Salvatorians on fire with the Spirit gather in Milwaukee

The U.S. Salvatorian Family’s National Assembly will begin Monday, June 20 and run through Friday next week. Following five days of presentations and panel discussions at Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corners, Wis., a Jubilee Mass on Saturday at Sacred Heart Chapel will honor women and men celebrating 25, 40, 50 and 60 years as members of the Salvatorian Family. Six Lay Salvatorians from Australia, Austria, Poland and Africa will be among attendees at the Assembly. Sister Lilly Kurian, SDS from India, who serves on our international leadership team in Rome is attending, as is Sister Maria Deyanira, SDS from our Colombian Province, who is living in Milwaukee this summer.

Sisters of the Divine Savior, priests and brothers of the Society of the Divine Savior, and Lay Salvatorian women and men will be equally represented among the nearly 150 Salvatorians attending National Assembly. When Father Francis Jordan founded the Apostolic Teaching Society back in 1881, he envisioned vowed women and men along with lay women and men collaborating as equals to evangelize the Catholic faith. His vision was far ahead of his time, but in recent years, leaders among the three branches of the Salvatorian Family have strived toward greater collaboration in formation programs, ministries and mission work, as well as worship services and the annual Jubilee celebration. National Assembly held every three years exemplifies this enhanced collaboration in ongoing religious formation.

This year, speakers throughout all five days of the assembly will be Salvatorians from all three branches, including our Sisters Jane Eschweiler, Marion Etzel and Carol Thresher. Presentations will focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in Salvatorian life. Much of Fr. Jordan’s prayer life and writings focused on the theme of the fire of the Holy Spirit guiding his mission and ministries.