Extraordinary Visitation

Extraordinary Visitation

Each year a group of youngsters and their chaperones from Holy Cross Parish in Champaign--where I served last year--comes to D.C. to tour our capital city.

This year I had the great joy of welcoming them at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on May 29, concelebrating at the 5:15 p.m. Mass that they participated in, and showing them a bit of the Shrine--including our Salesian highlights like the altar of Mary Help of Christians

and the sculptures of St. John Bosco and St. Dominic on the west exterior wall.

And then of spending additional time with them at supper that evening and for an hour or so the following day at the National Museum of Natural History (part of the Smithsonian).

How to Grow as Salesian Family That Listens and Accompanies

“How to grow as a Salesian Family that listens and accompanies”

World Consultative Body of the Salesian Family Reflects on 2018 Strenna

(ANS – Turin – May 23) - On May 22 the World Consultative Body of the Salesian Family continued its annual meeting at Valdocco in the presence of the Rector Major.

The representatives of the 31 groups that make up the Salesian Family began the day with the celebration of Mass, with Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime presiding and the homily being preached by the world delegate for the Salesian Family, Fr. Eusebio Muñoz. Mother Graziella Benghini, superior of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, introduced the Eucharistic rite by observing that “the Salesian Family was born in this chapel—the Pinardi Chapel—and this invites us to be like Don Bosco, humble and docile to the voice of God.”

“The Word illuminates our life when we let God speak,” Fr. Muñoz added in his homily. “We must learn to listen to his message, and in these days we have talked about the young and the work among them. But we must ask ourselves: what are we doing for the young?”

In the first part of the morning, Fr. Silvio Roggia, from the SDB Formation Department, continued work on the theme of spiritual accompaniment. Some groups presented their experiences of listening and accompanying the young, the poor, and families. The first group was Cancão Nova, who described the accompaniment carried out at different stages of life. Sr. Paola Casalis, FMA, presented the experience of the Salesian Sisters in listening to and accompanying problematic young people. The third group to intervene was the Association of Mary Help of Christians, which showed how the association performs spiritual accompaniment to people of different ages. And finally, there was the presentation of a Salesian from Nigeria on accompaniment in the different ethnic groups of his country. In this way, reflection ended on: “How to grow as a Salesian Family that listens and accompanies.”

“We wanted each group to have a time to be known by all the participants of the world consultative body,” explained Fr. Muñoz. In this 2018 World Consultative Body, five groups were presented: Don Bosco Volunteers, Salesian Cooperators, Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, Witnesses of the Risen Lord, and Damas Salesianas. Each group was able to present the work, experience, growth, and development of its institution.

The evening ended with a visit to the basilica of Mary Help of Christians (photo), led by the rector, Fr. Cristian Besso.

Photos available on ANSFlickr

Developing a Healthy Critical Spirit Within the Family

Developing a Healthy Critical Spirit Within the Family

(ANS – Lyons, France – May 17) - If the development of the critical spirit is at the center of the educational mission of school, it is, or ought to be, also central to and within families. How does interaction in the family take place?  What is its quality?  How does one give space to the words of one’s children?  And open their horizon?  Here are some parents talking about the rules they have adopted.

The first imperative is never to make fun of the children.  Don Bosco invites us to take what is positive, even when we do not agree.  The hardest thing is to listen to the child, respect his word, not denigrate him.

The second imperative is to worry about or concern oneself with explanations.  Parents make decisions all the time, make choices for the whole family.  But they must also be careful to explain them, take the time to explain the reasons for the decisions.  Giving the reasons leading to one’s decisions and the meaning to be sought in them helps the child make her own choices in the future.

The privileged place for talk is at the table. “We start from a lived or experienced situation, a subject discussed in the classroom or a question that they have asked us, and each one of us takes the time to express themselves, to listen and be listened to, without necessarily reacting,” explains Agnes, mother of four children in Lyons.

“And you, what do you think?”  This is the most used phrase at the table in Helen’s family. The important thing is to regulate talk among the children, that is, to encourage those who do not speak, to ensure that those who speak all the time also listen.  “Everyone has the right to disagree” is another fixed point.

