Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for the
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 25, 2026
Matt 22: 34-40
The Fountains, Tuckahoe, N.Y.[1]
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

The Pharisees question Jesus
(James Tissot)

“Teacher, which commandment in the Law is the greatest?” (Matt 22: 36).

The rabbis in Jesus’ time discussed that question a lot, and Jesus’ answer, at least regarding “the greatest and the first commandment” was widely accepted.  To this day, pious Jews recite that 1st commandment as part of their daily prayer.

Jesus takes the question a step further by proposing a 2d part to his answer:  one must love not only God but also one’s neighbor (22:39).

The Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ time counted 613 individual precepts in the Law of Moses.  Most of them depended on one or the other of these 2 great commandments, love of God and neighbor.

What does it mean for us to love the Lord our God will all our heart, soul, and mind?

It means to give God 1st place in our lives.  No person and no thing is more important or can command our attention and devotion more than God.  It means worshiping God on Sunday (in its pastoral care for us, the Church includes Saturday evening as part of Sunday); that’s more important than sleeping in, going to work, going to the beach, shopping, or team practice.

It means connecting with God daily thru Scripture reading and prayer.  It means listening to the Church’s moral teachings, e.g., about human life and death and about care for the environment, which is God’s created world.

Human life is to be brought forth only by the natural union of husband and wife, not in a laboratory or with a surrogate.  That natural union is always to be open to the possibility of life, and not intentionally impeded.  Human life belongs to God from beginning to end, from conception to natural death.  God has made humans in his image, male and female, and that’s unchangeable; Pope Francis called transgenderism “demonic.”

God cares for every person; made in his image, we’re all his children.  That’s why Jesus teaches that love of neighbor is the 2d great commandment.  We can’t be so focused on God that we’re blind to our neighbor.  Ethel Waters, an American singer and actress, once said, “Some folks are so heavenly-minded they ain’t any earthy good.”  We can’t commend someone who, for example, gives so much time and attention to his parish that his spouse and children are neglected.

On the contrary, a saint has been described as someone with her eyes on heaven and her feet on the ground, someone who gives due attention to both God and the world around her.  St. John Bosco insisted that his mission for young people is to make them honest citizens and good Christians—citizens here on earth who are heading toward heaven.

That resembles what Jesus said last week, doesn’t it?  Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

And that means that all of us who are citizens are obliged to vote.  Our love for our neighbor is expressed in part by whom we vote for and what public policies we favor, e.g., about war and peace, life and death, care for the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the refugee.  In fact, the Lord commands us, as we heard in the 1st reading, not to wrong an alien among us—a foreigner—or a widow or orphan, and to care for our poor neighbors (Ex 22:20-26).  That divine command directly contradicts what our government is doing.

In Jesus’ time, the rabbis and scribes generally restricted the meaning of “neighbor” to mean one’s fellow Jew.  Jesus broadened that meaning to be all-inclusive, particularly in his parable of the Good Samaritan, but also in his healings of Gentiles and his sitting with and instructing a Samaritan woman when she came to draw water from the village well.

Jesus speaks with the Samaritan
woman at the well

All of God’s children are our neighbors, and we’re obliged to love all of them.  I was surprised by the results of a recent national survey which found that 39% of adult Catholics have experienced racial or ethnic discrimination, including 10% within their parish and 11% within Catholic education.  Love for God’s children has no room for discrimination based on race, sex, language, national origin, age, religion, or state of health.  The Rev. Martin Luther King was 100% right when he preached that people should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

“If ever you wrong them,” the Lord says in our Exodus reading, “and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.  My wrath will flare up” (22:22-23).  I’m sure we don’t want to be under God’s wrath.  We’d rather hear his voice and be blessed.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart … [and] your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37,39).

 

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[1] Several chunks of text omitted at The Fountains assisted living home.

Salesian Missions Funds New Chapel in Assamese Village

Salesian Missions Funds the Building of St. Anthony’s Chapel in the village of Paneery New Line in Assam

(ANS – Paneery New Line, India – October 21, 2026) – Salesian Missions in New Rochelle has funded the construction of the chapel of St. Anthony in the village of Paneery New Line in the Udalguri district of the Indian state of Assam. The new building is already being used by the faithful of the local community for celebrations and prayer.

