The internet has become a window to the world, and from that window, you can catch a good view of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.

Of course there is the congregational web site: www.scj.org. Opened in 1997, it features weekly news updates about the worldwide community, official letters and documents, and specialized pages and links detailing major events, such as the General Conference in Recife last year and the upcoming Educators Conference in Salamanca, Spain. The web site was developed and continues to be maintained by Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, general councilor. Fr. Zdzislaw Huber, an SCJ ministering in Finland, serves as web master.

Many provinces, regions and districts also have their own web sites, and in some instances, several special sites for the various places and organizations within the province.

You can view photos and pick up the latest news on the British-Irish Province on its website at: www.malpas2000.freeserve.co.uk. The site also includes reflections on current events (the theme for the June 1st reflection was the upcoming elections in England), as well as prayers for a variety of concerns and topics. In fact, the website was praised by the British Catholic Herald, which noted that it followed Bishop David Konstant's call for the Church to use all means to spread God's word: "One site doing just that is run by the Sacred Heart Fathers… helping people find the God of Love and Compassion in all things -- even their computer screens."

By going to /www.dlc.fi/~scjregfi/ you can learn important facts about the history of both the Church and the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Finland. The congregation is responsible for the pastoral needs of most of Finland; in fact, the bishop of the diocese of Helsinki, the only diocese in Finland, is an SCJ. The site does have some text in Finnish, but the majority of it is available in English.

Set your web browser southeast and you can travel to India, the congregation's newest foundation, begun in 1994. The web site for the Indian District is http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/DharmaDr/scjindia/. There, you can view photos from the annual district assembly, which took place April 2-5 in Aluva, Kerala. Or, you can read about the history of the SCJs' presence in India, or reflections on Indian culture from a western perspective. Br. Lenny Zaworski, SCJ, a missionary originally from the U.S. Province, has been instrumental in putting this web page together.

Stay in Asia, and visit the web page of the SCJ community in the Philippines at http://www.pagadian.mozcom.com/scjphil/. There, you can learn about the history of the country, the SCJs' ministry (another recent venture, SCJs have only been in the Philippine since 1989), current events in the district and even catch up on your SCJ trivia (Did you know that the most popular religious name in the congregation is "Francis," or that there are 20 SCJ bishops?).

Throughout Europe, South America, North America and Asia, web sites open windows to the people, cultures and ministries of the congregation. Those noted above are sites done in English, but there are many others in Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Polish and Dutch. By going to the "links" section of the congregational web page, you can gain access to any one of these "windows."

Of course, there are also many windows right here in the U.S. Province. Four of our parishes (or parish clusters) currently have web sites: Christ the Redeemer in Houston (http://www.ctrcc.com), Holy Spirit in Hernando (http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/holyspirit/ ), St. Martin of Tours Parish in Franklin (http://www.stmoftours.org/ ) and Willacy County Catholic Churches in the Rio Grande Valley -- (http://www.vsta.com/~spujdak).

Other sites in the U.S. Province include http://www.stjo.org, the cyberhome of St. Joseph's Indian School in South Dakota; http://www.shst.edu, the site for Sacred Heart School of Theology; and http://www.poshesl.org, the home page of the English as a Second Language program at SHST.

At the Province Development Office's web site (http://www.poshusa.org), visitors can read a daily prayer in either Spanish or English, as well as learn about the congregation, Sacred Heart Monastery and the Sacred Heart Shrine.

Also, one of our province publications is available on-line at http://www.fridgenotes.org. The Fridge Notes is an informal weekly publication put out by the Provincialate Offices on Mondays. It features brief news items, as well as prayer requests and other information.

These aren't all the windows to the congregation, but from them, you can find your way to many others.

Happy travels in Cyberspace!