Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
6th Sunday of Easter

May 9, 2021
Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Blessed Sacrament, New Rochelle, N.Y.             
Holy Name, New Rochelle, N.Y.                        

“I see that God shows no partiality” (Acts 10: 34).

This morning’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles speaks to present crises in our country.

The Vision of Cornelius (van den Eeckhout)

The story of Cornelius and St. Peter is a story of conversion, but of more than that.  Cornelius was a Roman centurion stationed at Caesarea in Palestine when he had a vision that commanded him to send for Simon Peter (Acts 10:1-6).  A short time later, Peter also had a vision in which various foods unclean to Jews were presented to him, and from heaven a voice commanded him to eat.  He said no 3 times because the food was unclean.  But the voice ordered, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”  And he was informed that a delegation from Cornelius was at hand, and he must go with them (10:9-20).

As you know, the Jews scorned the people of all other nations—the Gentiles—as unclean.  Peter should avoid the company of Cornelius and certainly not go to his house and meet his entire household.

But under God’s command, he went.  We heard excerpts from what followed.  The 2 men reported their visions to each other, Cornelius asked what message from God Peter had for him, and Peter told him about Jesus (10:34-43).  “While Peter was still speaking,” we heard, “the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening” (10:44), an experience quite like what the apostles, the Virgin Mary, and the other disciples had on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

Peter and his companions were astounded (10:45), but, in combination with the 2 visions—of Cornelius and of Peter—they got the message.  In the matter of salvation thru Jesus Christ, “God shows now partiality.”  Jesus is not only for his own Jewish people but also for the Gentiles—Greeks, the despised Romans, and anyone else who will believe in the Gospel.  God created everyone “clean,” so to speak, or capable of being cleansed by grace; God created everyone in his own image, as his own children—a relationship meant to be deepened thru a relationship with Jesus Christ.  “In every nation whoever fears God and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (10:35).

There are people in the U.S. who are not accepted.  While “God shows no partiality” in his gift of salvation—and it is a gift, not something we are due—too many Americans discriminate against other people because of their race, language, national origin, or religion.

Who isn’t aware of the violence inflicted unjustly upon blacks and Asians?  Who isn’t aware of anti-Semitic incidents?  I suppose that most church-going people strive to be fair and just to everyone.  Still, we ought to examine our hearts from time to time.  We ought to examine the language we use, the stories and jokes we tell.  Are they harmless and innocent, or offensive and demeaning?  How do we act in the presence of people who aren’t like us?  What lessons are we teaching the young people around us?

Sen. Tim Scott spoke after Pres. Biden 2 weeks ago and made the point that, altho he has personal experience of racial discrimination, America is not a racist country.  He’s black and from South Carolina, so he has credentials to say that.

But others, both black and white, disagree.  One black woman said recently:  “People of color, particularly African Americans in this country, have had the collective knee on the necks of our people since we were sold here, brought here.  Understanding that truth in terms of what happened with George Floyd became a vision that many of us will never forget and felt like even more of a betrayal because we’re supposed to be better. This is America, and we are not.”[1]

Evidently there are plenty of people with racist attitudes, attitudes at variance with the God-given dignity of every human being.  And sometimes those attitudes lead to terrible actions.

Every day we hear news that some Chinese or other Asian person has been assaulted on the streets—even in New York or San Francisco, places that supposedly are the most tolerant on earth.  How is it so?  Like St. Peter, some people need to be converted to the message of Jesus Christ.

We can say the same about how many in our society regard Jews.  There are outrageous incidents in France and Germany—and here too:  Jews murdered at their synagog in Pittsburgh, Jewish synagogs defaced in Riverdale.  The Church teaches us that the Jews are God’s beloved people; they are our elder brothers and sisters in their belief in God our Creator and Lord.

How many Catholics are completely compassionless for people from Central America and the Middle East who are fleeing from persecution, war and gang violence, natural disasters, or “simply” economic impossibilities?