“When there is nothing special to say, we go to Trois kifs, the title of the book by Florence Servan-Schreiber, published 8 years ago. It helps in that it gives everyone a chance to speak: ‘Tell us, what is it that marked or struck you today?’  Very often, it might be a case of conscience, or some event that happened in the classroom, problems of justice and injustice that may have darkened or delighted the child during the day,” continues Helen.

It is important that the adult does not judge immediately, does not give solutions too quickly, does not generalize too much with phrases like “that’s the way it is,” but gives a chance for children to open up to the other’s perceptions, to take other points of view, to question what is being discussed.

Of course parents must have the same qualities.  An adult’s talk is significant or meaningful when the children realize that they too have taken the time and made the effort to listen to others and weigh their opinions.

Source: Don Bosco Aujourd’hui

Cardinal Hlond Declared Venerable

Cardinal Hlond Declared "Venerable”

Salesian Was Persecuted by Both Nazis and Communists

(ANS - Vatican City – May 22) - On May 19, Pope Francis, received Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, in audience and authorized the Congregation to promulgate the decree concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God August Joseph Hlond of the Salesian Society.

August, the second of 11 children, was born on July 5, 1881, in Brzeczkowice in Upper Silesia, Poland. His father was a railway worker. Having received a simple but strong faith from his parents, he entered the Salesian Society at a very young age and did his novitiate in Italy at Foglizzo Canavese. After his religious profession, he was sent to Rome and studied at the Gregorian University. Ordained on September 23, 1905, he became director of various Salesian houses in Poland and Vienna. He took care of the young, especially the poor, with the charism of Don Bosco. He lived among the people, sharing the joys and sufferings of the simplest persons.

Fr. Hlond was the first provincial of the German-Hungarian Province. In Vienna he impressed on Abp. Achille Ratti, who, on becoming Pope Pius XI, appointed him apostolic administrator of Upper Silesia, a responsibility requiring exceptional tact. From Fr. Hlond’s mediation between the German and Polish inhabitants, the diocese of Katowice was born in 1925, of which he became bishop on December 14, 1925.

On June 24, 1926, Pope Pius promoted him to archbishop of Gniezno and Poznan and primate of Poland. The Pope made him a cardinal on June 20, 1927, the second in the Salesians’ history. In 1932 he founded the Society of Christ for Polish Emigrants, whose purpose was to assist the many Poles who left their country.

In 1936, as primate he led the first synod of the Polish bishops. He became a great promoter of Catholic Action. He was the first shepherd in Poland, and possibly worldwide, to establish a Youth Festival.

In March 1939, he participated in the conclave that elected Pius XII. On September 1 of the same year, Germany invaded Poland, igniting World War II. At the request of the Polish government, in agreement with the apostolic nuncio, Cardinal Hlond went to Rome to inform the Holy Father of the tragic situation in Poland; unable to return, he took refuge in Lourdes, whence he raised his voice against the Nazis’ violations of human rights and religious freedom including the persecution of Jews in Poland.

After the fall of France, the Gestapo arrested him and interned him in Lorraine. In September 1944, he was deported by the Nazis to Westphalia in Germany. Released in 1945 by the Allies, he returned to Poland in July, finding there  a Communist government installed. In 1946, while maintaining episcopal headquarters of Gniezno, he was appointed archbishop of Warsaw by Pius XII.

He courageously defended the Polish people from the oppressive Marxist regime and was subject to several attacks from which he escaped unscathed.

He died of pneumonia in Warsaw on October 22, 1948, at the age of 67 the rosary in his hands. The Venerable Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, his successor, called him a pastor “with his gaze cast to the future.”

Cardinal Hlond's tomb in Warsaw's cathedral

features the Salesian motto, "Give me souls and take away the rest."