The project involved the complete construction of the building, which is equipped with electricity and fans, while the landscaping of the area outside the chapel has helped to enhance the entire site. The community belongs to the Adivasi tribe, who are mostly workers on the tea plantations of the Paneery Tea Estate. The families live in difficult economic circumstances and depend on day labor for their livelihood. The residents played an active part in the construction, working alongside the builders and also helping to decorate the chapel.

“We are fortunate finally to have a place to pray,” said local leader Lazarus Toppo, recalling that previously the community had only a simple mud-brick structure.

Homily for Memorial of St. John Paul II

Homily for the Memorial of
St. John Paul II

Oct. 22, 2026
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

(L'Osservatore Romano)

The collect for this memorial begins by addressing God as “rich in mercy.”  That was the title of St. John Paul’s 2d encyclical, Dives in misericordia.  Later, he instituted the annual observance of Divine Mercy Sunday.  He demonstrated mercy by visiting and forgiving his would-be assassin.

The collect next notes God’s will “that Pope St. John Paul II should preside over your universal Church.”  48 years after his election, we may forget how tradition-shattering his election was:  the 1st non-Italian Pope since 1523, and the youngest one since Pius IX’s election in 1846.  It evidently was God’s will that a man who had been a slave worker for the Germans, a secret seminarian, a charismatic youth minister, a pastor familiar with the oppression of totalitarianism, and a father of Vatican II should become the vicar of Christ.  Side note: as a youth he also was a Salesian parishioner.

John Paul II shrine
in St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Krakow,
where he worshiped as a student
and during the German occupation

We prayed that our hearts be “open to the saving grace of Christ.”  John Paul’s 1st encyclical was Redemptor hominis; later he gave us Redemptoris missio, Evangelium vitae, and Ecclesia de Eucharistia.  His constant theme was “Do not be afraid”—not afraid, especially the young, to open wide the doors of our hearts to Christ.  All his ministry as priest, bishop, and pontiff, in writings and in travel—104 trips beyond Italy—aimed at making Jesus Christ, “the sole Redeemer of the human race,” known and drawing us into a close relationship with him.  He brought the Lord Jesus to everyone everywhere and himself lived in close communion with Christ.  He showed “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, [filling us] with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19).

John Paul also taught us to love Jesus’ mother.  His encyclical Redemptoris mater and his motto Totus tuus highlighted Mary, who cares for us as her children and always directs us to her divine Son.

We’ve been “instructed by his teaching”—in 14 encyclicals and numerous other writings; in Wednesday audiences, most notably those that presented “the theology of the body”; and his challenges to totalitarianism by his insistence on truth, on freedom, and on human dignity.

Not least, John Paul taught us thru his suffering.  We watched the vigorous skier, kayaker, and hiker become old and frail while continuing his zealous ministry with courage and dignity until the day came for him to pass over “to the home of the Father”—as the whole world kept vigil outside the papal apartment as if for a father.  He truly was “il Papa.”

New School Year Opens at Salesian School of Theology in Jerusalem

New School Year Opens at the Salesian School of Theology in Jerusalem

(ANS – Jerusalem – October 19, 2026) – On October 16, the Studium Theologicum Salesianum in Jerusalem (aka “The Ratisbonne”) celebrated its “Dies Academicus,” dedicated to the theme of Christian joy and the Church’s vocation in the Holy Land, inspired by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa’s pastoral letter “They returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

The day began with a prayer and performances by the STS choir, followed by a presentation of the academic year just concluded and the outlook for the new academic year. The highlight of the event was the Lectio Magistralis delivered by Fr. Davide Meli, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who explored the meaning of Christian joy and the Church’s mission in a context marked by many challenges.

The gathering also included a session of theological dialog, the recognition of guests, and the presentation of a new book by Fr. Shaji Joseph. Concluding in an atmosphere of fraternity, the celebration renewed the participants’ commitment to being signs of hope, peace, and joy in Jerusalem and thruout the Holy Land.

One American Salesian, Deacon Leo Imbert, is a student at the Ratisbonne.

