Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
6th Sunday of Easter

May 10, 2026
Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17
1 Pet 3: 15-18
John 14: 15-21
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

Philip preaching the Good News in Samaria
https-goodnewsshared.wordpress.com2023-04-26

“The crowds paid attention to what Philip said when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing” (Acts 8: 6).

Philip was one of the deacons appointed by the apostles along with Stephen and 5 other men (Acts 6:5).  After Stephen’s martyrdom, he proclaimed Christ to the people of Samaria, and they listened, in part because of what he did as well as what he said.

How do we get people to pay attention to the Gospel?  Polls tells us that only about 25% of Catholics come to Sunday Mass regularly.  When we look at what goes on in the world around us—whether here in New York or in the wider world—we might well wonder how Catholics can be so indifferent about Christ and so much evil can be around us.  G.K. Chesterton wrote that the only Christian doctrine for which there is demonstrable evidence is original sin.[1]  We see its evidence every day in the headlines, in our neighborhoods, and in ourselves.

Philip preached in Samaria with words and signs.  People paid attention and were converted.  I don’t know personally anyone who’s driven demons out of possessed people or cured cripples (8:7); I’ve only heard about it.  Most of us aren’t going to win people for Christ that way.

What we can do is to have a very clear idea of what we believe—not only about original sin but also about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; about the forgiveness of sins; about death, judgment, heaven, and hell; about the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence in the Catholic Church—which Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel:  “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).

More important than our knowledge of our faith is that we take all that knowledge to heart and put it into practice.  These are the signs that we can do:  living out what Jesus teaches us, being faithful in our deeds and not only in our words.  If Jesus tells us to keep his commandments, do we actually do that?  If the Spirit of truth is with us, are we truthful, honest, upright people—in our families, in our workplaces, in our leisure time?  If Jesus tells us to love one another, do we sincerely try to do that, especially when it’s a challenge, when we’re tired, when we get impatient, when our plans go sideways?  If Jesus tells us to forgive offenses—as we pray all the time in the Our Father—do we actually forgive, or at least try to forgive, want to forgive altho we’re hurting?

It’s been said more than once that you may be the only Gospel that someone else may read.  St. Peter tells us, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (I, 3:15).  That implies that people observe our way of living and our manner of speech, that they see a reflection of Jesus in us.  That’s a sign—as in the signs that we can do to make the Gospel known and believable.  It’s an opening to say a few words, then, about what we believe and why—to make Jesus real and believable, to give evidence to the world that Jesus is alive, he lives in us (John 14:30), he loves us, and he’s worth listening to and following.  He is the “reason for our hope”; he leads us to God (1 Pet 3:18).

---

[1] “Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” Orthodoxy, “The Maniac,” p. 1

John Paul II on the Polish Salesian Martyrs

The Testimony of Pope John Paul II on the Polish Salesian Martyrs

Fr. Jan Swierc and his companions

Photo ©: Archivio PLS (Fr. Andrzej Golebiowski, SDB, and G. Galazka)

(ANS – Krakow – May 8, 2026) – As spiritual preparations continue for the beatification ceremony of the Salesian martyrs of World War II, we cannot overlook the testimony of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, who grew up in the parish of Debniki in Krakow, where the Salesians have been present since 1918.

In the book Gift and Mystery, John Paul II wrote: “I cannot, in fact, fail to mention an environment and, within it, a figure from whom I received so much during that period. The environment was my parish, dedicated to St. Stanislaus Kostka, in Debniki, Krakow. The parish was run by the Salesians, who were one day deported by the Nazis to a concentration camp. Only an elderly parish priest and the provincial superior remained; all the others were interned.”

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Salesian parish, too, as Pope he sent a very personal letter, in which he wrote, “It is the second parish, after Wadowice, in which I discovered and deepened my understanding of the mystery of the Church, that special community of the People of God which has its origin in the love of the Father.... There, too, within the community of the parish of Debniki, my priestly vocation matured fully and came to fruition.”

We have also received 2 further testimonies that highlight. the importance and significance of this place: “It is well known that I spent the decisive years of my life in a certain Salesian parish, the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Krakow… I also saw with my own eyes 8 or 10 Salesians being taken to the camp. Most of them met their deaths ... in the camp, during the war. So all this is connected in some way, and by coming here, to the places where the Salesian movement was born, I relive the experience I had during my encounter with the Salesians, with Don Bosco, thru those priests who all went to the concentration camp. They wanted one of them [Blessed Joseph Kowalski] to throw the rosary on the ground and trample it; he did not obey, and so he was tortured to death.

