One Heart, One Spirit

Transcription

1 One Heart, One Spirit CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Newsletter for the Province of the United States Provincial Message: Rev. Jeffrey T. Duaime, C.S.Sp. Volume No. XL, No. 6 November-December 2012 Whew!! The elections are over and I bet we all thought things would begin to get back to normal. I am not sure what is normal for you, but for me it still means a very hectic schedule as time does not seem to slow down for anything or anyone. It is one of my favorite times of the year though as there is much excitement as the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays become the driving force of most of our activities. If you visit Spiritan Hall in Bensalem during these months, you will discover a little bit of a Wonderland Paradise as the local Spiritan community is decorated ten times better than any Macy s store window at Christmas time. It is a little taste of the glory and beauty of the kingdom as the angels proclaim and rejoice in the great news that Christ the child is born! Seriously, a visit to Spiritan Hall during the holidays is well worth the time and effort as you will truly be amazed at the creative energy of our one and only Chris McDermott who outdoes himself each year with a unique and magnificent display of Christmas glory (a glimpse in photo at right). At school, I am encouraged and delighted to see so many students and a lot of our families taken up with the Christmas spirit. The talented HGP Chorus will be bringing joy and finely tuned music to several nursing homes during this Christmas season, the Student Government will be sponsoring the annual Charity Ball to raise funds to support local agencies in addition to our Spiritan missions. The Fathers Association is gearing up for the Christmas Blessing program a family service project to bring the joy of the holidays to other families in need. Decorated shoeboxes donated by the Mothers Guild for the homeless are overflowing in the chapel. I marvel at the tremendous sense of giving by our Holy Ghost families and at the commitment of Holy Ghost students to reach out and share freely what they have received. God s presence is evident in so many ways, and it reminds me how blessed I am to be part of such a talented and caring community. This type of busy-ness and endless activity is exactly the business that we should be about! Spiritans of course are committed to being about this business of proclaiming the Good News of God s great love for the world year round. This Good News is worth spending our lives and giving all that we have to let everyone who has ears (continued at bottom of p. 2)

2 A Time of Rejoicing! The season beckons us to once again contemplate something truly astonishing. In the stillness, as the earth is falling asleep for the winter comes a message, spoken with a single word. Emmanuel. Our gaze should be fixed on Emmanuel. We hold in our hands during these weeks of Advent the treasure of all treasures. The season beckons us to once again contemplate something truly astonishing. It will pass us by if we are not careful. In the stillness, as the earth is falling asleep for the winter comes a message, spoken with a single word. God is with us. GOD is with us. GOD is with us. Emmanuel. This is the thing that makes Christianity unique. This is what makes the Christian faith more than a philosophy or a legend. It s what makes it the real deal. This is what renders every other belief in every other false god meaningless and a sham. Jesus came. He shed His robe of glory and put on vulnerable flesh. He became one of us, clothed in our skin and bones and blood and sweat and tears. He blessed and restored our humanity by inhabiting it Himself and closed the gap between mortal and immortal. By taking that mortal flesh to the cross to shed His precious and perfect blood, He bridged the impassable chasm between us and our Creator. Our God has done the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the impossible, the radical, and the incredible. He came, and He remains. He is with us still. Rejoice! There is no distance between us and our God. We do not stand outside His door weeping, begging for a glance from His furrowed brow, or a crumb from His table. He has demolished the wall between us and carried us inside His house to enjoy everything He has, including the food of Himself. There is none beside Him. Only Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. Nothing in this world is more deserving of our attention, especially this season. Whatever else may be going on, our gaze should be fixed on Emmanuel. We should be looking expectantly at that manger with grateful hearts. We not only can rejoice, we must rejoice. Of course, life will go on, and our obligations must be met. Work must be done and should be done. Important current issues must be dealt with and not ignored. But heaven forbid we blow past Advent in our haste, worry and stress, and fail to open our minds and our hearts each day to the miracle of Emmanuel. It is an astounding reality our language cannot articulate. It is the summation of our every need; the complete expression of God s desire. The Word made flesh. It s the only word the world needs to hear. Emmanuel ~ God is with us! Rejoice! Edited from an Advent Reflection at Catholic Online Provincial Message: Rev. Jeffrey T. Duaime, C.S.Sp. (continued from front cover) know that our savior is among us. The work that we do in planning pastoral council meetings, teaching class, preparing a homily, or sitting through a committee meeting is worth every moment. I rejoice and give thanks to God for the opportunity to be about the business of not only proclaiming the reign of God but living and sharing God s love in all that we do. My prayer for each of us during this sacred time is that we might continue to be filled with awe at the many wonders of God s loving presence in our lives, and that we might never tire of sharing the Good News that we have received. 2

