Ukrainian Children Need to Talk about the War

Ukrainian Children Need to Talk about the War

Jan Kvapil

Journalist of Czech Salesian Media Center

(ANS - Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic – May 2, 2022) – The Salesian Youth Center in Ceské Budejovice employs two Ukrainian women to run programs for Ukrainian children. Masha Shumkova is a teacher and Olena Halushka is a psychologist. Both of them used to work at a children’s center in Zaporizhia, Ukraine. What is the situation of Ukrainian children? What do they have to deal with? And how can we help people fleeing the war? Olena answered these and other questions.

Olena, what brought you to the Salesian Youth Center of Ceské Budejovice? 

I came to the Czech Republic in the second week of March. Our friend told us about the Salesian Youth Center. Masha and I were surprised when we arrived here because, in our city in Ukraine, we don’t have anything like this. Czech children must be so happy because they have this program and they may come here for free, get attention, and stay at a comfortable, safe place.

And how do Czech children react to you? You speak English or Ukrainian and they speak Czech.

With boys, I have no problem. I like to play soccer, and I agree to every game they suggest. With the girls, we paint and talk in English about some topics. 

How do programs work for Ukrainian children? Are Ukrainian children interested in participating in them? 

We divided Ukrainian children into four groups according to their age – from 4 to16 years – and we make different programs for each group. We focus on teaching mathematics, logic, and literature, or just have a little fun. The groups are already full. Besides that, we have a group for Czech kids on Monday.

And yes, they’re really happy to participate because they can speak Russian and Ukrainian with us. It’s the most interesting thing for them. And after that, they like to do something with others or exercise with what we prepared for them. Nobody wants to be alone. All kids pay attention and socialize. They’re just happy to be part of the group.

What is the experience of the Ukrainian children you work with? Do they need to talk about what’s going on around them? 

They do want to talk about the war, to talk about their worries. Once we were painting and talking about cats. One boy from Buca said: “I’m so worried about my dog. He stayed in Buca and I think he died.” And I said: “Nooo. Everything will be OK. He’s alive. I think he’s OK. Don’t worry.” And another boy immediately said: “War. Why does it happen? I keep thinking that when I come back, I won’t find anything, no buildings.” And I tried to reassure them both…. They are super serious about this topic and they want to talk about it. But at the same time, they want to have fun and play games, do things…. They aren’t shy. I think it’s because we speak Ukrainian, and they get more relaxed because of it.

Do you think they are traumatized? 

Not all of them; but yes, I saw around five traumatized children. I gave them a task: to paint an imaginary animal, to think of the superpowers it could have. Some children painted dragons with a superpower for killing and loads of blood around them. They don’t talk about their trauma, but you can see it in their paintings. Also, I remember two kids who came here and were extremely shy. They came from Donetsk and had experienced a lot of bad situations. They were afraid of communicating with other children. 

And how is the situation of Ukrainian children here in the Czech Republic? 

They are happy to be here, but not all of them find schools because there are not enough places in classes. So, they start online classes in a Ukrainian school. Some say they don’t want to go to school, but I insist with them: “You have to go”.  And they tell me about their new friends, what their names are, what they are doing. They’re open to making new friends here.

Not everyone can offer a place to live or money to the refugees. Is there anything that each one of us can do?

I think that everyone can say to the Ukrainian: “I am so sorry that this war is happening.” You can help every Ukrainian if you let him or her tell their stories. How was their first day of war? How was their journey from Ukraine to the Czech Republic? How many days did it take? What have they lost because of the war? And it is very important to say that this is a war. It isn’t some special operation like Russia says it is. For Ukrainians, it is important to hear others say: “I am so sorry that this war is happening, but I hope that everything will be all right with your parents, with your friends. Everything will be OK.”

It is normal. When I call my family, my friends, when I am scrolling on social media, everywhere is war, war, war, and war.… And sometimes I want to talk with someone who knows nothing about war and live some part of my life as normal life. Sometimes it really helps not to talk about war and instead talk about what to cook and what movie to watch next weekend. It really helps.

So, we can help Ukrainian refugees by talking to them about everyday life?

Yes. Sure, we can’t think about war 24/7. However, it’s very important to say that this is war, not a “conflict” or “special operation.” But I believe that normal life will be back, and everything will be OK.

I just want to say thanks to all the folks who help the Ukrainian people. You help us with everything, and you are so friendly. I understand that it’s hard sometimes. Thank you. And I want to say to all Ukrainians, that we will win, and everything will be OK. 

Homily for 3d Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
3d Sunday of Easter

On May 1, the 3d Sunday of Easter this year, I took part in Scouts Emblems Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral and didn't have a "regular" Mass assignment at which to preach.  So, here's an oldie.

April 17, 1983
Acts 5:  27-32, 40-41
MHCA, North Haledon, N.J.

“He whom God has exalted at his right hand as ruler and savior is to bring repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5: 31).

The apostles before the Sanhedrin

(Free Bible Images, Sweet Publishing)

The Lord has been raised to new and immortal life.  The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and with courage.  They proclaim the word of salvation thruout Jerusalem.  Thousands accept the good news and are baptized.  The established leadership of the nation is upset, and pressure, if not outright persecution, is put upon the apostles.

