The opportunities I was given as a student, raised in a parish and school served by the SCJ community, empowered me with the knowledge I needed to change lives. I have been blessed to return to lead the school I grew up attending. This has given me a unique perspective of both a child and an adult into the ministry of education provide by the SCJs…
“Our Dehonian charism is strengthened when our students not only perform service-learning projects to assist the needy and lonely, but also when they begin to understand the true meaning of the projects. As a principal, I see the effects of our education ministry on a daily basis. I am privileged to guide and watch students grow in their understanding of serving others.”
Click here to read her full reflection in last week’s Dehonian Spirituality.
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How can “mercy” be our vocation?
The start of the new school year also means the start of the First Friday presentations at the Dehon Formation Community in Chicago. Last week Fr. John van den Hengel, SCJ, was the first of the year’s presenters. His topic was a continuation of the theme he addressed at the Province Assembly in June: “Mercy.”
“To what does mercy call us, or summon us?” asked Fr. John. “How can it be our vocation?
“Your forefathers in the US Province said that you will find this call of the mercy of God by responding to the Native Americans in South Dakota and in Mississippi among the poor, especially African Americans. Both Native Americans and African Americans have left a legacy that is not easily healed. Their situation is probably the most intractable of your social questions. I know that there are others. But these are the ones that are staring you in the face.
“I do not say this because I have a special agenda. There may be many other moments in our personal experience where one cannot escape feeling the infinite pull of mercy. But your province has made a great commitment to these people. In other words, the response to God’s mercy has great repercussion for our Dehonian spirituality in the US Province…
“That is how we should be known. We should be known as being neighbors to the African Americans and Native Americans, like the Good Samaritan who found a wounded person in the ditch and helped him with such abundance. We should be known as men of compassion, people of mercy…
“We have experienced God’s mercy in the face of the other and we seek to respond with extravagance, with unlimited generosity or abundance, with thanksgiving. That is why the Eucharist is so central to us. It is the gift of God to us, of His mercy.”
Later this month we will publish the annual Formation Community profiles in which members of the community –– both students and SCJs in final vows –– share a bit about themselves and their vocation.
Updates
Br. Ben Humpfer, SCJ, has a new email address: humpfer1966@gmail.com
Frater Juan Carlos Casteñada Rojas, SCJ, has begun his ministerial year in Brazil. His address:
Avenida Francisco Barreto Leme,
550Bairro Vila São Geraldo
Taubaté – São Paulo – Brasil
Phone: 129-972-39479
His email remains the same: scjuancho10@yahoo.com
Fr. Juancho asks for prayers “as I start this new ministry new experience. Prayers are not just for difficult times but also as support and encouragement.”
Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, has a new phone number while in India: 9194925875 22
New personnel directory
Nancy Gray and Br. Frank Presto, SCJ, are working on a new printed edition of the North American personnel directory (phone numbers and addresses). They plan to send it to the printer on September 16. Please contact them ASAP if you have an update of your phone number, email or postal address. Nancy’s email: provadm@usprovince.org and Br. Frank can be reached at: provsec@usprovince.org
A reminder to SCJs: a regularly updated online directory is available in the Members section of the US Province website. Click here for assistance in accessing it.
Registration reminders
MISSION EDUCATION –– Sacred Heart Southern Missions will host the province’s eighth Mission Education Conference October 10-11. This is a time for employees and other collaborators in SCJ ministry to learn about Fr. Leo John Dehon, as well as the congregation that carries on his dreams. It is also an opportunity for co-workers across the country to get to know one another and learn how they are a part of the worldwide mission of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
Full days are planned for October 10-11, including Eucharist on Monday with Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson.
SCJs in the US and Canada, as well as senior staff at various offices, received an email several weeks ago asking them to consider sending people from their ministries –– employees and other collaborators –– to Mission Education. Of course, SCJs are also invited (and encouraged!) to attend.
The deadline for registration is this Saturday, September 10. Please click here to go to the online registration. You can register as a group or individually.
It is suggested that participants be in northern Mississippi by Sunday evening, October 9. A block of rooms for Mission Ed has been reserved at the Drury Inn in Horn Lake and at the Holiday Inn in Southaven. Hotel information is available at the registration link.
Questions? Please contact Carole Johnson at 662-342-3324 or email her at cjohnson@shsm.org.
NORTH AMERICAN RETREATS –– There is still room for SCJs to sign up for one of the two North American Dehonian retreats scheduled for 2017 and 2018. The first is August 13-19, 2017, at Queen of the Apostles Retreat Center in Mississauga, Ontario (near Toronto, Canada) and the second is May 6-12, 2018, at the Siena Center in Racine, Wisconsin (about 30 minutes south of Milwaukee). There is also a retreat August 5-12, 2018, for those in formation and their directors.
The deadline may seem early but it is due to scheduling constraints at the two retreat centers.
Click here to register online, or call Mary Gorski at 414-427-4266. Members of the planning committee met last week; communication from them will be sent in the next few days.
Please remember
+ Nicolaus van Steekelenburg, a member of the Indonesian Province, died August 31 in the Netherlands. He was born in 1937, professed in 1957 and ordained in 1965.
+ Fr. Girolamo Bertuletti of the North Italian Province died on August 31. He was born in 1934, professed in 1952 and ordained in 1961.
Celebrating the life of a saint
On the province blog Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, writes about celebrations of Mother Teresa’s beatification:
“Yesterday was a very special day for Indians with the canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Francis. The ceremony was broadcast on a number of channels. September 5 will from now on be the yearly date to celebrate the life of Mother Teresa…
“We joined with other religious of Eluru for a Mass of Thanksgiving and the first Memorial Mass in honor of Mother Teresa. The Mass began at 6:00 pm, or rather the preliminaries began that included a welcome by the rector of Vljnananilayam Institute of Philosophy and Religion, Fr. Lourdes Showry, OFM Cap, followed by a short video on the life of Mother Teresa, ending with Pope Francis’ proclamation of sainthood from the morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
“After the video the priests vested and the Mass began. I’m guessing that we had about 500 participants. Among the communities of women religious were two sisters from the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa in 1950. It certainly was a proud moment for them and the men and women religious of her congregations serving in over 100 countries around the world.”
Click here to read the rest of this and other posts on the province blog site.
Provincial’s time
Fr. Ed Kilianski, SCJ, is hosting Fr. Jean-Marie Signié, SCJ, provincial superior of Cameroon; the two spent Labor Day Weekend with the Dehon Formation Community. Fr. Jean-Marie will be in the United States until next Thursday; next week he meets with the Provincial Council.
Fr. Ed will be in the office for most of the next few weeks; he has Provincial Council meetings September 13-14. Starting in October, Fr. Ed will be spending much of his time in airports, going to Mississippi for Mission Education October 8-12 and from there, flying to South Dakota for board meetings October 12-13. A few days later he goes to Buffalo, NY, to visit family before heading to Toronto for the North American council meetings October 17-18.
