Monday, March 18, 2024

Homily for Solemnity of St. Patrick

Homily for the Solemnity of St. Patrick

March 18, 2024
Salesian HS, New Rochelle, N.Y.                                   

Window, St. Francis Xavier Church, Bronx

As we celebrate the solemnity of St. Patrick, patron of Ireland, one of the greatest missionaries in the long history of Christianity, and patron saint of our archdiocese, we might think about the virtues that made him great, by God’s choice and God’s grace.

Forgiveness.  As a youth Patrick was abused by being kidnapped and sold into slavery in a foreign land, where he toiled as a shepherd and swineherd for 6 years before escaping.  Not only did he forgive those who so abused him, but he even returned to them and brought them the greatest gift he had, his Catholic faith.

Patience.  Before he was ordained bishop and sent back to Ireland, Patrick was betrayed by a former friend whom he’d trusted with a grave secret.  We don’t know exactly what that was, but it seems to have been some sin or fault of his youth, which this false friend disclosed some years later, perhaps in an attempt to derail Patrick’s priestly vocation.  It hurt Patrick deeply, but with patience and faith, he went on with his life and his vocation.

Courage.  It took courage, naturally, for Patrick to venture back to the land where he’d been enslaved, and still more courage to challenge the entrenched Druid priests and the high kings of Ireland—most famously by defying a royal edict and lighting the Easter fire where it would be widely seen and enrage the king.

Faith.  Patrick was able to do all he did because of a firm belief in Christ.  He writes in his Confession, a spiritual autobiography, “I give unceasing thanks to my God, who kept me faithful in the day of my testing.  Today I can offer him sacrifice with confidence, giving myself as a living victim to Christ, my Lord, who kept me safe thru all my trials.  I can say now:  Who am I, Lord, and what is my calling, that you worked thru me with such divine power?”

Forgiveness, patience, courage, and faith are virtues all of us can practice in our ordinary lives as disciples of Christ.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
5th Sunday of Lent

Mar. 17, 2024
John 12: 20-33
Jer 31: 31-34
Heb 5: 7-9
Collect
The Fountains, Tuckahoe
Assumption, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (John 12: 21).

(by Henrik Olrik)

The people identified as Greeks in this gospel passage are Gentiles from either Galilee or the surrounding non-Jewish territory, from Lebanon, Syria, or the Decapolis.  Jesus’ preaching and miracles have won him notice beyond Israel.

What is it that Jesus allows them to see?  His answer is that he’s a grain of wheat that must fall to the earth and die in order to produce fruit (12:24).  He must be lifted up from the earth—he means both lifted on the cross and raised up to heaven—so as to draw everyone to himself (12:32); everyone—both Greeks and Jews, all of humanity.

The collect—that’s the technical name for the opening prayer—noted that God’s Son “handed himself over to death out of love for the world.”  The Letter to the Hebrews says something similar:  by his suffering, Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (5:9).

Those who obey Jesus, who see him as the Christ, who follow him, become the fruit he produces for the glory of God.  “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.  The Father will honor whoever serves me” (John 12:26).

On the hearts of those who follow Jesus and serve him, God the Father writes a new law, as Jeremiah prophesied (31:33).  That new law, the law of the new covenant or new testament, is the law of love.  When that law is written on our hearts, we imitate Jesus by practicing self-sacrificing love,[1] dying to ourselves like the grain that falls to the earth.  “Whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life” (John 12:25).

Around 200 A.D., during a period of persecution, a Christian writer named Tertullian in Carthage, North Africa, stated that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.”  The Church is the fruit, 1st of Christ’s blood, then of the blood of his witnesses, his martyrs.  On Friday blood shed for Christ was celebrated in a ceremony in the cathedral of Lahore, Pakistan.  The diocese was concluding its investigation into the life, virtues, and reputation for holiness of Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old youth who was a past pupil of the Salesian school in Lahore.  Akash was serving as a security guard at a nearby parish church when, on March 15, 2015, a suicide bomber tried to enter during Mass.  Akash confronted him, grappled with him, and was killed when the bomb detonated.  Thus he saved many lives inside the church.  The diocese is proposing that he be canonized as a martyr who shed his blood for Christ and is sending the case to Rome.

