After lengthy delays, Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake opened its doors to our Senior priests and brothers in July of this year. Their smiling faces as they moved into their new home told the whole story – gratitude to God and to our benefactors for this marvelous gift.
Indeed, this new retirement home for the Priests of the Sacred Heart is a gift for these men who have served the Church for so many years. In home and foreign missions, teaching and counseling, they worked tirelessly to build up the Kingdom of God, spreading knowledge of and love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Their missionary activity continues to this day. Some of them provide part-time help in local parishes and nursing homes. All of them are engaged in the ministry of prayer – for their fellow Priests of the Sacred Heart throughout the world and for the intentions of our benefactors who have played such an important role in their lives and ministries.
In this issue of the Reign, we would like to share with you stories of some of our Senior religious who reside at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake.
Fr. Anthony Russo, SCJ
Fr. Tony came to the Priests of the Sacred Heart from Chicago in 1952 when he entered our minor seminary in Indiana. Five years later, on September 8, 1957, he professed his first vows in the community. After completing college with a degree in philosophy, he was assigned to teach in our minor seminary system. Then, in 1963, he was transferred to the International College of our religious community in Rome and studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Ordained in 1966, Fr. Tony’s first assignments were in the education and formation of seminarians. After that, he served in a variety of ministries, but mostly in parish work. His first parish assignment was in San Antonio. Then, after intensive study of Spanish, he went on to serve at our Lady of Guadalupe in Houston, a parish located in a working class area in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood.
This is a very large parish without borders, drawing parishioners from the entire Houston area. Fr. Tony recalls 1,700 baptisms in one year alone!
What initially attracted Fr. Tony to the SCJs was the idea of foreign missions. It is interesting to note that although he had served in many roles, he never ministered in one of our foreign missions. When asked about this, he said that there is more than enough good work that needed to be done in the United States.
Although he is 73 years old and formally “retired,” he is still very active. At least two weekends a month, he serves as an “Assisting Priest” at various local parishes, celebrating Mass, administering the Sacraments as needed and being on call. He rejoices in the fact that he doesn’t have to worry about the “business end” of the parish.
In his own modest way, Fr. Tony seems proudest of the efforts he made at consensus building wherever he served as parish priest, enabling the parishioners and staff to take over many of the functions of running a parish so that he could devote more time to sacramental duties.
Fr. Tony believes that being a parish priest means being there for families in time of need and helping them in difficult times. He mentioned that “grief is the other side of love.” This service in time of need allowed him to build relationships with families in the parishes in which he served.
If you ask Fr. Tony what is special about being a Priest of the Sacred Heart, he will say that he was moved by the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the concern of our founder for the poor and neglected. Another important part of his attraction to the Congregation was its international character and the “family style” of the community.
Fr. Michael Burke, SCJ
One of the first things you notice about Fr. Mike is how spiritual he is. The concept of spirituality is often hard to put into words, but after you spend some time with him you come to understand that he has an intense passion to bring the love of God to people – usually the poor and most needy.
Over the years, Fr. Mike has had many assignments: teacher, novice director, formation director and Provincial Superior. As he looks back over his life and various ministries, what he values most is the time he spent with people.
Fr. Mike explains that the Priests of the Sacred Heart is not a contemplative Congregation. Following the direction of its founder, Fr. Leo Dehon, SCJs seek to work with the poorest of the poor and in areas to which other groups may not venture. Our Congregation’s work with abandoned young women in Asia is one example of this kind of work.
Even though Fr. Mike is enjoying retirement after a lifetime of service, he is still very active. He just returned from a temporary assignment at a parish in Raymondville, Texas, one of the poorest areas in the United States. And he is eagerly awaiting his next assignment! He’s 74, still healthy and wants to serve God’s people.
Along the way, he has met many donors and knows that without their support, the Priests of the Sacred Heart could not do they work they do. He enjoys meeting our benefactors and always comes away from the meeting with a sense of gratitude.
Fr. Mike enjoyed his ministry as a formation director, assisting seminarians in developing a prayer life, keeping after their studies, and helping them to understand what it means to be a Priest of the Sacred Heart. When he compared
his work with students and working with the poor, he smiled and said that while the concerns of students were important, they were nothing compared to real life challenges such as suicide , alcohol abuse, and domestic violence. Over the years, he has dealt with them all.