Immigration and control of our borders are tremendously complex issues; they concern not only our hearts but also our social health and balance.  We who are descended from Irish, Italian, and Central European immigrants of just a century ago, however, have to see current migrants and refugees as God’s children, too, and try to find ways to address these complex issues, not just build walls and pack detention centers.  “The bishops along the border of the United States and northern Mexico released a joint statement last month saying, ‘Undoubtedly, nations have a right to maintain their borders. This is vital to their sovereignty and self-determination. At the same time, there is a shared responsibility of all nations to preserve human life and provide for safe, orderly, and humane immigration, including the right to asylum.’”[2]

Pope Francis has taken up this matter again and again—it’s not unique to our country, but to Europe and Australia too, because there is so much injustice in the world and so many natural disasters.

Are these questions—the treatment of racial minorities, religious minorities, immigrants and refugees—just political questions?  Not if we listen to Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan or his parable of the Last Judgment (which speaks of welcoming the stranger).  Not if we ponder the dignity that God bestows on every human being, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  He “shows no partiality,” and “whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”  Even more, he reaches out to and loves even wrongdoers.  Jesus Christ died for sinners, for everyone.

---

    [1] John Lavenburg, “By pledging $100 million for slave descendants, Jesuits are ‘owning’ their history,” CRUX online, May 4, 2021.

    [2] William Donohue, “Biden’s Border Problem Is Exploding,” Catholic League online, May 6, 2021.

Annual Meeting of North American Salesian Network

Annual Meeting of North American Salesian Network

(ANS – New York – April 30, 2021) - On April 12-13, the North American Salesian Network (NASN) held its annual meeting via Zoom at the DeSales Retreat Center in Brooklyn, Mich. The NASN brings together organizations that share the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. For Don Bosco’s Salesian Family, they include the provinces of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the three provinces of the Salesian Cooperators, and the Volunteers with Don Bosco. In recent years the NASN has been working toward the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales, to be celebrated in 2022, to draw attention to his spirituality and apostolic activity. On the initiative of Fr. Joe Boenzi and the NASN, a request signed by Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime and the generals of the OSFS and MSFS on behalf of each organization was presented to Pope Francis asking him to write an apostolic letter for the anniversary.

Diocesan Inquiry for Mother Rosetta Marchese Opens

Diocesan Inquiry for
Mother Rosetta Marchese Opens

(ANS – Rome – May 3, 2021) – The opening session of the diocesan inquiry on the life, heroic virtues, and reputation of holiness of Servant of God Rosetta Marchese, FMA, took place on Friday, April 30. During the opening session, the members of the diocesan tribunal were sworn in: the episcopal delegate, Msgr. Giuseppe D’Alonzo; the promoter of justice, Fr. Giorgio Ciucci; the actuary notary Marcello Terramani; the deputy notary Giancarlo Bracchi; and subsequently, also the postulator, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, and the vice postulator Sr. Francesca Caggiano, FMA.

Present for the Salesian Sisters were Mother Yvonne Reungoat, superior general, Sr. Chiara Cazzola, her Vicar, Sr. Piera Cavaglià, secretary general, and some sisters from the Generalate. In her speech, Mother Reungoat compared the faith witness of Mother Marchese to that of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello: “Both – the only two superiors general, so far, whose holiness we have asked the Church to recognize – consciously offered their lives for growth and the sanctity of the Institute, in difficult times. Both lived their mission as a service to the life and vitality of the Institute, paying attention to the journey of each sister and of the Institute as a whole. Emblematic are the words she spoke when she was elected on October 24, 1981: ‘The Institute has always given me everything, but now it gives me all of itself.’ Both in their educational service were capable of intuition and mystagogy, they nourished their donation to the educational mission with a profound interior life, they were sisters and mothers for the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, for young people, for those who needed to be welcomed and accompanied in the response to God’s call.”

Mother Rosetta Marchese was born in Aosta, Italy, on October 20, 1922. She knew and attended the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians since childhood, thus maturing her faith and her ideal of total consecration to God. After her first religious profession in 1941, she completed her studies at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, graduating in literature. From 1947 to 1958 she was a teacher and vicar in the Mother Mazzarello missionary house in Turin, where she followed with particular attention the young sisters who were preparing to leave for the missions. From 1958 to 1974 she carried out tasks of animation and government in Sicily, Rome, and Lombardy.

