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SCJ In The U.S.A

       Once they began their ministry among the Lakota tribes, the five missionaries quickly sized up the challenges confronting them and they decided to hold their own “pow-wow” to work out a strategy.  Regarding the situation on the reservation, they unanimously agreed that the vast distances and isolation were making it impossible for them to live together as a religious community;  a central common residence would be needed.  Furthermore, if their work among the Native Americans was to have long-term effects, a residential school would make a more lasting impact on their Christian formation than the “circuit rider” style of ministry that had been the norm up to then.  As for establishing the congregation in the United States, clearly the sparse population and limited resources of South Dakota made it an unsuitable location for getting started;  they would have to go east, where both the Catholic population and educational opportunities were in greater supply.  As an answer to this last concern, these pioneering SCJs built a complete seminary system in the Midwest –– high school, novitiate, and programs for philosophical and theological studies –– within ten years.

       The congregation was growing in the United States, yet  ministry on the reservation was constantly beset by social misfortune, personal tragedy, and natural disasters.  However, through the fidelity and perseverance of the missionaries the Catholic church has become a beacon of hope for the people who eke out a living in the hardscrabble conditions of the South Dakota prairie.  In 1927, Saint Joseph’s Indian School opened in Chamberlain, and in the 75 years since then it has served as school and home where thousands of Native American children have been nurtured in an environment of personal respect and care.  Today the school campus also features the Akta Lakota Museum and Visitor Center where Lakota heritage is preserved and handed on.

       From Saint Mary’s Church in Lower Brule (the oldest continuing SCJ ministry in the United States), a pastoral team of SCJs, religious women and lay staff provide religious and social services to the Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations.  Further north in Eagle Butte, another pastoral team cares for nine churches and missions spread over two time zones.  In addition, SCJs have established a residential facility for battered women, as well as a recently opened center for at-risk teenagers. 

       In the early 1940s the congregation began ministering in northern Mississippi, an area where Catholics were few in number, and religious and racial intolerance ran deep.  Although much has changed in 60 years, the growing Catholic community is still decidedly a minority, and social inequities and poverty endure as persistent facts of life.  Currently, the congregation has responsibility for nine counties and, under an umbrella organization known as the Sacred Heart Southern Missions, provides a variety of religious, catechetical and social services, including the only two Catholic grade schools in the northern part of the state.  In the mid-1990s, SHSM built 37 low-cost houses and helped secure bank loans for first-time home owners.  Known as “Dehon Village,” the new housing not only provides families with a safer and more sanitary environment, it also gives them a sense of personal pride and satisfaction that they too can participate in the American dream.  Plans have already been drawn up for construction of additional units.

       Finding itself in the middle of the Bible Belt, one of the first outreach programs the congregation developed in Mississippi was the Apostolate of the Word.  It has been responsible for the distribution of literally millions of paperback Bibles, scripture commentaries and prayer books.  In 1995, the Apostolate of the Word expanded the scope of its ministry and produced a motion picture.  Staring Academy Award- winning actress Ellen Burstyn, “The Spitfire Grill” told a story of love and redemption set in a small New England town.  It won the prestigious Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996.  The movie is still available for rental from video stores.  Work has begun on the script for a second movie.

       In the 1970s the congregation began to respond to the growing presence of Hispanic immigrants entering the country.  Ministries were established in the area of Raymondville, Texas, just north of the Mexican border, and in major urban centers like Houston where many of the immigrants ultimately settle. 

       And while a new ministry was getting underway in Texas, one of the province’s established apostolates was being re-evaluated.  Responding to the increasing number of “older” men following a call to the priesthood, Sacred Heart School of Theology (the Wisconsin seminary where SCJ students traditionally received their ministerial training) started a program for mature men who were pursuing priesthood as a “second career.”  Now nationally recognized, SHST typically hosts 100 seminarians each semester from over 30 dioceses and religious communities.  One of the most successful and popular programs at the school has been English as a Second Language (ESL).  Each year dozens of priests, seminarians, and missionaries — many of them SCJs — come from around the world to learn English in preparation for their future ministry or to aid them in their studies.  Every member of the congregation is encouraged to learn a second language.

       While every SCJ, no matter what ministry he is engaged in, needs the daily nourishment of the Eucharist and personal prayer, as well as the encouragement of a supportive community, some members are more intensely involved in the spiritual dimension of our vocation.  Several priests and brothers are responsible for the formation of the seminarians and candidates, whom they guide in the on-going process of discerning their vocation.  One priest works full-time translating the works of Father Dehon and preparing articles and presentations on his life so that the original dream of the founder does not get lost amid the “busy-ness” of pastoral activities.  Other priests and brothers staff a retreat house where clergy, religious, and laity can come to refresh their soul and deepen their awareness of the presence of God. 

       Despite the pressing needs of a world hungry for love, Father Dehon believed that ministry must be based in prayer.  Prayer must precede action, action should follow prayer.  There are many ministries in the United States, but all are based in the love of the Sacred Heart and the nourishment of the Eucharist. 

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