st. margaret mary canonization centenaryst. margaret mary wrote a prayer to the sacred heart: “o...

Winter 2020

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

St. Margaret Mary Canonization Centenary

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BONDINGS | The 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

President and CEOPatrick O’Brien

Editorial DirectorElizabeth Martin Solsburg

Graphic DesignerJanna Stellwag

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM

We are celebrating the centenary year of St. Margaret Mary’s canonization, which occurred on May 13, 1920. She was the nun in the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial in France who was granted the mystical visions of the Sacred Heart from 1673-75.

The heart as a symbol was important to both St. Jane de Chantal and St. Francis de Sales when they founded the Visita-tion in 1610. It is fitting that one of their daughters received the revelations of Our Lord’s Sacred Heart.

Pope Francis has declared this a jubilee year in honor of the saint, an apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart. This has become probably the most important of the private devotions celebrating Christ’s great love for us.

St. Margaret Mary wrote a prayer to the Sacred Heart: “O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in you, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty. But I hope for all things from your goodness and bounty.” She prays to Jesus to have her name “written on your heart, for in you I desire to place all my happi-ness and glory, living and dying in your true service. Amen.”

St. Margaret Mary, pray for us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

– Editorial Staff

Thanks to Marie Marshall, Youth Minister at Immaculate Conception Church, Wilmington, N.C., for the image on p. 4. Window in Holy Rosary Chapel, Adrian, Mich., Dominican Sisters on p. 5.

3Winter 2020 | www.oblates.us

Message from the Oblate Provincial

Dear friend, In my annual appeal letter, I wrote about the efforts of our men

working in “mission territories.” As the Mission Procurator for the U.S. Provinces of the Oblates for the past three years, I have first-hand experience of the ministry our men accomplish in places that are severely challenged by poverty and all the consequences of that blight, places like Namibia, Benin, India, Brazil and more.

Our men work with great energy and opti-mism in situations that some of us would find hard to imagine. The overwhelming grace is the joy and love these men both live and elicit from those they serve. Like us Oblates in the United States, they are supported by the love and gifts that the people they serve sacrificially offer for the good of the Church and their communities.

Likewise, your support in our efforts in the U.S. are appreciated and needed as we continue to work in many ministries in our own country. We have Oblates in the Toledo-Detroit Province involved in everything from parishes, schools, prisons and retreats, to senior citizens and youth. In every case, there are lay people assisting and supporting us in this work. We couldn’t do it without you. Your financial support in our annual campaign will educate our seminarians, support our efforts in vocations, and accompany our senior priests and brothers in their need as they age.

On behalf of the Toledo-Detroit Province, thank you for your many and varied acts of generosity to us and our ministries. Through them you imitate Christ, improve lives, strengthen relationships and practice true devotion.

St. Francis de Sales once said that God cannot be outdone in generos-ity. Let us unite ourselves daily with the very source of life and love. Be assured of our prayers for you and your intentions.

With gratitude,Father Jack Loughran, OSFS, Provincial, Toledo-Detroit Oblate Province

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St. Margaret Mary: Apostle of Devotion to the Sacred

Heart of Jesus by Father Lewis Fiorelli, OSFS

ctober 16 is the feast day of St. Margaret Mary. The date this year is the beginning

of a Holy Year in honor of the centenary of her canonization (May 13, 1920). The Holy Year begins on Oct. 16, 2019 and ends on Oct. 17, 2020.

The Church’s First Friday devotions, with a focus on reparation and reception of the Eucharist, and its yearly feast in honor of the Sacred Heart find their origin in Jesus’ revelation of his Sacred Heart to this young Sister of the Visitation.

Pope Francis frequently speaks of the Christian life in the words of “encounter.” “Encounter” is a perfect description of what the young novice experienced. Jesus’ first words to her were words of a burning love for the whole human family and for her in particular. And he made it clear that his pierced heart was the preeminent symbol of that burning love as well as the appropriate sign of his great desire that his love be known, experienced and reciprocated by all who, like her, would personally encounter that divine love in their devotion to his Sacred Heart.

The very first of her many visions took place on Dec. 29, 1673, the feast of St. John the beloved disciple who at the Last Supper rested his head on the heart of Jesus. Such an intimate moment between the disciple “whom Jesus loved” and Jesus himself is itself a powerful parable of love revealed, experienced and reciprocated. Margaret Mary

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herself was to have that same intimate experience, that same shared encounter of mutual love.

One cannot fully appreciate the meaning of the revelation of the Sacred Heart without knowledge of its historical context. The Church was at that time in the dark and forbidding grip of Jansenism with its emphasis on the fear of God and eternal damnation.

With the revelation of his pierced heart, along with his words and gestures of tender love, Jesus chose to place the emphasis on his forgiving, persuasive and inviting love, while also calling for reparation regarding abuses against the Eucharist: infrequent reception by Catholics (Jansenism) and rejection of the sacrament by Protestants.