In 1981 she was elected superior general, but just eight months after her election, the first signs of leukemia came. In a circular letter on October 24, 1982, Mother Marchese concluded her teaching by wishing that all her daughters let themselves be infected by Don Bosco “with acute nostalgia for ‘beautiful Paradise,’” to enter the path of holiness “with a will without return.” She said, “The destination is unique: to arrive in Heaven with all the young people for whom we have given and consumed our existence.” She died on March 8, 1984, in Rome.

You can see the opening celebration and a video presentation by Mother Marchese.

You Are All Beautiful, O Mary

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime

TOTA PULCHRA ES, MARIA

(YOU ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL, O MARY)

Something very great is happening when, after 2,000 years of human history,

we continue to feel today, perhaps more than ever, that she, His Mother, is our Mother also.

Dear friends of Don Bosco’s charism spread throughout the world,

Please accept my most cordial greetings for this Easter Season.

During this month of May, we direct our gaze to her, Mary of Nazareth, Mother of Jesus Christ and our Mother.  How could we do otherwise?

(ANS)

In these past years, when visiting the members of our Congregation and the rest of the Salesian Family around the world, I had the gift of learning how the hearts of the peoples of many nations became deeply human and tender whenever it came to anything to do with our Heavenly Mother.

I was able to visit and celebrate the faith in many Marian shrines.  Still very present to my mind and in my heart are, among others:  Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, Our Lady of Lujan in Argentina, the Virgin of Loreto in Italy, and the Black Madonna of Czestochowa.  I have also visited, as you can readily imagine, many basilicas and churches dedicated to Mary Help of Christians all over the world.  Of course, Valdocco and the house of our Mother are at the center, as our Lady’s words to Don Bosco in his vision attest:  “Hic domus mea; inde gloria mea.” (“This is my house; thence shall my glory go forth.”)

Always, and I mean absolutely always, when contemplating the thousands of people I have seen in the basilica, who carry with them the stories of their lives, their tears, and their thanks for graces received, I have been in awe, impressed by the deep faith of the people.  This speaks to me of a mystery resting in God.  Something very great is happening when, after 2,000 years of human history, we continue to feel today, perhaps more than ever, that she, His Mother, is our Mother also.

A “CATHEDRAL” IN THE BRAZILIAN JUNGLE OF THE BOI-BORORO

I put “cathedral” in quotation marks because certainly there, in that jungle area of Brazil, where most of the Boi-Bororo people live, there is no stone cathedral, not even one made of wood.  Still, I was able to experience the emotion of seeing and hearing those people sing to the Virgin Mary, our Mother, under Don Bosco’s title of the Help of Christians.  Our Salesians, who have been sharing life with them for decades, have done a very good job in passing down to the native peoples this, our particular devotion.

Bororos celebrate MHC in 2014 (ANS)

During that same visit, after the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a group of women, men, and children who belong to the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), wearing their festive outfits and the best feathers they had, stood around the statue of the Help of Christians.  They initiated this on their own.  They did not wait for a priest to give them any signal or direction.  No, that was not the case.  It was their moment between them and our Mother—nothing more was needed.  I heard them sing some beautiful songs, ones that certainly would have delighted our beloved Don Bosco in his missionary dreams.  Who knows whether these peoples of today did, indeed, appear in some of his visions!

It was in those moments that my mind confirmed what perhaps many of us know and feel.  In the area of faith, while so many people are far away from it or do not know which way to go, she who is our Mother continues to be a safe path, an open doorway, a guide for our steps.

DON BOSCO WAS A GENIUS OF MARIAN PEDAGOGY

If we have learned anything about bringing our boys and girls closer to Mary, we owe it to Don Bosco.  He was a pedagogical genius in this area.  He made his boys—many of whom were orphaned of their parents or who had parents living very far away—feel that Jesus was a friend, and that His Mother was also a mother to them.  Don Bosco was a genius of concrete and down-to-earth pedagogy that made life, with all its harshness and demands, an ongoing reason to celebrate, to be joyful, and to be happy. For this reason, to this day in Salesian presences, generations and generations of past pupils and young people have great love for our Mother etched in their hearts.  They are certain that by trusting in her, they will discover what miracles really are, just as Don Bosco himself had promised.