Not only do the apostles say that they cannot stop preaching, but they do some preaching to the very men ordering them to stop.  The verse that caught my eye not only proclaims Christ’s risen glory, but it also gives a succinct reason for it.  God has exalted Jesus, made him our ruler and savior, “to bring repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Christ has been raised and glorified in order that men might recognize their sins, turn away from them, and be forgiven.  The apostles and the young Church have begun to do this—the gospel gives Peter as an example of repentance and forgiveness (John 19:15-19).  Now Peter is asking those whose ignorance Christ forgave on the cross to recognize what they’ve done, to be sorry, and to be forgiven.

The essence of the Christian message is that we are sinners and that God forgives.  If we haven’t literally crucified Christ as the Jewish leadership did, we have done so figuratively by what we’ve done to our neighbors.  We try to make our importance felt; we’re insensitive to their needs, their hurts, their talents; we give bad example.  We also cut corners with God now and then—probably less often than with our sisters and brothers.

Whatever we’ve done or omitted or said or thought—the resurrection of Jesus is the sign that God has healed us.  In Jesus our humanity is renewed and made whole again.  Sin is wiped away and God is reconciled with man.  The apostles and the Holy Spirit testify to this by their preaching that Christ lives and by their signs of healing.

If God forgives our sins, we cannot hesitate to admit them to ourselves, as the Sanhedrin did, or to one another.  Even more, we cannot hesitate to forgive one another, which may be our biggest testimony that Christ is risen and we’re made new.

The Word of God convicts us of sin.  That word is good news for those who confess their sins, turn from them, and give them over to the Risen Lord.

May God bless us with his grace!

Homily for Thursday, 2d Week of Easter

Homily for Thursday
2d Week of Easter

April 28, 2022
Acts 5: 27-33
St. Peter Chanel
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

“You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5: 28).

The words of Annas the high priest (Acts 4:6) have an unintended irony, as did the words of Caiaphas recorded by St. John, that it was better for one man to die than that the whole nation should perish (11:50).  In this case, the preaching of the apostles does indeed aim “to bring this man’s blood” upon the Jewish leaders and upon the entire city—not in the sense that the high priest means, that the Sanhedrin should bear the guilt of having murdered Jesus, but in the sense that the blood of Jesus should wash over them as it already does over the thousands who already (according to the narrative of Acts) have received the good news of salvation thru the cross and thru “repentance and forgiveness of sins” (5:31).  This gift of God thru Jesus is offered to the high priest, the Sanhedrin, and the whole people, as the apostles are teaching.  They too can be saved thru the blood of the one they “killed by hanging him on a tree” (5:30).

The passage finds an echo in the life and ministry of today’s martyr, St. Peter Chanel.  As a Marist missionary he filled the Pacific island of Futuna with his teaching, the Gospel.  He taught in words and example, without much to show after several years—no conversions except among a few islanders at the point of death—and with serious opposition from the tribal leaders.

(from New Zealand Catholic)

But when Fr. Peter was killed because the native chieftain was jealous to maintain his own authority over the people, Peter’s blood became, as Tertullian says, the seed of the Church.  Peter’s patience, charity, and suffering led to the conversion of almost the entire population.

We invoke the blood of Christ upon ourselves and all people, that we may be led to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation.  We pray that our example and perseverance, like St. Peter’s, might contribute to building up the Body of Christ.

Homily for Tuesday of 2d Week of Easter

Homily for Tuesday
2d Week of Easter

April 26, 2022
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

“Enable us to proclaim the power of the risen Lord” (Collect).

St. Peter before the Sanhedrin (source unknown)

As we’ve begun to read the Acts of the Apostles, the prototypical readings of the Easter season, we’ve seen that Jesus’ disciples lacked the courage to move out of the upper room and were at a total loss about how to proceed with the commission Jesus gave them to make disciples of all nations.  They needed the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then they began boldly to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, to give public witness to their brotherhood, and even to carry out miraculous healings.  The power of the risen Lord was alive in them.

We, too, need help, need to be enabled, as the collect says, to proclaim the risen Lord’s power.  We need the help of the Spirit to be witnesses to Jesus by living virtuously.  It’s really hard, often, as we all know, to be patient with one another, to speak kindly and not disparagingly, perhaps also to share such goods as we may have, and our hearts, with one another.

In fact, the 1st reading today (Acts 4:32-37) stresses the sharing of goods.  That, of course, is fundamental to our way of life.  What a blessing it is!  Inasmuch as our practice of gospel poverty is known, the people of God marvel at it and admire it.  It’s a form of our witness to the power of the risen Lord that we don’t need private estates, cars, or bank accounts but can hold all things in common like the 1st Christians.

We’re enabled to give such witness—of poverty but above all of charity—because we “have received the pledge of his gift,” the collect says.  The Holy Spirit has been given to us, as it was to the 120 disciples in the upper room, as a pledge of the divine life promised to us.  That pledge inspires us to live in a gospel way—not only in our actions but also in our thoughts and our words, as best we can, and to support and help one another on our path as disciples of Jesus.

