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Fall 2015

|V+J| Oblates of St. Francis de Sales | Toledo-Detroit Province

Five Oblate Novices Profess Vows

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BONDINGS | The Quarterly Oblate Magazine

Mission StatementThe mission of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales of the Toledo-Detroit Province is to “Live Jesus” according to Salesian spirituality in our personal and communal lives, and to share this spirituality

with the People of God.

BondingsBondings is published regularly for the members and friends of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, Toledo-Detroit Province. Its purpose is to enhance and develop the bond we have through our common faith in Jesus Christ and Salesian spirituality. Bondings is free of charge to anyone on request. Send your name and address (or that of a friend) to the Provincial

Office or call 419.724.9851.

Provincial Office2043 Parkside Blvd.

Toledo, OH 43607-1597419.724.9851

www.oblates.us

Editorial StaffFather Roland Calvert, OSFSFather Tom Helfrich, OSFS

FAITH Catholic1500 E. Saginaw St.Lansing, MI 48906

ChairmanRev. Dwight Ezop

President and CEOPatrick O’Brien

Editorial DirectorElizabeth Martin Solsburg

Graphic DesignerJanna StellwagCover: Newly professed Oblates (l to r): Chris Allen, Joe

Katarsky, Jim Cummins, Craig Irwin, Joseph McDaniel and in back: Father Michael Newman, Director of Novices.

Great JoyOur cover

story is about five Oblate novices professing their first vows, a cause for great joy in the two North Amer-ican provinces of Oblates.

October is an important litur-gical month with the feasts of Blessed Louis Brisson Oct. 10 and St. Margaret Mary Oct. 16. Bl. Bris-son is the co-founder of both the male and female congregations of Oblates and St. Margaret Mary is the Visitation Nun granted visions of the Sacred Heart.

Oct. 7th is the 140th anniversary of death (1875) of Venerable Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis, the Visitation Nun who co-found-ed the male Oblates with Father Brisson. Shortly before her death, she expressed great joy that the Oblates would exist and said, “It will be as though Our Lord were walking the earth again!”

St. Margaret Mary, Blessed Louis Brisson and Venerable Mother Chappuis, pray for us!

We are grateful to the photographers who contributed photos for this issue: Oblate Fa-thers Michael Murray and Tom Ribits; Oblate Scholastics Joe Katarsky and Craig Irwin; and James Allen for the photo on page 8.

– Editorial Staff

Mother Chappuis

3Fall 2015 | www.oblates.us

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Five Oblate Novices Profess Vowsby Father Mike Newman, OSFS

his past August was a wonderful month for the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. It was during this time that five nov-ices professed their first vows. Chris Allen, Jim Cummins and Joseph McDaniel took the vows of poverty, chastity and

obedience at Immaculate Conception Parish in Elkton, Md. on Aug. 1. Two weeks later, Craig Irwin and Joe Katarsky did the same at St. Mary of Good Counsel Parish in Adrian, Mich. on Aug. 15.

The five entered the Oblate novitiate in Brooklyn, Mich. in August 2014.

The novitiate is a one-year program required for all those entering a reli-gious order. Father Michael Newman, OSFS, the Director of Novices, de-scribes the novitiate in this way: “The novice works on two goals: falling in love with God and striving to respond fully to God in the present moment – this allows the Oblate to best minister, and be present and responsive to God’s people in the 21st century.”

The novitiate year is one of quiet reflection in which the novice deepens

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his relationship with God, his fellow novices and the Oblate community. The novice grows in love for God through daily prayer and meditation and in relationship with others by living in community. The novice studies Oblate history and Salesian spirituality and also engages in an apostolic activity once a week in order to integrate into ministry what he has learned.

Following profession, the new Oblates will move to Washington, D.C. where they will live at Brisson Hall with Father Jack Loughran, OSFS, the newly appointed Director of Formation. Chris, Joe, Craig, and Joseph will begin theological studies at the Catholic University of America in prepa-ration for ordination. Their classmate, Brother Jim Cummins, will live with them, but minister at Bethlehem House, a community that cares for persons with intellectual and physical disabilities.

The Oblates believe that formation continues throughout life. Our prayer is that we all continue to grow, both individually and communally, as we strive to “Live Jesus” in our world. Please pray that our newly pro-fessed do the same.

The Newly Professed Oblates

Joe Katarsky met the Oblates while a student at Lumen Christi High School in Jackson, Mich. Joe became an Oblate Associate after high school and while attending Michigan State University. He worked for the Michi-gan Department of Natural Resources for several years as a park ranger. In


commenting on the novitiate Joe said, “Overall the novitiate has been one of the best years of my life. I have really grown in knowing my-self and that I must accept and love my flaws instead of running away from them.”

Craig Irwin is from Toledo, Ohio.

He attended St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo and the Uni-versity of Dayton where he received a BA in religious studies in 2007. Craig stated, “The year has taught me to be more flexible especially when it comes to the way people live and when what they believe may be different from what I believe. My ministry has shown me the world isn’t perfect and that few people fit into the bubble of the way things ‘ought to be.’”