“So, no matter who a person is—even if it is the Pope—he cannot free himself from personal relationships, from what he has experienced first-hand. I must say that a significant part, indeed the decisive part, of my life was spent alongside the Salesians in the parish they ran. And there I also found the environment and the people who helped me to be converted – not in the sense of a return to the faith, but of rediscovering my vocation.” (John Paul II, Private remarks addressed to the cardinals, the bishops of Piedmont and the Salesians, during his visit to Turin-Valdocco, Sept. 3, 1988)

The 2nd testimony is the homily delivered in the Salesian church of Debniki: “I shall never forget that day when you parishioners, especially we young people, gathered around our priests, learnt that all or almost all the priests of the parish of Debniki and of the Salesian province had been arrested and, shortly afterwards, deported to a concentration camp.

“Just like Fr. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. And most of them never returned from there. We keep their names in our memory and remembrance. Some left this world with a reputation for holiness.”

The sacrifice of life made by the Salesians at that time became the catalyst for 11 new vocations, born precisely from that environment. Among these was also the vocation of Karol Wojtyla. He himself spoke of it thus: “I remember those times in a very personal way, too. I am convinced that the prayers and sacrifices of my brothers, my sisters, and the pastors of that time contributed to the priestly vocation to which I came precisely during that period and here in this parish.... They paid not only with kind words, not only with the noble example of their lives, but also with the sacrifice of their martyred blood” (January 30, 1972, homily on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination).

Altho it is difficult to establish with certainty whether Karol Wojtyla made the decision to become a priest when he witnessed the tragic events involving the Salesians who were arrested and deported to the camp, the preserved testimonies, especially the words regarding his vocational conversion, suggest that this decision, so significant for him, was made under the influence of that event.

He certainly had very close contact with the Salesians serving in Krakow. He lived in a house 500 yards from the church and every day, before going to work, he attended Mass and private prayer there. The Servant of God Fr. Ignacy Dobiasz celebrated his father’s funeral in February 1940.

Homily for Friday, Week 5 of Easter

Homily for Friday
Week 5 of Easter

May 8, 2026
Acts 15: 22-31
Salesian HS, New Rochelle

St. Paul, Christ, & St. James the Just
with Council of Jerusalem in lower right
By Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK - Norwich Cathedral, Stained glass window, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81283991

The Church faced a crisis about 20 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  The Gospel was preached 1st to the Jews, Jesus’ own people.  But before long, it was accepted and believed also by Gentiles, e.g., in Antioch, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, and in Syria and in St. Paul’s home province, Cilicia.  The crisis was whether the Gentiles had to convert to Judaism and accept the Law of Moses in order to become Christians.  Is the Gospel an add-on to Judaism?

So the apostles and elders met in Jerusalem to debate that, which you heard in yesterday’s 1st reading.  They decided, no, the Gentiles don’t have to become Jews.  They have only to follow some basic moral principles, which they outlined, as we heard today.

The 1st principle was no idolatry, no connection to pagan gods.  Nothing must come between us and God.  For us, that means, e.g., that on Sunday nothing must come between us and worshiping God in church:  not sports, not work, not sleeping in.

The 2d principle was abstaining from blood.  Blood represents life.  Only God has the power of life and death.  So we have to respect him as the Lord of life:  no murder, no assault, no abortion, no assisted suicide, nothing that disrespects the life and dignity of any person.

The 3d principle concerned marriage, i.e., our sexual behavior.  God designed sex for transmitting life, for family life, and that must guide our behavior as followers of Christ.

That’s what the apostles decided, so that the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, might come to everyone, and everyone could come to eternal life thru Jesus.

Homily for Thursday, Week 5 of Easter

Homily for Thursday
5th Week of Easter

May 7, 2026
John 15: 9-11
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.

The Holy Trinity (Hans Baldung)

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you” (John 15: 9).

Who can comprehend how much the Father loves the Son?  Who, then, can comprehend how much the Son loves us?

Jesus tells us that no one has greater love than to lay down his life for the ones he loves (15:13).  That’s a starting point for our understanding of the immeasurable extent of his love.

Jesus wants us to remain in his love (15:10).  He’s not going to stop loving us.  So remaining with him, staying in love with him, is our response, if we’ll accept his love and choose to be his.

