Greg Schill ordained

On Saturday, November 20, Greg Schill was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Donald Kettler of the Diocese of Fairbanks.  Also ordained was Clint Landry, a seminarian at Sacred Heart School of Theology, who is preparing for diocesan priesthood in Fairbanks.

The ordinations took place at Sacred Heart Monastery/School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis.

Dn. Greg, 34, is originally from San Antonio, Texas.  Before entering candidacy with the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 2003, he served in the U.S Marine Corps for four years.  Following an honorable discharge, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.  In May, Dn. Greg received his Master’s of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.

“The welcoming spirit and presence of the SCJs attracted me to the Priests of the Sacred Heart,” said Dn. Greg. “The SCJs’ emphasis on reaching out to the poor and marginalized has also given me the spirit and inspiration to become an SCJ.”

Dn. Greg professed his first vows in 2006.  In 2008, he completed a CPE Program (Clinical Pastoral Education) and did his pastoral year in northern Mississippi.  During the past summer he, and Dn. Duy Nguyen spent two months in Argentina doing an intensive Spanish language course.

As a student in Chicago, Dn. Greg was active with Chicago Lighthouse, an organization that assists people who are visually impaired.  In 2009 he was named “Volunteer of the Year.”

On October 2, Dn. Greg made his final profession of vows, also at Sacred Heart.  He now joins the pastoral team at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Franklin, Wis., that includes Fr. Yvon Sheehy (pastor), Fr. Thi Pham and Fr. Bob Naglich.

Click here to view photos from the ceremony.

Prayer Cards

We have extra prayer cards from funerals of the following SCJs:  Fr. George Balderrama, Fr. Anthony Kelly, Fr. Ken Mitchell and Fr. Dermot Twomey.  If you would like to have one or more copies, please contact Mary Gorski.

Also available

Last week the Provincialate received ten copies of La Vita di Unione e La Vita Comunitaria.  This is Volume #54 from the Centro Generale Studi SCJ in Rome.  If you requested copy of this, please contact Br. Frank Presto (provsec@poshusa.org or 414-427-4263).  A reminder, the articles are not in English.

Personnel Directory updates

Br. Frank Presto writes that “initially I planned to wait until we moved into the new building before updating the Province Personnel Directory.  Of course, I was anticipating that we would occupy the new building on or about January 1, 2011.  But that is not the case.

“So, we plan to update and print the 2011 version of the Personnel Directory in the near future.  Now is the time to ensure that your information is correct and current. Please look at your entries.  If you see that anything needs to be corrected or amended, contact Kassandra Huerta (provadm@poshusa.org or 414-427-4261) by December 3, 2010.”

Br. Frank adds his thanks for assistance with the annual project.

Please remember

Fr. Michel Grogan, a member of the European Francophone Province, died November 17.  He was born in 1924, professed in 1945 and ordained in 1952.

Also, in many areas of the congregation November 26 is celebrated as “SCJ Memorial Day.”  It was on November 26 that Bishop Joseph Wittebols, an SCJ bishop in Congo, was martyred in Congo.  He was one of 28 SCJs who died during the Congolese Simba revolution.  Their deaths took place between November 3-27, 1964.

In 1960 the Belgian Congo became an independent nation; a year later the country fell into civil war. In August, 1964, the city of Wamba fell to the Simba rebels. Bishop Wittebols and other SCJs had to endure a forced march barefoot accompanied by constant beatings. The bishop died from his beatings, as did other SCJs.  Some were also shot.

In the United States SCJ Memorial Day is commemorated in conjunction with All Souls Day.

Calendar reminder

As noted last week, on January 15 there will be a celebration of the SCJs’ 42 years of ministry in Willacy and Hidalgo Counties in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.   Fr. Tom Cassidy, provincial superior, will be among the concelebrants at a special 10:30 liturgy;  Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville is tentatively scheduled to preside.

The Diocese of Brownsville will assume ministry of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as well as the other Valley parishes for which the SCJs have responsibility, on February 2.

If you have questions about the celebration, please contact Fr. Richard MacDonald.

Happy birthday!

Those celebrating birthdays in December include:  Fr. Chuck Wonch (64) on Dec. 5, Fr. John Strittmatter (75) on Dec. 6, Fr. Gary Lantz (75) on Dec. 8, Br. Mike Fette (59) on Dec. 12, and Br. Clay Diaz (46) on Dec. 19.  Happy birthday!!

Holiday hours

The Provincialate Office will be closed Thursday and Friday this week (November 25-26) for Thanksgiving.  Next month, the office will be closed December 24 and 27 for Christmas, and December 31 for New Year’s Eve.

Calendar updates

December 14-15: Provincial Council Meeting
January 11-12: Provincial Council meeting
January 15: Celebration of SCJ ministry in the Rio Grande Valley (OLG Raymondville)
February 17-18: Provincial Council meeting
March 29-30: Provincial Council meeting
May 9-11: Provincial Council meeting (budgets)
May 23-24: North American councils meeting (Chicago)
Week of July 11: Province Assembly, Hales Corners, Wis.

Provincial’s time

After a weekend that included Dn. Greg Schill’s ordination, and watching his Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, Fr. Tom Cassidy heads to Florida today.  He will do a visitation at Pinellas Park and spend Thanksgiving with family. Fr. Cassidy remains out of town for most of the next few weeks with visits to Mississippi, Raymondville and Houston.