Salesian Bishop Kryvytskyi Comments on War

Salesian Bishop Kryvytskyi Comments on the War

“War is one of the hardest trials for Christian love, to be able to love one’s enemies”

Photo: Salesian Missions (Poland)

(ANS – Kiev – April 26, 2022) – Vitalij Kryvytskyi, the Salesian bishop of the Latin Catholic diocese of Kiev-Zhytomyr, is a young bishop. He is 49 years old today and was just 44 when he was appointed to lead the diocese in 2017. He probably never thought then that his tasks as a pastor would include accompanying a flock that is distraught and frightened by war or having to coordinate the management of aid with which thousands of people survive. The bombings on the night of Feb. 24 left him as stunned as anyone. “It was a shock,” he says. “We have a war going on, and it’s one of the hardest tests for Christian love, to be able to love your enemies.”

“With the faithful or my priests we often comment on how many times in the past we had read the Gospel passages in which Jesus says to love one’s enemies. We always thought, ‘Of course, that’s it, Jesus is right!’ But it all seems so simple until you really have to put it into practice,” adds the prelate, during an interview granted to Fr. Roman Sikon, SDB, and Michal Krol, of Salesian Missions (Poland), during a break between his trips to encourage and help the people of his diocese.

His experience of these more than two months of fighting allows him to give direct testimony about the war that otherwise would not seem credible: “Without minimizing what’s happening in Mariupol, Chernihiv, Kharkiv – in truth the people who live in the safer areas are having a more intense experience of the war. They feel the hatred directed toward Ukraine with this aggression, and many feel hatred for what they see is happening to their country. It’s pure fear; it’s death walking the streets of our cities. Instead, in the areas most directly exposed to the clashes, you see people who do not lose their optimism, who can even joke in these difficult times, and who can see that God protects them while they pass between the bullets.”

That’s why the Salesian prelate never fails to comfort his confreres, his priests, and all the volunteers who are engaged in humanitarian support of the needy – of which there are so many in Ukraine right now. “Thank you for what you do!” is the expression that Bp. Kryvytskyi uses to accompany his embrace of comfort.

Then he walked through the aisles of the churches, in many cases now transformed into warehouses, and scouted and observed the resources available, the work done and that still has to be continued. Knowing the needs in his diocese, he works with the Salesians to provide adequate aid: he has asked for bread, for example, which has been sent to him by truck from Poland, along with other foodstuffs, sheets, and mattresses.

He himself is participating by video-conference in a session of the Salesian coordination team for the management of aid to the Ukrainian population. “We had aid to send to Chernihiv, where the population is at risk of running out of food, but now the city can be reached only by river. So we have now equipped ourselves with boats.”

Not only as a confrere united by the Salesian charism, but also as the leader of the Kiev-Zhytomyr diocese, Bp. Kryvytskyi expresses all his gratitude toward the work of the Salesian Family on behalf of the Ukrainian population. “Thank you for the donations sent, for helping refugees escape, and for whatever other undertakings you are planning, because we have become dependent on your aid,” the prelate adds at the end of his virtual meeting with the Salesian coordination team, just before greeting everyone and imparting the apostolic blessing to them.

Escape to Green Pond

Escape to Green Pond

Fr. Jim Mulloy and I were able to make an escape into the woods—into Harriman State Park, specifically—on Friday, April 22, for one nite of camping.  Events on his schedule at Don Bosco Prep kept us from going earlier, and longer, in the week.

Approaching Green Pond on Nurian Trail; 

campsites are on the ridge above the pond.

We parked behind 2 other cars on Kanawauke Rd. at the start-point for Island Pond Rd., an old woods road, and got on the trail at 11:08.  We hiked a bit over a mile, up Island Pond Rd. to the Nurian Trail, and got to our destination shortly after noon—one of the campsites above Green Pond a short hike off the Nurian.  It's one of our favorite sites.

Just a short distance from the car, I almost stepped on a snake in the road; it slithered off and camouflaged itself at the base of a tree (you'll have to look hard!).  It resembled a rattler but had no rattles; I looked online to ID it but wasn't successful.

Fr. Jim saw one backpacker behind us as we cut off onto the Nurian, probably heading to Island Pond; otherwise, we saw not a soul all Friday.  On our way to back to the car on Saturday, we met 3 day hikers. On the road as we headed home, we saw a big party of Koreans and dozens of bikers.  The parking lots along Kanawauke Rd. and at Reeves Meadow were mostly full.

Green Pond from camp

Friday was a perfect day for camping except for a lively wind that lasted all day with a few moments of relative calm.  It blew away my tent before I staked it down (not very far, before it snagged in the shrubbery), and later it gave me a hard time putting on the fly.

On reaching our campsite, we set ourselves up:  Fr. Jim with a hammock, me with a tent.  We gathered firewood, of which there was an abundance, seasoned, and then relaxed.  

