Experiencing Connection at Camp Echo Bay

Experiencing Connection at Camp Echo Bay

by Julia St. Clair

(ANS – New Rochelle – July 23, 2026) – A beloved landmark in the New Rochelle community and the tristate area, Camp Echo Bay opened its doors for the summer on Monday, June 29. It takes place on the Salesian High School campus and is open 5 days a week through Friday, August 14, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The camp is run by Jimmy Ascencio, ’19, and Matthew Boggi. Matt is a theology teacher at Salesian High School. Additionally, 3 Salesians are involved in the camp: Bros. Bill Hanna, John Taylor, and Lorenzo D’Alessandro.

“A lot of the counselors are former campers, and it’s good to see them grow and keep coming back,” Jimmy shared. He works as Monroe University’s cross country and track and field team’s assistant coach, strength and conditioning coach, team recruiter, and equipment manager. “We have a lot of kids who start coming here in pre-K and stay through 8th grade. Running the camp doesn’t feel like work to me; it’s a fun thing.”

Staff member Naomy Ayapan first came to Camp Echo Bay in the 2nd grade after her family moved from Tennessee to New York. “The counselors are not just counselors; they’ve always been there for me,” Naomy reminisced. “I also met my best friend here, and we’ve grown a lot together.”

Naomy attended Camp Echo Bay as a camper through 8th grade. She loved it so much that she became upset the weeks when she didn’t go to camp. “I cried when my mom didn’t sign me up on some weeks,” Naomy remembered.

Naomy has worked at Camp Echo Bay for 4 years and has loved every moment. “I enjoy coming back to Camp Echo Bay and experiencing the connection here,” she beamed. “Everyone’s always been there for me.”

Along with former campers returning as counselors, a lot of Camp Echo Bay’s male counselors are Salesian High alumni, like Cory Gardner, ’19. “Corey and I went to school together,” Jimmy exclaimed of Corey, who oversees the 6th to 8th grade group.

Corey previously worked as a counselor during the 2021 and 2022 camp seasons. “Job opportunities took me away from Camp Echo Bay for a while, and then Jimmy asked me if I could come back,” Corey explained. Corey, who works as a high school counselor, accepted happily. “I see the value of being a role model and leader for the kids,” he declared. “The kids make the camp, and it’s especially great to see the older kids rediscover their childlike wonder. I love to help them all find their true gifts in a positive way.”

Camp Echo Bay welcomed 255 boys and girls during its opening week. For its 2nd and 3rd weeks, 365 campers came each week. Weeks 4 and 5 are expected to see an estimated over 400 boys and girls in attendance.

One key tradition at Camp Echo Bay is its special theme weeks; each week is centered on and celebrates a part of pop culture. With this in mind, Camp Echo Bay began its season with Holiday Week. Superhero Week followed the week after the Fourth of July, and the next week was Star Wars Week. This week, Camp Echo Bay celebrates Nickelodeon Week, and next week will be Olympic Week. The two themed weeks for August will be Disney Week and Carnival Week.

For more information, visit Camp Echo Bay’s website, or contact them at (914) 632-0248 ext. 215 or campechobay@salesianhigh.org.

This story ran in the New Rochelle Province newsletter on July 23 and was picked up by ANS the same day.

Homily for Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden

Homily for the Memorial of
St. Bridget of Sweden
Thursday, Week 16 of O.T.

Collect
Jer 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13
July 23, 2026
Matt 13: 10-17
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Our Mass collects always have 2 parts.  The 1st states some attribute of God or something he’s done for human salvation.  The 2d prays for some gift from him.

In St. Bridget’s case, we glorify God for her “different paths of life” and what God taught her thru our Savior’s passion, and we pray that we might “walk worthily in our vocation” and thus seek God “in all things.”

Bridget was a wife and mother, a guide and support for her husband and children—one of whom also is a canonized saint—then a widow, foundress of a religious order, mystic, and church reformer.  “Different paths of life,” indeed!

To “walk worthily in our vocation,” we’re helped by “remembering the devotion of [our] youth” and our passionate love for the Lord, as Jeremiah says to Jerusalem today (2:2).  We recall how blessed we are because our eyes have seen and our ears have heard what Jesus teaches, and we’ve encountered him person-to-person (Matt 13:16).

It’s been our vocation since we were young to seek God in all things and to bless God for loving us, making us his particular friends, and using us as he did St. Bridget to strengthen his Church and make Christ known and loved.