During this Easter season, we have more need than ever for hope.  In a world that continues to be battered by the pandemic, we see the light, but are still in the dark tunnel. Yet we know that it is in the risen Jesus Christ that life takes on its full meaning, both in the here and now and forever in eternity.  We unite our sufferings with those of our Mother, who endured the soul-wrenching loss of her only Son. We do this knowing and rejoicing that God is forever present and alive.  That is why our prayer to her, our Mother, during this beautiful month of May makes full sense.

Therefore, today I wish to make this prayer my own and offer it to you.  These are the words and poetry of a great author, the Chilean Gabriela Mistral, a woman of faith, who dedicated this poem to the Blessed Virgin:

Mother, I’m already here;

At your feet I will leave my heart.

Life is sad when lived without you—

long the anguish and unending the pain.

In the deepest folds of your wide mantle,

this ancient weariness puts me to sleep.

Dry my tears

and give me sunshine before I die.

Mother, I’m already here.

I have taken away peace; I have caused suffering.

If my heart doesn’t rest finally in you,

where will it go?

Dear friends, I wish you a holy Eastertide and a beautiful feast of our Lady on May 24.

Let us hold onto what is most important so that our hearts can rest.

May you be happy.

With affection,

Fr. Angel

Homily for the Memorial of Bl. Edmund Rice

Homily for the Memorial
of Bl. Edmund Rice

May 5, 2021
Wednesday, Easter Week 5
Collect
John 15: 1-8
SDB Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

Because of the strong presence of the Congregation of Christian Brothers (CFC) in the New York Archdiocese, the optional memorial of Bl. Edmund Rice is on the archdiocesan calendar.  For the Brothers themselves, it's a feast, of course.  The SDBs of New Rochelle have been the Brothers' chaplains at least since the founding of Iona College in 1940, and possibly earlier when Iona Prep was located on what became the college campus.

According to the Collect, our heavenly Father inspired Bl. Edmund Ignatius Rice “to open his heart to those oppressed by poverty and injustice.”  Bl. Edmund was not exactly a contemporary of Don Bosco—his dates are 1762 to 1844—but his character and the situation of his society were similar to our Founder’s.

Edmund’s Ireland knew religious, political, and economic oppression.  For much of his life, the anti-Catholic penal laws were still in effect, and thruout, British overlordship kept Irish Catholics in their social place.  One biographer calls him “a fearless defender of the faith.”  He died just before the infamous potato famine began, but the lot of most Irish was still a hard one.

Edmund himself was comfortably middle class.  He inherited an uncle’s export-import business in Waterford, and at age 25 married.  But only 2 years later, his wife was killed in an accident, leaving him with a daughter disabled in that accident.  He found comfort in religious devotion, and in his own sorrow took note of the troubles of so many young people in the city.

Edmund was inclined toward entering a monastery.  The bishop of Waterford discouraged that, encouraging him instead to attend to the city’s street boys.  The bishop’s sister (no Marchioness Barolo) challenged him:  “Would you bury yourself in a cell rather than devote your wealth and your life to the spiritual and material interest of these poor youths?”

So Edmund opened a school in a converted stable in Waterford in 1802.  With more episcopal encouragement and after arranging for his daughter’s care, he and 7 others founded the Presentation Brothers for the education of poor boys, basing their rule on the Presentation Sisters. Edmund adopted the name Bro. Ignatius.  “Trusting in God’s help,” he said, “I hope to be able to educate these boys to be good Catholics and good citizens.”  (That sounds familiar!)

At Edmund’s beatification in 1996, John Paul II called him “a shining example of the fruitfulness of the Christian life….  Here we have an outstanding model of a true lay apostle and a deeply committed religious.  The love which he first gave to his daughter blossomed into a host of spiritual and corporal works of mercy, as he helped the clergy of his parish meet the pressing needs of his fellow citizens oppressed by poverty and the weight of anti-Catholic legislation.  The Spirit eventually led him to the total consecration of himself and his companions in the religious life.”

The Presentation Brothers spread rapidly within Ireland, carrying out works like Don Bosco’s in his time, but always under the control of the local bishop.  This caused administrative difficulties (as Don Bosco would have with a certain archbishop), and that led to the re-founding of the congregation as one of pontifical right called the Christian Brothers, modeled on the De La Salle Brothers and approved by Pope Pius VII in 1820.  They seem to have been the 1st, and perhaps the only, religious congregation founded by a layman.

