LETTER FROM OUR REGIONAL SUPERIOR – FR. DEHON DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Dear confreres and collaborators, peace and joy to each of you.
The month of August in which we find ourselves is very significant for our Congregation because, in addition to bringing joy, good humor, and cheerfulness associated with the beautiful weather that characterizes this particular time of year, it also invites us to experience a significant moment in the history of our Congregation.
While we commemorate the death of our founder, Venerable Father Dehon, every August, this year, 2025, brings a special flavor to this event because it is part of the celebration of the ordinary jubilee of the universal Church under the theme "Pilgrims of Hope " and at the same time in the celebration of the double jubilee of the Congregation, whose centenary of the death of Father Dehon marks the starting point of this moment, which is considered a time of grace for the entire Dehonian family. The general administration has rightly chosen to hold this year's meeting of major superiors in the places where the founder lived and gave the supreme witness of his life, in order to recall the highlights of Father Dehon's life.
Celebrating this event for the disciples of Christ following Father Dehon, whose special charism marked the history of the Church in his time and continues to inspire us today, is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment and determination to preserve and build on the heritage and legacy we have received from the one who made his life an offering to the Father and a commitment to the cause of the most disadvantaged, marginalized, and poor of his time. If the jubilee period invites us to remember the blessings of the Lord in the lives of each of us in general, the centenary of Father Dehon's death is an invitation to question ourselves about our ability to carry the torch he passed on to us and to deepen the way we manage and intend to pass on this precious treasure in our lives, our work, and also to future generations. This therefore calls for a daily witness of life, sometimes at the cost of great sacrifices, beginning with our respective communities and families, while recognizing our limitations, which sometimes weaken our unity (Sint Unum, dear to our founder), and relying on God's grace. This jubilee of the Congregation is therefore an opportunity for us to reconcile ourselves with ourselves, with others, with nature, and with God. It is in this sense that I invite the members of the Canadian Region to take into consideration the guidelines of the General Government regarding plenary indulgences.
The centenary of Father Dehon's death, although primarily a spiritual occasion for the Dehonian family, is also an opportunity to share who we are and what we have. It is a time to show our solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are experiencing difficult times of persecution, famine, war, and precariousness of all kinds, which prevent them from seeing the future with optimism.
As prophets of love and servants of reconciliation, we must work to raise awareness and invite to conversion, because the real motive behind these dehumanizing situations is the unbridled and excessive pursuit of selfish interests at various levels of decision-making. Instead, we must give priority to the pursuit of the common good, which will make humanity one big family where members live values that humanize human beings and restore their dignity as beings created in the image and likeness of the Father. The centenary of Father Dehon's death thus becomes a call to revive and prioritize fraternity in our relationships, both within our communities and with those with whom we work or collaborate, with a view to changing and moving things positively. This is the place to encourage our communities, especially those in Toronto and Montreal, who want to highlight and experience this event with our Dehonian lay brothers and sisters and collaborators in our communities and parishes through special celebrations. Lay Dehonians and our collaborators are the perfect channel for transmitting Father Dehon's legacy because, through their commitment and presence with us and in the world, they can embody and perpetuate this legacy on a daily basis through their witness. Their sphere of influence is vast and diverse, enabling them to engage with the world in which they live and promote Christian and Dehonian values. This initiative should therefore be continued and perhaps become a tradition in our apostolate and in our Region. Let us take advantage of this jubilee to draw closer to one another by living and transmitting the profound values received from our Founder, Father Dehon.
Fr. Gustave Lulendo N’Dotony, scj
Regional Superior