Our response to his love, as between any lovers, is to please him.  He tells us that involves his commandments (15:10).  There’s always a kind of reaction to rules—kids pushing their parents’ buttons, students testing a teacher’s limits.  Even Jesus sets aside some of the rules and customs accepted as norms by the Jewish leaders.

But Jesus’ “rules” are how we express our love for him.  We know his basic commandment is to love God above everyone and everything else (Matt 22:37-38), and then that we should love one another (John 15:17).

If we didn’t love God and God’s Son, we wouldn’t be trying to please them.  In the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29), the apostles and elders determined that such love required them to avoid idolatry, which seems obvious; to respect God’s power over life and death—they put it as avoiding blood—and to respect marriage (15:20).  Those are concrete expressions of love.

We can be sure, as well, that our love for one another demands truthfulness and respect for persons and their property—keeping the rest of the 10 commandments.

The outcome of God’s love accepted and lived out is joy.  Jesus desires that our joy be complete (John 15:11).  If we remain in him, love him and love all who belong to him, our joy surely will be complete—eternally.

Salesian Vocation Animators and Formators Gather at Colle Don Bosco

Salesian Vocation Animators and Formators Gather at Colle Don Bosco

(ANS – Colle Don Bosco – May 4, 2026) – In the evocative setting of Colle Don Bosco, cradle of the Salesian charism, Fr. Silvio Roggia (back row, 2d from right), general councilor for formation, convoked an informal meeting of vocation animators and formators responsible for aspirantates and prenovitiates. The encounter brought together participants from 2 events currently taking place at Colle: the School of Accompaniment and the European “face-to-face” meeting of novices and prenovices.

The gathering provided a privileged space for dialog, listening, and fraternal exchange. In the spirit of sharing “joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties,” the participants reflected on the diverse realities of vocational animation and initial formation across the Salesian world. What quickly emerged was the richness and complexity of contexts in which the call to Salesian consecrated life is discerned and nurtured.

In the United States, a significant growth in “young adult vocations” is being observed, particularly among university students. Italy continues to move forward with steady commitment, building upon youth ministry initiatives and offering structured accompaniment to young people discerning a Salesian vocation.

Across the 2 regions of Africa, where many provinces are experiencing a notable boom in vocations, there is a pressing need for the preparation of well-trained formators and spiritual guides capable of offering authentic accompaniment and effectively transmitting the Salesian charism.

In South Asia, while traditional methods of vocation animation and aspirantates remain in place, there has also been a renewed engagement with the Congregation’s rich post-conciliar reflections. This effort has led to the publication of 2 booklets dedicated respectively to vocational guidance for young people and to the accompaniment of those interested in the Salesian vocation.

Vietnam, in recent years, has introduced “internal” or traditional aspirantates, while continuing the model of “external aspirantates,” accompanying university students who reside near Salesian communities. In Burma, despite the challenges posed by ongoing conflict, the aspirantate and prenovitiate have recently returned from Anisakan to Thibaw, raising important questions about how to strengthen further discernment processes in a fragile context.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, which maintains the traditional aspirantate structure, has benefited from solid accompaniment and vocational discernment processes established in recent years.

Beyond the sharing of data and experiences, the meeting at Colle Don Bosco was marked by a spirit of communion and hope. Encounters of this kind offer a precious opportunity to listen deeply, to learn from one another, and to recognize with gratitude what the Lord is accomplishing in different parts of the world.

Rooted in faith and sustained by hope, the participants left Colle encouraged to continue their mission with renewed courage, creativity, and fidelity to the Salesian vocation entrusted to them.

In the photo above are Bro. Travis Gunther, New Rochelle Province’s delegate for formation (back row, 3d from left), and Fr. Sean McEwen, the province’s vocation director (standing, 2d from right).

Don Bosco and the Apprenticeship Contract

Don Bosco and the Apprenticeship Contract

Photo: salesianos.info

(ANS - Turin - May 3, 2026) - May began with the memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron of workers. Thru his life as an honest laborer, St. Joseph ennobles manual labor, by which he provides for his Holy Family and plays his part in the plan of salvation.

The theme of work was particularly dear to Don Bosco, who in his lifetime was a pioneer in devising an educational system that offered not only schooling but also vocational formation and the protection of young people’s rights.

In the 19th century, a period marked by profound economic and social transformations due to the Industrial Revolution, the living and working conditions of young workers were extremely harsh. Don Bosco realized that many young workers were exploited and deprived of their rights.