Fr. Jim napped, and I read half an issue of Biblical Archeological Review.  I used the camp chair that I bought at REI’s “garage sale” a while back—1st time, and it was just fine:  sturdy and lightweight.  We each did some exploring; I think I found a relatively convenient water source beyond the south end of the pond.  Otherwise one has to hike a rocky quarter mile down the Nurian Trail to a creek, then back up [and it IS up] with the water.  We also prayed the Divine Office, as always.

During Holy Week one of our confreres went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Chrism Mass and came back with fresh holy oils.  The next day I changed the stocks in our sacristy and packed up the oil-soaked cotton and the tissues I used to wipe things down.  When it was time to start our cooking fire, that was outstanding primer along with some newspaper and the dry wood we had.

We grilled hot dogs for supper, with sides of cheese, crackers, nuts, apricots; then kept our fine fire company for a couple of hours, doing a lot of talking and gradually adding layers of clothing as the sun headed toward the horizon.  

The afternoon temp reached 80, according to my little (and possibly suspect) thermometer; but with sunset, it cooled considerably.

When I awoke at 6:30 on Saturday, the same thermometer registered 40 inside my tent.  By 7:15 we were celebrating Mass on a big granite cube; unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the rock.  Fr. Jim did a thorough check of the site, which was pleasantly free of litter when we got there, and of course we left it that way.  After breakfast and breaking camp, we hiked out at 8:35 in sunshine and warming air.  Going mostly downhill, it took us only 45 minutes to the car.  By 9:45, we were back at Don Bosco (for more coffee and a real bathroom!).

Always hang a bear bag!

Homily for 2d Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
2d Sunday of Easter

April 24, 2022
John 20: 19-31
St. Joseph Church, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“Jesus came and stood in their midst … and showed them his hands and his side” (John 20: 19-20).

by Erwin Kusthardt

The apostles and other disciples of Jesus are hiding in fear.  Mary Magdalene and some of the other women have already been to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty, which Peter and the Beloved Disciple have confirmed (20:1-8).  Angels have told the women that Jesus is alive (Luke 24:5-7), and Mary has actually met him outside the tomb (John 20:11-17).  But they all remain puzzled and fearful.

Then Jesus comes, wondrously, strangely, among them despite the locked doors (20:19).  After greeting them with God’s own peace (20:19), he shows them his wounds (20:20).  It’s truly the man who was crucified and speared in the chest by a soldier to be sure he was dead.  There’s no mistaking that the man who died so horribly and shamefully and was buried now stands before them whole and very much alive.

Moreover, he doesn’t reproach them for their cowardice—for running away and abandoning him, for trembling with fear—or for disbelieving the women’s report that he has risen.  Instead, he bestows peace upon them, and he commissions his disciples to continue what he began:  to reconcile sinners with God (20:21-23).  By gifting them with the Holy Spirit, he’s forming them into the Church with the sole purpose of making peace between human beings and God.  On Divine Mercy Sunday, there can be no better gospel reading than this, which speaks of forgiveness and divine compassion.

Disbelieving Thomas also becomes convinced a week later when he, too, sees and probes the Lord’s wounds (20:24-28).  The wounds are real, the body is real, and God’s gift of eternal life to believers is real.  Thomas is so convinced that he’ll go farther than any other apostle to preach Jesus Christ as Son of God and Savior of the world (cf. 20:31), all the way to India.  To this day the Christians of southern India regard themselves as disciples of St. Thomas.

The Church continues the work of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of forgiving sins.  But that’s not all.  The 1st reading (Acts 5:12-16) demonstrated that the Church also continues Jesus’ ministry of healing the sick of body and mind as well as of soul, and of making war on the kingdom of the devil.  Jesus came to make us whole; physical and mental healing and driving off Satan are signs that he heals our souls, signs pointing toward our own resurrection and eternal life.

Thus the Church remains concerned with the corporal and spiritual works of mercy:  caring for the sick, the hungry, refugees, those in need of education as well as care for the soul.  Pope Francis offers to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, trying to make peace, as Popes repeatedly tried to do in the 20th century, e.g., Benedict XV during World War I, Pius XII during World War II, and John Paul II on numerous occasions.  (John Paul in fact mediated successfully between Argentina and Chile in a territorial dispute that might have led to war.)  Thus the Church is in the forefront of bringing relief to victims of wars and natural disasters thru Caritas International, Catholic Relief Services, religious orders, and diocesan ministries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, the U.S., everywhere.

So we too are sent by the Risen Jesus to be instruments of his peace:  to our families, our fellow parishioners, our neighbors.  We are sent to spread the compassion and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus, to heal with kindness and gentleness, to share our time with others and perhaps our talents and our financial resources.

More important, Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church is an invitation to receive his forgiveness ourselves, to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation on a regular basis.  When we know the Lord’s compassion for ourselves, it’s more likely that we’ll share that compassion with others.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is also an invitation to soak in the life of the Spirit by regular reading of the word of God in the sacred Scriptures.  “These are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that thru this belief you may have life in his name” (20:31).

