Students from St. Martin of Tours gather around the altar during Mass. Fr. Thi Pham, celebrant, led the students in their end-of-year retreat.

End of the school year

Students from St. Martin of Tours Parish in Franklin, Wis., were at Sacred Heart Monastery/School of Theology on retreat last week. On Tuesday, it was the eighth-graders preparing for graduation. Thursday, it was the fifth through seventh grade students.

On both days, Fr. Thi Pham, SCJ, associate pastor of St. Martin’s, joined teachers in leading the retreat.

In his role at St. Martin’s, Fr. Thi also has responsibility for the Vietnamese Catholic community in the Milwaukee Archdiocese and is active with youth groups regionally and nationally.

The heart of a missionary

Although the summer ESL program doesn’t begin for another month, one of its students is already at Sacred Heart School of Theology getting a head start: Fr. Agustinus Guntoro, SCJ.

Fr. Agustinus Guntoro, SCJ

Originally from the Indonesian Province, Fr. Guntoro, 38, was ordained to the priesthood in 2003. As he was preparing for ordination he wrote to his provincial superior and asked that he be considered for a missionary assignment.

“I thought that I would be too comfortable as a priest in Indonesia,” he said about his request. “A missionary is someone who is not satisfied with ‘the comfortable.’ A missionary is someone who is totally available to go where needed. It is my dream to have the heart of a missionary.”

To his surprise, his superiors assigned him to the young District of India only months after his ordination.

Fr. Guntoro remained in India until last year; most international SCJs were unable to renew their visas. However, he continued to serve the Indian District by going to the Philippines and helping with the Indian students in the international novitiate there.

He is now in the United States, preparing for his next missionary assignment: a new project in China.

Click here to read more about Fr. Guntoro on the province website

Please remember

Fr. Renatus Boeing, a member of the North Brazilian Province, died May 17. He was born in 1937, professed in 1958 and ordained in 1964.

Rev. Paul R.G. Smith, an Episcopal priest who taught at Divine Heart Seminary in the 1970s, died on May 9. He was a science teacher, as well as interim principal for a year. Click here to read the full obituary and/or to leave condolences for the family.

What are those dates?

The province assembly is coming up in less than two months. The gathering kicks off with the Jubilee Celebrations at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 9. This year’s jubilarians include Fr. Tom Cassidy, Fr. Mark Fortner, Fr. Pat Lloyd and Fr. Steve Pujdak (50 years), and Fr. Don Barnd and Fr. Bernie Rosinski (60 years).

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10-11, will be full days with the assembly (with an on-site Comedy Sportz performance on Tuesday evening). Thursday, July 12. will be a half day.

Need a room?

SCJs are reminded that if they need a room at Sacred Heart Monastery, either for the assembly or at any other time of year, they need to contact Marlene at the front desk. Call: 414-425-8300 and hit “0.” At Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake, check with Fr. Jim Brackin, local coordinator.

Update

Fr. Charles Yost’s cell phone:
414-943-3277

Good-bye and welcome

Nancy Gray

On May 24, Kassandra Wilson, the province administrative assistant, is leaving the office for another job opportunity. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

Joining the Provincialate staff on June 4 will be Nancy Gray, whom many of you have come to know through her work at the province vocation office.

New directors, new programs and newly professed

After sending members to the Philippines for novitiate last year, the young District of India has reinstalled its own novitiate program. On May 14, Fr. McQueen Mascarhenhas, SCJ, was installed as the director of novices. During the same ceremony, nine novices were received and Fr. Peter Christy, SCJ, was installed as the new postulancy director. Just as with the novitiate, there will be nine novices.

First professions in India

The next day, five young Indians professed their first vows; they will now go to Eluru for their theology program.

On May 13, the Philippine Region also celebrated the professions of three new members: Brs. Nathaniel Robilla, Rogereve Pausanos and Junlou Arcayos. The three SCJs will continue their studies in Manila.

On Facebook

In between weekly Fridge Notes mailings, news items are also posted on the province Facebook page. Among the items that went up last week was a small photo album from the Mass of Healing at Sacred Heart Monastery. Click here to view it (you do not need to be a Facebook member to go to this page).

Provincial’s time

Fr. Tom Cassidy remains in the Milwaukee area through the month. May 30-31 he has council meetings.

Office schedule

The Provincialate Offices will be closed Monday, May 28, for Memorial Day. The next Fridge Notes will not be posted until Tuesday, May 29.

After Memorial Day, the Provincialate will begin its summer hours. This means that most people will be working longer days Monday through Thursday and then taking off on Friday afternoons. Please keep this in mind if you need to reach someone at the Provincialate.