Thus, to offer greater protection, he drew up one of the first apprenticeship contracts in history. The first agreement dates back to November 1851 and was signed by a glassmaker, Carlo Aimino, and young Giuseppe Bordone. In this document, the glassmaker undertook to teach the young man his craft for 3 years, guaranteeing him adequate formation for the work, weekly rest, summer holidays, a progressive wage, and respect for his person.

A few months later, in 1852, Don Bosco drew up another document setting out the rights and duties of both the young apprentice and the employer. This “apprenticeship contract” was similar to the previous one, but was written on 4 pages of stamped paper. This time it concerned a carpenter’s apprentice, Giuseppe Odasso, hired for 2 years by Giuseppe Bertolino.

In a constantly changing world, the Salesian model remains, even today, an extraordinary example of how school and work can be tools for human and professional growth.

Homily for Memorial of Bl. Edmund Rice

Homily for the Memorial of
Bl. Edmund Rice

May 5, 2026
Is 42: 1-4, 6-7
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

O

Edmund Rice (S.R. Watson)

ur 1st reading prophesies of the Servant of the Lord:  “I have put my Spirit upon him.  He will bring forth justice to the nations” (Is 42: 1)

When we celebrate the saints, we’re celebrating the most exemplary servants of the Lord.  Each servant has his or her own gifts from the Lord and uses them as the Spirit of the Lord directs.

Bl. Edmund directed his gifts of faith, generosity, and leadership toward opening the eyes of the blind and bringing prisoners out of dungeons (42:7), not in a literal sense but metaphorically—thru education.  Education is liberating and empowering, elevating “those who sit in the darkness” (42:7) of ignorance and poverty.  Pope Leo reaffirmed that in his exhortation Dilexi te:  “Children have a right to knowledge as a fundamental requirement for the recognition of human dignity.  Teaching them affirms their value, giving them the tools to transform their reality. . . .  Christian education does not form only professionals, but also people open to goodness, beauty, and truth” (#72).  That letter was entirely about the Church’s service of the poor in Christ’s name and after his example.

I don’t suppose that Edmund envisioned a worldwide educational mission.  But the Spirit is powerful, and he enabled Edmund’s charism to “bring forth justice to the nations” (42:1), for the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers to be “lights to the nations” (42:6).  “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15:8).  Thanks be to God, glory be to God, for the fruit borne by Bl. Edmund Rice and his worldwide family.

Provincial Announces Directors for 2026-2029

Provincial Announces Directors for 2026-2029

Bro. Tom Dion

In a letter to the Salesians of the New Rochelle Province, on May 1 Fr. Dominic Tran, provincial, announced the appointments of 5 confreres to serve as directors for the next 3 years.

They are Bro. Thomas Dion, to lead the SDB community of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.

Fr. Adaikala Raja John, to lead the SDB community of St. Benedict's Parish in Etobicoke, Ont.

Fr. John Louis Mariapragasam, to continue leading the SDB community of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Surrey, B.C.

Fr. Louis Molinelli, to continue leading the SDB community that serves Don Bosco Cristo Rey HS in Takoma Park, Md., with residence in College Park, Md.

Fr. Ky Nguyen

Fr. Paul Trung Ky Nguyen, to guide the SDB formation community and the SDB pastors of Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Orange, N.J.

Bro. Tom's appointment is the 1st of a Salesian brother to direct a community in the U.S. or Canada, following a change in our Constitutions at the 29th General Chapter last year.  At least 3 brothers in other parts of the SDB world have been named directors in recent months.  Bro. Tom has spent the last several years assisting our novices in Richmond, Calif.  He was also province treasurer for 9 years earlier in this century.

Fr. Raja has been pastor of St. Benedict's Parish for the last year.  Prior to that, he was pastor of St. John Bosco Parish in Edmonton, Alta., for about 9 years.

Fr. Ky was ordained a priest in 2022 and has served as a priest at Abp. Shaw HS in Marrero, La., and St. James-St. John Bosco Parish in Chicago.

Both Fr. John Louis and Fr. Lou were re-appointed after a 3-year term as director in their present communities.

Bro. Travis Gunther

In the same letter, Fr. Tran announced the appointment of Bro. Travis Gunther as province delegate for youth ministry and his moving from Ramsey to New Rochelle.  Bro. Travis is already a member of the provincial council and has been serving as delegate for formation.

This announcement was Fr. Tran's 2d for the upcoming pastor year.  About a month ago, he announced that Fr. John Nazzaro, presently the director in Orange, would replace Fr. Richard Alejunas as province treasurer.