Like Fr. Tony, he pointed out that our senior priests stay very active, serving as retreat masters, chaplains, and assisting parishes throughout the area. Many reach out to older persons who might be forgotten in nursing homes and other institutions.
Br. Peter Mankins, SCJ
Br. Peter is one of those people who has so much energy that you just feel better around him. When you walk with him, you have to rush – his stride is confident, purposeful, and fast. This may come from his daily fifty minute walk.
Recently retired at 82, Br. Peter’s entire ministry has been in formation – that is, supervising SCJ candidates and seminarians as they work their way through the education process that is part of becoming a brother or priest in the Congregation. He has been a spiritual guide or coach to many of the new members of our religious community.
He entered the SCJ minor seminary, but left after a few years. Like many others, he had trouble with languages like Latin, Greek, and German. This was a difficult time in his life because he remained drawn to a life of service to God.
Shortly after returning home to live with his mother and father, he was drafted into the Army and served in Korea for four years. Like many veterans, he really doesn’t want to talk about his time in the military. He simply did his duty.
After his military service, he got a good job, bought a home and then cared for his ailing father and mother. He even actively dated some girls, but did not really get serious with any of them. Throughout this time, he felt that something was missing in his life. He felt drawn to return to the SCJ community.
As is often the case, it was a major life change that motivated Br. Peter to contact the SCJs. In his particular instance, it was the death of his mother in 1961. He wrote to the Priests of the Sacred Heart and was immediately contacted by Fr. Justin Guiltnane, SCJ. Within a short time, he was accepted as a candidate into the program for religious brothers. He sold his home, quit his job, gave his car to his sister, and entered the SCJ formation program.
At first, he was uncomfortable. He was older than most of the other candidates, and had lived in the outside world. He even had to give up smoking! The time between high school and re-entering the Community had matured him. However, it was a tough transition back into religious life. Eventually, though, he rediscovered what had initially drawn him to the SCJ Community – the “friendliness of the guys” and the feeling the he was where God wanted him to be.
Upon profession of his vows in 1963, he was assigned to the minor seminary in Indiana, the very same place he had been a student fourteen years earlier. Because of his interest in athletics, he was assigned the task of Athletic Director. He was also asked to manage 4,000 chickens and milk the cows. It was quite an experience for a man from the south side of Chicago, but he did have that vow of obedience!
From there, Br. Peter moved on to various ministries in Massachusetts, serving as Athletic Director, house treasurer, then formation director of a seminary for older candidates. Later on, he served in a similar role in Texas for ten years.
His last active assignment was as formation Director for future SCJ candidates and seminarians in Illinois. In Br. Peter, the Priests of the Sacred Heart have truly been blessed with a fine role model for men entering the religious life.
Fr. Johnny Klingler, SCJ
Growing up, Fr. Johnny gave no thought to being a priest. He earned a degree in communications with the idea of working in television production. When he was drafted during the Korean War, a relative suggested that he should volunteer to be a chaplain’s assistant because it was “easy duty.” This experience, together with working with Korean children orphaned by the war, led to his life-long passion for working on behalf of the poor. When he read some information about the Priests of the Sacred Heart, he knew it was a great fit!
Fr. Johnny professed his first vows on September 8, 1963 and was ordained in 1967. He has held many leadership positions within the Province and the Congregation, serving as Provincial Superior and General Councilor in Rome. But speaking with him, you soon realize that his passion is working with the poor and for social justice.
He defines social justice as seeing a problem and working to get it fixed. When asked of his proudest accomplishment during his active ministry he replied, “building 30 homes in five days with the help of Habitat for Humanity.” While he doesn’t want to take credit for it, it was Fr. Johnny’s hard work that assisted the local Habitat team in their efforts to bring the national Habitat for Humanity organization to one of the areas where the Priests of the Sacred Heart minister and build these houses.
Fr. Johnny takes his passion for social justice seriously. He was directly involved with fixing problems by working with first time offenders so they did not become more deeply involved in a life of crime. This work involved mentoring these women and tutoring them so they could obtain high school diplomas.
In retirement, he stays active by helping out in local parishes, visiting the sick and dying as well as those in nursing homes. He also spends time maintaining the relationships he has built up over the years in his various ministries. He believes that his most important job in retirement is to pray and to spend to time with people he loves.