3 I am thankful to God and you, members of the U.S.A. province, for your prayers and support for our novitiate in Vietnam. I also thank the members of our last provincial council for giving me an opportunity to be back home to serve our brothers. It has been a blessing for me and you re all appreciated. A REFLECTION OF THANKSGIVING Always thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 Nhien and I have been in Vietnam since July 14, 2012 and time seems to be passing by very quickly since we started the Novitiate Year on August 1, We have 7 Vietnamese novices and Nhien is one of them. They are Joseph Vu, Michael Vinh, Joseph Sinh, Paul Hoang, Joseph Tien, Peter Cua and Michael Nhien. There are 4 Spiritans who are working in Vietnam at the present: Frs. Patrick Palmer, the Vietnam community Superior, from Ireland; Frederic Rossignol, Postulant Formation director, from Belgium; Trinh Le, Aspirant Formation director; and Quoc Le, Vocation director and community Bursar, both from the United States. Besides the novices there are 10 aspirants and 6 postulants who are in formation. Brandon with novices We started the Novitiate Year on a beautiful day with an opening Mass. There were four confreres and a couple of aspirants celebrating with us, the rest of them were still on summer break. The novices were given an inspired homily by the community Superior, Fr. Patrick Palmer. He thanked God for the blessings and after he explained what the novitiate was about, he reminded us that this is the L-R: Frs. Trinh, Brandon, Patrick, Frederic and Quoc first Spiritan novitiate opened in Vietnam where the Spiritans have been after only 5 years. After the homily the novices were prayed over and accepted into the Spiritan novitiate, the class of , by Fr. Patrick. Following the Mass we took some pictures and there was a small reception. It seemed that everyone was filled with joy in the Holy Spirit. I will share with you some activities happening in the novitiate. We start each new day with morning prayer at 5:30 a.m., then a half hour of meditation, followed by Mass. We end the day with Night Prayer and Office of Readings at 8:00 p.m. Throughout the day there are 2 classes given either by me or other confreres who are able to come one or two days a week from Monday to Friday. We focus the classes 3 (continued on next page)

4 A REFLECTION OF THANKSGIVING (continued) on the developments of Spiritual Life: personal and community prayers, Religious Life, Community Life, the history of the Congregation, and especially the Spiritan Rule of Life. Twice a week we have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, praying for vocations and benefactors. The novices also spend time doing manual labor and playing sports. On pastoral work, each Saturday afternoon the novices divide into two groups visiting Thien Phuoc Center, where they serve and care for challenged children; and Mai Hoa Center, a home for HIV/AIDs patients, where novices share the Sunday Gospel with children and organize different activities for them. Nhien visiting children in one of the centers On the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 2012, we celebrated the Eucharist outdoors at the Shrine of Our Lady in our meditation garden. it was the first time we celebrated mass there. We thanked God for her intercession and protection and we asked her to continue to intercede for us. On October 2, 2012, the Feast of one of our Founders, Fr. Poullart des Places, the building was blessed by Bishop Peter Tu Dinh Tran, former Bishop of Phu Cuong diocese. It was built about 6 years ago. (Pic.#5), Bishop Peter Tu Dinh Tran and the concelebrants) Once again, thank you for your continued prayers and I m sorry for taking so long to share with you what is going on with Nhien and I in Vietnam. I ask you please to continue to keep Shrine of Our Lady in meditation garden us in your daily prayers as we do the same for you. With One Heart in the Holy Spirit, Brandon Bay Nguyen, CSSp Novice Director Bishop Peter Tu Dinh Tran and the concelebrants 4

