Salesians and Rise Against Hunger Partner to Feed 20,000

Salesians and Rise Against Hunger Partner to Provide Better Nutrition for More than 20,000 People

(ANS – Juba, South Sudan – June 22, 2026) – More than 20,000 people who are part of the Don Bosco Mission in South Sudan had access to better nutrition through 2 shipments that arrived in the first quarter of 2026. The food shipment was the result of a partnership between Salesian Missions of New Rochelle and Rise Against Hunger, a nonprofit that helps underserved people worldwide achieve food security and resilience.

The Don Bosco Mission supports primary schools with about 7,000 children, 3 secondary schools accommodating around 1,800 students, and approximately 5,900 internally displaced persons living in the Don Bosco Camp. The mission also includes 5 parishes where many vulnerable and low-income families reside. The fortified rice meals played a crucial role in addressing immediate food needs, especially among children, students, displaced families, and the poorest members of the surrounding community.

Among the recipients are those internally displaced with the Don Bosco Mission Juba, students with Don Bosco Mission at Maridi, vocational students with Don Bosco Mission at Wau, and Don Bosco Mission at Kuajok, children living on the streets and neighborhood families with Don Bosco Mission at Tonj, and students in primary and secondary school as well as parishioners with Don Bosco Mission at Morobo. The rice is being utilized for daily school feedings, a monthly ration for those displaced living in the Don Bosco Camp in Gumbo, Juba, and as timely support for poor families in the parish and neighborhoods.

 One of those supported is Sunday, who lives in the Don Bosco Camp. She noted that every day is a struggle to find food and a sense of safety. She said, “Some days we would eat only once, and sometimes not even a single meal. Our parents and guardians worried constantly about how to find food as many donors had pulled out of supporting us; therefore many of us relied on irregular support, and when supplies ran out, it created tension and fear in the community.”

Sunday added, “When the rice finally arrived and was distributed, it made a real difference. For a time, families didn’t have to worry as much about their next meal. In my own home, we are able to eat regularly, and this has brought a sense of relief and dignity.” 

Another recipient, Mary, is a student at the Don Bosco Primary School in Gumbo. Being internally displaced has made life challenging, but Mary still has hope for the future. She’d like to be a teacher one day. She said, “Even with challenges, going to school gives me hope. It is a place where I can learn, play with my friends, and feel safe. But many days, I would come to school without eating anything. It was hard to concentrate in class, and sometimes I felt too weak to participate fully. I know many of my classmates had the same problem, and it affected our learning.”

 Mary noted, “Now that the project is being implemented, it has made a big difference in my life. Every school day, we are given rice for breakfast. This simple meal has helped me so much. I feel stronger, more focused and ready to learn. It has reduced the hunger I used to feel in the mornings, and I can now pay attention in class and enjoy my studies since I am assured of a meal at both school and home. This has impacted my friends too. One of my friends said that before she sometimes stayed home because she was too hungry, but now she comes to school every day. Another friend mentioned that the rice has helped his younger siblings, too, when food is shared at home. We all agreed that it has brought positive changes, even though we still hope for more support.”

Salesian missionaries in South Sudan are dedicated to providing programs and services across the country. Salesian missionaries provide education, social development services, nutrition programs, and health clinics for poor youths and their families. For some, the education offered at Salesian schools is the only opportunity to gain an education and the skills necessary for future employment. 

South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011 but has faced an ongoing civil war that started in December 2013 and continues today. This has resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis. According to the United States Institute of Peace, more than 10 million people have been forced from their homes. The war has also triggered the world’s worst hunger crisis with more than 18 million Sudanese living in acute food insecurity.

