Salesian Missions Funds Renovation of Ivory Coast Prenovitiate

Salesian Missions Funds Renovation of Prenovitiate in Ivory Coast

(ANS – Korhogo, Ivory Coast) – Salesian prenovices in Korhogo, Ivory Coast, have a new residential accommodation thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle. With the funding, an addition was constructed and renovations were made which benefit the 25 young men who live and are educated there.

The variety of facilities was designed and constructed to support residential, educational, and communal needs. They include 2 dormitories, one lecture room, a chapel for spiritual activities, a dining hall, and 3 rooms allocated for formators, along with an administrative office. These spaces form a comprehensive complex aimed at fostering a supportive environment for residents and prenovices.

Stephen Akyene, a prenovice, said, “The house now is perfect for young prenovices. The various pastoral activities that we take part in there are helping to form us into good Salesians. The house and space we now share will aid us in our growth both spiritually and academically.”

According to the World Bank, 46% of people in the Ivory Coast live in conditions of poverty — with 12% of the population living in severe poverty on less than $1.25 a day. Ivory Coast has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in West Africa. While a wide range of national and international initiatives focus on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and testing, the collapse of public health facilities in the north as a result of years of conflict has made the situation worse.

Salesians continue their work providing shelter, education, and social development services to youths and their families. They also work with the victims of war to heal the country’s deep wounds. They listen, help victims seek compensation, and work for social reconciliation between opposing groups. Known for their work with child soldiers around the globe, Salesians are also providing training for youths, some of whom had been aggressors during the war.

Source: Mission Newswire

"Good Christians and Joyful Citizens"

“Good Christians and Joyful Citizens”

Don Bosco’s Joyful Education

(ANS – Rome – January 30, 2026) – Among Don Bosco’s most famous expressions, one particularly effectively summarizes his educational dream: to form “good Christians and honest citizens.” Numerous scholars – including Fr. Pietro Braido, who speaks of a true formula of Salesian educational humanism – have shown how this synthesis expresses a project of integral education, capable of bringing together lived faith, human maturity, and social responsibility. In this context, cheerfulness is not an accessory element, but one of the most evident signs of educational success: where young people appear dull and sad, the Salesian style has not yet unleashed its full power.

At the root of this vision lies what St. John Paul II in Iuvenum Patris defined as authentic Christian humanism. Don Bosco sees every young person as a person called to the fullness of life, in which human growth and the life of grace go hand in hand. He rejects both a disembodied spirituality and a humanism without God: he insists on study, work, friendship, and the responsible use of free time, but he directs everything toward Christ and salvation. For this reason, he clearly states that one cannot be a good Christian without becoming an honest citizen, nor can one be an authentically responsible citizen without a conscience formed by faith.

It is Don Bosco himself who simply points out the way to this fullness. He proposes to the young Francis Besucco an essential and realistic program, capable of combining serenity, commitment and spiritual life: “Cheerfulness, study, piety – this is the great program. By practicing it, you’ll be able to live happily and do much good for your soul.” These few words encapsulate a concrete and everyday pedagogy, far from any sad moralism and deeply rooted in the real life of young people.

In this context, we can understand why, in the Preventive System, the pedagogy of joy and celebration is considered a constitutive and non-negotiable element. Studies remind us that “joy and cheerfulness are constitutive elements of the system, inseparable from study, work, and piety.” Don Bosco translates this principle into very concrete educational practices: games, theater, music, celebrations, walks, always deeply connected to sacramental life. The playground refers to the church, recreation to confession and Communion, celebrations to charity.

It is an educated and oriented joy, free and often noisy, but never disorderly or empty. It is a joy that is also capable of saying “no” sometimes, because it is based on a positive vision of man, in which nature and grace, duty and recreation are not opposed but mutually supportive. In this sense, cheerfulness becomes almost a vocation: the Christian way of living life with trust, responsibility, and hope.

Being “Good Christians and joyful citizens” therefore means living citizenship with an evangelical heart. Don Bosco wants young people who are capable of thinking and acting with religious convictions, but at the same time ready to take on their civic duties responsibly: working honestly, respecting just laws, collaborating in social peace, contributing to the common good. He does not propose an escape from the world, but a responsible immersion in reality, illuminated by the Gospel. “Good Christian” and “honest citizen” are not two parallel identities, but 2 inseparable dimensions of the same person.

A recent article describes the atmosphere of the Valdocco oratory as follows: “The boys could learn to be good Christians and honest citizens, and they could savor joy as the highest measure of Christian life.” For Don Bosco, cheerfulness thus became a sort of educational and vocational thermometer: if a young person is constantly gloomy, isolated, and lacking in enthusiasm, something is not working; if, on the other hand, he knows how to play, commit himself, and pray with a serene heart, then he is on the right path. It is no coincidence that in his famous Letter from Rome of 1884, Don Bosco calls on the Salesians to be familiar with young people, especially during recreation, as a privileged place of education: without familiarity, love can’t be shown; without love, trust can’t be born; and without trust, there can be no true education.

In our time, when many young people associate faith with sadness, renunciation as a less human proposal, Don Bosco’s idea of cheerfulness is surprisingly relevant. It testifies that the Gospel makes us more human, not less; that it is possible to be deeply Christian and fully integrated into social life, work, and culture. Where young people grow up capable of praying and studying, of serving and engaging in the city, of smiling and making others smile, Don Bosco’s charism continues to offer the world its most convincing response: a daily holiness that knows how to be joyful.

Film Review -- St. John Bosco: Mission to Love

FILM REVIEW

SAINT JOHN BOSCO: MISSION TO LOVE

Produced by LuxVide in association with RAI, Blue Star Movies, and the Salesians (2004).