But some of the brothers chose to remain Presentation Brothers, still honoring Edmund as their founder. 

Edmund remained superior general until he retired in 1838.  When he died 6 years later, the CFCs had some 2 dozen academic and trade schools in Ireland and England.  Eventual expansion took them to Australia, India, Canada, the U.S., Gibraltar, and 9 countries in Africa and 5 in South America.  Their membership peaked in the 1960s with over 5,000 brothers in about 600 schools.

1st as a layman, then as a religious, Edmund Rice firmly attached himself to Christ, the true vine, and so bore abundant fruit from and for Christ (cf. John 15:1-8), in his own time until our time.  May Christ keep this vineyard healthy and fruitful.

The stained glass image of Blessed Edmund hangs in Bl. Edmund Rice Chapel on the campus of Iona College, New Rochelle. It was done by Bro. Kenneth Chapman, CFC.

Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
5th Sunday of Easter

May 2, 2021
John 15: 1-8
Holy Name, New Rochelle, N.Y.   
St. Anthony, Bronx, N.Y.

“Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit” (John 15: 5).

All of us hope to leave some kind of a legacy, to make some kind of mark on the world, to leave a memory.  For most of us, that legacy is probably confined to our families:  our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and all the relationships involved, the impact we have upon them.

For some there may be more:  the impact of a career, a business, or a vocation.  Think of the generational legacy of a teacher, for example, or the founder of a family business.  As a teacher I made a positive impact on at least some of my students; I hope it was on more of them than I know of.  I also hope that books and articles I’ve written will be part of the Salesian heritage.

Jesus doesn’t use the term legacy in today’s gospel.  Instead, he speaks of fruit, using the image of vines, branches, and grapes that his disciples would recognize instantly.  He calls himself a vine and his disciples its branches:  “I am the vine, you are the branches” (15:5).  He tells them that their lives will be fruitful—will have a lasting impact—insofar as they remain attached to him.          After his death and resurrection, after his ascension into heaven, they spread his Gospel message, and that Gospel gave their lives meaning.  St. Paul writes, “For me life is Christ” (Phil 1:21).  Attached to Christ, they bore the fruit of more disciples for Christ, and the fruit of Christ’s life within themselves.  They spread the Church, which is the body of all who belong to Jesus, all who share in the life he won for us thru his victory over death.  No preacher can pass on this life of Jesus Christ unless he is himself firmly attached to Christ.

You, brothers and sisters, belong to Christ.  You are branches shooting off from him.  You are to bear fruit, too; that’s not just for the 12 apostles and St. Paul, or for priests and sisters.  If you have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, when you teach them to pray, when you tell them the story of Jesus, when you explain to them the truths of our faith, when you model Christian living to them, you’re bearing fruit.  You may also bear fruit among other people you know, not by explicitly teaching but by showing them, quietly, what it means to belong to Christ.

And how do you remain attached to Christ?  How do you “remain in him so that you may bear much fruit”?  I suggest 3 means.

1st, prayer.  Talk to Jesus and his closest followers—Mary and the saints.  Tell them your concerns, ask them for help, listen to the advice they give to your heart.

2d, Scripture.  Read and reflect on the gospels and Paul’s letters and the stories and psalms of the Old Testament.  God speaks to us thru them, which is why we attend so much to the Scriptures in the liturgy.  Pick up the Bible every day and spend some time with it, which is time with Christ.

3d, the sacraments.  Jesus comes to us and remains with us in the Holy Eucharist.  In fact, the Eucharist is a basic part of his legacy to us:  he told us, “Do this in memory of me.”  He also tells us, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:50).  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (6:54).  He’s our nourishment for faithful daily living.  And when, inevitably, we fail in our fidelity—we commit sin—he offers us forgiveness and a fresh start and a more vigorous life thru the sacrament of Reconciliation.  This sacrament is a personal meeting with Jesus, an encounter with his love.  It’s a powerful means of remaining on the vine that is Jesus so that the sap of his grace may invigorate us.

God bless you!