Homily for Tuesday, Week 29 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 29 of Ordinary Time

Oct. 20, 2026
Luke 12: 35-38
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

“Be like servants who await their master’s return” (Luke 12:35).

The early disciples of Jesus expected him to return soon to complete our redemption; to come again in his glory as supreme judge, to vindicate the just and put the wicked in their place.

Then the Church had to adapt to the Lord’s delay.  Jesus’ return is certain, but its time uncertain:  “About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

In his little parable today, Jesus tells his disciples—his servants—to remain vigilant for his return, i.e., to continue living as his disciples, ever ready to welcome him when he does return.

Faithful disciples will be given an unexpected reward.  The master will treat them at table, have them take places there.  He will wait on his servants at supper, just as he washed his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper.  Our master didn’t come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

We look forward to the banquet of eternal life, to feasting at the supper of the Lamb.  Our master has planned that for all his vigilant, faithful servants.  “Happy are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”

18 Salesians, 10 FMAs Sent on 157th Missionary Expedition

18 Salesians and 10 FMAs Were Sent Forth as the 157th Salesian Missionary Expedition

(ANS – Turin – October 19, 2026) – The 157th Salesian Missionary Expedition was celebrated on Saturday, October 17, in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians at the Salesian motherhouse in Valdocco (Turin), together with the 149th of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMAs – Salesian Sisters). 18 Salesians of Don Bosco and 10 Salesian sisters received the missionary cross and were sent out across the world.

A celebration on the eve of Mission Day

The sending Mass was presided over by the Rector Major  in the presence of FMA Mother General Chiara Cazzuola. The date was no coincidence: the celebration took place on the eve of the 100th World Mission Day, marked as a time of celebration for the entire Salesian Family and for the whole Church.

The day was made even more special by events dedicated to St. Maria Troncatti, FMA, who was canonized last year: at the start of the Mass, her statue was unveiled in the basilica.

The Rector Major’s homily

Drawing on the day’s readings, Fr. Fabio Attard recalled that, before asking what to do, one must discover who one is and where one comes from. Referring to the prophet Isaiah and the call of Cyrus, he emphasized that the initiative always comes from God: “God does not recruit a workforce” but calls each person by name, with his own face, his own story, his own gifts, and his own frailties. Hence the missionary vocation is neither a reward nor an achievement, but a gift entrusted to us even before we can fully understand it. In moments of fatigue, loneliness, or feeling inadequate, missionaries are invited to remember that their mission rests upon the One who has called them.

The response, he explained, is not primarily an effort of the will, but matures within a relationship of love: those who set out merely out of duty will sooner or later grow weary; those who set out because they know they are loved experience the journey as a process of growth. This was already Don Bosco’s experience, right from the “Nine-Year-Old’s Dream.” Hence the invitation to nurture this relationship every day thru prayer, the Word, and the Eucharist.

Commenting on Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, the Rector Major highlighted 3 characteristics of the missionary response: an active faith, which is seen in deeds rather than words, because young people will read the Gospel in the lives of the missionaries; a tireless charity, like that of Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello, and St. Maria Troncatti; a steadfast hope, which is not human optimism but the certainty that the Lord is already at work. “Do not set out as heroes; set out as disciples, with humility and joy,” he said, recalling that the Holy Spirit precedes the missionaries in cultures, among peoples, and in the hearts of young people.

From the Gospel passage on the tribute to Caesar, Fr. Attard drew an invitation to freedom: the missionary knows how to distinguish what belongs to God from what belongs to Caesar and does not confuse the Gospel with power, prestige, or money. He quoted the first piece of advice that Don Bosco gave to the missionaries in 1875: “Seek souls, not money, nor honors, nor dignity.” This freedom, he added, requires us to interpret reality with intelligence, by understanding the history, language, culture, wounds, and hopes of peoples, and to choose wisely in accordance with the sentiments of Christ.

Finally, he recalled the grace of unity bestowed upon Don Bosco: not 2 parallel lives, but a single life, unified by love, balancing pedagogical intelligence and pastoral charity. “Be attentive educators and wise evangelizers,” he urged, identifying this as the driving force behind the Preventive System.