Directed by Lodovico Gasparini. Starring Flavio Insinna, Lina Sastri, Charles Dance, and Lewis Crutch.

English or Italian vocal, with Spanish or English subtitles option. Color. 200 minutes. DVD.

Includes behind-the-scenes features and a viewers guide.

            When Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love was first shown on Italy’s RAI-TV, according to reports it drew a greater audience than soccer games over those two nights—no mean feat in Europe. “This just NEVER happens in Italy!” remarks an Australian Salesian working in Rome. “Italians thought this film was just the best thing since sliced bread.” Ignatius Press has finally brought to part of the English-speaking world this long-awaited production. (It appears that Ignatius did not secure world-wide rights.)

            Mission to Love tells Don Bosco’s story in dramatic and lively fashion. After an opening scene based on conflict with his archbishop, it flashes back to his life in Becchi. He narrates to his mother a part of his first dream, meets Fr. Calosso and starts to study, has numerous confrontations with a large, angry Anthony, leaves home to study for the priesthood in Chieri, is ordained, goes to Turin and learns of the difficulties met there by young farm boys trying to make their way, and starts up his Oratory with Fr. Cafasso at his side. And it proceeds straightforwardly to the point where we started, and beyond, up to the firm establishment of the Salesians, who will continue the saint’s work.

            More than the earlier Alessandrini (1936) and Castellani (1987) films, Mission to Love brings home the great challenge that young Don Bosco must have faced in reality as he entered Turin’s jails or traveled the city streets to meet troubled or idle youngsters. There’s no “I want Don Bosco!” (Alessandrini) but plenty of “Get lost, priest!” Of course he eventually wins over many of these toughs, and the dramatic day’s outing from the Generala jail is recounted here as in both the older movies.

            This newest version does a much better job than Castellani’s film of showing why the Oratory faced opposition from some people in authority. On the part of the prefect of the city, there’s fear of revolution, very clear here. On the part of hard-driving employers, there’s the fear of awaking youngsters to workers’ rights. The anticlericalism of the late 1840s and 1850s also comes forth, with a strong emphasis on Don Bosco’s place at the side of “the people,” among the poor. None of that appears in the oldest movie, Alessandrini’s, which was purely celebratory in honor of the saint’s recent canonization. There are no assassination attempts, as in Castellani, and, alas!, no Grigio this time.

            The source of Don Bosco’s conflict with his religious superior, the archbishop, is presented a little more clearly than in the Castellani film. That, too, was entirely lacking in Alessandrini’s. We see here the early friendship between the saint and the archbishop as well as its breakdown. The archbishop is zealous to train priests, is anxious not to appear to be Don Bosco’s creation—Don Bosco having proposed to Pius IX his appointment—and an unfortunate anonymous pamphlet publicizes their dispute. Don Bosco accurately describes (to the Pope) the archbishop as “ardent,” and the archbishop describes (to his clergy) Don Bosco as “proud,” though Salesians would prefer to say “convinced he was right,” or perhaps “persistent.” We see Don Bosco abase himself, in obedience to the Pope, to end the conflict just moments after the archbishop has called him proud.

            Gasparini’s film, unlike the older ones, introduces Dominic Savio, portraying well his eagerness to practice holiness and the esteem he earned both among his peers and with his mentor. We also encounter as real characters and not just names thrown at cassocked figures (in the style of Alessandrini), a few of the early Salesians: Rua, Cagliero, Buzzetti, with some evidence of their varying personalities.

            Gasparini gives some prominence to St. Francis de Sales that was missing in the earlier movies, as patron of the work and, very evidently, the source of the name “Salesian.”

            One of the movie’s great strengths is the role of Mama Margaret: as teacher of young John, as strong mother in the family at Becchi, and as companion and mother of all at Valdocco.

            An even bigger strength is what one viewer calls the film’s use of the ipsissima verba of St. John Bosco, his very own words. We hear them in the dialog between the two saints, Bosco and Savio, and in numerous other dialogs, as well as in the priest’s catechism lessons. They concern the path of holiness, the means of educating the young, making oneself loved, forming good citizens of heaven and the nation, and more. One sees—or rather, hears—the influence of Salesian scholar Fr. Aldo Giraudo on the script.

            The telescoping of real history in this movie is not unlike what Castellani did in 1987. But here the story seems easier to follow. What’s telescoped: pretty much everything that happened in reality between 1844 and 1882. Did one not know the story—Vicar Cavour’s suspicions, revolution and war, Dominic Savio, the cholera, Mama Margaret, the long process of proposing and solidly founding the Salesians, the many dealings with Pius IX, and the whole Gastaldi affair—one might suppose all of this to have happened in, perhaps, a decade. As the current film ends, essentially, with ecclesiastical approval of the Congregation (1864, in fact, and long before Don Bosco’s battles with either Archbishop Riccardo di Netro or Archbishop Gastaldi), both Fr. Cafasso (†1860) and Mama Margaret (†1856) are there to beam with joy. We could also observe that the crucial roles of Fr. John Borel and Fr. Cafasso are rolled together into one. In the two earlier movies, Fr. Borel got all the credit for assisting our Founder; he doesn’t rate even a mention in this one.

            One understands of course that this telescoping is a valid and often necessary cinematic technique. The story is far too complex, the characters far too many, to portray “as it really happened,” especially in the limits of one movie.

