Author: jkirby3

Life Events: Notice of Birth and Bereavement 

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices

With a mix of profound joy and sadness, we share news of the birth of twins to Tyneka Harris Coronado, associate director in Information Services, and her husband, David, on May 2, three months before their due date, followed by the eventual loss of their son, Daniel, eight days later.  

Daniel Juan Ricardo Coronado was born on May 2, 2024, one minute after his twin sister, Daniella Vira Aliean Coronado. Daniel then passed peacefully in the arms of his loving parents due to a lung infection on May 10, 2024, at the Renée Schine Crown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago.  

Daniel’s life was a profound gift to his parents, family, and loved ones and it has changed them forever. He leaves to cherish his memory Tyneka and David and seven siblings, Sonia, Sophia, Zoe, Zyana, Mateo, Micah and Daniel’s twin sister, Daniella, as well as his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a host of other relatives. 

Daniella is doing well in the NICU after overcoming challenges during the first month following the premature birth. She is now 4lbs 9oz and continues to progress. 

Tyneka and family are deeply grateful and feel blessed by the outpouring of love, thoughts and prayers towards their family. They appreciate your sympathy and concern as they navigate this difficult time. Even with all they have endured, they remain thankful to God for Daniel’s life and grateful that his sister, Daniella, is doing well.  

In lieu of flowers, the family strongly encourages you to donate to either of the following organizations. Both have provided invaluable resources during their time in the NICU. If you are not able to donate to either of these foundations, please know that your thoughts and prayers are most important and deeply appreciated. 

Ronald McDonald House Charities – www.rmhccni.org/nm-prentice/  

Located on the same floor as the Prentice NICU, Tyneka and David have been able to stay for a few nights at a time in one of their 5 rooms designated for families with children in the NICU, free of charge! This enabled them to spend more time at Daniel’s bedside throughout the day, night, and early morning. There is also a kid-friendly community lounge stocked with food and other amenities where lunch is served daily at no cost to the parents and families of NICU patients. The Coronado family use the lounge daily, especially on the weekends when we bring the kids up to visit Daniella. It makes it easier to manage meals and accommodate visitors.  

To make a donation, visit this link: https://rmhc.org/donate. You will have the option to dedicate your donation. If you choose to, please dedicate your donation in Memory of Daniel Coronado, with recipient email: dcoronad3@hotmail.com.  

Jackson Chance Foundation – https://www.jacksonchance.org/ 

With help from this foundation, the Coronado family has been able to park near the NICU, free of charge! This is a tremendous help, because they are at the hospital every day. This support has easily saved them hundreds of dollars over the last few weeks, especially considering the need to go in and out multiple times during the day.  

To make a donation, visit this link: https://www.jacksonchance.org/donate/.  You will have the option to ‘Donate in memory of”. If you choose to donate here, please include the following:  Tribute Recipient: Daniel Coronado. Tribute Notification Name: David Coronado. Address Label for Tribute Notification: David & Tyneka Coronado. Tribute Notification Email: dcoronad3@hotmail.com.   

Doubt, Certainty, and Louise’s Lumière

jkirby3 Louise de Marillac, Mission and Ministry, Mission Monday , , ,

On June 4, 1623, Pentecost Sunday, Louise de Marillac experienced a transformation in her life. She would later write, “On the Feast of Pentecost, during holy Mass or while I was praying in the church, my mind was instantly freed of all doubt.” (i)  Louise’s doubt disappeared in a powerful mystical experience that she would call her lumière, or light. She had a vision of her future, in which she lived the life she had always wanted, serving the poor as a member of a religious community. Her current hardships would not last forever, and her newfound certainty would give her the strength to persevere.  

When I read stories of saints and holy people, I envy the turning points that are often part of this genre. Imagine: All at once, you know what you are meant to do with your life! You are gripped with conviction, freed from insecurity and uncertainty, and fortified by a singular, powerful purpose. Vincent de Paul experienced such a moment when he realized his calling to serve the French peasants. Oscar Romero did too, when the assassination of his friend Rutilio Grande called him to criticize the oppressive Salvadoran government. Perhaps most famously, Saint Paul experienced such a moment on the road to Damascus, when a light from the heavens knocked him to the ground. In the Christian tradition, these can be called moments of conversion.  

Maybe you’ve experienced a sudden certainty or conviction that changed your life. Personally, I haven’t. Unlike Louise, I’ve never seen my future in a flash of light. My life changes gradually, more like a cycle of sunrises and sunsets. The sun doesn’t just appear at its high-noon zenith. First, the sky fades from black to gray, and then the sun peeks over the horizon. It climbs slowly, serenely, and the day unfolds. If I’m lucky, each day illuminates some small truth for me, helping me understand myself and the world just a bit better. And then the sun sets.  