Akash Bashir

We prayed in the collect that we might “walk eagerly in that same charity with which [Jesus] handed himself over to death” because he loves the world and wishes the world to be saved from the ruin of sin.  Martyrs aren’t the only ones who follow in Jesus’s steps, showing his love for the world and their love for their neighbors.

When spouses sacrifice themselves for their partners and their children, they bear the fruit of raising new disciples for Jesus—their children and grandchildren.  When we sacrifice ourselves for our parish, we bear fruit by strengthening the faith of other believers.  When we sacrifice for our neighbors and others, we plant a seed in their minds that Christ lives in us and acts thru us for their sake; and that seed may germinate and produce the fruit of goodness and virtue in them, perhaps even the fruit of Christian faith.

We die to ourselves when we reject the lure of sin—the lure of avarice, lust, jealousy, pride, anger, gluttony, and sloth (the 7 deadly sins)—and instead practice humility, chastity, patience, self-restraint, diligence, and gentleness.  What wonderful seeds those are to plant in the hearts of our children, families, friends, and neighbors!  What wonderful ways to help them see Jesus, the same Jesus to whom Philip and Andrew long ago led Gentile seekers.



[1] From Frank J. Moloney’s commentary on this gospel, p. 97.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Diocesan Inquiry into Cause of Canonization of Akash Bashir

Diocesan Inquiry into the Cause of Canonization of Akash Bashir Closes


(ANS – Lahore, Pakistan – March 15, 2024) 
– At Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday, March 15, Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw, OFM, officially closed the diocesan inquiry into the life, martyrdom, and reputation of the Servant of God Akash Bashir (June 22, 1994 - March 15, 2015), a cause that had been opened two years ago, on 15 March 2022.

Exactly nine years have passed since the day Akash Bashir sacrificed his life to prevent a suicide bomber from causing a massacre in St. John’s Church in Youhannabad, a Christian neighborhood in Lahore. Akash was 20 years old, had studied at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Lahore, and had become a security volunteer.

Abp. Shaw presided over the closing session of the diocesan Inquest, in the presence of Fr. Amjad Yousaf, episcopal delegate, Fr. Rafhan Fayyaz, promoter of justice, and Fr. Patrick Samuel OFM Cap., notary. The original Acts, the transcript, and the public copy were presented, declared authentic, and entrusted to Bishop Germano Penemote, apostolic nuncio, who is to transmit the Acts to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome, where they will be studied intensely.

The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by the archbishop, with Bishop Penemote, Bishop Joseph Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad, and Bishop Yousaf Sohan of Multan as concelebrants. The parents and siblings of Akash Bashir were present. Priests from all parishes in the diocese, representatives of all religious congregations in the country, as well as seminarians, Salesian alumni, and students of the Salesian Institute devoutly participated in the solemn Eucharist.

In their remarks, Abp. Shaw and the other bishops praised Akash’s courage and unwavering faith, expressed gratitude for the completion of the diocesan phase, and assured prayers for the future.

The Catholic Church of Pakistan experienced this event with great participation; it is the first cause of beatification and canonization for a Pakistani Christian. The main promoter of the cause is the Salesian Congregation, led by its postulator general, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, and the vice postulator Fr. Gabriel de Jesus Cruz Trejo, SDB.

It is significant that in the intentions for the month of March, in which the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Missionary Martyrs is celebrated, the Pope dedicated the video released by the World Prayer Network to those who live the faith despite persecution and lack of freedom: their testimony “is a sign that we are on the right path.” In the video, in which the Pope tells the poignant story of a woman martyr in our times, there is also a reference to Akash Bashir. The Pope invites people to pray “that those in various parts of the world who risk their lives for the Gospel may infect the Church with their courage and missionary drive.”