Upcoming meetings and events:

May 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
June 15: Feast of the Sacred Heart (11 a.m.)
June 28: Provincial Council Meeting (conference call re: formation)
July 3-4: Provincialate Offices closed for Independence Day.
July 9-12: Province Assembly, Hales Corners
July 16-21: General Conference, Neustadt, Germany
July 23-25: SCJ Major Superiors Meeting, Neustadt, Germany
October 12: Dedication of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake

2013:
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly.

Jerusalem

“I have never felt more Catholic in my life”

These were the words expressed by Fr. Tim Gray, SCJ, reflecting on his recent trip to the Holy Land.

“I was completely overwhelmed by the churches, especially in the Old City of Jerusalem – the history and the people,” he wrote.  “In my travels I have seen churches that are 400 and 500 years old. In Jerusalem, those would be modern churches, built upon the ruins of churches 800 years old, which were built upon the ruins of churches 1,600 years old, built on top of Roman temples, which were built to try to obliterate the traces of Christianity in 165 AD.

“Somehow I had expected a Christian Disneyland, like colonial Williamsburg, in which everything would appear just as it did in Jesus’ day. Instead, we walked down into the basements of the present churches to see the earlier places where people have worshipped for thousands of years on the same spot… I realized that we are simply one more generation, one more century, coming to these holy places and leaving our marks behind.

“I have never felt more Catholic in my life… We Catholics feel the connection [to Jesus] through our bodies, which touch the same stones worn smooth by millions of others who have touched them through the centuries, who bring rosaries, cards, images, statues, to touch the holy places and be blessed and shared with family and friends… And as I stand in this history, it feels like a tree with roots planted in tradition, adding growth rings every year.”

Click here to read the rest of Fr. Tim’s reflection posted on the province blog.

Fr. Johnny with his English students at a park outside of Cagayan de Oro.

Taking a walk on the “Monkey Bridge”

Fr. Johnny on the Monkey Bridge.

Fr. Johnny Klingler, SCJ, also continues to post entries on the province blog from the Philippines, where he is teaching English. Yesterday, he wrote about Mother’s Day at the Kasanog Daughters Foundation, a shelter for abused women and girls, as well as a visit with his students to a park. Of the park visit he writes:

“We went on a field trip Friday morning to a beautiful park in the mountains which overlooks the city of Cagayan de Oro and the ocean. One of the things to do is to cross ‘The Monkey Bridge.’ It was quite an adventure. You walk on a swinging bridge by holding onto two cables with each hand and stepping on metal slates 9 inches by 1 1/2 inches with a distance of 1 foot to 1 1/2 foot between them. I had to climb a tree trunk to get to the first landing and from my perspective the walk looked rather short. However, when I got to the end of the first stage, I saw I had a long way to go. Thank God I didn’t fall as I finally came to the end, soaking in sweat. That evening the professed community went out for pizza, which is always a special treat.”

Click here to read the rest of his blog post.

Concentrated course helps prepare students for the Church’s growing Hispanic population

Learning a new language as an adult is difficult. Going back to school after many years in the workforce is challenging. Discerning a call to ministry at the same time?

Fr. Jim Walters at his desk during the semester break.

Very challenging!

Yet that is what many seminarians at Sacred Heart School of Theology do. Much of the student body consists of men who are pursing their vocation as an older adult. Most have been away from academic studies for years.

“We were concerned about students telling us that they did not have enough time to study Spanish during the school year,” said Fr. Jim Walters, SCJ. “Often, our students are required by their bishops or superiors to take Spanish. However, Spanish is not a part of the core curriculum. It is offered as a twice-a-week, two credit course. Our students feel pressure to put their energies into the core courses, the three-credit church and theology courses…

“We asked if there would be interest in a May session devoted to Spanish,” said Fr. Jim. There was, and so tomorrow, May 15, the first-ever intensive five-week Spanish session at SHST will begin on an experimental basis.

Ten students are registered for the inaugural program. Two are priests (including one SCJ on sabbatical from another country), six are seminarians, one is an SHST faculty member and one is a lay pastoral minister from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. At the end of the session students and teachers will evaluate the experience to help determine if the experiment will become a regular part of the academic calendar.

Click here to read more about the program

Welcome to Canada!

“Last Tuesday, four members of the Toronto community went to the airport to meet Fr. Willyans Prado Rapozo, SCJ, from Brazil,” wrote Fr. Jim Casper, SCJ.