Source: Mission Newswire

Fr. Egidio Vigano': Pastor for Church and Salesian Family

Fr. Egidio Viganò: A Pastor for the Church and the Salesian Family

(ANS – Rome – June 23, 2026) - On June 23, 1995, Fr. Egidio Viganò, 7th successor of Don Bosco, returned to the Father at the Salesian Generalate in Rome. Today, 31 years after his passing, the Salesian Family remembers him with gratitude and renewed awareness of the enduring relevance of his teaching and witness. He concluded his earthly pilgrimage surrounded by the prayer and affection of his confreres, the Salesian Family, and many friends who recognized in him a fatherly guide, a theologian deeply rooted in the Church, and a faithful and creative interpreter of Don Bosco’s charism for the contemporary world.

Roots in Italy, Heart in Latin America

Born in Sondrio, northern Italy, in 1920 into a large and deeply Christian family, Egidio Viganò encountered Don Bosco at an early age and embraced the Salesian vocation with conviction and generosity. As a young confrere, he was sent as a missionary to Chile, where he would spend more than 3 decades of intense apostolic and academic activity. So profound was his identification with the continent that he came to regard Latin America as his “second homeland,” and was widely considered “Latin American by adoption.”

In Chile he combined pastoral zeal with serious theological formation, earning a doctorate in theology at the Catholic University of Santiago, where he later served as professor and dean of the faculty. His intellectual clarity and ecclesial fidelity led the Chilean bishops to appoint him as a theological expert (peritus) during the Second Vatican Council. There he closely followed the Council’s doctrinal developments and pastoral renewal, an experience that would shape his vision for the rest of his life. He would later dedicate himself to “sharing the bread of the Council” with the Salesian Family thru his letters and animation.

Rector Major and Guide in the Postconciliar Years

Elected Rector Major during the general chapter of 1977, Fr. Viganò was reconfirmed for 3 consecutive terms, guiding the Congregation for nearly 18 years. In a period marked by postconciliar renewal and profound cultural change, he helped the Salesians live Don Bosco’s charism in deep fidelity to the Church while remaining open to the challenges of modern times, especially in the years leading to the Great Jubilee of 2000.

His magisterium as Rector Major is remembered particularly thru his annual strenne and his rich circular letters. With intellectual depth and pastoral sensitivity, he insisted on the sentire cum Ecclesia—to feel and think with the Church in obedience and love for the Pope. He constantly urged the Salesian Family to renew itself in fidelity, to rediscover the spiritual and pedagogical richness of the Preventive System, and to place young people—especially the poorest—at the center of every work and project.

At the Service of the Universal Church

The esteem enjoyed by Fr. Viganò extended far beyond the Salesian world. Pope St. John Paul II entrusted him with numerous consultative responsibilities, recognizing in him a lucid interpreter of consecrated life and a passionate educator attentive to the pressing questions of the contemporary world. He served as member or consultor of several pontifical bodies, including the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Between 1980 and 1994 he participated, by papal appointment, in various synods of bishops, offering valuable contributions on evangelization, the family, the laity, and consecrated life. In 1986 he was invited to preach the spiritual retreat to the Pope and the Roman Curia—an eloquent sign of confidence in his spiritual depth and doctrinal solidity. Many described him as “a Latin American Don Bosco,” highlighting his ability to unite theological rigor, pastoral creativity, and closeness to people, especially the young and the poor.

A Life Offered in Suffering and Hope

The final years of Fr. Viganò’s life were marked by illness, lived with serenity and abandonment to God’s will. Though gradually weakened by cancer, he never ceased to accompany the Congregation thru prayer and counsel for as long as his strength permitted. On June 23, 1995, he died in Rome, assisted by his confreres and spiritually surrounded by the entire Salesian Family spread thruout the world.

News of his passing was received with profound emotion in Salesian presences across continents, among the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, lay collaborators and the many young people who had encountered him thru his visits, writings, and paternal guidance. In the Salesian tradition, his death was lived not only as a moment of grief, but as a call to renewed fidelity to Don Bosco within the Church of today.