Entrustment to Mary Help of Christians

In conclusion, the Rector Major repeated to the missionaries the words God addressed to his chosen one: “I have called you by name.” “Go forth with active faith, tireless charity, and steadfast hope. Go forth free, for you belong to God,” he said, entrusting them to Mary Help of Christians, that she might take them by the hand and accompany them to the lands where the Holy Spirit already awaits them.

* * * *

The homily in Italian is available for download at the bottom of the page, while the complete photo album is on Flickr.

A video of the Mass is also available on the YouTube channel.

Download attachment: 20261017_OMELIA_SPEDIZIONE_MISSIONARIA.pdf 

 

Homily for Memorial of North American Martyrs

Homily for the Memorial of the
North American Martyrs
Monday, Week 29 of O.T.

Oct. 19, 2026
Eph 2: 1-10
Salesian HS, New Rochelle

Today we’re celebrating the memorial of 8 French Jesuit missionaries who were killed by Iroquois Indians in the mid-17th century—5 of them in what is now Ontario in Canada, and 3 in upstate New York at a Mohawk village a little west of Albany.  They were among many dozens of priests, brothers, sisters, and lay volunteers who came to New France to make Jesus Christ known and loved among the colonists, fur trappers, and native tribes.

One of the 3 martyred in New York was Fr. Isaac Jogues.  He was the 1st priest to set foot in New York City, which was still New Amsterdam at the time.  An image of him is on the great bronze main door of St. Patrick’s Cathedral (photo above), along with 5 other saints.[1]

Fr. Jogues came to New Amsterdam as a refugee in 1643.  He’d escaped from captivity among the Mohawks, where his companion, a lay missionary, had already been killed.  Fr. Jogues had been horribly tortured, including having several of his fingers sawed off by clamshells.  Once he was back in France, he needed special permission from the Pope to celebrate Mass again because, at the time, it was a rule that a priest had to have all his fingers in order to handle the sacred Host and the chalice.  The Pope said, “Someone who has shed his blood for Christ should not be prohibited from drinking the Blood of Christ.”  Until the liturgy was reformed 55 years ago, only priests could drink the Precious Blood.

In spite of that awful experience of captivity and torture, Fr. Jogues, after he returned to Canada, volunteered to return to the same Mohawk village as a missionary with another lay volunteer in 1646.  They didn’t have much success preaching the Gospel and, in fact, were blamed for an epidemic in the village and for a bad harvest.  So the 2 missionaries were tomahawked and their bodies thrown into the Mohawk River.

That’s the sort of faith and courage that all 8 of these missionaries showed in New France and among the native tribes.  There were others, too, who sacrificed themselves to bring Christ to the Indians as well as to French settlers on the frontier.  They suffered from brutal winters, from dangerous travel in river rapids, from hunger and mistreatment, and from loneliness.  They loved Jesus so much that they endured such difficulties and dangers.  And they did plant the Gospel with some success in many places.

The missionary martyrs challenge us to live our faith in Jesus with perseverance and with courage:  to get to church on Sunday, to be faithful to our duties at home and in school, to be honest, to be pure, to be patient, to treat everyone with respect.  Sometimes that’s hard.  Being a martyr means, literally, being a witness—giving witness to Jesus by how we act and speak.  All of us are supposed to do that.  As St. Paul says in today’s 1st reading, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10).

[1] Sts. Joseph, Patrick, Frances Cabrini, Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Catherine Tekakwitha. 

Homily for Mission Sunday

Homily for Mission Sunday
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 18, 2026
Ps 96: 1, 3-5, 7-10
Is 45: 1, 4-6
Matt 22: 15-21
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“Sing to the Lord a new song….  Tell his glory among the nations” (Ps 96: 1, 3).

St Edward's Crown, the Orb, the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross,
the Sovereign's Sceptre with Dove, and the Sovereign's Ring 
(Credit: U.K. Government)

What is glory?  If you’ve watched a royal program from Westminster Abbey—the king’s coronation, for instance—you’ve seen a form of earthly glory.  If you lived in Milwaukee now, you’d be basking in the glory of the Brewers, National League champions, conquerors of the mighty Dodgers.  If you’re old enuf—most of you are—you remember the 1989 film titled Glory, starring Denzel Washington, Matthew Broderick, and Morgan Freeman, about a black Civil War regiment that won glory by proving that black men could fight with toughness and courage.