Cardinal Hlond was a virtuous man, a shining example of a Salesian religious and a generous, austere pastor capable of prophetic visions. Obedient to the Church and firm in the exercise of authority, he demonstrated humility and constancy in moments of greater trials. He cultivated poverty and practiced justice for the poor and the needy. The two columns of his spiritual life, at the school of St. John Bosco, were the Eucharist and Mary Help of Christians. He spread devotion to Mary Help of Christians throughout Poland and consecrated his country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Salesian Family Celebrates Marian Day

Salesian Family Celebrates Marian Day

Every May, members of the Salesian Family gather in regional celebrations in honor of Mary Help of Christians and for family togetherness.  Without intending any slight to the Tampa or Montreal regions, for example, perhaps we may say that the assemblage at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y., is prototypical.

Fr. Tom Dunne welcomes the pilgrim's at the day's start.

This year's gathering on Saturday, May 19, was blessed with a new feature, a prayer vigil for young adults organized by the Province Youth Ministry Office.  It was marred by 2 events, one minor and one grave.  The minor one was the all-day rain on Saturday.  The grave one was the previous day's fire in North Haledon that destroyed the chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy and, obviously, weighed on the minds of all the FMAs, few of whom were able to participate at Haverstraw.

The young adults (ages 18-29) vigil was originally going to be a camping trip in Harriman State Park leading into a pilgrimage walk to the Marian Shrine.  For various reasons that didn't work out, and the 13 participants (plus YM Office staff Fr. Abe Feliciano and Gui Lopes, and non-staff veteran camper your humble blogger) then planned to camp out at the Shrine in tents or open air near the picnic pavilion.

Fr. Abe (2d from right) going over the program with the planning team

before the participants arrived from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Fr. Abe and his planning team worked out a program of fun, food, and prayer, all based at the pavilion.  With rain in the overnite forecast, tho, we all moved indoors to sleep--the youths in the gym and the 2 SDBs in Lomagno Hall.  That decision was wise because, as noted above, it did rain overnite and all day Saturday.  Your humble blogger certainly would not have been happy to have to break down and then deal with 6 soaking wet tents, and we were all happier to be dry in our persons.

The young participants were almost all alumni of Salesian schools (Don Bosco Prep, Mary Help of Christians Academy, and Salesian HS); one was a parishioner of OL of the Valley in Orange, N.J.  Most had taken part in leadership retreats, and many already knew each other well.  The program began with ice breakers, nonetheless, and then moved on to lectio divina, a cookout over a campfire (simply burgers and dogs), Eucharistic adoration, opportunity for Reconciliation, s'mores around the campfire, and nite prayer.

On Saturday the youths took part in the Marian Day program except for a final gathering with Fr. Abe and Mr. Lopes to sum up the program.

The Marian Day program was prepared carefully and in detail by Fr. Tom Dunne, Sr. Denise Sickinger, and others, and it ran smoothly once adjustments were made for the weather.  Fr. Tom welcomed more than 100 pilgrims in the Shrine chapel at 9:00 a.m., and then the pilgrims split into 2 groups, one for English and one for Spanish.  In the former, Sr. Denise presented the evolution of Don Bosco's Marian devotion.

Everyone reassembled in Fr. John Lee Hall, and 2 of the young adults and an ADMA member gave witness talks.  There was reflection on Mary in our lives in small groups, some of which was shared with the entire group.

Dalton Friend, DB Prep alum, speaks of Mary in his life.

Anna Schwartzberg, MHCA alum, gives her testimony.

With late arrivals, the participants numbered over 200.  They came in groups from OL of the Valley in Orange, Port Chester, Manhattan (our former parishioners from 12th Street), and locally, and of course there were SDBs and FMAs from several communities, including their respective houses of formation.  Cooperators and ADMA were well represented.

It was standing room only in Lee Hall during the witness talks and group reflection.

Even the provincial (far right) had to stand!

Fr. Tim with the Devotees of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) from Port Chester.

