THE NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF March 12, 2007...
Provincial’s time Fr. MacDonald starts the week in St. Louis, where he is attending a regional CMSM meeting and visiting with local SCJs. Next week, he has council meetings. Please remember… Fr. Tom Westhoven, who continues to be treated at a Sioux Falls Hospital for pneumonia and complications from diabetes. He came out of sedation at the end of last week and moved out of intensive care. However, on Sunday, March 11, he had a set-back that required a move back to ICU. He was having difficulty breathing, so he was reconnected to a ventilator. His vital signs were good but there is much concern regarding his lungs. Fr. Howard Melzer, who is moving –– at least for a period of time — to an assisted living facility this week. After experiencing difficulties at Villa Maria, he was hospitalized last week. He will be at Clement Manor in the Milwaukee area. Fr. Chuck Wonch, who was hospitalized last week with a chest infection. As of Sunday evening (March 11) he was still in the hospital, but was said to be doing much better. Herbert Willis, 88, the older brother and last surviving sibling of Br. Jim Willis, who died Saturday, March 10. DHS alum Frank Dolezal, a 1973 graduate of Divine Heart Seminary, stopped to visit at the Provincialate Offices last week. Frank lives and works near Milwaukee and says that he would love to reconnect with former classmates. His e-mail: fdolezal@wi.rr.com. Update Fr. Kevin McInnis has moved to a new room at St. Camillus: 2245. Hello from SA On sabbatical in South Africa, Fr. Jan de Jong writes with an update: “It has been over a month since I arrived in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. I am living here in a community of 19 SCJs. Fr. Zolile is the superior and Frs. Innocent Mabeka and Sandro Capoferri are the two formators. There are 15 SCJ scholastics who study philosophy or theology at St. Joseph’s Institute of Theology in Cedara. Together, we represent 10 countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Congo, Cameroon, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Lesoto, Italy and USA-Netherlands (me). We are a truly international community. I am providing here an avuncular presence and am well taken care of as a senior SCJ! “At Cedara I teach a course in Fundamental Moral Theology to the first-year theologians. There are 28 in the class. It is a lively group that asks good questions. On Wednesdays I also supervise a group of eight students who are doing hospital visitation. I am using my supervisory skills again! In the long weekends I am free to read, study, write and travel. “Last Saturday, Fr. Charles Brown, who lives in Hilton, and I drove to Durban. We visited a store of African art, walked around the famous beaches of Durban and enjoyed a leisurely luncheon along the Indian Ocean. The weather was perfect. All in all it was lovely day “I am enjoying my time here, although I miss my friends in the United States. “We had some hot days here a few weeks ago. But now we have pleasant temperatures as we slowly move into the winter season. [South Africa’s seasons are opposite of those in the United States.] “I send you all my greetings and best wishes!” Schedule change The Fridge Notes will be published on Tuesday next week instead of Monday. This includes the web page. Of course, you can send news for the Fridge Notes at any time! To share news, contact Mary Gorski at marygorski@sbcglobal.net, or by calling 414-427-4266. Spring break Students at Sacred Heart School of Theology are on spring break this week. Founder’s anniversary March 14 is the 164th anniversary of the birth of Fr. Leo John Dehon, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. He was born on March 14, 1843. Mission intentions The Holy Father’s mission intention for March: Lay Formation –– that the training of catechists and lay people may be the constant concern of those responsible for young Christians.