Our Church finds itself in another crisis today. As a result, many believers have become discouraged, disillusioned and cynical.

The Holy Year of St. Margaret Mary and its renewed emphasis on devotion to the Sacred Heart comes in the midst of the horrible abuse crisis. Is it a mere coincidence or an act of divine providence? For us in the Salesian family, there are no coincidences, only providence.

May God’s love show us the way back to the burning love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and, in time, reconciliation with his guilty, wounded, but repentant and healing Church.

Prayer IntentionsWe pray for victims of clergy sexual abuse and all forms of abuse,

and recommit ourselves to the safety and well-being of all God’s people, especially the young and the vulnerable.

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Camp De Sales Project by Father Ken McKenna, OSFS

t is both a calling and a privilege to use our time, gifts and resources to address the present-day needs of society and Church. Camp De Sales has engaged this Christian mission for more than 70 years as a children’s camp, outdoor edu-

cation provider, retreat center and site for Holley Institute’s deaf and deaf-blind programs. In 1989, Sister Karen Mohan, VHM, and Father Tom Helfrich, OSFS, sought to improve and enrich stu-dent leadership in Oblate and Visitation schools nationally. Their Salesian Leadership Program has operated at capacity ever since, training more than 1,500 student leaders since its inception. In 2015, St. Francis de Sales School, Toledo, Ohio, created orientation programs at camp to better welcome incoming 7th, 8th and 9th graders into the student body. Oblate associates and SFS upper-classmen serve as counselors and mentors in conjunction with the school’s Salesian Leadership Initiative.

The Oblates and St. Francis de

Sales School are committed to expanding camp’s residential ca-pacity to 100 and developing new youth leadership and evangeliza-

tion programs. Our commitment was inspired in part by the suc-cess of LifeTeen camps, Catholic Youth Camp in Centerburg, Ohio, and other similar Catholic youth

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organizations. The new programs aspire to awaken, empower and equip teens to live their Christian faith as future leaders of fami-lies, parishes, communities and businesses. They encourage Mass attendance, parish involvement, social consciousness, and living Gospel values in both our private and public lives.

It would be cost-prohibitive to start a project like this from scratch. But thanks to 1947 real-estate prices (the camp was purchased for $9,000), and 70 years of camp development, improvements and growth – the goal is within reach. Construct-ing the necessary cabin and

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bathroom facilities and renovating several existing buildings is esti-mated at $500,000. Fundraising has begun and I’ll be in touch!

We will run several pilot programs this summer and operate at full capacity in 2021. Many Catholic parishes and schools already have expressed interest, and we expect to serve thousands of students annually. The Oblate community is very excited to announce these new programs and deeply appreciate your past and future support of Camp De Sales.

For more information or to help, please contact Father Ken McKenna, OSFS, [email protected] or 517.414.0784.


Oblate Vocations Posters

Oblate Scholastic Jonathan Dick, currently studying at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., was asked by his novice director, Father Mike Newman, last year to work with him on vocations posters. Jonathan had

previous experience in graphic design. They created a series of posters with photos by Oblate Scholastic Joe Katarsky and others. They made these available for local directors in schools, churches, or other places where Oblates minister. The directors can use the posters as templates and easily substitute local photos that have more relevance for a particular group. The images can also be used for posters holy cards, photos for articles, or other ways that the vocation director desires.

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“Created for Love”by Father Eunan McDonnell, SDB

Book Review by Father Roland Calvert, OSFS

ather McDonnell is a Salesian of Don Bosco living in Ireland. The subtitle of his book is “Meditating on the Eucharist

with St. Francis de Sales.” He states that he wants to meditate on the mystery of God’s desire to enter into communion with us “which is consummated in the Eucharist.”

The author begins with De Sales’ teaching that “our heart was made to be the dwelling place of God.” De Sales believed that our spirituality must be a love affair with God. If it is anything less than that, our spirituality is deficient.

Father McDonnell says that in modern parlance, we are “hard wired” for God. There is a deep need for God within us. But there is a need in God also, dictated by love, to go out and embrace creation.

De Sales’ favorite book in the Hebrew Scriptures was the “Song of Songs.” In 1:2, the narrator says “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.” De Sales develops the kiss image by saying that the Incarnation is God’s kiss of the human race. And the fact that God took on human form becomes real and the kiss becomes real when we receive the Eucharist.

“Created for Love” is a small book reasonably priced ($10). It is a reader-friendly book that you can carry to a doctor’s office or on a plane or wherever you find yourself with time to spare. It is also an attractive book with many illustrations by Father Tom Ribits, OSFS from his series, “Seasons of the Heart.” And the author presents each reflection briefly without wasting words but in a substantial way.

Available from Embraced by God, 4421 Lower River Rd., Stella Niagara, N.Y. 14144. Phone: 1.800.782.2270.

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st. margaret mary canonization centenaryst. margaret mary wrote a prayer to the sacred heart: “o...

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