There was a period of quiet and reflection before Mass, with opportunity for Reconciliation.  Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, presided and preached at the noon Mass (which included the Shrine's regular noon Mass-goers).  It was treated as the external solemnity of MHC.  The planners were taken by surprise at the number of concelebrants (mostly SDBs) who showed up--a nice surprise, of course--and had to provide for extra seating.  Mass concluded with everyone making a prayer of entrustment to the Help of Christians.

After Mass, lunch, which each person was to provide for himself; the young adults had theirs as a group, and we shared with some of the other pilgrims.

Lunch spread for the young adults in Lomagno Hall.

Then came Eucharistic adoration and another opportunity for Reconciliation.  The Rosary procession was moved indoors, circling the perimeter of the chapel.  The crowning of the statue of Mary was done very simply with the large MHC statue in the chapel; 2 of the young adults had that honor.

The Rosary procession wends its way around the chapel.

Gabby Corbo, alumna of MHCA, crowns Mary,

assisted by Danny Garcia, alumnus of DBP.

Everyone seemed happy with the day, and we trust that we paid good homage to our heavenly Mother.

Photos of the youth vigil: pix.sfly.com/xpmMwoEN
and of Marian Day (including some of the youths): pix.sfly.com/PmQ9WHuJ

Homily for Memorial of St. Bede

Homily for Memorial of St. Bede

May 25, 2018

Collect

Don Bosco Cristo Rey, Takoma Park, Md.

“O God, you bring light to your Church thru the learning of the priest St. Bede” (Collect).

The Venerable Bede—monk, priest, and doctor of the Church—was born in northern England around 673 and died in 735—thus in the early Middle Ages.  He’s probably the only medieval saint who can be described as having worked no miracles, seen no visions, and taught no path to God, not even in pious legend.  Aside from his sanctity, his learning, and his ability as a teacher, perhaps there was nothing outstanding about him.  He was just a plain choir-monk.  There is this to be said, however:  On his deathbed he bequeathed to his fellow priest-monks his few goods, which included such monastic staples as linen, incense, and pepper!

We commemorate Bede, however, not for his material bequests but for his spiritual ones.  He himself wrote that he devoted “all [his] pains to the study of the Scriptures”; it was ever his “delight to learn or teach or write.”[1]  Although he is best known for his History of the English Church & People, which remains an extremely valuable historical source, he produced a prodigious pile of commentaries on the Bible in the patristic style of his day, still very much appreciated today, and he labored almost to his last breath to finish a translation of John’s Gospel into his native Anglo-Saxon.  It was Bede who popularized the use of anno Domini in our dating system, altho he’s not the monk who tried to calculate the year of Christ’s birth.  He’s the only doctor of the Church from the English-speaking world.

Bede was revered as a great teacher in the monastic school, not only learned but humble and holy.  He was sober, accurate, and orthodox in what he taught, which makes him a model for all of us who are teachers.  When he learned of Bede’s death, St. Boniface in Germany—another Anglo-Saxon monk who was a missionary—remarked, “The light of the Church, lit by the Holy Spirit, is extinguished”[2]—which seems to be what the Collect alludes to with its 2 references to light.

Like Bede, may we find light in the sacred Scriptures, orthodox teaching, and of course the history of our faith.

---

    [1] History, last chapter (autobiographical).

    [2] Cf. Butler’s Lives of the Saints: May, rev. David Hugh Farmer (Collegeville, 1998), p. 132.

Disastrous Fire at FMAs' New Jersey School

Disastrous Fire at FMAs’ New Jersey School

On Friday morning, May 18, the Salesian Family was shocked with awful news from our sisters in North Haledon, N.J.: the chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy had been destroyed by fire in the wee hours of the morning.

Initial information is that the fire is not considered suspicious. But, as noted below, the structure will have to be demolished and the chapel rebuilt.

Our SDB province secretary informed the SDBs with a morning news bulletin:

Some of you may have already heard the terrible news that early this morning a fire completely destroyed the interior of the chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, New Jersey. Fortunately, no one was in the chapel at the time and there were no injuries.

On behalf of Fr. Provincial we express our prayers and support to the Salesian Sisters at this difficult time. Besides its physical beauty, the chapel contained memories of so many Masses for religious profession and graduation and countless other events in the life of the Salesian Sisters and all of us.