            The conflicts that Don Bosco had with both civil and religious authorities were dramatic and real. One may well ask why Gasparini felt the need to fictionalize the names of his opponents. Vicar Michele Cavour becomes Prefect Clementi—who is diabolical, until his deathbed conversion, or at least until he observes Don Bosco weeping over Savio’s death—in a way that Cavour wasn’t. Then Clementi morphs into Urbano Rattazzi and arranges for Parliament to suppress monastic orders and, on his deathbed, advise Don Bosco about how to get around the law of suppression when he founds his own congregation. Archbishop Lorenzo Gastaldi becomes Cardinal Lorenzo Fassati—with the added risk of confusion with the Oratory’s great benefactors the noble Fassati family, as well as the actual Cardinal Archbishop of Turin Maurilio Fossati (1931-1965).

            There are a few minor quibbles: While it’s refreshing that throughout the movie the priests are anglicized as “Father So-and-so” (instead of “Don” Calosso, “Don” Cafasso, and “Don” Fassati), it’s disconcerting to hear “Father Bosco” over and over. And why, then, leave the personal names in Italian: Giovanni, Domenico, Lorenzo, Margherita…? One ought to be consistent in anglicizing or not. And one would think that someone would have taken the trouble to teach the English speakers (actors and dubbers) the correct pronunciation of Salesian. Although the Oratory is supposed to be within Turin—and in reality the Valdocco section certainly wasn’t densely settled in the 1840s and ’50s—one sees it here as miles out into the country.

            A good part of the film was originally spoken in English by English actors—playing Colosso, Cafasso, Clementi, Savio, most of the lads, for instance. The lines originating in Italian (John, Margaret, Fassati, Pius IX, the baker, the printer) seem, for the most part, to have been dubbed well into English. If one uses the version with English subtitles, though, one will find the script considerably condensed from torrential Italian to very pithy English.

            To sum up: Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love does a fine job presenting Don Bosco’s mission and personality and gives an adequate impression of the very difficult times. Even with the filmmaker’s literary license, one feels the authenticity. It’s worth the price of admission—or of the video.

            The viewer’s guide supplied by Ignatius Press includes a description of the film, a sketch of Don Bosco’s life and dreams, an interview with Flavio Insinna (the film’s Don Bosco) from ANS, discussion questions, and a very short list for further reading.

            Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love is available directly from Ignatius Press (http://www.ignatius.com).

March 16, 2007

Don Bosco's Charism Universalized thru Cinema

Don Bosco’s Charism Universalized thru Cinema

(ANS – Rome – January 29, 2026) – Don Bosco’s great appeal and his charisma have captivated millions of people around the world. His figure has permeated and still permeates the work of a great many artists who have traced his profile or drawn his portrait, making it even more universal thru various forms of art. Cinematography has certainly played an important role by bringing the Saint of the Young closer to the general public.

Don Bosco is an absolutely “international” saint, in that he is known all over the world and with particular cognizance in the 140 countries where the Salesians are widespread; thus, it is not impossible to come across films of various genres dedicated to him on the Web.

But among the many works produced, it’s undeniable that it was his own homeland, Italy, that paid him the most famous cinematic tributes. For this reason, in the work of selecting among the films dedicated to Don Bosco, the field has been narrowed down to 3 films that are still touchstones for anyone who wants to try their hand in the same artistic arena, that have marked their era, and that have been translated and dubbed or subtitled in several languages, to be disseminated thruout the world.

These are 3 productions simply titled “Don Bosco,” proving that Don Bosco’s name needs no further introduction.

The 1st one was made under the direction of Goffredo Alessandrini and is from 1935, thus a year after the canonization of the Saint of Youth. Starring Gian Paolo Rosmino, the film depicts the life of Don Bosco from his birth until his canonization in 1934. The film was restored from a negative preserved in the Salesian Fund deposited in 2016 in Ivrea.

Instead, on the centennial of the death of the Saint of the Young, in 1988, the film Don Bosco was released. The director was Leandro Castellani, and it featured Italian-American star Ben Gazzara, who played the role of an elderly Don Bosco, dedicated to retracing all the actions he took to achieve his greatest dream: to devote himself completely to the young.

Italian television was also captivated by Don Bosco’s charisma, so much that in 2004 it made a miniseries on RAI, the Italian public radio and TV network. It was directed by Lodovico Gasparini and starred Flavio Insinna. It’s the story of a vocation lived in the sign of joy and optimism, despite the difficulties that litter Don Bosco’s path.

Today we are introducing these 3 masterpieces in order to present them to our readers in view of the feastday of Don Bosco and to promote their viewing as a means of popularizing his figure.

On the 1935 movie, see From the Eastern Front: 1935 Don Bosco Film Returns to Light

What ANS posted last year: From the Eastern Front: Don Bosco at the Movies

Editor’s note: When the RAI film came out, I wrote a review of it. I’ll try to get that posted to the blog.

Homily for Thursday, Week 3 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
3d Week of Ordinary Time

2 Sam 7: 18-19, 24-29
Jan. 29, 2026
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

David at Prayer (Art Bible)

“Who am I, Lord God, and who are the members of my house, that you have brought me to this point?” (2 Sam 7: 18).

In yesterday’s reading from ch. 7 of 2 Samuel, David proposed to build a suitable house for the ark of the covenant.  God responded by telling him no, that would be for his heir to do; but God would, instead, build a house for David, i.e., assure him a lasting dynasty and a permanent, protected land for Israel.

Today we heard part of David’s prayerful response.  He’s humbly grateful for God’s graciousness toward him, his family, and his people.  He recognizes that it’s all God’s doing:  “you have made this generous promise to your servant” (7:28), and “by your blessing the house of your servant shall be blessed forever” (7:29).  Our psalm response repeats the Lord’s promise, conditionally:  “If your sons keep my covenant, … their sons, too, forever shall sit upon your throne” and “Zion is my resting place forever” (Ps 132:12,14).

