News - December 2009 RSS Feed

Redemptorist Father Dennis Joseph Demko died December 30 at the St. John Neumann Residence at Stella Maris in Timonium, MD, of double pneumonia and complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 57. Father Demko was born July 28, 1952, and professed first vows as a Redemptorist August 3, 1974.

On Nov. 4, 2009, Father Michael Brehl was elected the 17th Superior General of the Redemptorists, the first Canadian to hold the position. He succeeds Father Joseph W. Tobin, of the Denver Province, who had served as Superior General for 12 years, but was ineligible for re-election due to the statutes of the Congregation.

Redemptorist Father Dennis Demko, who served for two decades in Puerto Rico, died Dec. 30, 2009, as a member of the St. John Neumann community at Stella Maris in Timonium, MD. Father Demko was 57 years old and had been suffering with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases; the immediate cause of his death was double pneumonia.

"For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son …" (Jn 3:16). During the Christmas season, we celebrate in a special way this gift of God’s love and the plentiful redemption that the little Child in the manger would win for us on the cross.

At Christmas we celebrate many things — family, friends, the blessings of the year — but most of all the good news that God has become one of us. Jesus has come to us as a little child, has become a human being to show us the depth of his love.

Click here to read Very Rev. Patrick Woods’ homily. What better place for a homeless statue of St. Alphonsus Liguori than a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help? And what better chapel than the one in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.?

In November, Brother Jeffrey Rolle, a Redemptorist of the English-speaking region of the Caribbean in the Baltimore Province, was elected to the General Council, the group of advisors who help the Redemptorist Superior General govern the worldwide Congregation.

Four students were invested with the Redemptorist habit Dec. 8 at a special Mass at the Redemptorist retreat house in Oconomowoc, WI. Receiving the distinctive habit is a special part of the novitiate, a year of prayer and study that helps students learn more about the Redemptorist way of life and further discern their call to the Congregation.

Redemptorist Father James Wallace is the 2009 recipient of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy’s award for “Outstanding Contributions to the Liturgical Life of the American Church.” “Jim gets high marks for his ability to bring his wealth of theological knowledge to his presentations in a very accessible form without dumbing down the material,” said Jesuit Father Lawrence J. Madden, the Center’s founder and director.

Father Anthony Russo recently was honored with the Lynch Award at the annual Stand Up For Life Dinner sponsored by the Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The award is given to a person who has devoted a large part of his or her life to the support and protection of handicapped people.