Positio super Virtutibus of Abp. Antonio de Almeida

Positio super Virtutibus of Servant of God Bishop Antonio de Almeida Lustosa

(ANS - Vatican City – April 28, 2021) – On April 27, the volume of the Positio super Vita, Virtutibus et Fama Sanctitatis of the Servant of God Antonio de Almeida Lustosa, SDB, archbishop of Fortaleza, Brazil, was delivered to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Msgr. Maurizio Tagliaferri was the rapporteur of the Positio, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, was the postulator, and Dr. Cristiana Marinelli was the collaborator. The structural elements of the Positio are: a brief presentation by the rapporteur; the Informatio super virtutibus, that is, the theological part in which the virtuous life of the Servant of God is demonstrated; the two Summaria with the testimonial and documentary evidence; the Biographia ex Documentis; the final sessions and the iconographic apparatus.

Antônio de Almeida Lustosa was born in São João del Rei, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on February 11, 1886. From his parents, João Baptista Pimentel Lustosa and Delphina Eugênia de Almeida Magalhães, exemplary Christians, he received a good Christian and human formation. An intelligent boy with a good and generous disposition, at 16 he entered the Salesian school of Cachoeira do Campo (Minas Gerais); three years later he was at Lorraine as a novice and assistant to his companions. After his first religious profession, which took place in 1906, he became a teacher of philosophy, studying theology in the meantime. His perpetual profession took place three years later, and on January 28, 1912, he was ordained to the priesthood. In 1916 he was director and master of novices at Lavrinhas in the Colegio São Manoel. In the five years he spent there, young Fr. Lustosa expressed the best of himself both as a priest and as a Salesian.

On February 11, 1925, anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes, he was ordained bishop of Uberaba, a day he chose to commemorate the presence of our Lady in his life. In 1928 he was transferred to Corumbá, in Mato Grosso, and in 1931 he was promoted to archbishop of Belem do Pará, where he remained for 10 years. On November 5, 1941, he took up the post of archbishop of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará.

Among an unusually high number of initiatives and actions of a social and charitable nature, he created more than 30 new parishes, 45 schools for the needy, 14 health centers on the outskirts of Fortaleza, the School of Social Services, nowadays affiliated with the State University del Ceará, the São José and Cura d’Ars hospitals, to mention only some of the most important works attributed to his episcopate.

His pastoral action was articulated in particular in the field of catechesis, education, pastoral visits, the increase of vocations, the enhancement of Catholic action, improvement of the living conditions of the poorest, the defense of workers’ rights, the renewal of the clergy, the establishment of new religious orders in Ceará, not to mention his rich and fruitful activity as a poet and writer. He founded the Institute of Clergy Cooperators and the Congregation of the Josefinas.

Eleven years after his resignation from the archdiocese, after which he retired to the Salesian house in Carpina, in the diocese of Nazaré, Pernambuco, confined to a wheelchair, he died on August 14, 1974, demonstrating, even during his illness and suffering, an exemplary attitude of full and unconditional acceptance of God’s will.

Images from Palabek

Images from Palabek

The Palabek refugee camp in Uganda is one of the largest such camps in the world.  Salesian priests and brothers have been there almost since its beginning, providing pastoral care and educational opportunities.  They are the only non-refugees allowed to live in the camp.

(ANS – Palabek, Uganda - April 29, 2021) - The Palabek refugee camp was officially established in April 2016 and currently hosts more than 56,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from South Sudan. Here, Salesian missionaries welcome and support all these people, offer them pastoral care and also run several schools, to ensure adequate education for children and young people. Among these photos – which portray moments of daily life in the camp – there are also images relating to the Easter period, with the celebrations of Holy Week, Easter Mass, and the Baptisms of several newborns.

Return to Island Pond

Return to Island Pond

Last September, 4 of us camped close to Island Pond in Harriman State Park.  On Friday Fr. Jim Mulloy and I returned, along with candidate John Taylor, who is, like Fr. Jim, a member of the SDB community at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.

The Prep had an early dismissal on Friday, thanks to a career day, so the 3 of us got on our way at 1:00 p.m.  We parked along Rte. 106 and hiked about half an hour north Island Pond Rd., an old woods road, about a mile and a half, generally uphill.

It was a cloudless spring day, and it would have been pleasantly warm but for a vigorous north wind blowing consistently all day, stopping only around sunset.

We realized our plan to "seize" the ruins of an old park ranger cabin--outer stone walls with a fireplace and chimney in the middle, roughly dividing the ruins into 2 rooms. 