Peace, Resurrection of Ukraine, Happy Eyes in the Young

Peace, the Resurrection of Ukraine, Happy Eyes in the Young

Hopes of a Salesian in Kiev

(ANS – Kiev – April 15, 2022) – Fr. Maksym Ryabukha, Salesian, director of the Salesian house in Kiev, has tried to give answers of meaning in the face of the tragedy of war and inhuman massacres recorded in Bucha and other Ukrainian localities: “This Lent and this Holy Week will remain forever in the memory of my generation. We have lived these weeks, since February 24, in a completely different way from the past. I believe that ours is an era of great saints, of courageous martyrs, of unbeatable witnesses of beauty who have touched and experienced with their own lives what this means. So I want to think of my fellow citizens. I have no other explanation or even justification for what is happening in this very painful time.”

In his messages on WhatsApp, Fr. Max, as everyone calls him, always tries to convey something positive. But two Sundays ago, when the first news about the massacre in Bucha started to arrive, it became hard even for him.

“Did I see what happened? I see it every day. Because every day here, by now, is an endless shock,” he says. “For the citizens of Kiev, it is an even stronger pain, because many of the inhabitants of the satellite centers of the capital worked in the city. In the black bags of Bucha, there are close relatives, friends. I spoke with some of them; many of them can’t share that immense, unbearable pain. They answer with half sentences. Or they lower their eyes and don’t answer at all. Sometimes they can’t even cry. The images of those martyred bodies will remain in the lives of all of us.”

Fr. Ryabukha himself is in difficulty: “It is difficult to try to understand who did all this, and even just to try to think of those who committed such inhuman acts. How to forgive? How to consider these people human beings? Mind you, we are all human, with baggage of both virtues and sins. Everyone has his own pace; some run, some back off. But this thing, these massacres....”

The Salesian thought back to an episode a few mornings earlier when, on his way to the station, instead of encountering the usual bustle of people, he saw the city standing still, marked by the smell of death, with potholes from explosions and black marks from burned-out cars. “I felt dismay,” says the priest. “I thought that maybe this is how Jesus felt when he walked to Jerusalem for his last earthly Passover. What we are living in this country is a drama of humanity, but it will take time to understand it and make it part of the history of each one of us.”

One is also saved through mutual proximity. Fr. Ryabukha is a point of reference for the humanitarian aid arriving in the capital. “A few days ago,” he says, “a truckload of aid arrived, and I had to unload it and put it in the youth center. We did everything quickly because the volunteers had to leave immediately for Lviv. Then came those who had to take the aid and bring it to the people here in Kiev. We loaded the cars and asked for news of the neighborhoods. Then two military chaplains and some neighbors came to wash and change. To eat something together. Simple things. But that gave us a sense of still being community.”

At the last question, Fr. Ryabukha rolls his eyes. “What do I hope for? I dream of peace; I dream of victory; I dream of a life that knows how to enlighten all. I dream immensely of seeing the happy eyes of the kids of the youth center again. I dream of resurrection. Of Kiev, of Ukraine. I believe in it.”

Volunteers and Refugees Work Together

Volunteers and Refugees Work Together

They hope that the war, “the stupidest thing in the world” will end soon

(ANS – Lviv, Ukraine – April 20, 2022) – A few days into the second month of an absurd war, the emergency is gradually becoming a daily occurrence for the many Salesians and many more displaced Ukrainians welcomed into Salesian works in Ukraine and neighboring countries. For some time now, their bewilderment has given way to other feelings: resignation, anger, frustration – and for many the time has now come to make room for a positive attitude, commitment, and collaboration. It happens especially to the youngest.

The proof is the several Ukrainian youngsters who collaborate with the Salesians of Bibrka in western Ukraine, a few miles from Lviv, in gathering the supply of wood for heating. “In the last month, since we have been hosting evacuees from Kharkiv, Kiev, and other cities, we have consumed a lot of it and now we need it to heat the house,” says Fr. Jozef Nutskovskyy, a Polish Salesian from the Krakow Province, pastor of the local Salesian church.

“This is how Ukrainians work, for themselves and for others: they are the refugees who are loading the wood,” Fr. Roman Tsyganiuk adds with admiration; he also a Salesian of the Krakow Province but was born in Ukraine. The loaded logs are then taken to the Salesian house, where, always in an atmosphere of collaboration, they will be cut into smaller logs and partly used immediately and partly kept for next winter. We hope that by then the war will be just a faded memory.

This is also the hope of Wlodzimierz, a Ukrainian boy from Zhytomyr, who is currently in the Salesian works of the Warsaw Province. Until recently, he went to school, met his friends, traveled, as all young people do. Now, he told Fr. Wojciech Akacjusz, he was forced to “travel” to Poland for the first time, together with his grandmother a and a younger brother.

He is pleased to be at the Salesians. “I go to school and have already gotten several good grades, and I’m happy about that. We spend our days playing, talking, watching movies, and reading books.” But in his heart are deeper desires, for peace, and to be reunited with loved ones left behind in Ukraine. “I wish for peace for my country, so we could return home safely. I hope it will be soon and that I can meet my relatives!” Wlodzimierz’s mom is still there, having moved only a few miles outside of Zhytomyr, and he hears from her every day.