A Legacy That Still Speaks Today

Fr. Egidio Viganò leaves behind a rich legacy of theological and spiritual reflection, particularly thru his letters as Rector Major, which continue to nourish the identity and mission of the Salesian Family. In them he proposed paths of renewal rooted in the Second Vatican Council, insisted on the centrality of Christ and the Eucharist, and constantly pointed to Mary Help of Christians as mother and teacher of Don Bosco’s disciples. His reflections on the role of the Salesian director, on community as a place of formation and mission, and on the co‑responsibility of the laity within the charism remain strikingly relevant.

Remembering him today is not merely an act of historical recollection, but an invitation to rediscover the synthesis he embodied: fidelity to Don Bosco, to the Constitutions, and to the Church; and creativity in responding to new cultural and ecclesial challenges. On this anniversary, the Congregation renews its commitment to courageous and joyful fidelity, confident that the spirit which animated Fr. Viganò continues to bear fruit in the mission for the young thruout the world.

Homily for Tuesday, Week 12 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 12 of Ordinary Time

June 23, 2026
Year II
2 Kings 19: 9-11, 14-21, 31-36
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.
“Will you, then, be saved?” (2 Kings 19: 11).

Hezekiah - St. Mary Church, Ahus, Sweden
(produced for Wikipedia by David Castor)

One theme runs thru the collection of Old Testament books attributed to the sacred writer called the Deuteronomist:  Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.  We might call him the biblical historian or even the archivist.

The theme is, Israel is secure when they’re faithful to their covenant with the Lord, and they meet disaster when they forget the Lord.

So today we find the little kingdom of Judah under threat from the powerful Assyrian empire, which has already devoured the rest of the Near East, including the unfaithful kingdom of Israel.

Hezekiah has been a devout and faithful ruler, one of the few whom the Deuteronomist praises.  Encouraged by the prophet Isaiah, he turns to the Lord, praying for Jerusalem’s deliverance, and the Lord saves the city by inflicting disaster on the arrogant enemy army.

The Defeat of Sennacherib
(Peter Paul Rubens)

In the responsorial psalm, we pondered God’s mercy within his temple (48:10).  That mercy assures God’s people today, Jesus’ Church, that we will stand secure against whoever thinks to surround, overwhelm, and lay her waste (2 Kgs 19:17), whether that be the demonic foe (“the gates of hell shall not prevail against her” [Matt 16:18]) or an earthly oppressor.

Further, like Hezekiah, we trust in God to deliver us from our demonic enemy and from the oppression of our sins.  We count on God’s mercy within the temple of our souls.  We acknowledge our failings, but we know that our Lord Jesus has set us on the firm foundation of his love (Collect).

Salesian NGOs Gather in Samoens, France

Salesian NGOs from around the World Gather in Samoëns

(ANS – Samoëns, France – June 22, 2026) – Representatives of foundations, mission offices, and Salesian NGOs from around the world gathered from June 16 to 18 at the I Becchi holiday village in Samoëns, in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France. Brought together within the Don Bosco Network, they shared impressions, ideas, reflections, and best practices to collaborate ever more effectively and continue to support the Salesian mission globally.

The Don Bosco Network organizes exchange events, working groups, and 2 general assemblies thruout the year. While most of these global meetings take place via video-conference, once a year all its members gather in one place: this year, province of France- South Belgium (FRB) was chosen as the venue to welcome everyone to the heart of the I Becchi holiday village in Samoëns, which belongs to the AEC-Vacances Salesian association.

The event was attended by representatives from Salesian Missions (USA), Via Don Bosco (Belgium), Misiones Salesianas (Spain), Don Bosco Mondo (Germany), VIS – International Volunteers for Development (Italy), Don Bosco Jugendhilfe Weltweit (Switzerland), Bosconet (India), Savio (Slovakia), Don Bosco Aid (Ireland), Don Bosco Mission (Austria), Foundation Don Bosco (France), Don Bosco Foundation (Malta), Salezjanski Osrodek Misyjny (Poland,) and Salesian Missions-Australia.

