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Dear Friends,
When I was asked to manage the ranch for just one year I was most grateful for the administrative tools passed onto me by my talented predecessor, Fr. Tom Gleeson. S.J. Now I am very happy to tell you about my successor, Fr. Joseph Currie, S.J., who will become the rector on September 1, 2010.
Before telling you about Fr. Currie, I would like to tell you about changes you will see if you come here during the summer and early autumn of 2010. You may be shocked by the radical deforestation of the area around the Jesuit cemetery, the monumental movement of earth from the lower part of “Sacred Heart hill,” and the temporary closing of the roadway nearby -- all of this, to prepare for a large extension of the cemetery and provide for columbaria-wall there. But please do not lose hope and lament! Soon to come, a number of new trees and shrubs once all is set in place. Meanwhile you can walk the upper trail down to Frascati if you are looking for exercise and more natural beauty.
Now, a word about the Jesuit Center’s newly appointed rector! Fr. Joe Currie was sent as a young Jesuit to India. There he worked from 1971 to 1984, returning only in 1969 for a year to take a M. Ed degree in counseling at Loyola University (Chicago). In India, Fr. Currie did community organizing, youth ministry; taught counseling and supervisory techniques. For nine years, he led retreats and workshops for seminarians, religious and laity; and for one year had the important responsibility of training young Jesuits priests during their final year of spiritual formation. During this period, he also wrote five published books on spiritual direction and on counseling.
Since returning to the States in 1984, Fr. Currie has served as a superior-director of a retreat house for 3 years and worked for 22 years as director of campus ministry at two universities, Loyola of New Orleans and Fordham.
Perhaps, you can see why we at the Center are looking forward to the arrival of our new rector.
God bless you all.
Lucien F. Longtin, S.J.
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