The link below leads to some photos and a video.  Let's keep the Sisters and everyone connected with MHC Academy in our prayers.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!ArtEYUxzMp_61wki9ysNwEzR5IAJ

The FMA province website carried some details:

The fire alarm went off in the Chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy, 659 Belmont Avenue, North Haledon, N.J., at 1:29 a.m. on Friday, May 18. The four-alarm blaze brought responses from the fire departments of North Haledon, Hawthorne, Franklin Lakes, and Paterson municipalities, and was finally extinguished around 4:00 a.m. Originally built in 1976 and later renovated in 2016 due to water damage, our chapel has suffered devastating damage to its interior and structure.

Functioning as the heart of the Academy as well as the center of activities for the St. Joseph Province of the Salesian Sisters, the chapel is where students convene for all major events – including the upcoming Baccalaureate Mass on June 1 and commencement on June 2 – and where they gather regularly for worship. Though our hearts are heavy, we are fortunate to be able to report that no one was harmed and that firemen were able to rescue the most precious item in the chapel: the tabernacle.

During a morning assembly led by principal Sr. Marisa DeRose, FMA, our community wept as photos of the charred altar, pews, and melted Peragallo pipe organ were shared, along with a warning to students to keep far from the building. The sisters, students, faculty, and staff of the Academy are devastated by this loss, but remain thankful to the dedicated firemen who contained the fire before it could cause additional damage to our facilities.

A testament to the strength of our community, the first donation to help rebuild the chapel was received from a faculty member before the school day had even begun; upon hearing about the blaze on the fire scanner radio, she was immediately moved to help.

From the FMA province development office:

This is the heart of our school and our province.

We have learned that the chapel must be knocked down, so the fundraising has begun for the new chapel.

To help us rebuild, please visit us at: www.salesiansisters.org

Please share this album with anyone who can help us.

Homily for Wednesday, Week 7 of Easter

Homily for Wednesday
7th Week of Easter

May 16, 2018                             

Acts 20: 28-38
Don Bosco Cristo Rey, Takoma Park, Md.

Like some people Fr. Dennis knows, St. Paul could talk for a long time.  What we hear in the 1st reading this morning began yesterday morning:  Paul’s address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, whom he has summoned to meet him at Miletus on his “farewell tour” (20:17).  He may well have sent also for the leaders of other nearby churches.[1]  That Ephesus was 30 miles away indicates Paul’s authority in the churches of Asia Minor, at least some of which he’d founded, as well as the esteem and affection in which the community held him, further stressed by their tears as he departs for the last time (20:37-38).

Statue of St. Paul

St. Peter's Square, Rome

Paul reminds the elders—whom he also calls “overseers”—episkopoi in Greek—of the main point of his preaching, namely that Jesus Christ redeemed the Church by his own blood (20:28).  He reminds them further of their grave responsibility for God’s flock, entrusted to them not by Paul but by the Holy Spirit (20:28).  And he warns them of the danger that will come from those who “pervert the truth to draw the disciples away after themselves” (20:30)

In our time, as in every age of the Church, terrible things happen when those with responsibility for the flock forget who is the true master of the flock, the true shepherd, and the price he paid for the flock’s salvation.  The Church suffers terribly still when false teachers divide the Church.  So Paul’s words remain timely, and they are addressed to us, whether we hold the office of elder—presbyter—or are teachers of the young:  the young at DBCR or in our families.  May we always be as vigilant, hardworking, self-sacrificing, and faithful to the Gospel as Paul and his co-workers were (20:31,33-35).

---

     [1] Josef Kürzinger, The Acts of the Apostles, trans. Simon & Erika Young, vol. 2 (NY: Crossroad, 1981), 98. Cf. 20:18,25.