The new assignments generally take effect on July 1, "unless otherwise arranged."

Listening to Educate

Listening to Educate

Consecrated life at the service of the Church’s educational mission

(ANS – Vatican – May 4, 2026) – In the field of education, listening is an art that must be cultivated together in order to respond to the challenges of our time. This is the powerful and profound message that emerged from the international meeting, “A time for listening in the Church’s educational mission,” jointly promoted by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), the Union of Superiors General (USG), and the Dicastery for Culture and Education. The event, hosted at the general curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome, represented a significant moment of fraternal and synodal dialog on the Church’s educational role in the contemporary global context.

Synodal listening for the educational mission

Over 100 people attended the meeting in person and around 150 joined online: superiors general, together with those responsible for education in numerous religious congregations.

The initiative forms part of the journey begun over a decade ago by the UISG and USG Commission for Education, in constant dialog with the Dicastery for Culture and Education. It was a genuine synodal exercise of listening and discernment, aimed at re-examining the educational mission of consecrated life in the light of current challenges.

The Salesian Congregation was represented by the Youth Ministry Department, thru the presence of the general councilor, Fr. Rafael Bejarano, and Fr. Jerry Matsoumbou, a member of the department and representative for Africa.

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça’s message: a prophetic school

The keynote address of the meeting was delivered by Card. José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the dicastery. In his address, he emphasized the urgency of listening to the culture of young people and of understanding consecrated life as a service to the Church’s universal educational mission.

The school – he stated – “must be a place of dialog in a secularized world. The Catholic school is a meeting place for everyone, for cultures, generations, and traditions; it’s a place of credibility and, above all, of prophecy.”

Hence the call to open a new season of prophetic transformation to rediscover the ethos of Catholic education. The prefect also urged the congregations not to betray their fundamental promises: the Gospel of Jesus, love and openness to all, and the acceptance of the person in their diversity. Listening, he reiterated, is a demanding process that requires time and commitment. Only by breaking free from stagnation and routine will it be possible to overcome the educational challenge.

The congregations are called to recognize themselves as a “plural constellation of hope”: diverse in charisms, yet united in mission. He concluded his address with an evocative image: to be “a sky full of stars for the new generations,” choosing the “mysticism of the whole” in the art of education.

Revisiting the Global Educational Pact

The cardinal invited the congregations engaged in education to make their own the 3 great syntheses of the Global Educational Pact, recently relaunched by Pope Leo XIV:

1. Cultivating the inner life. The sadness and restlessness of young people cannot be cured solely by technical or pharmacological solutions. Education must help to discover and nurture the inner dimension of the person.
2. Digital technology at the service of humanity. Technology can’t be an end in itself, but must remain a tool at the service of the dignity and integral growth of the person.
3. Educating for peace. Peace is not automatic: it’s a culture that must be nurtured. We must “disarm” schools and, above all, hearts, by forming young people into peacemakers.

Challenges and prospects for renewal

During the time devoted to communal discernment, some crucial questions emerged: How can we educate for interiority? How can we accompany the most vulnerable young people or those distant from the faith? How can we strengthen the identity of the Catholic school in dialog with the contemporary world? How can we promote more effective collaboration between congregations?

Among the priorities identified for the renewal of the educational commitment, the following were highlighted:

- strengthening networking between congregations and dioceses;

- investing in the formation of laypeople as educational leaders;

- promoting synodality and inter-congregational collaboration;

- creating stable spaces for listening and shared reflection;

- the active involvement of families and educational communities.

A shared mission

Set against the backdrop of the Jubilee of the World of Education, the meeting strongly reaffirmed that education today is a shared mission—a mission that demands collaboration, creativity, and fidelity to the Gospel and to one’s own charism.

Only in this way will it be possible to recognize and value the “immense good” that’s accomplished every day in educational works thruout the world, even in the most difficult contexts.

In this endeavor, consecrated life is called to be truly a “sky filled with stars for the new generations.”

Scholarships Funded by Salesian Missions Assist 34 Girls

Scholarships Funded by Salesian Missions Assist 34 Girls

Students attend Don Bosco Muniguda in India

Source: Salesian Missions

(ANS – Muniguda, India – April 29, 2026) – Indian Salesians had the funding for scholarships for 34 economically disadvantaged girls studying at Don Bosco School, located in Muniguda, Odisha, in the Salesian Hyderabad Province of India. The scholarship funds were received from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle and were used for school fees, hostel fees, and educational materials. Although the funding was initially intended for 26 girls, the project team extended the support to 34 students who were unable to continue their studies due to financial difficulties.