5 Spiritans in Houston called to be companions. by Fr. Joseph L. Nguyen, C.S.Sp. On Friday, November 16, 2012, I was very thankful of God s blessing that came in five unique wonderful gifts to our local Spiritan community in Houston. Five young men came together with four Spiritans for a good Come and Explore evening of prayer, supper and sharing at our community house on 1700 West Alabama. Ignatio Alvarado, who is a parishioner from St. Benedict the Abbott parish, joined Jose Madrid, Brian Moon, Joseph T. Nguyen and Casto Reyes, students from the University of Houston, to share the gift of new friendships. Besides getting to know one another and share their interests, they were inspired by the stories of the Spiritan charisms and various overseas and at-home missions and ministries shared enthusiastically by Frs. Michael Begley, Andy Do, Michael Grey and myself. That Spirit-filled evening, I believe, is one of the creative ways of inviting and cultivating relationships for vocations through the gift of friendship. This is the beginning of a great ministerial opportunity that is being formed by the Holy Spirit for our future particularly in our Houston area. I am hopeful that this will continue at least twice a year. Can this be a renewal of the gift of vocations? Yes, it has to be and more. I believe that we are called to a special ministry of companionship, the unique way of building healthy friendships, for this is Jesus way. Jesus called friends, companions to journey with him, the disciples, and he still calls us and others to follow him and be his companions. He also shares with us the Holy Spirit, who is the Helper, and who is called in the original Greek of the New Testament the Parakletos, which means one called to our side to help us, like a friend. As Spiritans we are reminded of our special love and devotion to the Holy Spirit to accompany young men, to be at their side, especially in helping them to discern their callings. This call is the renewed way of being like our founder, Fr. Claude Poullart Des Places, to be moved to help the homeless boys and chimney sweeps. As the Holy Spirit opened Des Places eyes and heart to assemble a small group of impoverished young men to form a community on Pentecost of 1703, may the Holy Spirit renew this grace upon us today to gather, to support and to accompany young men who come to us for assistance in their vocational journeys. Just as food is needed for human life, so are companions. The word companions comes from two Latin words: com, meaning with, and panis, meaning bread. Jesus, the Bread of Life, summed up his relationship with his disciples in this way: I no longer call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends. (John 15:15) Let us exchange our gift of companionship as we receive many gifts of friendship. (continued next page) 5

6 Spiritans in Houston called to be companions (continued) The gift of true friendship is hard to find. Our society today tends to not appreciate the distinctiveness of true friendship. My ministry in serving college students and young adults at the University of Houston has given me good insight that young people struggle with what they might call almost anyone a friend when they mean a familiar acquaintance. Especially alarming is the Internet social networking, like Facebook, where young adults collects friends, often a huge number of such friends. Facebook and other social media can be beneficial, but true friendship demands much more such as trust, intimacy and communication that can only be sustained in a few good relationships deserving to be called true friendship. Jesus teaches the test of true friendship. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) This is the same test for us in our Spiritan Vocation Ministry. Let us serve tirelessly to show great love and build lasting true friendship in our ministry especially with young people. They are hungry for true companions. Who will satisfy their hunger? Convocation Garners Praise In spite of travel disruptions connected to Hurricane Sandy, some 300 vocation ministers and other leaders in religious life gathered in Plano, Texas on November 1-5, 2012 for NRVC s biennial convocation. Early feedback on the gathering has been very positive. The photos below give a flavor of what took place. Please note that the keynote addresses will be published in the Winter edition of Horizon, due out in February Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSSR, delivered a keynote address and also conducted a question-answer session. Prayer and worship were a central part of the convocation. Pictured here are Father Freddy Washington, CSSp and Father Paul Deutsch, SJ 6