As the Lord’s intentions for David differed from David’s own thoughts, likewise he’s fulfilled his commitment in a way different than David and the rest of Israel anticipated.  Altho David’s physical family is no more, the Son of David, God’s final Anointed One, lives and reigns over the universe forever.  As God chose Israel—a choice never revoked, as Vatican II and all the recent Popes have reminded us—he has chosen multitudes more to be his people.  “This is my blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many” (Eucharistic Prayers).  The Lord God, thru Jesus Messiah, has incorporated all of his followers into David’s dynasty.

For this we’re grateful and make David’s prayer our own:  “Who am I, Lord God, … that you have brought me to this point,” and we, now members of David’s house, “stand firm before you.  You have made this generous promise to your servant,” and this house of David’s Son, our Christian house, “shall be blessed forever” (7:18,26,28,29).

Homily for Tuesday, Week 3 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
3d Week of Ordinary Time

Jan. 27, 2026
2 Sam 6: 12-19
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem (Domenico Gargiulo)

“David went to bring up the ark of God … into the city of David amid festivities” (2 Sam 6: 12).

Having defeated Israel’s enemies and his personal foes, David acts to secure his throne as well as to honor God, who has delivered him and Israel, who has raised him from tending sheep to care for God’s human flock.

When we hear the phrase “city of David,” we think 1st of Bethlehem:  “Joseph went up from Galilee … to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David” (Luke 2:4).  But David is making Jerusalem his city, a wise political move as part of his efforts to unite the 12 tribes; it’s a city that hasn’t belonged to any one of the tribes, a neutral site as it were.  By bringing up the ark of the covenant, he also makes Jerusalem the religious capital of all the tribes; later, when the tribes divide the kingdom, Jeroboam’s 1st move will be to establish an alternative religious center for the northern tribes he governs, to keep them away from the 2 tribes that remained loyal to the line of David (1 Kgs 12:26-32).

David’s religious sentiments, tho, are sincere, not mere political calculation.  He assumes a priestly role in regard to the ark:  wearing priestly garb, dancing wildly, leading the people’s acclamations, offering abundant sacrifices to the Lord (2 Sam 6:13-15).

We’re praying today for Bro. Charles’s friend Winnie Lau.  Her little biography says she and her husband Walter loved ballroom dancing.  It they’d been break dancers instead, they might have resembled David.  But Winnie’s work at her parish food pantry resembles David’s gift of meat, bread, and raisins to the people in celebration of God’s presence among them.  Her rosary-making and prayer were sacrifices to the Lord.  Her participation in the Eucharist expressed her priestly dignity among the baptized.

David brought the ark of God to Jerusalem, close to his home, close to the heart of his nation.  The new ark of God rests in our home, to be the center of our lives.  We praise the Lord Jesus who saves us.  We can’t “dance before him with abandon”; we can only walk or shuffle, but we bring him our sincere and trusting hearts.  In our Eucharistic celebration we unite ourselves sacrificially with Christ to pray for our beloved friends and for all of humanity.

World Communications Day 2026

World Communications Day 2026

“Preserving Human Voices and Faces”

(ANS – Vatican City – January 26, 2026) – In his message for the World Communications Day, released on Saturday, January 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists, Pope Leo XIV stresses the need to ensure that technological innovation—especially Artificial Intelligence—serves the human person rather than replacing or diminishing human dignity.

The Sacred Value of Face and Voice

“The face and voice are unique and distinctive features of each person; they express an unrepeatable identity and are the foundation of every encounter,” the Pope writes at the beginning of his message. Reflecting on the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence and new forms of communication, he describes face and voice as sacred gifts from God, who created humanity in His image and likeness and called each person to life through His Word.

Preserving human faces and voices, the Holy Father explains, means safeguarding the indelible reflection of God’s love within every person. “We are not a species made up of predefined biochemical algorithms. Each of us has an irreplaceable and inimitable vocation that unfolds in life and is expressed precisely through communication with others.”

An Anthropological, Not Merely Technological, Challenge

“The challenge,” Pope Leo writes, “is not technological but anthropological. Preserving faces and voices ultimately means protecting ourselves.”

He warns against algorithms that manipulate users by enclosing them in “bubbles of easy consensus and easy indignation,” systems designed mainly to maximize social media profits. He also cautions against the illusion of an “omniscient friend” in AI—tools to which people may uncritically entrust everyday decisions, complex questions, and even artistic creation.

His appeal is direct: “Do not give up your own thinking.”

Human Responsibility in the Age of AI

The Pope emphasizes that the central question is not what machines can do, but what human beings can do—growing in humanity and knowledge through the wise use of powerful tools placed at their service.

Those who seek to “appropriate the fruits of knowledge without the effort of personal involvement,” he says, risk “hiding their face and silencing their voice.”

Risks for Journalism

Pope Leo devotes special attention to the impact of AI and digital technologies on journalism. Systems that present statistical probability as if it were knowledge, he explains, offer at best only approximations of truth. Combined with the decline of field journalism—where information is gathered and verified directly at the source—this creates fertile ground for disinformation.

Hopeful Guidance for the Future

Despite these concerns, the Pope’s message is not alarmist. Instead, he looks to the future with hope and calls for active engagement. “The challenge before us is not to stop digital innovation, but to guide it, aware of its ambivalent nature. It is up to each of us to raise our voices in defense of human beings, so that these tools may truly become our allies.”

He outlines 3 essential paths forward:

• Responsibility at every level—companies, developers, media professionals, public authorities, and individual citizens
• Cooperation among all sectors of society
• Education, especially in critical thinking, source evaluation, and awareness of the interests behind the information we receive

A Final Appeal

“We need the face and the voice to return to speaking for the person,” the Holy Father concludes, reaffirming that authentic communication must always remain rooted in human dignity. 