“All our ‘guests’ long to return home; they want to be with their loved ones; they dream of the life they had before the war. War is the stupidest thing men can do, especially in our times!” said Fr. Akacjusz.

While waiting for the war to end, Salesians around the world continue to commit themselves to the needs of the people affected by the war. For its part, the province of Hungary announces that it has sent new economic aid to the Krakow Province to help it cope with the reception of refugees, an operation in which it is also engaged by giving hospitality to some dozens of refugees in its facilities, in Budapest and elsewhere. Also, the volunteers of the Hungarian Salesian Youth Movement continue to provide volunteer service at the border with Ukraine, from which an estimated 600,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the country so far.

Homily for Tuesday, Octave of Easter

Homily for Tuesday
in the Octave of Easter

April 19, 2022
John 20: 11-18
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

“She thought it was the gardener” (John 20: 15).

One commentator thinks Mary was right.  The 1st Adam tended the garden that God created for humanity’s delight, the original earthly paradise.  The 2d Adam restores us to the delights that God intends for us, to a new and everlasting paradise.  “In meadows of green grass he lets me lie.  To the waters of repose he leads me; there he revives my soul” (Ps 23:2-3 JB).

The new Adam makes new what was old, the garden from which sinners were expelled and blocked by “the cherubim with the fiery revolving sword” from access “to the tree of life” (Gen 3:24).  Now the cross has become the tree of life to which sinners have access, the tree rooted in heaven, the tree watered by the blood of a gardener named Jesus.

Vera Grita's Cause of Beatification Opens

Vera Grita's Cause of Beatification Opens in Savona

“Someone to look to”

(ANS – Savona – April 12, 2022) – On Sunday, April 10, at the episcopal seminary of Savona, the diocesan inquiry for the cause of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Vera Grita (1923-1969), laywoman, Salesian Cooperator, elementary school teacher, and “spokeswoman” for the Work of Living Tabernacles was officially opened. The day saw the participation, both in presence and online, of various people belonging to the groups of the Living Tabernacles and the Salesian Family, in particular Salesian Cooperators and members of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA).

In the morning, Dr. Lodovica Maria Zanet, collaborator of the postulator general for the causes of saints of the Salesian Family, presented the itinerary with which the Church traces the process of beatification in its various phases and dynamics, underlining how the story of Vera Grita “calls us to enter into deep harmony with a witness of smallness visited and inhabited, loved and precious, without allowing ourselves to be deceived by the discretion with which Vera knew how to hide much of herself because she learned to become a saint first before God’s gaze than before the gaze of men. Hers was an extraordinary response (beautiful, rich, convincing) to ordinary conditions of life.”

Maria Rita Scrimieri, coordinator of the Work of Living Tabernacles Study Center, compared some passages lived by St. Francis de Sales in his mystical experience and those of Vera Grita: people touched by grace and called to a special mission in the Church.

At noon, Bishop Calogero Marino of Savona-Noli presided over the Mass of Palm Sunday.

In the afternoon, the opening session of the diocesan inquiry presided over by Bp. Marino took place. The members of the tribunal were sworn in: Msgr. Vittorio Lupi, episcopal delegate; Fr. Abraham Kavalakatt, promoter of justice; Dr. Barbara Rosa Clot, notary public; and the postulator, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB.

In his speech, Bp. Marino said: “Today is the day of the Passion of Jesus; it is the beginning of the Great Week. And Vera Grita experienced the passion in her flesh and in her life. This paschal dimension of Vera Grita’s personal story becomes a sign for our Church as well. And then she was an educator, a teacher; and God knows how much need there is today for educators capable of accompanying children and youths to maturity, even in the encounter with the Lord.... The Eucharist was the fire, the fulcrum, the heart of Vera’s experience. And truly the Church of Savona, which is celebrating the Synod, should rediscover the Eucharistic fraternity as the beating heart of Christian life.... There is a book entitled Qualcuno a cui guardare - Someone to Look to. Certainly, someone to look to is Jesus; but someone to look to is the saints. I hope that many will be able to look to Vera as a concrete, visible, and practicable sign of today’s evangelical discipleship.”

Antonio Boccia, the world coordinator of Salesian Cooperators, then spoke, expressing his joy and emotion at this new cause of a Salesian Cooperator, who joined the Association on October 24, 1967. “Vera’s heart and life was the Eucharist that she lived daily. The Eucharist was everything to her. Just as Jesus had given his life out of love, she gave her life for those she met in her work with a smile, gentleness, and kindness, so much so that she aroused awe and admiration in her colleagues at the school. She had a special concern for the less gifted students or those who suffered from their family situations…. The Holy Spirit continued to make the Salesian charism breathe through her life.”

VIDEO

Discovering Don Bosco's Ignatian Roots

Discovering Don Bosco’s Ignatian Roots

School of Salesian Spiritual Accompaniment Visits Shrine of St. Ignatius at Lanzo

by Gnanasahaya Selvam, SDB

(ANS – Pessinetto, Italy – April 12, 2022) – On Friday, April 9, the participants and facilitators at the School of Salesian Spiritual Accompaniment (SSA), currently in progress in Turin, visited the shrine of St. Ignatius at Lanzo.