Like the Servant of God Akash Bashir, today there are many hidden martyrs who lead ordinary lives with consistency and the courage to accept the grace of witnessing to the end, even unto death. They have not denied or forgotten their faith but have held it firm and demonstrated their fidelity to Jesus Christ. That is why they indicate the just path of the Church.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Salesians Bemoan Hellish Violence in Haiti

Salesians Bemoan Hellish Violence and Chaos in Haiti 


(ANS – Port-au-Prince, Haiti – March 14, 2024)
 – Armed gang violence dominates Haiti. The situation of instability that the country has experienced since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 has degenerated in recent days, when Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his commitment to hold elections before August 2025. Since then the situation has worsened, with assaults on prisons, mass escapes of dangerous criminals, shootings at and attempted assaults on the National Palace, damage to the port and airport, and finally, under pressure from criminal gangs, also the resignation of the Prime Minister.

The country was plunged into extreme poverty by the earthquake of 2010, from which it has never recovered. Then came the economic crisis, the impossibility of controlling violence in the streets, the assassination of the President, and another earthquake in 2021, together with tropical storms and the pandemic. All these disasters have thrown the population into a situation of continuous humanitarian emergency.

Almost two weeks ago, the announcement by Prime Minister Henry that elections would take place by August 2025 (while his term had already expired on February 7) threw the country into utter chaos. The criminal gangs, which dominate every neighborhood of the capital and the country’s communications, have raised the level of violence with threats of civil war and genocide if the Prime Minister, who was in Puerto Rico at the time, had not resigned. The leaders of the criminal groups launched assaults on the country’s main prisons, freeing more than 3,500 inmates, and concentrated their attacks in the area around the National Palace and the airport.

“The situation in Haiti is chaotic. There are no words to describe it. We are living in hell,” said the Salesians, who are still trying to make themselves useful in a country in disarray, and to assist the population subjected to an unprecedented wave of violence.

Haiti is awaiting the deployment of an international security support mission led by Kenya and approved by the United Nations last October. Meanwhile, the country survives amid institutional collapse, the inability of the police and army to deal with criminal gangs, and a population that has nothing to eat.

“We Salesians are currently well, but we cannot carry out any activity since February 29, when this situation began,” said the Salesians. Since then, armed gang violence has erupted. “The gangs ransacked police stations and everything they encountered, businesses, shops,” they continue.

In the capital, Port-au-Prince, there have been shootings between the gangs and with the police, and kidnappings are the order of the day. Since January, according to the United Nations, more than 1,200 people have been killed. The country is on the verge of collapse and paralysis, international agencies explain. This instability has already displaced about 300,000 people.

Criminal gangs control about 80% of the capital, hospitals are unable to treat the wounded, many shops have been looted in recent days, and the corpses of the victims remain unburied along the streets around the prisons, where last Saturday the mass escape took place, so much so that there have already been several cases of cholera.

Salesians have been working in Haiti since 1935. Their educational works are distributed throughout the country, and each year they take care of over 22,000 children and youths through schools, vocational training centers, youth centers, and family homes.

Haiti’s future is complex. “We live in fear, because we don’t know what could happen from one minute to the next. This is our life in the last days: we ask you to pray and not to forget us,” conclude the Salesians of Haiti.

Source: Misiones Salesianas 

Homily for Wednesday, Week 4 of Lent

Homily for Wednesday
4th Week of Lent

March 13, 2024
John 5: 17-30
Salesian HS, New Rochelle

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work” (John 5: 17).

The Pharisees Question Jesus (James Tissot)

Jesus opponents have just accused him of violating the law of sabbath rest because he healed a sick man.  They’re further upset because he calls God his Father.

