Cardinal Dolan Brings His Enthusiasm for Don Bosco to Salesian High
by Fr. John Serio, SDB, and Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB
Fr. John wrote the bulk of this story for the province newsletter, E-Service. Fr. Mike edited it in his role as newsletter editor and added some substantial material as well as the photos.
Anticipation
turned to reality in New Rochelle on Wednesday, November 5, as the long-awaited
visit of Cardinal Timothy Dolan to Salesian High School occurred. The visit was
long-awaited in two senses: the invitation to the cardinal to celebrate Mass
with the school community and visit with the students and faculty was issued a
year earlier, and it was the first visit of a New York archbishop to the school
since Cardinal Cooke came in 1971.
 |
| Lorraine Danza, John Flaherty, Fr. John Serio, and Michele Turner greet Cardinal Dolan and his party at the school entrance. |
His
Eminence was greeted at the school entrance by John Flaherty, principal,
veteran faculty member Lorraine Danza, and a delegation of office staff and
students. After riding in a Salesian school bus to Holy Name of Jesus Church,
where Salesian’s school Masses are celebrated, Cardinal Dolan was greeted again
by a delegation of students. When he entered the church, all heads turned as
the congregation strained to get a look at their archbishop.
During
the Mass in honor of St. John Bosco’s 200th anniversary of birth,
Cardinal Dolan spoke of his great devotion to St. John Bosco, first inculcated
by his 2nd grade teacher, Sister Mary Bosco. He spoke
enthusiastically of the contributions of the Salesians to the life of the
archdiocese and of his joy at meeting Salesian High School alumni all over the
archdiocese, living out many careers and vocations, including as diocesan
priests. He noted the presence of three SDB seminarians who are Salesian
alumni: Deacon Mike Eguino, Bro. Steve Eguino, and candidate Mike Agovino. He
thanked the teachers for their service and had them stand, which earned them a
hearty round of applause from the students.
In his
homily proper, the cardinal related that Don Bosco wanted his boys “to live
well in order to die well”–to live this life in a manner that prepared them for
the life of eternity with the Lord. The joy of this life, he said, is only a
hint of what God has in store for us in the next life. He said that St. John
Bosco’s genius was to prepare young people for eternity.
At the
end of Mass, Student Council President Dan Seda welcomed His Eminence and
offered him gifts of Salesian apparel, a copy of Fr. Mike Mendl’s history of
the start of Salesian work in New York (The
Zeal of the Salesians Is Just the Thing*), which the cardinal asked Fr. Mike
to autograph, and a monetary gift which the cardinal said he would donate to
the Inner City Scholarship Fund. Of course, the cardinal offered the students
(and faculty!) a cardinal’s holiday—which received applause that exceeded
“hearty.”
Frs. John
Serio, Bill Ferruzzi, Matt DeGance, Dennis Donovan, Dominic Tran, and Marty
Biglin (Holy Name’s pastor) concelebrated.
After
greeting the students and staff of Holy Name School, the cardinal returned to the
Salesian campus and toured the main building. He entered the library and some classrooms
to interact with students and teachers, and ate lunch with members of the
History Club (photo below). During lunch he questioned students and teachers about the
previous day’s general elections and the role of religious ministers in the political
life of the country. He called political service noble and urged the
application of one’s principles to politics. He cited the example of Don Bosco
in 19th-century Italy’s political and religious situation.
The
cardinal used his conversations with students not only to show them the
friendly and joyful visage of the Church but also to praise the education they’re
getting at Salesian and offer more catechesis. For example, in a junior class
that is reading and discussing The Red
Badge of Courage, he spoke about the role of conscience in the story and linked
conscience to natural law. On a lighter note, he let a freshman class with a
New York Mets banner on the back wall know that he remains a St. Louis
Cardinals fan (and flaunted some of the cardinal red of his mozzetta).
 |
| The cardinal steps into Scott Cerasuolo's class discussion of The Red Badge of Courage. |
 |
| In Sr. Barbara Wright's freshman math class: Never mind the Mets poster on the back wall--I'm still a Cardinals fan! |
The
members of the G-5 mission directors group also came by for a
short conversation and blessing by His Eminence. The cardinal lauded the
Salesians’ missionary works and relished a conversation in Italian with the two
visitors from Turin and happily recalled meeting Bro. Jean Paul Muller in Rome
a few weeks ago.
 |
| The cardinal warmly greets the participants in the meeting of Salesian mission office directors from New Rochelle, Madrid, Bonn, Turin, and New Delhi, and the general councilor for the missions and the treasurer general of the Congregation. |
It is
not every day that the local ordinary comes to spend time with our community. He
seemed really to enjoy his time with our community, wanted to know everything
that he could about us, and evidenced his love for Don Bosco and devotion to
Mary Help of Christians. Multiple times Cardinal Dolan invoked the Help of
Christians in prayer and called out, “Viva Don Bosco!” We are grateful for the
time he spent with us and will look forward to being with him again at the
Graduates Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the spring and for the priestly
ordination of Salesian alumnus Michael Eguino, SDB, class of 2002, on June 27,
2015.
*The book by your humble blogger is "The Zeal of the Salesians Is Just the Thing...": Founding the Salesian Work in New York. Written for the 1998 centennial of the SDB work on the East Coast, it studies the establishment of the SDBs in New York in historical context, from 1883 to 1908. ISBN 0-89944-174-2. It may be ordered from Salesiana Publishers (914-636-4225; butterfly10801@yahoo.com).
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