Reason, Religion, and Kindness

Reason, Religion, and Kindness

Three words that have educated generations

(ANS – Rome – January 26, 2026) – When Don Bosco presented his Preventive System, he summarized it in three simple yet powerful words: reason, religion, and (loving) kindness. On these 3 pillars, he educated thousands of young people in Valdocco and in many other houses, and on these same foundations, the Salesian world continues to build schools, oratories, and social works all over the world. This is not an educational slogan, but a real “grammar of education,” capable of holding together the minds, hearts, and souls of young people.

For Don Bosco, reason means first and foremost helping young people to understand the why behind rules and educational proposals. He does not limit himself to commanding or prohibiting: he explains, dialogs, argues, and tries to convince with human and spiritual motivations. Salesian texts emphasize that “reason” implies rationality, clarity, and respect for the intelligence of the young persons, accompanying their growth not with emotional pressure but with the light of truth. Educating with reason means having confidence in young persons’ ability to understand what is good and to freely choose it; for this reason, the Salesian environment values dialog, good explanations, and the search for the deep motivations behind choices.

Religion is at the heart of the Preventive System. Don Bosco is convinced that without reference to God, education remains incomplete. For this reason, he proposed a simple and accessible path of faith: age-appropriate catechism, participation in Mass, frequent reception of the sacraments encouraged but never imposed, devotion to Mary Help of Christians. It is a popular, concrete, and joyful religiosity that accompanies daily life. One text recalls his conviction that “frequent confession and Communion and daily Mass are the pillars that must support the educational edifice.” But Don Bosco insists that nothing should be forced: faith must be proposed in a way that makes it attractive, serene, and liberating, so that it becomes a source of peace, meaning, and hope on the path of growth.

Loving-kindness (amorevolezza) or simply “kindness” is perhaps the most characteristic word and, at the same time, the most difficult to translate. It does not refer to simple sentimental affection, but to an educational style made up of presence, trust, respect, and personal relationship. Don Bosco wants young people “not only to be loved, but to know they are loved.” The most recent studies emphasize that loving kindness also includes attention to emotional maturation, the building of healthy relationships, and the educator’s ability to make himself loved with authenticity. In this climate, correction does not humiliate but helps growth; discipline is not imposition but help, because it arises within a relationship in which young persons know they can trust.

Together, these 3 words explain why the Preventive System rejects violent punishment and tends to minimize even the harshest sanctions, focusing instead on inner responsibility. A young person placed in an environment where the rules are reasonable and explained (reason), where the presence of God is felt (religion), and where one feels sincerely loved (loving kindness) is less likely to fall into serious error and, if he does fall, is more willing to get back up.

For this reason, even today, those who educate in the Salesian style can start from these 3 words: few, simple, but capable of educating generations, because they speak to the minds, hearts, and souls of young people.

Homily for 3d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
3d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jan. 25, 2026
Matt 4: 12-23
Villa Maria, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

The Triumph of Christianity
(Gustave Dore')

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light” (Matt 4: 16).

In our Lord’s time, Galilee had a large Gentile population of Greeks, Phoenicians, Syrians, and Romans in addition to the Israelite population.  St. Matthew singles out that population, referring to “Galilee of the Gentiles” as he adapts the quotation he takes from Isaiah (8:23—9:1), part of our 1st reading.

Strange, then, that the Jewish Messiah should emerge from that context rather than from Judea or even Jerusalem.  But Matthew sees God at work.  He sees Jesus fulfilling what Tevye calls “God’s vast eternal plan.”  So here, as in numerous other instances, Matthew cites the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, to explain or comment on Jesus’ life.  God has planned this all along.  God wills from the start that his Messiah redeem not only Israel but all the nations.

Matthew tipped his interpretive hand when he included in Jesus’ genealogy several Gentile women (1:1-6) and when he narrated the story of the magi (2:1-12).  Then he finishes his Gospel with the Lord’s command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (28:19).

The magi, those foreigners from the East, were led by a star, by an extraordinary light, to him who is the light of the world.  Now, as Jesus begins his ministry, the light bursts upon the world—for both Jew and Gentile:  “The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light; on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen” (4:16).

The definitive darkness of humans created originally in God’s image—whether Jew or Gentile—is separation from eternal light, from God.  In the 2d Eucharistic Prayer we pray that God welcome everyone into the light of his face.  In the 4th Eucharistic Prayer, we give thanks to our “Father most holy” who dwells “in unapproachable light” (Preface) before asking to be granted a share in his glory “freed from the corruption of sin and death.”

Sin is the 1st form of darkness, and it leads to the dark grave.  Therefore Jesus begins his preaching with a summons to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17).  The kingdom is present in him, light personified—“Light from light,” in the words of the Creed, “a light that shines in the dark, … the true light that enlightens everyone,” in the words of St. John’s prolog (1:4,9).

This true light will conquer the darkness in our hearts, forgiving our sins and remedying our separation from the eternal light.  Finally, he’ll conquer even death.  He’ll do this for all whom his apostles snag in their gospel nets (Matt 4:19).

Jesus’ ministry includes not only the verbal forgiveness of sins, but also what St. John calls “signs.”  His healing of disease and illness are visible, physical signs of the light he bestows on our souls.  His driving out demons is a sign of his power over the Prince of Darkness.  His nature miracles are signs that every form of darkness in our lives, even death, is subject to him.  Jesus “went around all of Galilee … curing every disease and illness” (4:23), casting out demons, salvaging a wedding disaster, walking on water, calming a storm, forgiving sins—all signs of the kingdom of light, of “unapproachable light” bursting into Galilee and into the whole world.