A Salesian explained, “Thru this support, the girls were able to attend school regularly, stay in a safe hostel environment, and focus on their studies without the burden of financial constraints. The initiative ensured that the most vulnerable girls from tribal communities received access to quality education and a supportive learning environment.”

Education for girls in this region of Odisha remains a major challenge, as many families do not consider schooling for girls a priority due to poverty and social conditions. Many are at risk of dropping out of school at an early age. But thru this scholarship support, girls were given the opportunity to study and pursue their dreams. As a result, they showed improved school attendance, increased confidence, and a greater interest in continuing their studies.

Pinki Kundika, aged 13, was one of the scholarship recipients. She is from a village where most of the families belong to tribal communities and depend on small-scale agriculture, daily wage labor, or forest-based livelihoods for their income. Poverty levels are high, and many parents have limited education.

Kundika’s father passed away, and her mother is a housewife who struggles to support the family. Before receiving the scholarship support, Kundika studied in a village school where the quality of education was very poor. Teachers rarely attended classes, and she had very limited learning opportunities. Because of the financial difficulties faced by her family, continuing her education was uncertain.

The scholarship provided thru Don Bosco Muniguda enabled her to enroll in school and stay in the hostel, where she now has access to learning facilities and regular academic guidance. Kundika shared that receiving the scholarship brought great relief and happiness to her and her family. She said that without this support she would not have been able to continue her education.

Kundika said, “I was a frightened before, but today I am becoming more confident. Because of this help, I am able to study and dream about my future.” Kundika hopes to become a teacher in the future so that she can help other children from poor villages receive a good education. She is determined to study hard and make the most of the opportunity given to her.

Message of the Rector Major for May

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Fabio Attard, SDB

Mary

The Visitation (Philippe de Champaigne)

Example of an open and giving heart

With God dwelling in us, like Mary, we see ourselves as called and sent 

Mary arose and went in haste (Lk 1:39). The words are few, yet full of meaning. Through these simple and decisive gestures, the inner structure of a heart that has truly allowed God to dwell within it is revealed. Mary’s departure isn’t for just any kind of journey; it’s the response of a life of recollection—of a soul that, having learned to listen and to discern, then moves to respond. After having lived through the experience of the Annunciation, Mary doesn’t stop to process what’s just happened to her. Mary doesn’t close herself within the intimacy of her own experience—an extraordinary and profound one—keeping it to herself. On the contrary, she allows herself to be molded and guided by the Word. She sets out to go to another.

Mary’s is a spiritual movement: she lovingly took in the Word, and now it’s the Word dwelling within her that directs her toward her neighbor. Those who truly love, as a consequence of feeling loved by God, forget themselves and place themselves at the service of others. Mary teaches us that openness of heart isn’t an optional virtue, but rather the very way in which God’s love takes shape in the life of one who believes in him.

Openness: Moving beyond a narrow vision

With God dwelling in us—like Mary—we see ourselves as being called and sent forth. Mary’s actions stand in contrast to a view of life built upon an unavailable “self,” closed in upon itself. When we choose to observe the world solely from a narrow observation point, we run the risk of arriving at the conclusion that our own opinion contains the whole truth. This is the longstanding temptation: to reduce reality to what we’ve already seen, measured, and planned. Our own way of thinking and seeing becomes the sole and exclusive measure.

Mary shows us that openness of heart is, first of all, an emptying of one’s own egoism. When we remain closed off—rather than allowing ourselves to be guided by charity—we lose that movement of the heart which receives God’s gift then to reach out to our neighbor. True openness of heart isn’t a human decision; it is, before all else, a grace – one that must be invoked, freely received, safeguarded, and exercised every day. We can’t truly reach out to others—in a full, free, and joyful sense—unless we allow God to be alive within our hearts. May he be the One to make us open—opening wide our eyes to what transcends our own small and poor human logic.

Emptying oneself is the first form of love

In a culture like ours, there is always the subtle risk of self-reference—the belief that one constructs his own identity by looking only at himself, as into an ever-smaller mirror. Mary bears witness to a different way of looking at life: she re-positions her entire existence toward the presence of the Word within her heart, and subsequently, toward Elizabeth’s need. It’s a choice that regards the need of one’s neighbor as a calling, as the fruit of one’s relationship with God. And it’s for this very reason that she sets out in haste to one in need.