This visit was the climax of the first week of the program, which consisted of reflection on the spiritual history of Don Bosco with input and visits to relevant places. The morning sessions began with inputs that were offered by Giuseppe Buccellato, followed by visits to the locations such as the Casa Don Bosco Museum, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and the places of the “Wandering Oratory,” guided by Fr. Michael Pace. The afternoon hours were spent in personal reflection and group sharing facilitated by Fr. Fabio Attard.

The visit to the shrine of St. Ignatius highlighted the influence of the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola on Don Bosco, and the latter’s commitment to the annual retreat.

A little chapel was originally built by the people of the locality around 1622, soon after the canonization of St. Ignatius. In 1677 the Jesuits became owners of the chapel. About 25 miles northwest of Turin, the chapel is situated not far from the village of Lanzo, at a height of about 3,000 feet. Eventually, the Jesuits replaced the chapel with the shrine of St. Ignatius, completing the construction in 1727. 

Following the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the shrine was neglected, even though it had become the property of the archdiocese of Turin. But as of 1814, the shrine fell under the care of the rector of the church of St. Francis of Assisi and the Convitto Ecclesiastico. The priests attending the Convitto were thus greatly influenced by the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius.

The sanctuary of St. Ignatius at Lanzo soon became a center of Ignatian spirituality in and around Turin. In fact, the Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary was founded by Bruno Lanteri in 1816 in Turin with the mission of offering the Ignatian spiritual exercises to clergy and laypeople.

In 1842, at the end of his first year at the Convitto, Don Bosco in the company of Fr. Cafasso went, perhaps for the first time, to the shrine of St. Ignatius for his retreat. From then on, in the words of Buccellato, “he went there almost uninterruptedly for more than 30 years, even after 1866, the year in which he began to have the retreats separately at Trofarello for the new Society of St. Francis de Sales. He often took along with him some young clerics from the Oratory.” One of the notable clerics, of course, was Michael Rua. These trips were made mostly on foot. Against this background, Don Bosco introduced spiritual retreats for the boys at the oratory, while he himself was sought after for giving retreats. Buccellato argues that retreat preaching is part of the Salesian charism and ministry.

The participants at SSA, who are being trained to be spiritual guides of their confreres and young people, are beginning to appreciate the elements of contemplation and discernment in the spiritual history of Don Bosco.

The School has since moved to Colle Don Bosco, where it will remain until the end of the program. The 6-day individually guided retreat has begun. Next week, the participants will visit the Salesian places in Castelnuovo Don Bosco. In the two weeks that follow, they will be taken through the theory and practice of spiritual accompaniment.

 

Salesians and Volunteers Active in Every Possible Way

Salesians and Volunteers Active in Every Possible Way

Welcoming and supporting refugees, working with children, educating for peace

(ANS – Lviv, Ukraine – April 13, 2022) – Contracted faces, angry expressions, a tense and almost defiant gaze at the adult world that forced them to flee from their homes and their certainties in this way – until a few days ago, these were the only visible expressions on the faces of many youngsters who fled with their families from the easternmost areas of Ukraine toward the western regions, less affected by the war. Now, however, at least for some of them, a few shy smiles have returned. After almost 40 days of living in the cold, 40 minors from Lysychansk are finally being welcomed into a safe environment and a family atmosphere by the Salesians in Lviv.

These 40 youngsters are part of a group of about 50 people, belonging to 4 large families. They traveled for over 5 weeks with the sole objective of leaving the bombs and massacres as far away as possible. But the leaders of the group, like many other Ukrainians, did not want to escape abroad, and last Saturday they stopped in Lviv, where they were welcomed by the Blessed Philip Rinaldi Salesian community .

They told the Salesians of the community about the difficulties and vicissitudes of this emergency crossing: they covered 775 miles from their city, Lysychansk, in the disputed Donbas region, to get there. In these 40 days they always had to cook outdoors and, since they had conserve water for drinking or preparing meals, they were never able to wash.

Helping those who are in difficulty because of the war is a mission that currently involves many Salesians and volunteers, not only in Lviv or in Ukraine.

Zuzanna and Bernadette are two students at the Salesian school in Przemysl, a Polish city on the border with Ukraine. They are among those charged with working with Ukrainian children who have crossed the border. “We go into the groups, there where they sleep, and play with them, color books, draw together,” say the girls.

In the same institute, which has become a sort of stopover point for thousands of refugees, dozens of other students and volunteers work every day, for several hours, to organize material goods and first aid supplies: it involves unloading the boxes, sorting the contents (food, clothes, medicines, etc.), laying them out in an orderly manner in the classrooms that have become warehouses when the materials arrive from abroad; and then repacking as needed the bags and boxes for delivery to the refugees, carrying out the reverse process of packing and loading.