The “fishers of men” whom Jesus chose and continues to choose, preachers and practitioners of the Gospel, continue to bring his light into the world, the light of his truth and goodness.  So the Church preaches the Gospel and teaches the Gospel’s application to our lives in a world struggling against darkness.  Christians bring the light of healing, education, and mercy to the sick, the poor, the bereaved, the afflicted, the frightened, the oppressed, the hopeless.  We oppose every form of darkness—moral, spiritual, physical, and psychological—that the Prince of Darkness and his minions thrust upon us.  We work and we pray that the kingdom of heaven, eternal light, may reign in all parts of our lives.

Pope Leo XIV to Visit Sacred Heart Basilica

(ANS – Rome – January 23, 2026) – The diocese of Rome announced on January 23 that Pope Leo XIV will make his first pastoral visit to the basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Castro Pretorio on Sunday, February 22. The event is expected to be a historic moment of grace for the parish community and for the entire Salesian Family.

The visit is part of the Holy Father’s Lenten program, which includes meetings with 5 parishes representing the different pastoral sectors of the diocese of Rome, in keeping with the tradition of Popes visiting the communities of their diocese personally during Lent.

Commenting on the announcement, the pastor, Fr. Javier Ortiz, emphasized the profound ecclesial significance of the event: “The Holy Father’s visit represents a historic moment of grace for us, coming shortly after the Jubilee Year and prolonging its fruits of spiritual renewal, hope, and ecclesial communion.” Welcoming the Pope, he added, “is a strong sign of closeness and encouragement for our entire community.”

According to the Vicariate of Rome, the visit will be a true pastoral visit. Pope Leo will meet with parish organizations, pastoral workers, and some youth groups before presiding over the Eucharistic celebration, the culminating moment of the meeting with the entire community.

Fr. Francesco Marcoccio, the rector of the basilica of the Sacred Heart, also highlighted how the presence of the Holy Father in the basilica, built by Don Bosco himself and entrusted to the Salesians, “confirms the importance of pastoral commitment to young people, families, and those who live or pass through this central area of Rome,” inviting the community to renew its missionary zeal in the light of the Heart of Christ.

For the parish of the Sacred Heart and for the Salesian Family, Pope Leo XIV’s first visit to the basilica is thus a sign of communion, renewed pastoral responsibility, and trust in the journey of the Church of Rome, guided by its bishop.

New Exhibit at Mission Museum Focuses on Indigenous Communities

New Exhibit at Misiones Salesianas Museum Focuses on Indigenous Communities

(ANS – Madrid – January 22, 2026) – The Misiones Salesianas Museum presents the second phase of the commemorative exhibition entitled La aventura valdrá la pena: 150 años de las misiones salesianas (“The adventure will be worth it: 150 years of Salesian missions”). This new stage of the exhibition offers a critical look at the relationship between Salesian missionaries and the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego, particularly the Selk’nam people, with an emphasis on historical memory and current processes of reparation and recognition.

The exhibit runs across 2 rooms. The 1st traces the changing mindset of the Salesian missionaries who arrived in Patagonia at the end of the 19th century, influenced by a colonial vision. Contact with the reality of the indigenous populations gradually transformed this view, dismantling prejudices and revealing the cultural, social, and spiritual richness of the Selk’nam people.

Some Salesian missionaries actively denounced the injustices suffered by these communities during the colonization process. Among them were figures such as Dominic Milanesio, an inter-ethnic and cultural mediator, and Albert Maria de Agostini, whose photographic, scientific, and pastoral work marked a profound change in the missionary sensibility of the time.

The 2d room brings together more than 30 photographs taken by De Agostini at the beginning of the 20th century, documenting the traditions, beliefs, clothing, and social organization of the Selk’nam people. The exhibition is completed by an excerpt from the documentary Terre Magellaniche (1933), one of the first film recordings of the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego and southern Patagonia, as well as a selection of Selk’nam arrowheads belonging to the museum’s founding collection, unique vestiges of a millennial culture that was on the verge of disappearing.

The inauguration of this 2d phase took place on January 15, with a conference entitled “Reparación y revitalización de la memoria Selk’nam de Tierra del Fuego” (“Repair and revitalization of the Selk’nam memory of Tierra del Fuego”). The conference was attended by Margarita Angelica Maldonado, a descendant of the Selk’nam and cultural transmitter from Rio Grande, Argentina; Manuel Peris, a Chilean visual artist, graphic designer, and art professor; and Alejandra Muñoz-Tapia, a Mapuche social psychologist and doctor of psychology.

This meeting offered insights into the cultural, social, and legislative processes that today allow for the recovery of the collective memory of a people who for decades were considered “extinct” and who today are reclaiming their identity and rights in both Argentina and Chile.

With this 2d phase of the exhibit on the 150th anniversary of the 1st missionary expedition sent by Don Bosco, the Misiones Salesianas Museum reaffirms its vocation as a cultural and educational space at the service of memory, intercultural respect, and the construction of a more just present by listening to the past.

The exhibit can be visited free of charge until April 11 at the Misiones Salesianas Museum (Calle Lisboa, 4, Madrid), from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Fridays also from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Homily for Thursday, Week of Ordinary Time; Day of Prayer for Human Life

Homily for Thursday
Week 2 of Ordinary Time
Day of Prayer for Human Life

Jan. 22, 2026
1 Sam 18: 6-9; 19: 1-7
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Saul Threatening David
(by Jose Leonardo)

“Saul discussed his intention of killing David with his son Jonathan and with all his servants” (1 Sam 19: 1).

Several chapters of 1 Samuel narrate Saul’s jealousy and paranoia, often interpreted as schizophrenia or some other mental imbalance.  Thruout, David, the Lord’s chosen one, enjoys divine protection and Jonathan’s steadfast friendship, and he acts uprightly while protecting himself and his family.