Projects and missionary outreach

These independent NGOs thus act as a link among themselves and the Salesian Congregation, in particular with the Missions Department, represented at the meeting by Fr. Eric Mairura. All these organizations work closely with the local Salesian authorities, from whom they receive funding for their projects. How? In each Salesian circumscription, a planning and development office and a structure for mission animation are responsible for developing and ensuring the sustainability – particularly the financial sustainability – of Don Bosco’s educational mission at a local level.

Furthermore, in order to ensure transparency and ethical standards in the use of donations collected by these NGOs, the Don Bosco Network has developed tools such as a database of supported projects, as well as guides and manuals on the sound management of a supported project, from the initial stages thru to the post-project phase.

Learning

At the meeting in Samoëns, members had invited representatives from the Don Bosco Tech programs of Africa, India, ASEAN, and Europe, which develop and promote quality formation thru learning in their respective areas of focus. These large-scale organizations operate in the spirit of St. John Bosco – who sought to provide every young person with formation and a trade to foster his dignity and holistic development – and their programs are in many cases funded thru support from these NGOs and major industrial groups.

Emergency aid

The Don Bosco Network is also able to mobilize substantial resources at very short notice for its emergency programs: earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, etc. The large sums raised in this way pass thru the Congregation’s central offices in Rome, which thus ensures the proper and ethical use of the donations.

Finally, during the meeting in Samoëns, all those present had the opportunity to be re-energized in the truest Salesian spirit, at the foot of the Savoie mountains of St. Francis de Sales, and in the company of numerous local Salesians, including the FRB provincial, Fr. Xavier Ernst, and the provincial treasurer, Bro. Sebastien Robert, SDB.

Salesian Missions in New Rochelle was represented by Fr. Mike Conway, director, and Fr. Krzys Nizniak, assistant director.

Source: Don Bosco Aujourd’hui

Salesian Missions Supports Vulnerable Sierra Leone Boys

Salesian Missions Supports 131 Vulnerable Boys at Sierra Leone Child Care Center

(ANS – Freetown, Sierra Leone – June 17, 2026) – Salesian missionaries had donor funding to support 131 boys in the Child Care Center in Sierra Leone. The center is part of Don Bosco Fambul’s temporary shelter and rehabilitation facility for vulnerable boys aged 5-16 who have suffered severe violations of their fundamental rights or endured harmful conditions on the streets. Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, is one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations. The donor funding came from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle.

The funding supported 131 boys with residential care services. In addition, 88 families and caregivers had access to reunification, counseling, and follow-up support; 17 highly vulnerable households received targeted financial assistance; and 128 youths were able to access education.

The center provides immediate protection and structured care for youths who have suffered abuse, neglect, trafficking, family rejection, forced labor, substance misuse, and other forms of exploitation. Referrals come through established national child protection pathways, including the ChildLine 525, Don Bosco Mobil outreach teams, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police, partner organizations, community leaders, and concerned citizens.

 The center operates 24 hours a day and delivers comprehensive services aimed at stabilizing, rehabilitating, and reintegrating each child back with his family or caregiver. Salesians provide safe accommodation, nutritious meals, medical and psychosocial care, trauma counseling, spiritual support, structured educational and recreational activities, legal and protection services, and a family tracing and reunification program. The goal is to prepare each youth for reintegration into a safe and nurturing family environment — whether biological, extended or foster-based. For boys whose home situation remains unsafe or unviable, the center refers them to the Don Bosco Group Home for long-term residential care and skills development.

 John, aged 13, is one of the youths who benefited from the center. Before accessing the center’s services, John’s life was disappearing under the weight of poverty. He said: “My life stopped being about a future and started being a daily, exhausting struggle just to stay alive. My dreams were slipping away, hidden under the weight of hunger and the constant ‘hustle’ of the streets.”