Fr. Willyans Prado Rapozo, SCJ

“At 29, Fr. Willyans is now the youngest member of our Toronto community, and although ordained for only two-and-a-half years, he comes with a variety of experience in ministry. He expresses himself very well in English and has already begun the process of becoming familiar with the city. Since the archdiocese of Toronto is very much in need of Portuguese-speaking clergy, Fr. Willyans is planning to do ministry primarily among the Portuguese parishes. We are happy to have Fr. Willyans as part of our community here in Toronto and look forward to introducing him to the members of the region and to the Toronto church.”

Provincial’s time

Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, remains in the Milwaukee area through the month. May 30-31 he has council meetings.

Upcoming meetings and events:

May 15: Mass for the Anointing of the Sick, SHM/SHST (1 p.m.)
May 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
June 15: Feast of the Sacred Heart (11 a.m.)
June 28: Provincial Council Meeting (conference call re: formation)
July 3-4: Provincialate Offices closed for Independence Day.
July 9-12: Province Assembly, Hales Corners
July 16-21: General Conference, Neustadt, Germany
July 23-25: SCJ Major Superiors Meeting, Neustadt, Germany
October 12: Dedication of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake

2013:
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly.

Borrowing hardhats, members of the Canadian administration toured the new construction at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. Pictured are Frs. Paul Tennyson, Richard Woodbury, Claude Bédard, Maurice Légaré and Bill Marrevee.

A (brief) Canadian invasion

The SCJs of Canada and the United States have long had a close and collaborative connection. The two countries have had shared novitiates and other formation programs, and SCJs have crossed borders for ministry and studies.

During preparations for the 1991 General Chapter the administrations of each entity began a tradition of joint meetings, generally twice a year, to discuss topics of common concern, share news about members and ministries, and dialogue on issues of the worldwide congregation.

Fr. Richard Woodbury, Fr. Claude Bédard, Fr. Bill Marrevee and Fr. Tom Cassidy

Last week, May 2-3, the community at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake hosted the spring meeting. It was the first time that the Canadian SCJs had seen the new complex. During a break in the meeting they borrowed a few hard hats and toured the new construction. “It’s very well thought-out,” said a member of the Canadian administration. “It seems good for both the SCJ membership and for the lay residents who will move here. There are a lot of opportunities.”

At the meeting itself, the two administrations picked up on several topics that they discussed at their November gathering, including the idea of some type of collaborative SCJ presence in North America. The conclusion was that it is too early to have any serious discussions about it, but that it would be good to get feedback from the Franco-European Province and the Dutch-Flemish Confederation on their experiences of shared administrations. Frs. Tom Cassidy, SCJ and Bill Marrevee, SCJ, hope to speak to the provincial superiors of these entities during the July General Conference in Germany.

Both administrations shared the challenges, as well as the benefits of welcoming international members of the congregation for study and/or ministry. The application process for immigrants and long-term residents to Canada and the United States is extensive. Yet each entity is energized by the possibility of more extensive international communities in North America.

The two administrations will next meet November 13-14 in Toronto.

Fr. Johnny with Van, one of his students

Back in the Philippines

As noted earlier, Fr. Johnny Klingler, SCJ, who is teaching English in the Philippines, represented the U.S. Province at the funeral for Fr. Tom Fix, SCJ. Fr. Johnny has since returned from Indonesia to the Philippines and wrote another post for the province blog.

“I left Jakarta on a 12:30 a.m. flight to Manila. I have never taken such an early morning flight,” wrote Fr. Johnny. “I was surprised that the plane was full…

“I missed four days of the third week of school so I felt I had to teach on Friday. I made it through the day and on Saturday I was able to go with Fr. Andrew to see the Shrine of Divine Mercy in El Salvador… Fr. Andrew, two of his priest friends and I went out for a fish dinner in the evening. A small dish with two small peppers was given to each of us. I was told, or so I thought, to put lemon juice that was on the table on the peppers and eat them. I took one of the peppers and began to chew it but no sooner did I do this that my entire mouth went on fire. I could hardly talk. I gulped down beer to put the fire out but to no avail. The pain lasted about 10 minutes. What I was supposed to do was to use the sauce with the peppers as a dip for the fish I ordered.”

Muy caliente! Click here to read the rest of Fr. Johnny’s post.

End of the semester

Sacred Heart School of Theology held its graduation ceremony on Friday, May 4. Fourteen men earned  a Master of Divinity, two received their Master’s in Theology, two graduated with a Certificate in Priestly Formation, and one student was noted for “Special Program Completion.”

Fifteen SHST graduates will be ordained to the priesthood this spring. They represent the dioceses and archdioceses of Cheyenne, Milwaukee, Louisville, Springfield, Belleville, Fort Worth, Jefferson City and Portland, as well as the religious community of the Conventual Franciscans.