Chris Allen is a graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School and Chestnut

Hill College in Philadelphia. Chris first met the Oblates at Our Mother of Consolation Parish, where he often served Mass and volunteered to help Father Bob Bazzoli, OSFS with various parish maintenance projects. Fol-lowing his graduation from college, Chris began the postulancy program by enrolling in philosophy studies at the Catholic University of America before entering the novitiate.

Jim Cummins, originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., has spent most of his

life in the Washington, D.C., area where he worked in television news and video production. In the fall of 1995, Jim had a conversion experience when he made the “Ignatian Spiritual Exercises” at Holy Trinity Parish in Georgetown. He will be an Oblate Brother. In commenting on his journey Jim said, “I decided it was time to make a drastic change in my life and I wanted to start doing God’s work and not my own.”

Joseph McDaniel, originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, met the Oblates at DeSales University. At DSU, Joe majored in philosophy and history, and assisted in various roles in campus ministry with Mrs. Maggie Riggins and Father Tim McIntire, OSFS. He also was a founding member and leader of the university’s Men’s Spirituality and Service Group. Joe credits his own vocation to the Oblates he met at DSU, saying: “I have come to learn about Salesian spirituality and found that it has a great per-sonal resonance with me and has much to give to the Church today.”

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2015 Assembly

Group photo of Toledo-Detroit Oblates taken June 25, 2015.

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AStatue Dedicated at Holley

Institute Family Villagestatue of St. Francis de Sales was added on Aug. 23, 2015 to the Holley Institute Family Village on the site of the former Camp De Sales in Brooklyn, Mich. The idea for the statue came from Father Paul Grehl, OSFS, who

worked with the Family Village for 23 years until his recent death. He also served as its financial director for a number of years. After Father Paul’s death, the decision was made to dedicate the statue to him.

Ardis Gardella, President of the Holley Institute, stated: “Donors are not only those who give financial assis-tance – some of them give themselves in service, advice and support.” So when the statue was dedicated, it hon-ored both St. Francis de Sales as patron of the deaf, and Father Grehl for his dedicated service to the Family Village. The statue was unveiled by Father Paul’s classmate, Father Paul Ruddy, OSFS, and his good friend, Father Alan Zobler, OSFS. The Pro-vincial of the Toledo-Detroit Oblates, Father Ken McKenna, OSFS, celebrated Mass prior to the dedication and of-fered a blessing for the statue. St. Fran-cis de Sales (1567-1622) had a deaf servant named Martin and devised sign language in order to communicate with him and teach him catechism. For this reason, Francis was declared patron of the deaf. The Holley Institute Family Village serves deaf, deaf/blind and hard of hearing children, adults and their families. They partner with the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales who assist in the work.


Letting Go, Hanging On by Father John L. Graden, OSFS

Book Review by Father Roland Calvert, OSFS

he subtitle of this book is “A Guide for the Spiritual Journey.” Early in the book the author notes, “You are surrounded by many loves from which to choose.” The book is a series of discussions,

reflection questions and activities helping us choose our loves wisely. The format of the book makes it ideal for a self-retreat or for discussion groups.

One of the strengths of the book is the use of many personal examples from Father John’s own life. In the opening discussion on attachments and detachments, he writes of his bypass surgery. The doctors found that there were scar tissue adhesions of the heart, the result of chemotherapy and radiation from a previous bout with cancer. The heart was literally attached to the tissue around it and had to be released for the operation to be successful. When he uses the phrase “attachments of the heart” afterwards, the reader has a very vivid image of what he means.

In the twelve chapters that follow, the topics are down-to-earth discus-sions about our ordinary lives (identity, friendship, sexuality, prayer, and so on). One particularly helpful chapter is “Spirituality of the Present Mo-ment,” which is a very Salesian theme. The present moment is a precious gift from God that we can squander by spending too much time nostal-gically in the past or obsessing about the future. This leads to the final chapter on “Holy Indifference.” Indifference is not about a lack of caring but rather “making the best of what happens” because we discern God’s presence in all our present moments. When we live this way, we already experience Heaven because God is so real for us.

Wendy Wright in her foreword describes Salesian spirituality as “inspired common sense.” De Sales used images and stories that helped ordinary people of his time to give their hearts to God. Father Graden continues that tradition, she notes, speaking “in an identifiably Salesian idiom that is inviting and accessible to readers today.” Letting Go, Hanging On is indeed a very useful guide for the spiritual journey that will help us give our hearts more completely to the Divine Lover.

Letting Go, Hanging On is available from Embraced by God (email: [email protected] or telephone 1.800.782.2270).

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Photos from the Oblate Assembly 2015 Photographer: Fr. Tom Ribits, OSFS

Brother Fred Chiappone

Father Roland Calvert


Photos from the Oblate Assembly 2015 Photographer: Fr. Tom Ribits, OSFS

Brother Al Durant (l) and Scholastic Joe Katarsky

Fathers Joe (l) and Mike Newman

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