John said that the turning point was not just the outreach, but his own decision to trust the process provided by Don Bosco Fambul. He explained: “When I first walked through their doors, I was a mix of fear, uncertainty, and a very fragile kind of hope. But I chose to stay. And that choice changed everything. In that nurturing environment, I started to remember who I was. I stopped just surviving and started participating. I went from a boy struggling to survive alone on the streets to a young man preparing for a life filled with possibility.”

John has made significant strides in his education. He has taken the West African Senior School Certificate Examination. John noted: “It is a milestone that reflects more than just my grades. It reflects my resilience and the fact that someone believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself.”

Homily for 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 21, 2026
Rom 5: 12-15
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

Adam & Eve expelled
from Paradise (Masaccio)

“Thru one man sin entered the world, and thru sin, death (Rom 5: 12).

The one man of whom St. Paul speaks is Adam, the one father of the human race according to the creation stories of the book of Genesis.

We don’t have to read those stories as literal history in order to understand their theology, the truth they convey as divine revelation, just as we don’t read the parable of the Good Samaritan as something that actually happened.

The truth of the 1st chapters of Genesis is that God made the world good and full of life.  Human choices—like the arrogance and disobedience displayed by the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden—marked a turning away from God, from goodness, beauty, and harmony.  Sin isn’t God’s doing, but ours.  Death and disorder in the universe aren’t from God but from rejecting God.  “Thru a human being sin entered the world, and thru sin, death.”

God is able to deal with that.  He has put into operation Plan B, as it were, the recovery operation of his own Son:  “the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflows for the many” (5:15).  Jesus of Nazareth, crucified because he was faithful to God his Father, rose from the grave.  He conquered death, and thru his risen life offers to all men and women a free and complete pardon from sin and from the penalty of sin, viz., damnation and death.

The Last Supper (detail)
by Dagnan-Bouveret

St. Paul teaches that this “gracious gift” of God “overflows for the many.”  It overflows without limit, and it’s “for many,” the phrase Jesus used at the Last Supper when he gave to his disciples the cup of his blood of the new covenant, poured out for the redemption of sinners.  “For many,” not for a limited few.  Not only for those who followed Jesus there and then; not for the apostles or our Blessed Mother only.  Not for the Jewish people only.  But for as many as would follow him and put their faith in him, “from the rising of the sun to its setting,” as the 3d Eucharistic Prayer says—without a limit of time or space.  God’s grace is boundless when we turn away from sin and turn toward him.

We can join Jeremiah in praising the Lord for rescuing the lives of the poor, us poor sinners; for rescuing us from the power of the wicked (20:13), i.e., from Satan and his gang of fallen angels.

Bro. Richard Pasaik, SDB (1938-2026)

BRO. RICHARD PASAIK, SDB (1938-2026)

Bro. Richard Pasaik lived very quietly as a Salesian brother for almost 67 years, and he passed away very quietly on the morning of June 14, 2026, in his room at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y. He was 88 years old.

Bro. Rich had concluded his annual retreat just the day before, renewing his religious profession along with his confreres. At least one of the retreatants had noticed that he wasn’t looking well, though Brother said he was fine.

Richard Pasaik was born on February 12, 1938, in Oswego, N.Y., a small city on the shore of Lake Ontario founded as a British trading post in 1722. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Polish immigrants came to the city to work in its factories or its shipping businesses. Richard’s parents, Joseph and Mary Bogdziewicz Pasaik, worshiped at the city’s Polish parish, St. Stephen the King Church, and Richard was baptized there about two months after his birth. He was confirmed at another Oswego parish, St. John the Evangelist, in 1951.

Richard enrolled as a Son of Mary at Don Bosco Seminary in Newton, N.J., in September 1957. A year later he began his novitiate in Newton under the guidance of Fr. Aloysius Bianchi. When the elenco was published early in 1959, the class numbered 44, including the future Fr. Joseph Davie, Bro. Joseph Ferrari, Fr. Jack Gibson, Fr. Frank Kelly, Fr. Gerry Pellegrino, Fr. Dave Purdy, Fr. Jeremiah Reen, Fr. Floyd Rotunno, Fr. Frank Twardzik, and Bro. Gerald Warner. They made their first religious profession on September 8, 1959, at Newton.