Spiritual Portrait of St. Mary Mazzarello

Spiritual Portrait of St. Mary Mazzarello

by Fr. Morand Wirth, SDB

Normally, May 13 is celebrated as the feast of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello (1837-1881), co-foundress (with Don Bosco) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMAs), better known as the Salesian Sisters.  Since the 13th is Sunday this year, the feast doesn’t get observed by most of the Salesian Family.  But the sisters, for whom it’s a solemnity (not merely a feast), will observe the transferred celebration on the 15th. 

This selection comes from Don Bosco and the Salesians, trans. David de Burgh, SDB (New Rochelle: Don Bosco Publications, 1982), p. 159, slightly edited.

Mother Mazzarello (front and center) with FMAs leaving for the missions, 1879. (ANS)

Forthright in temperament but reserved in manner, Mary Mazzarello possessed ardent faith, fortitude, and a great good judgment in spite of her very limited education; she was a woman of the fields with a natural dignity that commanded respect. Although according to Pius IX she knew how to rule, it was easy to obey her, because, as one Sister said, “she exercised the office of superior like a true mother with genuine concern and without pretense. Firm as well as persuasive, she was obeyed by all without resentment.”

Since early childhood her love of God had developed into a profound spirituality which found expression in working for Him. “Let every stitch be an act for the love of God,” the young seamstress had told her friend at the start of their workshop. With the passing of time her piety became more and more Eucharistic and Marian.

Later, on becoming superior, she remained free of vanity and pride to the point of requesting that someone “more educated and capable” take her place. She never forgot her humble origin and willingly shared the menial tasks, losing herself in her search for God.

Mother Mazzarello’s charity came from the heart, as she strove to be of service of all. “Concerned about everybody, she cared for each one of us as if there were no one else in the Institute!” Her fine tact was well known; it came from her sensitivity and great respect for others, which, in turn, sprang from her own purity.

The aura of sanctity which surrounded her was neither artificial nor mechanical, and it remained always within the limits of Salesian dignity and moderation. The Magnificat exalts this virtue of the humble.

Mary Domenica Mazzarello died on May 14, 1881, at the age of 44. She was beatified by Pius XI on November 30, 1938, and canonized by Pius XII on June 24, 1951. In the meantime, that small group of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians has developed into the largest congregation of women religious in the Church.

Homily for the Ascension of the Lord

Homily for Ascension of the Lord

May 13, 2018

Collect
Nativity, Washington, D.C.

“The ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope” (Collect).

You could call this Trifecta Sunday.  Were I to ask you what today is, most of you would respond, “Mother’s Day.”  And we’re glad to honor, celebrate, and pray for our mothers.

Christ's Ascension

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, upper church sacristy

Many of you would add, “It’s Ascension Day.”  You might still tend to say “Ascension Thursday,” but the vast majority of American dioceses now celebrate this feast on Sunday.

I’d bet no one would tell me, “It’s World Communications Sunday.”  This is the 52d annual observance of this WCD, the only new Church observance called for by the 2d Vatican Council.  Every year since 1967, the Pope has issued a message for the observance, choosing a timely theme.

This year Pope Francis chose the theme, “The truth will set you free:  Fake news and journalism for peace.”  That sounds timely, all right.  “Fake news” has become a mantra, but the phenomenon is nothing new, whether we’re talking about commercial advertising—the Romans advised us caveat emptor, “let the buyer beware”; or talking about world politics, e.g., the Communist Party in the Soviet Union called its official newspaper Pravda, “Truth,” and North Korea calls itself the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea while it’s neither a democracy nor a republic nor at the service of the people; or talking about domestic politics, for which every politician learns to “spin” the news, giving at best an incomplete picture of an issue if not a deliberate distortion or outright lie.

“Fake news” even affects the Church.  To speak only of the Holy See, in recent weeks there have been stories about a doctored photograph and misleading presentation of a letter from Benedict XVI, which led to the reassignment of a high-ranking Vatican official; about Pope Francis’s denial of the reality of hell, which he has not denied but in fact repeatedly affirmed; and about the Vatican and Saudi Arabia striking a deal for the Saudis to build churches where Christians who live there can worship, such as foreign workers from India, the Philippines, and the U.S.—a report that was a complete fabrication.