Today the Catholic portion of our nation observes a day of prayer and penance for the protection of human life.  Another portion of the nation acts or at least thinks more like Saul—moved by fear, self-interest, or grossly misguided “compassion” to seek the lives of the innocent or to defend those who do so; not only unborn human life, but lives perceived to be painful or just useless.

If we perceive that it’s acceptable, even healthy, even necessary to make some humans disposable, we’re as sick as Saul was.  Iceland proudly asserts that it has eliminated birth defects.  They’ve eliminated the “defective” before birth.  That attitude affects our entire “enlightened” society—“enlightened” like the Third Reich.  That attitude, I think, is at the root of a great deal of the violence we lament in society:  random, senseless assaults in the subways, gang violence, carefully planned assassinations and mass shootings, revolutionary terrorism, and the invasion of territory.  If life is cheap, disposable, and subject to one’s feelings or national aspirations, why are we shocked?

David models patience and dependence on God.  Jonathan models defense of the innocent.  Many of the psalms attributed to David are pleas for God to uphold him and all who are upright.  So we speak up for the unborn, the ill, the elderly, and the refugee.  We persist in marching, lobbying, and weighing the moral character of candidates for public office.  And we pray. 

March for Life, Jan. 19, 2018
Washington

Homily for Tuesday, Week 2 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 2 of Ordinary Time

Jan. 20, 2026
1 Sam 16: 1-13
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.

Samuel anoints David
(Church at Dura Europos)

“Not as man sees does God see …” (1 Sam 16: 7).

One of the themes of the set of OT historical books we’re reading is quite simply that God’s in charge.

When the people demand that Samuel—whom they recognize as a spokesman for God—appoint a king for them, he does so reluctantly and only when God give him the OK, telling him, “It’s not you they reject; they’re rejecting me as their king” (8:7).

So long as Saul does what pleases the Lord, he and Israel do well.  When Saul disobeys, as we heard yesterday (15:16-23), he’s finished.  In the wider context of the books of Samuel, we may suppose that if Saul had repented immediately, as David did later when Nathan confronted him, instead of justifying himself, God would have welcomed his admission of guilt, as he did David’s.

But lacking that, God moves on to Plan C.  Rule by judges was Plan A, and Saul was B.  Now God chooses David.  It’s more than evident that God’s calling the signals from the moment he sends Samuel to Bethlehem, an insignificant town, and there chooses the least likely man, a mere shepherd boy, to anoint decisively with “the Spirit of the Lord” (16:13).

It remains true that individuals, the Church, and nations fare well when they let the Spirit of the Lord guide them.  Pope Leo recently reminded the diplomatic corps of that.  Yesterday 3 cardinals reminded the President of that, citing Leo as well as traditional moral teaching.

Today, here, we’re praying for and, in a sense, honoring a longtime friend[1] of Bro. Charles[2] who—so far as we can judge—sought always to follow faithfully the Holy Spirit’s lead.  External evidence is that Walter’s heart belonged to Christ.  May it be so for eternity.

And may our Lord Jesus always be pleased when he sees our hearts.

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[1] Walter Lau of Honolulu, †11-20-25.

[2] Bro. Charles Avendano, CFC, 100-year-old resident of St. Joseph’s.

Fr. Elijah Comini to Be Beatified

Fr. Elijah Comini, priest and martyr, 

will be beatified on September 27

(ANS – Vatican City – January 19, 2026) – On January 2, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute of the Vatican Secretariat of State, informed Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, that Pope Leo XIV had accepted the proposal to celebrate the Rite of Beatification of the Venerable Servants of God Ubald Marchinoni, diocesan priest, Elijah Comini, Salesian priest, and Martin Capelli, Dehonian priest, on September 27 in Bologna. The representative of the Supreme Pontiff will be Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Fr. Elijah Comini was born in the locality of Madonna del Bosco in Calvenzano di Vergato (Bologna) on May 7, 1910. Msgr. Fidenzio Mellini, a former pupil of Don Bosco in Turin, directed him to the Salesians of Finale Emilia. Elijah became a novice on October 1, 1925, made his first profession on October 3, 1926, and his perpetual profession on May 8, 1931. Ordained in Brescia on March 16, 1935, the Servant of God lived in the Salesian houses in Chiari (in the province of Brescia), until 1941 and Treviglio (in the province of Bergamo), from 1941 to 1944.

In the summer of 1944, Fr. Elijah returned for a few periods to the Bologna Apennines to assist his mother, who was now elderly and alone, and to help Msgr. Mellini in his pastoral work. He arrived in Salvaro on June 24. He remained there for just over three months, until his death.

Fr. Elijah helped the population with their many practical needs dictated by wartime, animated the liturgy, and promoted the reception of the sacraments; he supported the consecrated women and lived an intense apostolate in the exercise of all works of corporal and spiritual mercy. He also mediated between the opposing sides: the population, the partisans, and the Germans soldiers who were stationed in the rectory for a month (August 1 - September 1, 1944).

Fr. Elijah established a priestly fraternity with the young Dehonian Fr. Martin Capelli, which united them in ministry and martyrdom. On the morning of September 29, 1944, Fr. Elijah rushed with Fr. Martin to Creda, a village where the SS of a battalion of the 16th Armored Division had just perpetrated a massacre: their stoles, holy oils, and ciborium with some Eucharistic hosts clearly identified them as priests in the exercise of their ministry of comforting the dying. Captured, stripped of their priestly garb, and used as pack animals to transport ammunition, Fr. Elijah and Fr. Martin experienced intense suffering that day. Transferred in the evening to the “house of the carters” in Pioppe di Salvaro, they lived through 2 intense days, convinced from the outset that they were destined to die, yet remaining close to the prisoners. On the evening of October 1, they were killed in the group of “unfit” prisoners at the spinning mill in Pioppe di Salvaro, at the end of a surreal liturgy in which the SS had paraded the prisoners along a walkway before mowing them down with machine guns: Fr. Elijah intoned the Litany and finally cried out “Pietà!” (Mercy!). The bodies couldn’t be recovered because the spillway was opened and the impetuous current of the Reno River carried away the remains.