Six years later, Bro. Richard made his perpetual profession, also at Newton. In the meantime, he continued his formation at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, N.J., learning electromechanics for two years. In 1961 he was assigned to Don Bosco Technical Institute in Haverstraw, the aspirantate for boys aspiring to become coadjutor brothers. For the next 15 years, he undertook the general maintenance of the school building (which was eventually transformed into part of the Don Bosco Retreat House), the Marian Shrine, the residence, and the extensive property—at that time still over 200 acres. He did his work and participated in the community’s life with competence and unfailing good cheer, always present and punctual.

In 1976 Bro. Rich was assigned to Don Bosco College in Newton to take care of the extensive maintenance there—grounds, plumbing, electricity, machinery, etc. Fr. Richard Alejunas remembers Bro. Rich’s trying to teach some of the young brothers how to mow the lawns with the tractor, and being told he’d been selected because “I know you won’t run it into the lake,” as some other trainees had done. Bro. Rich carried on at the College for 15 years.

Then in 1991 he returned to the Marian Shrine, carrying on steadily but eventually slowing down with age. When his 60th anniversary rolled around in 2019, he still described his role as “maintenance team,” and stated that the most significant aspect of his Salesian vocation was “availability in serving the needs of my brothers in community.”

Bro. Rich, 3d from right, with regional councilor Fr. Hugo Orozco (center)
and other confreres celebrating profession jubilees in 2024.

Bro. Bernie Dubé surely isn’t alone in remembering Bro. Rich “for his kindness and gentleness and [as a] hard-working Salesian brother.” Fr. John Nazzaro confirms that: “[He] was always a very kind gentleman who was a great example of service and commitment as a good Salesian.”

Fr. Ken Shaw, who lived with Bro. Rich at the Marian Shrine for many years, goes into more detail: “What comes to mind when thinking of Bro. Richard is his availability and willingness to help others confreres, doing whatever task that was asked of him.” For example, if you needed something, you did well to ask him first—“he was a renowned collector”—and often already had the item on hand or could offer a good substitute.

Fr. Ken also testifies that Bro. Richard showed concern regularly for confreres in a nursing home, visiting and bringing snacks. He was jovial and loved to repeat jokes as well as to visit the Dollar Store, Wendy’s, Carvel, and Shop Rite.

As a Salesian brother, his dress was simple and presentable, in keeping with Reg. 55 of our Rule. One of his favorite hymns was “Morning has broken,” and often someone in the community would quip, “Bro. Richard will fix it!”

Bro. Rich was waked in the Marian Shrine chapel on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 17, the funeral Mass following at 7:00 p.m. Fr. Dominic Tran, provincial, presided, and Fr. Tom Ruekert preached the homily. Brother was buried on Thursday morning in the province cemetery at Goshen, N.Y.

Salesian Missions Funds Comprehensive Care for Youths

Salesian Missions Funds Comprehensive Care for Youths at the Casa Hogar

(ANS – Colima, Mexico – June 12, 2026) – Thanks to funding from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle, the Salesians in Mexico have been able to support 62 young people in vulnerable situations at the Casa Hogar in Colima. The young people at the center have faced situations of vulnerability due to abandonment, physical and psychological violence, or an unsafe family environment. Some joined the program after living on the streets. A Salesian working at the center explained: “One of the most significant outcomes of this period has been the ability to retain the entire interdisciplinary team, meaning the young people have had the same support staff, which has fostered their emotional stability, bonds of trust, and the effectiveness of therapeutic and educational processes.” Having received continuous support, the Salesians noted that these young people experienced a reduction in severe behavioral crises, improved emotional regulation, and strengthened bonds with the educational team. As for their education, 85% of the young people maintained or improved their academic performance.