Film poster for Glory 
(Copyright 1989, TriStar Pictures)

Our responsorial psalm commands us to glorify God; to praise him not only among ourselves but to the whole world.  His works of salvation make him most praiseworthy.

In the 1st reading, Isaiah points out to Israel that God works his will among the nations of the earth, even thru the ruler of a mighty empire.  God has appointed Cyrus, king of Persia, to do his work, to subdue nations—for the sake of Israel.  Cyrus will conquer Babylon and liberate the Jewish people from their exile.  He’ll let them go home and re-settle in Judea.  “Toward the rising and the setting of the sun, people may know that there is no other god besides the Lord of Israel,” from one end of the Persian Empire to the other (cf. Is 45:6).

It’s God’s will that we, his people in Jesus Christ, make his name known and worshiped from one end of the earth to the other—not that our circular Earth has a geographical end; but that God who created it and Jesus who redeems the human race should be acknowledged and adored everywhere; that we give glory to the Lord and win a share in his glory.

Jesus sent out his apostles to preach the Gospel everywhere.  The Church exists to preach the Gospel.  The Church is missionary.  You and I are missionaries.  We’re happy that Christ saves us from our sins and calls us to eternal happiness after our life on earth is finished.  An unfinished, unending life awaits us, one in which we’ll share in the glory of God that the psalmist praised so heartily.

There are, of course, men and women who go to far-off lands to preach the Gospel, to make Jesus Christ known and loved.  But you and I are missionaries, too.  It’s our mission to make Jesus known and loved in our families, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our leisure time.

(Rubens)

You’ve all heard the saying attributed—inaccurately—to St. Francis:  “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.”  You may also have heard another saying:  “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.”  Our behavior reveals whether we’re followers of Jesus or worship some other god, e.g., wealth, pride, pleasure, or prestige; whether we aim at God’s glory or our own.

Back in the ’70s, there was a popular poster that asked, “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enuf evidence to convict you?”  Does our day-to-day life—how we treat other people, how honest we are, how generous, how helpful, our observance of Sunday—give evidence that we’re disciples of Jesus?

By trying our best to live like Christ, we’re being missionaries.  People notice whether we’re faithful, kind, cheerful, self-giving, chaste, devout.  Jesus said at the Last Supper, “By this will everyone know that you’re my disciples, by your love for one another” (John 13:35).  “One another” doesn’t mean just our family members; it means everyone:  people next door, people we see in church, people who don’t go to church, people we don’t like, people who do evil.  (Jesus does tell us to love our enemies.)

In today’s gospel, the emperor’s image on a coin means the emperor has a financial stake in our lives.  Jesus tells us to give to the government what it has a legitimate claim to.  We pay taxes so that, e.g., we’ll have roads and bridges, safe food and safe airplanes, police and fire departments.

Roman denarius
with the image of Tiberius Caesar

And he tells us to give to God what belongs to God.  He doesn’t show an image of God as he showed a Roman coin.  But we know where to find God’s image:  in every human being.  Every person is created in the image of God and has God-given dignity.  Every person deserves respect:  the unborn, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped, the foreigner, the young, the powerless, the homeless, even the criminal (a criminal may be punished, but not cruelly).  We pay tribute to God by treating others reverently.  Our kindness, our patience, our honesty, our fairness, our chastity, our faithfulness are all ways in which we honor the image of God and announce, however quietly, that we belong to Jesus.  So we preach the Gospel.  And we are missionaries.

Not least, we follow Jesus by praying—for our families and friends, for peaceful resolutions of conflict, for the safety of first responders and our armed forces, for the Pope, our bishop, our priests, deacons, and religious, for catechists and teachers.  And, yes, for missionaries who go to far-off lands to make God known and adored:  “Give to the Lord, you families of nations, give to the Lord glory and praise!” (Ps 96:7).