True availability has, at its roots, the courage to question oneself and to renounce one’s self—even when this appears to be a loss. It’s not a matter of ostentatious generosity, but rather of an inner freedom born from having discovered that I can be myself only by giving of myself to another in a radical way. Here, an open and available heart isn’t the winning of a trophy, but an act of abandonment to the will of the Father.

Not an act of kindness, but an obedience to God who dwells in our hearts

Mary doesn’t go to Elizabeth because she believes from a human standpoint alone that her elderly cousin is in need of help. Her visitation to her cousin isn’t merely an act of kindness; rather, it’s the presence of the Son who, within her womb, is conforming his Mother to himself. Mary’s journey to Elizabeth is the mission of God himself, taking the form of a journey toward the other.

Mary’s visit is a mission born of the Son’s coming into her life. When Jesus truly becomes a part of our lives, everything we are and do flows from this single source. Mission springs forth from the personal encounter with Christ.

Unconditional availability: beyond the results

In the face of Mary’s free and generous choice, our desire to imitate her is marked by a very subtle yet ever-present temptation: that of wanting to see what kind of results our choices yield. Mary, who immediately sets out on her journey, conveys to us the decision of a heart that’s already full—one that seeks no security or certainty outside itself. For the true measure of a mission, and of its success, lies in its living relationship with the Word that dwells within it.

Mary, icon of a free heart – Word, faith, and charity

Cardinal Carlo Martini offers us a reflection that’s brief, yet profound and essential: the Word is the seed, faith is the womb that receives it, and charity is the fruit that is born. Mary is the woman who lived this dynamic in its fullness: with humility, she welcomes the Word; with faith, she rises and goes in haste; with charity, she gives of herself. Her “going in haste” conveys that gesture of charity which mirrors a heart that’s free and liberating, illuminated by the Word that sustains her faith.

An open and available heart isn’t merely a heart that’s sentimentally good; rather, it’s a heart that has learned to dwell within the tension between the proclamation received and embraced, and the brothers and sisters who await it; between interior grace and the road to travel; between the mystery of God and the concrete reality of human need.

Mary teaches us that we need not wait until we have understood everything before we set out.

Homily for 5th Sunday of Easter

Homily for the
5th Sunday of Easter

May 3, 2026
1 Pet 2: 4-9
Villa Maria, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

The Last Supper (Jaume Huguet)

“Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God thru Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2: 5).

St. Peter gives us something of a mixed metaphor in this passage from his 1st letter.  We’re to be stones used to build a house, but living stones for a spiritual house; and we’re also to be holy priests—both houses and priests.

Both metaphors—stones and priesthood—point to our relationship with Jesus.  Jesus is the “living stone” (v. 4) that Peter refers to, based on Ps 118 (v. 22), which is one of many Old Testament texts that Jesus fulfills, a verse that he cited himself with reference to his rejection by the chief priests and elders (Matt 21:42).  They didn’t accept him as the Messiah, but instead sent him to his passion and death.  But the rejected stone has become a living stone because God the Father raised him from the dead and made him the cornerstone of his work to redeem the human race:  “a cornerstone, chosen and precious”—here Peter is citing the prophet Isaiah (28:16).

We allow Jesus to take us and build us up into a great temple for the honor of God, part of the temple of his living body (John 2:19-22)—living stones piled onto and around the chosen and precious cornerstone.

Jesus is also the great priest of the new covenant between God and the human race.  He offered himself as the sacrifice that inaugurated that new covenant:  “This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.”  Not only is Jesus the great priest of the new covenant.  He is the only priest of the covenant, as his sacrifice, offered on the cross, is the only sacrifice of the Christian people.

When Jesus commands us to offer his sacrifice—“do this in memory of me”—he gives us all a share in his priesthood.  That’s why Peter tells us “to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God thru Jesus Christ.”  The one sacrifice we offer is Jesus’ body and blood; we join ourselves to him to make this offering, or in the word our liturgy likes to use, this “oblation.”

While it’s true that Jesus appoints a few men to represent him by presiding over this sacrificial offering, he wants all of us to make the offering.  We’re invited to take part in “my sacrifice and yours,” the sacrifice of the ministerial priest and of the priestly people, to make Jesus’ sacrifice our own.  All of us are priests inasmuch as we offer ourselves along with the Lord Jesus.

Further, Peter suggests we “offer spiritual sacrifices thru Jesus Christ,” and these aren’t confined to the sacrifice of the Mass.  Our prayers at any time of day and in any place, especially our prayers of praise to God or prayers of atonement for our sins, are such spiritual sacrifices.  