The building overlooks the pond on one side and is just 100 feet or so from the end of the trail and the open water of the pond.  The walls didn't provide as much shelter from the wind as we expected, but something, anyway.

Fr. Jim procured water, and John and I hunted up firewood.  Beavers had taken down a pine sapling nearby, and there was plenty to be found a little farther away.  John did good service with my Sven folding saw, which still (as they say) cuts thru wood like a knife thru butter.  We amassed plenty of wood for cooking, heating, and camp atmosphere, and even left a good stash behind us in the morning.

Besides that, we enjoyed the fresh air, did some exploring, prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, and grilled hot dogs on a very fine fire in the fireplace.  Even after recent rain, the wood was mostly tinder-dry, and I didn't need anything but some newspaper and 1 match to get it started--no firestarters (Fr. Jim makes some dandy ones with old candles and dryer lint inside egg carton sections).

To the dogs and buns we added cheese, trail mix, oatmeal cookies, and dried apricots, according to our individual tastes.  We had plenty of time just to sit by the fire and talk.

Fr. Jim decided to sleep outdoors and felt quite cozy inside his sleeping bag--which he had to save from blowing into the pond well before bedtime.  A couple of our logs weighted it down safely.  John and I were tented within the walls, he in one "room," I in the other.  (My tent was downwind from the fire and smelled of smoke when I unpacked it at home; airing it out helped a little.)

A nearly full moon added to the atmosphere, well before sunset.  Geese on the pond honked all nite long, and we also heard crickets and a whip-or-will.  After the wind let up, we heard the steady whirrr of traffic on the N.Y. Thruway.  

Unlike the outing Fr. Jim and I had to Big Hill a few weeks earlier, we had no critter visits.  I had a hard time getting our bear bag up into a tree (found out the hard way that pines aren't a good choice because there are too many little branches that snag the line, and in fact my mesh ditty bag for my mess kit was destroyed).  But eventually I accomplished the task in a birch (?) sapling, the bag about 15' above the ground.  It passed the nite in safety.

Fr. Jim and John said they slept very well.  Not I (no surprise).  We all got up between 6:15 and 6:25 a.m., and made the Eucharist our 1st order of business (other than visiting Mother Nature).  I had a solid breakfast of PB & J, coffee, and apricots.  John also indulged in coffee, but otherwise my companions went light on breakfast.  Both broke down and packed their gear rapidly.  As usual, I was slower (and very methodical, as they remarked).

Fr. Jim doused what little was left of our fire, we checked to make sure we hadn't left anything behind (in fact, we picked up a little of others' trash--there wasn't really much), and we were on the homeward trail before 8:00 a.m.

On our way out we met a couple of guys going in.  On Friday there'd been a few day hikers up to the cabin ruins, including 1 with a very friendly dog.  No doubt, plenty more hikers came down the trail later on Saturday; as we drove home, we noted that all the parking lots were full to overflowing (and there were also many dozens of bicyclists on the roads).  It was a delightful spring day, so much that when I got home my confreres asked why I hadn't stayed out another nite.  Well, they hadn't paid attention to the forecast (an abundance of rain after midnite on Sunday morning), and of course there were parish Masses to be celebrated.  In fact, I had one at 5:00 p.m. Saturday.  1st things 1st!

Salesians Named Consultors to Congregation for Consecrated Life

Pope Calls Two SDBs and an FMA 
to Be Consultors of the Congregation for Consecrated Life

(ANS - Vatican City – April 12, 2021) - On April 10 the Press Office of the Holy See announced the names of the new consultors of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CIVCSVA) appointed by the Holy Father. Among the 19 chosen, 3 are members of the Salesian Family:·     

    Fr. David Ricardo Albornoz Pavisic, SDB, a judge of the National Ecclesiastical Court of Appeal of Santiago, Chile. Born in Punta Arenas on November 4, 1963, he has been a professed Salesian since 1989 and was ordained in 1996. For the Chilean Province, he is currently also vice provincial, delegate for the Salesian Family, and editor of the Salesian Bulletin;·    

     Fr. Mario Oscar Llanos, SDB, dean of the School of Education at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. An Argentine from Córdoba, he was born on April 17, 1959, and has been a professed Salesian since 1978 and a priest since 1987;·  

       Sister Pina del Core, FMA, director of the Institute of Psychological Research in the Educational Field of the Pontifical Auxilium School of Education in Rome and former dean of the Auxilium for nine years. In 2016, she had already been appointed by Pope Francis as a consultor of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

The consultors are appointed by the Supreme Pontiff for five-year terms to collaborate with the members of the Congregation according to their specific competence and in relation to the objectives and commitments of the dicastery. The consultors offer their contribution through consultation, studies, or opinions on specific situations or questions concerning the life, mission, and government of the institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. 