While I long for Louise’s certainty, she also put up with a lot of unhappiness along the way. Her lumière vision told her that she needed to stay put for the time being. Despite the “spiritual anguish” she felt over her husband’s deteriorating health and difficulties with her son, she continued to accept her spiritual director’s calming advice, and bore with her marriage even though she longed for something more and suffered through depression.(ii) Her lumière showed her the way, but it didn’t eliminate the sorrows, the headaches, the day-to-day drudgery that we all experience. When I think about her lumière that way, it becomes a lot more relatable. She had a vision, but her life still had to unfold, and that took time. 

The Feast of Pentecost is commemorated fifty days after Easter. According to scripture, the Holy Spirit came down upon Jesus’s apostles and Mary, his mother. We often see them depicted with tongues of fire floating above their heads, representing the spirit within them. You have to remember that this community was heartbroken; just fifty days earlier, their beloved friend and community-member had been tortured and killed on the cross. This traumatic event surely took a toll on their bodies and spirits. It was in the midst of this mourning that God appeared to them in another form, coming down upon them in flame. This fire fueled them to continue Jesus’s mission, to spread his teachings, and to keep building their community.  

This is the story that Louise would’ve been reflecting on when she had her vision. Her lumière was a Pentecost moment, a moment of God’s sudden, surprising presence in a time of sorrow. Like the apostles, she found the strength to continue. And like the apostles, she still had to deal with pain and suffering as she worked to realize her vision. Her transformation was both sudden and slow.  

As we remember Louise’s lumière over 400 years later, let us open ourselves to the presence of a higher power within and among us—in all of God’s many forms. Let us experience the slowness of daybreak and a fire that emerges from within each one of us. Let us be patient with ourselves—and let us be agents of our own transformation.

Reflection Questions: 

  • Have you ever experienced a sudden turning point like Louise’s lumière? 
  • How have you experienced God’s presence in the ordinary moments of your life?  

Reflection by: Abigail Rampone, Ministry Coordinator for Vincentian Service and Immersions 

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i A.2 “Light,” The Spiritual Writings of Louise de Marillac, ed. and trans. Louise Sullivan, D.C. (New York: New City Press, 1991), 1. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/ldm/11/.  

ii See Kieran Kneaves, D.C., “A Woman Named Louise: 1591–1633,” Vincentian Heritage 12:2 (1991): 126. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol12/iss2/3/.  

Bereavement Notice – Dr. Wade R. Ragas

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices, Mission and Ministry

We have learned of the death of Dr. Wade R. Ragas, the father of Matt Ragas of the College of Communication.  

Wade R. Ragas, Ph.D., MAI, SRA, died peacefully at Inspired Living of Kenner, LA at the age of 76 on April 25, 2024. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Yvette Manthey Ragas, his children, Matthew Wade Ragas (Traci) and Joshua Paul Ragas, and his sister, Susan Ragas Price (Andy).  

Wade was a Jefferson Parish native with Louisiana roots that went back over 200 years. He enjoyed Louisiana cuisine, travel, taking the family on trips to Europe from the time his sons were in diapers. He was a student of history and loved to keep up with politics and world affairs.  

Wade was a teacher at heart. For 30 years, he was a professor of finance at the University of New Orleans and created the Real Estate Market Data Center, which he directed from 1978 to 2005. After earning his doctorate in Real Estate and Urban Analysis from The Ohio State University, Wade returned to Metairie and joined the faculty at what was then called LSUNO. While at UNO, he directed a wide range of applied real estate projects through the Center. Over this time, he authored 35 volumes of the 100-page semi-annual “New Orleans Real Estate Market Analysis.” As a research and full professor at UNO, he taught thousands of students and some 30,000 real estate professionals over his career. He authored over 30 articles and a textbook.   

As the president of Real Property Associates, Wade specialized in commercial appraisals, litigation services involving real estate, marketing feasibility studies and other complex commercial asset analyses, primarily in the Southeast Louisiana market. His practice contributed to over $2 billion of residential and commercial real estate valuation and feasibility studies since Hurricane Katrina.  

Services were held on May 3, 2024 in Metairie, Louisiana.  Online condolences may be posted at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/new-orleans-la/wade-ragas-11787574   

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made online to the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA.org) or mailed to: LBDA, 912 Killian Hill Rd. SW, Lilburn, GA 30047. 

The Essential Ingredient

jkirby3 DePaul Interfaith Programs, Discernment, Mission Monday, Vincentian professionalism, Vincentian values ,
DePaul University’s St. Vincent’s Circle celebrates its 20th anniversary October, 2015, since its dedication in 1995. (DePaul University/Josh Woo)

What does it mean for our beloved Vincentian mission to be integrated effectively into the daily life and work of the university community, in and out of the classroom?