The Holy Father writes at some length about the damage that “fake news” does.  He affirms the importance of truth because, he says, God made us to know and to share all that is true, good, and beautiful.  Truth orients us toward God, and here I affirm that it does this whether it’s the truth of science, the truth of history, the truth of philosophy, the truth of the Gospel, or the truth of a mother’s love.  Falsehood—including “fake news”—comes from Satan, whom Jesus calls “the father of lies” (John 8:44) and who aims not at our happiness and fulfillment but at our misery.

Today’s feast celebrates one of the truths of our faith, a truth about our happiness and fulfillment:  Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, has in his human body been exalted to the glory of heaven, and in the glorification of his humanity, we too are involved.  “Where the Head—Christ—has gone, the body—us, the Church—“is called to follow.”  Christ is incomplete until his people join him in risen splendor, eternal gladness.  This is the heart of the Good News, and there’s nothing fake about it.  The Son of God became human to join himself inseparably to us, and he aims to pull us after himself into heaven so that we may live with him as sons and daughters of God.

He will do that if we let him, if we make an effort to follow him.

And that’s the truth!

Novena Videos Now Online

Global Novena to Mary Help of Christians
Videos Now Online

(ANS – Rome – May 11) – A few days from the beginning of the novena to Mary Help of Christians on Tuesday, May 15, the first videos are being made available on Salesian internet channels. As of May 11, all nine videos in Italian, English, and Spanish are online.

“I will give you the teacher,” little John Bosco was told in his dream as a nine-year-old boy. “She did everything,” a mature Don Bosco would later say, near the end of his life, as he thought back to the many challenges he had faced and overcome for his youngsters. Our Lady had always been a close presence in Don Bosco’s life, and he never tired of repeating it and encouraging people’s devotion to her.

This year, which celebrates the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, the novena proposed by the Rector Major to the whole Salesian Family focuses on the dreams of Don Bosco wherein the figure of Mary Help of Christians emerges, and follows the same thread of the reflections being used for the procession in honor of our Lady which, as per tradition, is held on the evening of May 24 in the streets of Turin.

In each video, the Rector Major presents one of Don Bosco’s dreams, which is then discussed and supplemented with Marian testimonies by different members of the Salesian Family. Discussed are themes such as the Salesian mission, the spiritual life, the missions to the farthest corners of the earth, and Salesian holiness, always from a Marian point of view.

Finally, on the last day of the novena, the Rector Major will present his dream for the Congregation and the Salesian Family.

The videos can be found at www.sdb.org and at the ANSChannel on YouTube.

As of May 14, videos in French, Portuguese, and Polish will begin to be uploaded and made available to users.

Thanks to the collaboration between the Communications Department and the Communications Team of the Southern Italy Province, a written Italian-language aid was also produced featuring the all the texts of the novena.

Homily for Wednesday, 6th Week of Easter

Homily for Wednesday
6th Week of Easter

May 9, 2018                                      

Acts 17: 15, 22—18: 1

I didn’t actually preach this homily, which I prepared after misreading our liturgical assignments for this week.

In Acts 17 we read of St. Paul’s brief mission in Athens.  This most sophisticated Greek city makes a startling contrast with Corinth, Paul’s next destination (18:1-11).  Corinth was a moral sewer, yet Paul was welcomed there and stayed 18 months, whereas he made only a handful of converts and stayed a very short time in “wise” Athens.

St. Paul Preaching at Athens (Raphael)

In Athens Paul uses a different approach than his usual one.  We don’t hear that he began by presenting Jesus in the synagog but among the cultural elite, the philosophers.  He uses a tactic that today we call “see, judge, act.”  That is, he observes the religious practices of the Athenians, evaluates what he observes, and preaches according to his assessment of their religiosity.

The Athenians are pagans, not Jews.  But Paul thinks he finds in them an openness to the truth of a single Creator God (17:23-27); he doesn’t think those intellectual sophisticates really believe the foolishness of Greek mythology.  He even quotes some of their own cultural heritage (17:28), as among the Jews he quotes the Scriptures.