The May session begins on May 14.

National board meets at SCJ conference center

Br. Ray Kozuch, SCJ, vice president of the Religious Brothers Conference, hosted the spring meeting of the RBC board this past weekend. Six board members attended the meeting and spent the weekend as guests of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. The board held its meetings at the Provincial Conference Center across from SHML.

Hello from the Holy Land

As a part of his sabbatical, Fr. Tim Gray, SCJ, is in the Holy Land. He writes: “Here I am in Jerusalem.  I’ve been here a week and it has been a fascinating trip. During my life I have traveled quite a bit, and have even gotten used to living in two cultures, but this is so much more than that.  Three cultures, three religions, the whole political reality here, and 3,000 years of history.  It is dizzying. I’m thinking I’m too old to be challenged in so many ways! I will be thinking and praying about this trip for a long time.

“The group I’m traveling with is wonderful; not too big and very interesting.  We do a lot of praying and meditating at the holy sites.  We are spending a lot of time with the Christians who still live in this area and are being forced out, caught in the conflict between Israeli and Muslim forces.  We will go up to Galilee on Thursday.”

The importance of working as a team

“The most important thing is to learn to work as a team,” said Fr. Aquilino Mielgo Domínguez, SCJ, general treasurer. “That’s exactly what I have stressed all during the course. That’s how I see the Gospel of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. If you work together, it works, you hold things in common and they multiply. If you work alone, you are doomed to failure.”

The course that Fr. Aquilino referred to was the recently completed nine-month treasurers’ workshop for SCJs who currently are, or may in the future serve in finance. Most of the approximately 20 men who took part in it represented SCJ locations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the “emerging powers” of the congregation, as Fr. Aquilino refers to them.

The Generalate’s website posted an extensive interview with Fr. Aquilino in which he talks not only about the course, but about the role of treasurers.

“My first idea of a treasurer was of a confrere who made the budget, shopped, and paid the bills. I learned that this is a very narrow view,” he said. “A treasurer does not only administer goods. He must also look for economic resources. Above all, he must be a person who knows what it means to be religious – all the better if he is also technically prepared – but a Minister of Health does not have to be a doctor. He must be a person who has clear ideas and is able to work in a team.”

Click here to read the full article

SCJ named dean at Catholic University of Louvain

On May 4 the Theology Department of the Catholic University of Louvain named Fr. Joseph Famerée, SCJ, to be its next dean. The university, near Brussels, goes back to the 15th century and offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs; it is also one of the more renowned research faculties in Europe. It has several sites outside of the Brussels area. The theology department grants pontifical degrees.

“This is for us a great joy,” writes Fr. Jean-Jacques Flammang, SCJ, the provincial superior of the Franco European Province, of which Fr. Joseph is a member.

May CMSM J/P Alert

The latest issue of the CMSM J/P Alert is available. Among the topics highlighted this month is child labor.

“There are 400 million children living in conditions of slavery in the world today,” states the CMSM newsletter. “International missionary organizations and NGOs have denounced this on the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labor which is celebrated on 16 April. Many of these children work manufacturing goods which are then sold to Europe and the West in general.

“Vatican news agency Fides reported that the Spanish Confederation of Religious (CONFER) has created a map of the various locations throughout the world where the phenomenon is most widespread and in its communiqué, highlighted that ‘this slavery becomes indirectly part of our daily lives as the bananas we eat and the coffee we drink could have been produced by the sweat and toil of Latin American and African children,’ states the confederation. ‘It could also be that the rugs we walk on may have been woven by little Pakistani slaves; curtains, tops, jewelry and so many other things could be the fruit of the illegal or forced work of Indian children.’”

Click here to read the article in full, as well as the rest of the Alert.

Provincial’s time

Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, remains in the Milwaukee area through the month. May 30-31 he has council meetings.

Upcoming meetings and events:

May 15: Mass for the Anointing of the Sick, SHM/SHST (1 p.m.)
May 30-31: Provincial Council Meeting (budgets)
June 15: Feast of the Sacred Heart (11 a.m.)
June 28: Provincial Council Meeting (conference call re: formation)
July 3-4: Provincialate Offices closed for Independence Day.
July 9-12: Province Assembly, Hales Corners
July 16-21: General Conference, Neustadt, Germany
July 23-25: SCJ Major Superiors Meeting, Neustadt, Germany
October 12: Dedication of Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake

2013:
April 8-9: Mission Education Conference, St. Joseph’s Indian School
Week of June 3: Province Election Assembly.