This question is often top of mind for those of us working in Mission and Ministry and for many leaders for mission across the institution. Collectively, we hope that tangible evidence of our mission is woven regularly into the fabric and culture of all that happens at DePaul. Into the workplace environment. Into the classroom and the student experience. Into how decisions are made. Into plans for the future. Into how we evaluate our efforts and programs. In the way we frame our daily work as part of something bigger than ourselves. At DePaul, our mission is the essential ingredient mixed into all we do and create.

One theologian used the metaphor of yeast to describe the integration and flourishing of mission within Catholic universities in a pluralistic context. [1]  Another metaphor often referenced in the world of Catholic theology is that of seeds already present in different contexts and cultures, needing only to be nurtured to flourish. [2] You may recall a somewhat recent campaign we did at DePaul called “Seeds of the Mission,” which built on this idea. Both metaphors help us to recognize the ways in which our Catholic Vincentian mission is already present and has opportunities to grow and be deepened among us and in our shared work.

But what does mission integration mean?

As we reflect on our work in light of the ongoing responsibility to understand more about DePaul’s stated mission and its deeper Vincentian roots, a shorthand construct and starting point emerge from the recognition that our mission is relevant in several different ways:

Why? What is motivating and orienting our actions and choices? How do they reflect our fundamental purpose and deeper sense of vocation, individually and collectively, to contribute to a more just and compassionate society?

What? How do the choices we make about what we do or how we spend our time and resources reflect consideration of our mission? How do we include care and concern for those who are marginalized?

How? How does the way we do what we do reflect the personalism, professionalism, and institutional values that we have come to understand as essential to the Vincentian way?

Who? How do I understand my own unique vocation as a person, an educator, a professional, or a leader and how does this frame my specific work and role? And, how do those we include and invite reflect the rich diversity of our human community? Are we paying attention to equity, to who is “at the table,” and to those who may be excluded?

Of course, even responding to these questions and different dimensions of mission integration requires additional considerations if we are to move toward concrete action. This is the careful discernment and collective wisdom that precedes action and that we have reclaimed again recently as Vincentian Pragmatism, which is qualitatively different from “just do it.”

The vital work of mission integration requires intentionality and care on the part of everyone at DePaul. The distinctiveness and foundational spirit of our mission are sustained only when it is thoughtfully and habitually part of our daily actions and choices and the way we function together as a human community, whether that be facilitating programs for students, teaching, leading teams of people, making budget decisions, doing research, or relating to one another. Each of these actions can reflect the underlying spirit we have come to identify as characteristically Vincentian, infusing our DePaul community and the work we do with a deeper sense of purpose and what many of us deem a sacred dimension.

Reflection Questions:

Which of the mission integration questions or dimensions (why, what, how, and who) do you most easily answer in relation to how mission is relevant to your life and work at DePaul? Which is most difficult to answer and why?

What ideas do you have for further integrating or sustaining Vincentian mission in your own area of work or within the university community?

Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Interim VP for Mission and Ministry

[1] Walter Ong, SJ, “Yeast,” America April 7, 1990. Reprinted and available here: https://‌‌www.‌bc.edu/content/dam/files/offices/mission/pdf1/cu13.pdf. 

[2] The image of the “seeds of the Word” is used by Saint Justin Martyr in the second century and is highlighted often in the field of Catholic missiology. One helpful summary of this idea, framed by a larger conversation about the importance of interreligious dialogue, is written by one of the leading Catholic theologians in this field, Stephen Bevans, SVD. See his “Practices of Mission: Interreligious and Secular Dialogue,” convocation speech, 2013 Missional Church Convocation, July 2013, Chicago, IL, https://‌‌centerforparishdevelopment.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/interreligious/.

 

Bereavement Notice – Jen Sweet

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices, Mission and Ministry

Jen Sweet, a former employee of DePaul, passed away on April 6 after fighting cancer for 16 years. Before leaving DePaul for her medical treatment, Jen had served as the director of assessment at the Center for Teaching and Learning. While helping schools and colleges with accreditation related assessment reports, she inspired many faculty and staff with her unbeatable spirit and commitment to work and life.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, April 24 at 10 am at Faupel Funeral Home, New Port Richey, Florida.

Jennifer M. Sweet Obituary 2024 – Faupel Funeral Home & Crematory

2024 Foundation Day: The Shared Coin

jkirby3 Relationships, Vincentian Heritage , ,

On January 25 in celebration of Foundation Day, a new edition of The Shared Coin was released.  This tradition is an invitation for all DePaul students, faculty and staff to celebrate individuals living DePaul’s Vincentian mission by sharing a coin with them. Along with the coin, givers are encouraged to personalize this experience by using the back of the card given out with each coin to write a message to the individual they are acknowledging.

