“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!'”
-Isaiah 6:8
Formation assignments
Three of our six Dehonian seminarians are on pastoral assignments during the 2024-25 academic year. Frater Michael Wodarczyk (pictured above assisting with Holy Saturday services) is at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston, Frater Thuan Nguyen is with our ministries in northern Mississippi, and Frater Truc Tran is in South Dakota, serving with the pastoral ministry team that cares for parishes on both the Lower Brule and Crow Creek reservations. Students do a year of full-time pastoral ministry prior to completing their studies and applying for final vows.
A new Dehonian priest!
On June 1, in the sacristy of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Houston, Paul Phong Hoang, SCJ, vested as a deacon for the last time. An hour later, surrounded by family, friends, and fellow Dehonians, his parents would help to vest him as a priest in the midst of his ordination ceremony.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson, MS, was the ordaining bishop. During Fr. Paul’s words of thanks at the end of the ordination, we learned that he and the bishop first met over a bowl of cereal in the kitchen of the Dehonian community house in Nesbit, MS.
“Who was this guy eating in our kitchen?” thought Fr. Paul when he saw the bishop. The ministries of Sacred Heart Southern Missions fall within the Diocese of Jackson. When the bishop travels to the northern portion of that diocese, he often stays with the SCJ community, where he regularly starts his day with a bowl of cereal.
When he met the bishop, Fr. Paul was in Mississippi as a student. Years later he would return to serve as a deacon and now as a priest in the Diocese of Jackson.
The man in the kitchen would one day travel to Houston to ordain Fr. Paul.
“I am so happy that Fr. Paul will continue to serve in our diocese,” said the bishop.
To be a religious brother
Religious Brothers Day is held annually on May 1, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Br. Duane Lemke, SCJ, superior of our retirement community at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake, and a member of the US Provincial Council, reflects on the vocation of brother and thanks the religious brothers who have had an impact on his own vocation. Click on the image above to view the brief video.
Congratulations!
On Founder’s Day, four of SCJ seminarians received ministries: Frater Jacob Smith, SCJ (Lector), Frater Thuan Nguyen, SCJ (Acolyte), Frater Truc Tran, SCJ (Acolyte), and Frater Michael Wodarczyk, SCJ (Acolyte). The ceremony took place during Mass with the Sacred Heart Monastery community. The four students are pictured above with Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ.