World Day Against Child Labor

World Day Against Child Labor

Educational investments from Salesian Missions help keep youths in school, safe from child labor

(ANS – New Rochelle, N.Y. – June 12, 2026) – Salesian Missions of New Rochelle joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in honoring World Day Against Child Labor. The day has been celebrated on June 12 since 2002, and it brings attention to the global extent of child labor and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.

Child labor is associated with lower educational attainment and later with jobs that fail to meet basic decent work criteria. Those who leave school early are less likely to secure stable jobs and are at greater risk of chronic unemployment and poverty. Many of those who leave school early, particularly youths between the ages of 15-17, are engaged in work that is hazardous and classified as the worst forms of child labor.

Father Michael Conway, SDB, director of Salesian Missions, said, “Salesian programs rescue children from labor and ensure they have their basic needs met and are enrolled in school. Children need hope for the future and the skills to find and retain stable, safe employment later. We support those efforts by providing scholarship funding and ensuring Salesian schools have what they need to provide high-quality education for youth.”

In honor of World Day Against Child Labor 2026, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight educational investments that help youths remain in school instead of being forced into child labor.

INDIA

Don Bosco Nava Nirman, located in Muniguda, India, provided scholarships for 32 girls thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The school was developed in 2010 after the Kandhamal violence in the region in 2008. One of the greatest contributions Salesians make in the region is through their education, especially for youths who are poor and marginalized.

A Salesian noted, “We have been concentrating on the education of girls and young women, which is an urgent need in this area. Generally, girls are marginalized by the parents as well as the society at large as they are not seen as potential earners in the workplace. Our entry into the education of the girls is in a way an attempt to transform this general perception. Today, through support provided to us, we are able to educate many girls through our scholarship program.”

Donor funding helped to offset the cost for hostel fees, as well as academic fees and book purchases. Although the school received funds for 26 scholarships, it was able to make scholarships available for additional children. In total, 32 children received financial support for their education.

ISRAEL

Salesians in Nazareth, Israel, were able to provide scholarships and psychosocial support for youths thanks in part to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The project was funded through the Don Bosco Network with support given by several Salesian organizations including Salesian Missions.

Through the project, Salesians provide scholarships to 106 students who are enrolled at the Salesian School in Nazareth. They were also able to provide 78 hours of psychosocial support to 50 staff and around 170 young students (grades 1-6) affected by war and unrest in the area.

The scholarships were provided to students, including 39 females, in the form of school fee deductions. The students are from families severely impacted by the broader socio-economic challenges affecting the Arab community in Israel, many of whom experienced job loss, business closures, and reduced income as a result of the conflict.

SOUTH SUDAN

Youth attending the St. Vincent de Paul School, run by the Salesian Sisters in Gumbo, South Sudan (outside Juba, the capital), have improved sanitation and access to workshops, along with a new equality club, thanks to donor funding. The funding was provided by Salesian Missions. Donor funding helped with the construction of new bathroom facilities for girls, strengthening gender equality in the school community.

While construction was happening, teachers implemented regular hygiene and gender equality awareness sessions. From March to September 2025, the sessions were delivered during daily school assemblies. In total, 24 awareness sessions were conducted, covering topics such as personal hygiene, hand-washing practices, oral hygiene, safe use and maintenance of toilets, menstrual health, body changes, and maintaining a clean environment at school and at home. More than 1,100 students participated in these sessions.

In addition, an equality club was established and became active during the academic year. The club reached 53 students from grade 3 until grade 7. The club promoted equal participation among boys and girls in the school and strengthened gender-sensitive practices. A total of 14 leaders were appointed to motivate their peers and support the implementation of the planned program. Under the guidance of teachers, the club organized mixed sports tournaments, gender-themed debates, and shared responsibilities for school duties. These activities fostered collaboration, encouraged balanced participation, and promoted positive gender roles across the school community.