Overseeing all of this at the Salesian center in Przemysl is Salesian Deacon Dawid Wilkos, director of the local oratory, who stresses the importance of international coordination. “Countries from all over Europe are involved in supporting Ukraine: I have direct contacts with Dutch, Italians, Germans, English. They ask what we need, then I write them in detail about the needs, and in the end they deliver those very things to us.” In this way, the support also reaches those families who have decided to host refugees in their own homes.

In Spain, too, Salesian solidarity is strongly focused on the needs of the Ukrainian population. In particular, the Spanish Madrid Province, in collaboration with the NGO Bosco Global, has accepted the project indicated to it by the General Coordination for the Management of the Ukrainian Emergency to provide for three months, until the end of June, namely the integral sustenance of 42 refugees (women and children) hosted in the Salesian house of Swobonica, in the North Poland Province.

In the meantime, it is still active in solidarity initiatives, in the fundraising campaign in all the works of the province, and in the daily work of peace education. “We, as Salesian educators, must commit ourselves to build a world where peace reigns. Through our work, let us continue to educate in dialog as the basis for conflict resolution; let us make all kinds of violence disappear from our lives. Let us build a world of peace and harmony where everyone, without distinction, has their place,” concludes Fr. José Luis Navarro Santotomas, coordinator of mission Animation of the Madrid Province.

Homily for Easter Sunday

Homily for Easter Sunday

April 17, 2021
Sequence
St. Joseph Church, New Rochelle

“Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:  the Prince of Life, who died, reigns immortal” (Sequence).

The Harrowing of Hell (Fra Angelico):

Christ frees the captives of the underworld

Over and over, we hear that the world is in the power of the Evil One.  E.g., one of the temptations that Jesus faced in the desert was Satan’s offer of all the kingdoms of the earth:  “I shall give you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 3:6).  In his 1st Letter, St. John affirms that “the whole world is under the power of the evil one” (5:19).

It’s this demonic power that we reject when we pray to Jesus’ Father, “thy kingdom come.”  May God, rather than Satan and his wicked angels, reign over us!

Over and over, we see in human experience the vast reach of evil in the world.  There’s no other way except as Satanic to describe the last century’s Third Reich, Stalin’s gulags, the millions murdered by Mao and his henchmen in China, the Cambodian genocide, the Rwandan genocide, and more.  We are seeing that same demonic malice today in Russia’s unspeakable crimes in Ukraine.  We see it in 73,000,000 unborn human beings murdered every year by desperate mothers, cold-blooded abortionists, and their political collaborators.  So much to please the Dark Lord of the world.

The Evil One appeals to the dark side of each of us.  Not one of us is exempt from his allurements, even after we’ve renounced them in Baptism.  That dark side is the powerful theme of the Star Wars movies, the Harry Potter books, and Lord of the Rings.  It’s the battle, the “combat stupendous” between life and death, going on within the heart of each of us as Satan tries to lure us into his bottomless pit of wickedness, cruelty, and hopelessness.

God hasn’t stood aside watching the Evil One destroy what was created in original goodness, watching the Prince of Darkness ruin the divine image in human beings.  Into this world ruled by Satan, this world so apparently dominated by his hatred and horrors, God has sent an invading force.  One commentator has compared the incarnation of the Son of God, the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, to the D-Day invasion of Europe.[1]  That event let the world know that Hitler’s days were numbered, that the victory of freedom and right was coming.

The coming of Jesus Christ likewise signals that the Evil One’s empire is crumbling.  St. Peter says in today’s 1st reading that Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38).  He signaled God’s goodness in his healings, his exorcisms, and his mercy, signaled that Satan’s realm was under fatal assault.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross seemed to be Satan’s final triumph.  Jesus told the crowd who were arresting him, “This is your hour, the time for the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53), and indeed, when he died “darkness came over the whole land” (23:44).  Evil seemed to have won.  God’s own Son was beaten down by unspeakable torture, covered in gore, ugly to behold, abandoned by most of his friends and even, it seemed, by God, and dead—ready for the final darkness of a tomb.

The cross, however, was but the last phase of the “combat stupendous.”  Part of the liturgy of Holy Saturday proclaimed, “This is the day when our Savior broke thru the gates of death.  He has destroyed the barricades of hell, overthrown the sovereignty of the devil” (responsory after the patristic reading).  Jesus once told a short parable about a strong man fully armed guarding his palace and keeping his possessions safe.  That strong one is the devil.  “But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he disarms him and distributes the spoils.”  That stronger one is Jesus our Lord. (cf. Luke 11:21-22), and the spoils of his victory is the forgiveness of sins, eternal joy, our restoration to God’s love.

Like the Allies storming the beaches of Normandy comes God’s Son to reclaim what belongs to God.  “The Prince of Life” leapt living out of the dark tomb, dealing instead a death blow to the devil, to sin, to the mortality that has reigned in the kingdom of the Dark Lord.  Jesus Christ the strong one of God is the “victor king, ever reigning.”  He has won the triumph for God and for God’s creation.  The final outcome of the combat is declared:  “Christ my hope is arisen,” and in him even we sinners shall claim victory over the enemy of God, the enemy of our eternal happiness.

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       [1] Oscar Cullmann, cited by Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015), p. 377, n. 75.