Message of the Rector Major for April

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime

This is the Rector Major's message for April, directed first of all to the Salesian Bulletin but intended for all the members of the Salesian Family.

THE TRUE RESURRECTION

The one who touches people’s lives and transforms them

My friends, I greet you again with all cordiality by means of various Salesian media. Don Bosco intended thru the Salesian Bulletin and other communications to convey to the laity the reality of his young Salesian Congregation, which sought to be faithful to God as it was growing little by little. As we read in one of the 1877 issues, it “is published to give a report of things done or to be done according to the purpose of the Salesian mission, which is the care of souls and the good of civil society.”

I hope that today’s Salesian media also help you feel that Don Bosco’s Salesian Family, now 162 years away from the beginning of the Salesian Congregation, humbly continues to make its contribution so that this world is more humane, more dignified, and fuller of authentic life, and more illumined by the true light that comes from God alone.

The Risen Christ

The cover of the Italian edition of the Salesian Bulletin for April uses the painting of the Risen Christ that is found in the Pinardi Chapel. That most humble chapel wherein the Salesian charism was raised up by the Holy Spirit and where it took root is today a tiny but precious and serene space for Eucharistic adoration. It reminds us that the Resurrection of the Lord has transformed and continues to transform everything. It is up to us, through the use of our freedom, to make God’s dream for humanity a reality.

Curiosity led me to search the internet for what is said about the word “Resurrection.” Certainly, I found references to the Christian Faith, but there was also quite a mixed bag of items. I took time to watch the films that bore this title. Some had nothing to do with our Faith. Take the movie Mechanic: Resurrection, for example. This film tells a story of violence and revenge—both of which are diametrically opposed to the central Mystery of our Faith.

You may wonder why I make reference to this. I do so simply because I want to emphasize that we live in a world where we find everything: faith and condemnation of faith; freedom and slavery; advancement of children’s rights and forced labor of minors; respect for the dignity of women and exploitation of women; social justice and injustice and abuse; solidarity and distribution of food; and lack of everything necessary to live with dignity. I could go on and on in this vein. It seems that our world is a marketplace where we can find everything imaginable. But not everything is good and not everything is good for us.

I cannot permit myself to live without hope

The Easter season that we have been celebrating since April 4 and the great event of the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, of His Death and Resurrection, speak to us of the fullness of life, of another life. It speaks to us of hope and of humanity as we make our way through life; it speaks to us of the present and the future in God; and it speaks to us of simple realities where the presence of the God who is Love is experienced every day.

While I am writing these lines, the Holy Father is traveling to Iraq, on a pastoral journey that seeks to announce peace, reconciliation, and justice. It is his deep desire as a man of faith and one who lives in God that the wounds can be healed and the gorges that have opened thanks to human misdeeds can be closed and give way to new, humane encounters among peoples.

Is this too much to ask? Is it but a “pie in the sky” notion?

I do not believe it is. I believe that this is possible because, as I have stated a numerous times, every day miracles happen that change people’s hearts and lives because many have believed, have trusted, and have extended a hand to meet others’ needs.

The Risen Christ in the Pinardi Chapel in Valdocco reminds us of what it means to be guided by God and to live our Faith, just as Don Bosco did, with our feet firmly planted on the ground and sensitive to the cries of those nearby.

I am one of those who, perhaps like many of you, want to continue to have hope, a deep hope that is nourished by that strength that comes from God. Do you know why? Because I cannot allow myself to live without hope. For without it, I would not know how to survive because living without hope would no longer be having “life to the full.”

I wish you a beautiful Easter, this precious time of our lives, filled with God’s presence.