7 Making Thanksgiving for Others! Over the river and through the woods is how many people travel on the Thanksgiving Holiday! But on November 8 th, that is how Fr. Richard LeClair traveled to deliver checks to pay for turkey dinners for the less fortunate! First stop was in Mt. Lebanon at St. Winifred s food pantry. He was able to donate $1500. to those families that depend on that donation center. Next, he traveled back to Bethel Park to the PNC Bank to deliver another check for $1500. With that donation, PNC doubled the amount, so they gave $3000. to the KDKA Turkey Fund in the name of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit! With the generosity of many people who give donations to Fr.LeClair s food drive, we were able to put 225 turkeys in the hands of 225 families for their holiday tables. There also was enough money to provide 150 entire Thanksgiving dinners (turkeys plus all those wonderful side dishes!) to most of those families! All of us at Libermann Hall were able to enjoy our holiday knowing that we had made someone s Thanksgiving Dinner become a reality! We are thankful that we have the opportunity to help someone else!! Before the month ended, we also were able to make a large donation of food and backpacks to the St. Vincent de Paul organization. On Thursday, Nov.ember 29 th the truck from St. Vincent de Paul came to the Spiritan Center to pick up about $500 in nonperishable foods and the backpacks. With the generosity of the retired priests, staff members, attendees at Sunday Mass and friends, we will be able to continue this worthwhile project! Thank You!!! With some of the staff from PNC Bank At St. Winifred s Food Pantry Residents of Libermann Hall with donations 7

8 From the Archives... St. Katharine Drexel to Fr. James Hyland, C.S.Sp What a joy to discover in our files a personal typed letter from St. Katharine to a Spiritan confrere: July 12, 1932 Dear Reverend Father, Please receive my warmest congratulations that Miss Lillian Chenier, one of your graduates from the Teacher s Training School (a.k.a. Holy Ghost School, Opelousas), received the prize for highest average (i.e. from the State Board of Education to the highest in Louisiana!) Assuring you that I am happy with you in the marked success of the School at Opelousas, and begging God to continue to bless it and its teachers, its Pastor, believe me, dear Father Very sincerely in Our Lord M.M. Katharine (Editor s note: in the complete text she mistyped first as fists. There s hope for us all. She didn t have spell check.) 8

9 Our wishes for a very Happy Birthday to these Spiritans who celebrate birthdays during the months of November, December, January and February November 03 Fr. Tosello Giangiacomo 16 Fr. Brandon B. Nguyen 18 Fr. Binh T. Quach 20 Fr. Silvio A. D Ostilio 23 Fr. James H. Burnie 27 Bro. Michael E. Suazo December 05 Fr. Simon T. Nguyen 12 Fr. Simon Lobon 12 Fr. Thomas P. Tunney 14 Fr. Joshua Otusafo 18 Fr. Jeffrey T. Duaime 21 Fr. David T. Cottingham January 03 Fr. Donald S. Nesti 04 Fr. Wayne T. Epperley 10 Fr. Clement Uchendu 17 Fr. Arlindo Amaro 17 Fr. Gerald A. Kasule 20 Fr. John P. Skaj 27 Fr. Trinh Q. Le 31 Fr. Pierre L. Deglaire February 03 Fr. Philip D. Evanstock 06 Fr. Benoit K. Mukamba 08 Fr. Martin T. Vu 12 Fr. Timothy J. Hickey 16 Fr. Anthony J. Gittins 22 Fr. George J. Spangenberg 25 Fr. Joseph A. Seiter 26 Fr. James P. McCloskey Please make these changes to your Membership Directory Pg. C-12 & D-6: Fr. Wayne Epperley has been appointed Parochial Vicar to Old St. Mary s, 646 Monroe Ave., Detroit MI 48226, Office , Fax Pg. C-24: Fr. John Owusu-Achiaw s should read jowuzu1992@yahoo.uk 9