This is a special way to tell someone else, “I see you! I see DePaul’s mission and the Vincentian spirit within you.  That light is radiating out to me. Thank you.  I think it is important that I acknowledge you.” It’s an opportunity for everyone in the community to pause, look around, and recognize the many gifts at DePaul.  

The Shared Coin is modeled after Vincent’s metaphor of the scarred coin, which represented the individuals he served, their inherent dignity, and the investment he made in honoring and uplifting that dignity. 

The 2024 edition of the Shared Coin uplifts a quote by St. Louise de Marillac to celebrate the 400th anniversary of her lumiere experience. On June 4, 1623, Louise de Marillac, filled with doubts and anxiety about her life, entered the Church of Saint Nicholas-des-Champs in Paris. As a young wife with a child and a sick husband, she prayed for her future. Something extraordinary happened there. She experienced a moment of light that changed her life and filled her with a trust that there was a plan for her life. She was freed from her anxiety and doubts and received inner peace. Louise’s “lumiere” experience is an invitation for all of us to root ourselves in trust and to hold on to the light within and around us.

Everyone within the DePaul community is encouraged to integrate this tradition across campus, whether through weekly meetings, gatherings or one-on-one settings. Recipients often feel grateful for the recognition of their good work and their commitment to DePaul’s mission. 

Coin recipients may elect to keep it or may choose to pass it on when they see someone else living the mission in a meaningful way. Any DePaul student, faculty or staff member can go to one of our distribution locations and pick up coins to share with a person or several people they witness living DePaul’s mission. Coins are available on a first come, first-served basis. They are available in limited quantities and once depleted, they will not be available until the following year.  You may pick up coins at the following locations: 

Lincoln Park Location
Division of Mission and Ministry
Student Center, Suite 311
10-4 PM, Monday through Friday 

Loop Location 
DePaul Center 125, Loop Life Office
10AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Division of Mission and Ministry - by request
14 E. Jackson, Suite 800  

For more information on this tradition, visit go.depaul.edu/sharedcoin . 

“Encourage one another and may your mutual good example speak louder than any words can.” St. Louise de Marillac

Bereavement Notice – Maria Elise Jabon

jkirby3 Bereavement Notices

Maria Elise Jabon

It is with great sadness that we share that Maria Elise Jabon, daughter of David Jabon, Chair of the STEM Studies Department, died on February 13th at the age of 38 after being struck by a vehicle while cycling in Los Altos, California.

Maria studied electrical engineering at Stanford University and then worked as a trailblazing engineer at LinkedIn and Netskope, leaving a legacy of excellence and having served as an exceptional mentor to junior team members and interns. Known for her keen intellect, Maria was an exceptionally kind and considerate person who cared deeply about all those in her life and found meaningful ways to connect with others.  She was an avid backpacker and cyclist who loved the outdoors, a competent outdoorswoman who took pleasure and solace in pushing herself through challenging terrain while still pausing to appreciate alpine wildflowers.  Her death occurred less than three months before her wedding to her fiancé, Matthew.

She is survived by her parents, David and Therese Jabon; her fiancé Matthew Hoffman; her brother Michael Jabon, her sister-in-law Maya Koenig-Dzialowski, and her nephews Rémy Jabon and Maxime Jabon; her sister Sarah Wilder, her brother-in-law Kevin Wilder, and her nephews Finn Wilder and Roman Wilder; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A visitation is scheduled for Wednesday, February 21, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PST at Willow Glen Funeral Home (1039 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125). An additional visitation in the Chicago area is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 25, from 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM.

For more obituary and service information, Click Here.

Online condolences may be submitted to https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-jose-ca/maria-jabon-11669900/add-memory

Ash Wednesday and Lent This Week

jkirby3 Catholicism, Mission and Ministry

Ash Wednesday, the traditional start to Lent for Christians worldwide, is Wednesday, February 14th.

At the Lincoln Park Campus:
MASS
8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. (Choir) | St. Vincent de Paul Church
1010 W. Webster Ave.

ASHES AND BLESSING
8:30–3:00 p.m. | Student Center Atrium

ECUMENICAL WORSHIP
5:00 p.m. | Interfaith Sacred Space LPSC

 

In the Loop:
MASS
8:00 a.m.| Miraculous Medal Chapel, Lewis Center, 1st floor
12:00 p.m.| DePaul Center Concourse Level

ECUMENICAL WORSHIP
12:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. | DePaul Center, 11th Floor

Need more info? Contact rkramer3@depaul.edu.

 

During the six weeks of Lent, participants will be invited to reflect on Lenten scriptural readings through the lens of Vincentian spirituality.   Groups will meet once each week via Zoom throughout Lent (a total of six times). Choose between Mondays or Thursdays.

RSVP for Monday Meetings
(February 19–March 25, 12 p.m.–1 p.m.)

RSVP for Thursday Meetings
(February 15–March 21, 12 p.m.–1 p.m.)