Jesus responds to them by telling them that God continues to work on the sabbath.  When he created the world, it was perfect, and so he could rest on the 7th day.  Everything was done.  But after sin began to wreck that perfect creation, God has to resume his work of healing and restoration.  He does that thru Jesus, who says, “So I am at work.”

Jesus’ main work is to give life:  “The Son gives life to whomever he wishes” (5:21).  He does that in part by healing the sick.  He does it more fully by restoring dead people to life, as he did at least 3 times during his ministry.  By his own resurrection—which we celebrate at Easter—he offers to give real life, eternal life, to anyone who believes in him and follows him.  He can make that offer, that promise, because he is the Son of the God who creates and gives life:  “Whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life” (5:24).

To receive that gift of eternal life—not the life we experience now, with all its sufferings and afflictions—but real, joyful, never-ending life, we attach ourselves to Jesus and try to live as he did, loving and respecting everyone and honoring God in our words and actions.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Homily for Tuesday, Week 4 of Lent

Homily for Tuesday
4th Week of Lent

March 12, 2023
John 5: 1-16
Ezek 47: 1-9, 12
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda
(Murillo)

Today, tomorrow, and Thursday we read thru John 5, which is about who Jesus is.  In today’s passage, Jesus heals a man who’s been sick for 38 years—on the Sabbath.  That riles up “the Jews,” which is John’s Gospel usually means those who don’t accept Jesus as the Messiah.  (“He came to his own people, and they didn’t receive him” – John 1:11.)  This chapter is about Jesus’ identity.  He’s more than a mere healer of bodies, a wonder-worker.  He works even on the Sabbath, and his works are works of salvation.  So he can speak to the man he’s just healed about avoiding sin in the future (John 5:14).  Sin’s penalty is far worse than bodily sickness.

The healing that Jesus offers is like the water in Ezekiel’s prophecy.  That water begins as a trickle flowing out of the Temple until it becomes a massive, life-giving flood that transforms even the Dead Sea.  The water that trickles from the temple of Jesus’ body on the cross, along with a trickle of his blood, becomes a massive, life-giving flood of sacramental grace that transforms and saves believers.  “There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God” (Ps 46:5), the heavenly Jerusalem, born from the side of Christ, in fact from his heart.

Christ's Side Pierced
(source unknown)

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Homily for 4th Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
4th Sunday of Lent

Mar. 10, 2024
Eph 2: 4-10
John 3: 14-21
Villa Maria, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx        
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx              

“God is rich in mercy.  Because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our sins, he brought us to life with Christ.  By this grace you have been saved.” (Eph 2: 4-5)


In America and most of the Western world, we like to think we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.  (I’m not sure anyone these days knows what bootstraps are.  But you’ve heard the saying.)  We think that if we work hard we can succeed in business, perhaps become rich, perhaps famous, perhaps highly respected.

There’s a variety of Christianity that preaches something like that:  that wealth and security will be the blessings awarded to us for sincerely and faithfully following Christ.  That’s called the “prosperity Gospel.”

Both of these beliefs—that hard work and solid faith lead to a kind of salvation—suggest that we can attain earthly or heavenly success by our own efforts.

A little observation of life tells us hard work doesn’t always lead to success.  The belief that our own efforts produce eternal salvation is a heresy, condemned at least since the days of St. Augustine.

The sacred Scriptures tell us we can’t save ourselves.  Salvation comes as an act of grace, as a favor from God.  God owes us nothing.

In the first days of his pontificate, Pope Francis was asked who he was; how would be describe himself.  He told his interviewer, “I’m a sinner.”  He continues to say so, and he goes to confession every 2 weeks seeking God’s grace.  I echo the Holy Father:  I’m a sinner, and I need the sacrament of Reconciliation regularly.  You, too, are sinners and need God’s forgiveness.