10 Being Remebered in Prayer Please join us in praying for those who are ill: Fr. Tosello Giangiacomo, CSSp, 92, who has worked in Puerto Rico for many years, and is now weak and in poor health. Fr. Girard J. Kohler Fr. Francis Kichak, surgery and rehab following a fall Mrs. Suazo, mother of Brother Michael Suazo, CSSp, who is hospitalized in CA following a stroke and for the recently deceased: Mrs. Anna Vang, mother of Fr. Trinh Le, CSSp, who passed away Nov. 24 in O mon, Can Tho City, Vietnam. She was in her 90 s. Congratulations and Best Wishes on the Anniversary of Ordination Father Vincent Stegman, C.S.Sp Years Ordained December 13, 1962 Father Christopher Promis, C.S.Sp Years Ordained November 24, 1972 Fr. Vincent Stegman May your unwavering fidelity and deep commitment to the Spiritan mission be rewarded a thousand times over and may you truly be blessed. Fr. Chris Promis June 2013 It s not too early to plan for next year! Please mark your calendars for the annual province retreat which will take place from June 3-7, 2013 at the St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center in Detroit. Fr. Robin Ryan, CP, a nationally renowned retreat director, will lead and guide us that week in reflection and prayer. It is very important that everyone be able to participate in this annual provincial gathering for spiritual renewal, updating and spending time with one another in prayer, reflection and fraternal support. 10

11 Missionary Cooperative Plan 2012 Our participation in the Missionary Cooperative Plan (MCP) remains robust. The 2012 MCP year is now winding down for both the Bethel Park and Houston offices. New applications to the Propagation of the Faith across the various Archdioceses and Dioceses have already been made for It is therefore an opportune time for us involved in the administration of the MCP system to thank all of you who so generously assisted in making appeals throughout the past year. We extend our heartfelt appreciation for your collaboration and support. During 2012, we collectively provided presenters for 85 assigned parishes in 34 Archdioceses and Dioceses across the US. These were spread as far west as San Diego and Auburn in CA, through St. Paul in MN and Little Rock in AR, north to Manchester in NH and Bridgeport in CT, and south to Savannah in GA, Brossard in LA and Victoria in Texas. Forty confreres and associates crossed the nation by plane, train, automobile and bus to share our story and plead our cause. Of these, 23 were drawn from the US Province with an additional 17 presenters from overseas circumscriptions. These included representatives from countries as varied as the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Nigeria (NE, NW & SE), Tanzania and Uganda. In doing so, a conservative estimate is that we addressed approximately 60,000 parishioners in this face to face manner. Sacred Heart Church in Broussard, LA A special word of thanks is due to Rose Stegman, Fr. Vince s sister, who has been a part of the MCP program for the past 12 years. And also to Dennis Mshomba, a Holy Ghost Prep School student, who was among our panel of presenters this year through the cooperation of the Archdiocese of Phila-delphia and the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish. Dennis s father, Richard, came to the US from Tanzania many years ago through the efforts of the late Bishop Dennis Durning, CSSp. The Mshomba family accompanied a group of Prep School students and staff including Chris McDermott, CSSp, on a recent trip to Tanzania. Moreover we want to thank Judi Arbes and Debbie Campos for their administrative and professional assistance. Michael Begley, CSSp, Girard Kohler, CSSp, and Joe Gaglione, CSSp November Pictured above are members of the Mshomba family and Fr. Chris McDermott at Bishop Durning s gravesite in Arusha, Tanzania

12 Peace on Earth! Christianity Confucianism Buddhism Judaism Islam Hindu Glory to God! We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat any people in other than brotherly and sisterly fashion, for all are created in God s image. from Nostra Aetate Congregation of the Holy Spirit 6230 Brush Run Road Bethel Park, PA Non-Profit Org U S Postage P A I D Pittsburgh, PA Permit #5673 In this issue Provincial Message 2 A Time of Rejoicing! 3-4 A Reflection of Thanksgiving 5-6 Spiritans in Houston called to be Companions 6 Convocation Garners Praise 7 Making Thanksgiving for Others 8 From the Archives... St. Katharine Drexel letter 9-10 Birthdays, Membership Directories 10 Prayer Requests, Anniversaries, Province Retreat Missionary Cooperative Plan Peace on Earth!