Unfortunately, Paul misreads what the Greek sophisticates are open to.  With very few exceptions (17:34), they reject out of hand the idea that someone has been raised from the dead (17:32).  They’re amused at such silliness.  They can’t imagine that God really cares so much about people.  Maybe they can’t even accept the idea of personal sin, for Paul has also spoken of judgment (17:30-31).  Paul’s Athens experience, especially in contrast to what will come in Corinth, evidences the truth of Jesus’ words:  “I praise you, Father, … for altho you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike” (Matt 11:25).

Paul models evangelization for us, however.  He attempts to lead people from their own experience toward the Gospel, and he speaks plainly the truth of the Gospel—in this case, that God created us, that we are morally responsible creatures, and that Jesus Christ, risen, is the Savior.

This is the mystery mentioned in our Collect this morning, the mystery in which we participate at this altar, the mystery we pray to be worthy of when Jesus comes in judgment.

"How can we follow a God whom we don't listen to?"

“How can we follow a God whom we don’t listen to or appreciate?”

Fr. Juan José Bartolomé speaks of God’s call to young people

(ANS – Madrid- May 7) – Fr. Juan José Bartolomé, SDB, extracts “Three stories of vocation” of the Holy Scriptures – those of Samuel, Jeremiah, and the rich young man – to show that “God speaks also to young people.”  Dios habla también a los jóvenes is the title of his latest book, published by Madrid’s Editorial CCS.  These are pieces that, according to this New Testament teacher, currently professor at the Salesian Theological Institute of Tlaquepaque, Mexico, share an “obvious” message:  “In times of crisis, God can make adolescents prophets ... if they dedicate themselves to listening to him.”

Why does it cost so much today to listen to God’s call?

Because we live with many entertainments, but with little interior life; with much noise, more in the heart, than in the environment (which is saying everything); worried more about ourselves than about God and his living image, the neighbor who needs us.  Fearing that God asks us for things we don’t want to or can’t give him, we refuse to listen to him.  A God so detached, who says nothing anymore, who means so little, ends up being an idol, as harmless as he’s easy to deal with.

To what extent is the “vocations crisis” a sign of the times?

I don’t believe, sincerely, there is a vocations crisis.  God always calls as many as he wants; another thing is whether we want to listen to him.  In the Christian community, it seems to me that something very serious is happening:  among us believers, even the best, we live in a state of permanent disobedience.  Engaged as we are in solving social problems, ours or those of our loved ones, what God says to us in what happens to us doesn’t matter to us.  It’s more urgent for us to intervene in the world than to allow God to intervene in our hearts.  How can we follow a God whom we don’t listen to or appreciate?

Does vocations ministry need renewal?

Of course, vocations ministry needs a profound renewal, but not in its recipients, the world of youth, but in its “pastors,” those sent by God.  Because have we forgotten that Jesus, before sending the Twelve, two at a time, to evangelize, first ordered them to pray to the Lord for the harvest?  A life of personal prayer and the authentic witnessing of those faces transfigured for having conversed with God are the best way to arouse and take care of the possible vocations. Only those who have encountered the Lord become his effective propagators.

Religiously Engaged Adolescents Get Better Grades

Religiously engaged adolescents demonstrate habits that help them get better grades

Stanford study suggests that being religious helps adolescents get better grades because they are rewarded for being conscientious and cooperative.

April 15, 2018

By Carrie Spector

Stanford education researcher finds that adolescents

who are religiously engaged do better in school.

(Photo: franckreporter/iStock)

Adolescents who practice religion on a regular basis do better in school than those who are religiously disengaged, according to new research from Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE).

The findings indicate that religious communities socialize adolescents to cultivate two habits highly valued in public schools: conscientiousness and cooperation. Religious engagement may influence grades more than researchers realize.

Read the rest: https://ed.stanford.edu/news/religiously-engaged-adolescents-demonstrate-habits-help-them-get-better-grades-stanford-scholar