Charity Poni Lino, one of the teachers at the school, said, “Life in Gumbo is challenging, and it is not easy as a teacher. I see that most people struggle even to pay school fees, but we know that education can change our future. My wish is to study hard and become a doctor so that I can help others girls and my community.”

WEST AFRICA

Salesians were able to provide scholarships to 325 youths thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The youths came from 18 communities in countries in West Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea Conakry, and Mali. The Antonio Cesar scholarships covered schooling, supplies, and support for transportation.

One youth supported through the program was 16-year-old Nathan. He is a student at St. Jean Bosco in Cotonou, Benin. Nathan lost his father when he was young and lives with his mother, who has few resources.

Nathan said: “For a long time, I thought that my school journey would stop due to a lack of resources. I didn’t believe I’d be able to continue my studies, let alone be able to attend professional training. But everything changed thanks to the scholarship that I received. I was able to complete my secondary education and obtain my baccalaureate. I am now pursuing professional training with the firm desire to succeed and learn a profession and one day be able to support my family as they have supported me.”

He finally stated: “This scholarship transformed my life. It gave me hope, confidence, and a real direction to follow. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the school and to all partners and benefactors who make this project possible. Thanks to you, young people like me can dream again and especially believe in a better future.”

Homily for 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 14, 2026
Collect
Ex 19: 2-6
Ps 100: 1-3, 5
Rom 5: 6-11
Matt 9: 36—10: 8
Villa Maria, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

Undoubtedly, you’re aware that our country is gearing up to celebrate the semiquincentennial of our Declaration of Independence.  That fancy word means “half of 500 years.”  Our recent history as a nation has laid plenty of emphasis on independence, on personal freedom, to do, say, and be whoever we want whenever we want wherever we want.  Not a few people have lamented that as destructive of social and political cohesion, of human solidarity; rather, as a tendency to factionalize, even atomize, who we are.

Today’s liturgy highlights dependence.  In the collect, we addressed God as the “strength of those who hope in you” and admitted “without you mortal frailty can do nothing.”  We prayed for “the help of your grace always” in order that we might follow “your commands” and thus “please you” in mind and action.

In other words, we acknowledge that God’s in charge, and we depend upon him to overcome our weakness of mind and heart, our sinful inclinations and misdeeds.  We may be independent from King George III and Great Britain, but we’re certainly not independent of God’s kingdom.  The Declaration of Independence itself acknowledges “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and that our “unalienable Rights” come from our Creator and not from ourselves or our government, and that our welfare relies “on the Protection of divine Providence.”

That, of course, is a political manifesto.  Our Scriptures make a moral and religious statement.  The Lord tells Moses at Mt. Sinai that if the Israelites “hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people,” and they will enjoy a royal, priestly, holy status in his presence.  Israel’s well-being depends on their closeness to God and obedience to his commands.

Writing to the Christians at Rome, St. Paul reminds them that we are helpless (5:6) sinners who depend upon God’s grace to “be saved thru Christ from the wrath” of God’s judgment (5:8-9).  Christ’s death is our life, “thru whom we have now received reconciliation” (5:11).  Forgiveness and eternal life are gifts from God, freely offered to us.  We depend on his mercy, on the love he has proved to us in Christ (5:8).  Without him, “mortal frailty can do nothing” (Collect).  Independence from his love would be our destruction.  Serving the Lord is cause for gladness and makes our hearts joyful (Ps 100:2).

The gospel observed that “Jesus’ heart was moved with pity” for the crowds who flocked to him, “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36).  We’re helpless and lost, sick and confused, until the Good Shepherd takes us in charge.  When he let him lead and direct us, then we find healing and security—not in a political sense but in a moral and spiritual sense, in the sense suggested by St. Augustine’s most famous line:  “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” (Confessions 1, 1)

The Psalmist assures us, “The Lord is good; his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Ps 100:5).  You can depend on it.