God loves us.  He created us out of love, and he redeems us in Christ out of love.  “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him … might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

In our 1st reading (2 Chr 36:14-23), the author we call the Chronicler summarized Israel’s history as one of repeated infidelity and disobedience to God, which led to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and exile in Babylon.  Then God had mercy on Israel and sent them a secular savior, Cyrus the king of Persia, who set them free, allowed them to return home, and helped them rebuild the temple for sacred worship.  God forgave, and God restored them.

Confession (Giuseppe Molteni)


Jesus Christ does that for us on the spiritual level.  He doesn’t condemn those who come to him confessing their sins.  “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned” (3:18).  Moses held up a bronze serpent for the healing of sinful Israelites on their way toward the Promised Land.  Speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus compares himself to that bronze image.  Looking to him “lifted up” on the cross brings us healing for our sins and the promise of eternal life (3:14).  When we come repentant to the sacrament of Reconciliation—confession—we’re looking at Christ lifted up for our redemption, and he pours upon us the grace of his mercy.  As St. Paul says today, God raises us up with Christ and seats us alongside him in heaven (Eph 2:6).

Jesus also speaks to Nicodemus about the possibility of preferring darkness to light (John 3:19).  Have you ever gone into a kitchen or pantry, turned on the light, and seen cockroaches scurrying away, back into some dark corners?  The light of Christ exposes our sinfulness—our lies, our slander, our greed, our offenses against human life and human dignity, our offenses against chastity.  We have the option of running away from his light, condemning ourselves to darkness because our works are evil. (3:20).  When we do that, it’s not Christ who condemns us; we do it ourselves.

On the other hand, “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light,” comes to God with our Lord Jesus.  “Because of the great love God has for us even … in our sins, he brings us to life with Christ.  By grace we’ve been saved.” (cf. Eph 2:4-5).  Thanks be to God!

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Meeting to Study Salesian Missionary Volunteer Programs

Meeting to Study Salesian Missionary Volunteer Programs


(ANS – Rome – March 8, 2024)
 – A meeting of Salesian Missionary Volunteer programs, a collaborative effort between the Missions and Youth Ministry Departments, began with 2 days of profound engagement and learning. Participants from around the world gathered to deliberate on the Salesian Congregation’s volunteer programs, with more updates anticipated as the meeting unfolds.

Day One: Delving into the Salesian Volunteer Identity

The 1st day was dedicated to exploring the identity of the Salesian missionary volunteer. Anchored in the Congregation’s core documents and enhanced by insights from a doctoral thesis encompassing feedback from 428 Salesian volunteers, the attendees engaged with the “Volunteering in the Salesian Mission Manual.” This segment fostered a deeper understanding of what it means to embody the spirit and values of a Salesian missionary volunteer.

Day Two: Formative Experience and Synergistic Partnerships

On the 2d day, the focus shifted to the formation of all stakeholders involved in the volunteer program. The session spotlighted the long-standing success of Ecuador’s volunteer program, which has been active since 1972 and sends about 80 volunteers annually. This discussion inspired a rich exchange of best practices and reflections on the formative aspects of the program.

Later in the day, the interaction between laypeople and Salesians was examined. A panel of lay members and SDBs shared their partnership experiences, which led to an open forum in which participants discussed their concerns, successes, and commitments related to their collaborative efforts in missionary work.

The Symbolic Salesian Missionary Volunteer Cross

The 2 days of dialogue concluded with the presentation of the Salesian missionary volunteer cross. This emblem serves as a symbol of unity and commitment, encapsulating the shared dedication of the young volunteers who are central to the missionary volunteer experience.

As the meeting called forth by the Mission and Youth Ministry Departments continues, further insights and developments are expected to emerge. These initial days have set a strong foundation for continued exploration and growth in the Salesian missionary volunteer initiatives. Additional information will be shared upon the conclusion of the meeting, highlighting the collective wisdom and future directions gleaned from this remarkable gathering.

The New Rochelle Province was represented by Adam Rudin (in photo, top row, 4th from left), and the San Francisco Province by J.C. Montenegro, both well-seasoned veterans of lay missionary programs.