At Prayer (by Antonio Parreiras)

St. Paul urged the Romans (12:1) “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.”  How much we have to offer to the Lord thru our bodies:  offering our physical and emotional pain, offering our fasting before Holy Communion, during Lent, or at other times, offering dietary restrictions, offering our weariness at the end of a long day or when tending to someone who’s sick, bearing with weather that's too hot or too cold, offering our getting out of bed in the morning, listening to someone who needs to unburden her heart—that list of bodily self-offering could go on and on.  (If you’re of a certain age, you may remember the sisters in school telling you, when something hurt or bothered you, to “offer it up.”)  These are “spiritual sacrifices” in that we’re not doing what the ancients did, bringing a bull or a lamb to be sacrificed; nor are we being literally crucified with Christ.  Our offering involves our bodies, but coming from our hearts and our heads, is intentional and spiritual.

And thus we exercise the priesthood of Christ’s faithful people:  “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own” (1 Pet 2:9).

Salesians Step Up Support for Displaced Lebanese

Salesians Step Up Support for Displaced Lebanese

Source: Misiones Salesianas (Madrid)

(ANS – Beirut – April 29, 2026) – The crisis in the Middle East continues to worsen despite the ceasefire declared in Lebanon. Bombings in southern Lebanon, rising prices, and a lack of jobs are putting thousands of families in difficulty. Against this backdrop, the Salesians are continuing their work to assist the more than 100 displaced people at the El Hossoun center and are stepping up their commitment to education, providing scholarships and aid so that children can continue their studies and maintain hope amid the war.

The crisis in the Middle East remains severe, particularly in Lebanon, where the ceasefire is fragile and hasn’t entirely halted the violence. “Bombings continue to be reported in the south, and more than 50 localities have received evacuation orders, causing further displacement,” explain the Salesians working in Lebanon.

In the early stages of the recent escalation of violence alone, at least 30,000 people sought refuge in centers such as the Salesians’ facility in El Hossoun, while many others were forced to flee without resources, settling with family or friends or in uninhabited buildings. This situation compounds years of accumulated crises that have deeply weakened the country.

The humanitarian emergency is closely linked to a structural economic crisis. Since 2019, the Lebanese economy has contracted by more than 38%, one of the most severe declines globally. Inflation and currency devaluation have sent commodity prices soaring, leaving a large part of the population without access to food, healthcare or education. Currently, around 44% of the population lives in poverty, and many families are forced to make extreme decisions such as cutting back on food, taking on debt, or withdrawing their children from school.

Displaced families: living on the bare minimum in extreme conditions

At the Don Bosco center in El Hossoun, the Salesians are welcoming displaced families into spaces set up as shelters. Currently, more than 100 people are living in makeshift facilities, with very limited resources and in emergency conditions.

Many of these families have been displaced repeatedly, have lost their homes, and arrive with only the bare essentials. Furthermore, “these are people who have nowhere to return to. Some displaced people have tried to return to their homes, but most have been destroyed. So they will likely be with us for a long time,” add the Salesians.

Fear, trauma and psychosocial support

Beyond basic needs, the war leaves a deep emotional mark. The Salesian teams active in this emergency phase are working with children and adults experiencing high levels of fear, anxiety, and stress.

“Many children struggle to express their emotions, experiencing crying fits and constant fear after having lived through situations of violence,” say the Salesians in Lebanon. Through activities such as play, drawing, or individual support, the teams try to help them regain their emotional stability.

Furthermore, they organize group sessions and safe spaces for women and minors, addressing situations of anxiety, trauma or even postnatal depression in contexts of extreme vulnerability.

The crisis is also having a direct impact on education: schools have been closed for many weeks, and many educational facilities have been bombed or are now housing displaced people. In addition to this situation, the economic crisis means that many families cannot afford to educate their sons and daughters, which is leading to an increase in school dropout rates.

Responses looking to the future

MISIONES SALESIANAS of Madrid, together with the Salesians in Lebanon, continues to adapt its response to a prolonged crisis, combining immediate humanitarian aid with sustainable initiatives. Food, shelter, education, and emotional support form part of a comprehensive approach that seeks not only to respond to the emergency, but to provide opportunities for the future.

In the crisis in the Middle East, the presence of the Salesians is a sign of hope for thousands of people who strive every day to carry on in one of the most challenging contexts in the world.