Fr. Martin Capelli, ordained in 1938, was a seminary professor. He moved with the students to Burzanella, in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. In the summer of 1944, he came to Salvaro to help the elderly parish priest of San Michele in the pastoral service of the village, despite that the area was at the center of armed clashes involving German and Allied soldiers and partisan groups. After the massacre perpetrated by the SS in the nearby locality known as “Creda,” like Fr. Elijah, Fr. Capelli rushed to bring comfort to the dying and was seized, abused, and executed.

Monument to Frs. Comini and Capelli at Salvaro

Fr. Ubald Marchioni was an exemplary priest, faithful to his community even in the most tragic moments of World War II. After years of formation and deep friendships in the seminary, he became a priest in 1942 and was pastor in San Martino di Caprara and Casaglia from May 1944. During the Nazi massacre of September 29 of that year, he remained with his parishioners until his violent death on the steps of the altar in Casaglia. It was among the rubble of that altar that a bullet-riddled ciborium was found, a symbol of faith and martyrdom.

Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, Salesian postulator general, states, “Fr. Elijah Comini, Fr. Martin Capelli, Fr. Ubald Marchioni, together with Blessed John Fornasini are young priests who embodied the charity of the Good Shepherd, giving their lives for their flock and with their flock, faithful ministers of the mysteries of redemption, artisans of peace, justice, and reconciliation.”

Homily for 2d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
2d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jan. 18, 2026
John 1: 29-34
The Fountains, Tuckahoe
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’” (John 1: 29).

Last week we celebrated the feast of the baptism of Jesus, and we heard God the Father’s recognition of Jesus as his beloved Son and witnessed the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus in the form of a dove.

Today John the Baptist testifies that he has witnessed this event.  It seems that John doesn’t immediately recognize who Jesus is; but when he sees the Spirit descend on Jesus, then he knows who he is:  “He’s the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (1:32-33).

John’s recognition goes further:  “This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  This man Jesus, by giving the Holy Spirit to people, takes away sin—not just sin of some vague sort, but “the sin of the world.”  In another place, St. John tells us “the whole world is under the power of the Evil One” (1 John 5:19).  All the power and glory of the kingdoms of the earth belong to Satan (Luke 4:5-6).  This is that collective which John the Baptist calls “the sin of the world.”

It’s more than that; each of us bears the baggage of sin.  Each of us is weighed down by degrees of pride, greed, lust, anger, and a pile of personal sins.  All of that is encompassed when John announces the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “the Lamb of God.”  He’ll repeat that identification the following day for the benefit of 2 of his disciples (1:35-36), who will proceed to follow and stay with Jesus.  So do we identify Jesus at Holy Communion when we echo John’s acclamation, “Behold, the Lamb of God” and he invites us to come to and stay with him.

What does “Lamb of God” mean?

It evokes the Passover.  The Hebrews in Egypt were spared when the angel of death passed over the land and slew the firstborn sons of all the inhabitants except in those houses where the doorposts had been painted with the blood of the passover lambs.  We are saved—John is crying out prophetically—by Christ’s blood, which marks our souls as belonging to God’s people.  This Lamb’s blood washes away our sins.  John points to Jesus so that we may go to him and claim his protection from the Evil One, so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that we may be saved.

So we come to Jesus.  We come every Sunday to be cleansed anew in the blood of the Lamb.  We come to the Lamb in the sacrament of Reconciliation, so that he may wash away our sins, all our words and acts against charity, our words against the Lord’s holy name, our unfaithfulness, our impurities, our lies, our impatience, our greediness.  We come to follow the Lamb; he leads us to the Promised Land where he dwells, as God led the Hebrews out of Egypt into the land he’d promised to Abraham.

 

Homily for Thursday, Week 1 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
Week 1 of Ordinary Time

Jan. 15, 2026
1 Sam 4: 1-11
Ps 44: 10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

                                                                                    Philister pentapolis.gif

Ekuah at German-language Wikipedia

“After a fierce struggle, Israel was defeated” (1 Sam 4: 2).

The books of Samuel and Kings continue the history of Israel narrated in Judges, wherein the pattern is:  Israel sins against the Lord, suffers some kind of oppression, repents and calls upon the Lord, and the Lord raises up a champion to rescue Israel.

In these early chapters of 1 Samuel, Israel incurs guilt thru the sins of Eli’s sons and Eli’s failure to correct their behavior; that’s detailed in ch. 2.  Disaster follows, culminating in the capture of the ark of the covenant.  Israel is utterly humiliated.  O Lord, “you go not forth with our armies; those who hated us plundered us at will” (Ps 44: 10-11).

We don’t adhere to what’s called the “prosperity gospel,” viz., that material welfare surely follows from our faithfulness and virtuous lives.  On the other hand, it’s observable that a family or a society that’s not centered on God suffers from the effects of their own selfishness and belief that “the real world is governed by strength, governed by force, governed by power.”[1]

This week’s collect proposes to us a wiser way.  We plead for the Lord’s “heavenly care,” for the wisdom to “see what must be done” and the “strength to do what [we] have seen.”  The strength and power of God is our path to virtue and a happy community life—religious community or political community.

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[1] Trump official Stephen Miller speaking to CNN on Jan. 5.