We have so much to be grateful for in our religious vocation and the Christian vocation that underlies it, and much still to do as we “contemplate the passion” of God’s Son and respond yet more to the love revealed to us in our Lord Jesus.

SDB and FMA Councils Meet

SDB and FMA General Councils Meet for Fellowship and Sharing

(ANS – Rome – July 23, 2026) – On the evening of July 22, the general councils of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians met at the Salesian headquarters for a time of fellowship and sharing, now a regular half-yearly event between the 2 governing bodies of their respective religious families.

The participants were welcomed by the rector major, Fr. Fabio Attard, who emphasized the value of the meeting not merely as a milestone, but as confirmation of a journey of charismatic closeness, capable of generating tangible benefits, including during visits to Salesian communities around the world.

Mother Chiara Cazzuola, mother general of the FMAs, then addressed the gathering, expressing her gratitude for the welcome and recalling the importance of these meetings not only as an exchange of shared journeys and objectives, but above all as a testimony to communion, which is deeply cherished by both the Institute and the Congregation. Mother Chiara highlighted how these occasions help regional and provincial communities to find ways of sharing even at a local level, safeguarding the charism as a treasure to be nurtured together.

The vicar of the rector major, Fr. Stefano Martoglio, then introduced the session’s program, which focused primarily on the theme of the forthcoming FMA general chapter, with a presentation followed by a period of comments and discussion. Later, an update was provided on the ongoing work of the commission established by Mother Chiara and Fr. Fabio to foster synergy between the Pontifical Faculty the Auxilium and the Pontifical Salesian University.

After the celebration of Vespers, the participants listened to the traditional Good Nights.

Mother Chiara urged everyone to “read the reality,” citing the example of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, both of whom were able to discern their own vocation by observing the context in which they lived. She urged them not to be discouraged by the complexity of the current global situation, to keep alive the vision of the salvation of young people, and to ask the Lord for the grace to find appropriate answers, starting from the concrete reality of the communities, the resources, and the numbers available.

The rector major offered a reflection drawing on the dialog between Jesus and Peter in the Gospel, on the meaning of following Christ today: renouncing oneself, taking up one’s cross, and journeying toward a personal conversion that’s the authentic foundation of all pastoral conversion.

Referring also to Don Bosco’s dream of the rose-covered arbor (1847), Fr. Attard recalled that fidelity to the Constitutions – and therefore to the Gospel – remains the essential path to securing a future for the Congregation, while warning against individualism and a “pastoral worldliness” that risk substituting the pursuit of personal gratification for true dedication to young people.

The meeting concluded with a fraternal dinner on the terrace of the generalate.

Message of the Rector Major for July-August

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Fabio Attard, SDB

Who Will Separate Us
from the Love of Christ?

A reflection on the Letter to the Romans 8:35

Statue of St. Paul
(St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome)

The apostle Paul, almost 2,000 years ago, in his letter to the Romans (8:35) posed a question that still challenges us in a unique way as believers in Jesus Christ: Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

This isn’t a question addressed to a group of specialists in theology. Paul offers it as a challenge, first for himself, and then for believers, persecuted and unsure, who lived under the difficult conditions of the Roman Empire. That question still speaks to us today – to the anxieties of our current time and in our search for meaning and stability – in this time marked by an uncertainty that is no less worrisome.

Deep Roots

I would like to comment on this phrase of Paul, first by employing the image of a tree. A tree doesn’t remain standing because someone holds it up from the outside: it stands firm because it has deep roots that anchor it in the depths of the earth, where the fury of the winds and storms do not reach. When Paul uses the words “rooted in Christ,” he means precisely this. It’s not a question of believing certain things at the level of ideas, but of giving shape to one’s identity, of saying: “My life belongs to Christ, and this fact is fundamental, in the sense that it gives a solid foundation and structure to my entire being.”

In modern language, we could say that it’s about finding a solid foundation for one’s identity. In a world where we’re constantly urged to create our own image on social media, thru professional achievements, and according to what others think of us, Paul invites us to read our lives in a radically different way. My true identity, Paul would say today, doesn’t depend on how much money I’ve accumulated or what position I occupy in society. My identity depends on my decision and firm determination to belong to Jesus Christ and on my decision to recognize myself as loved by him unconditionally.

Living and being nourished from these roots changes everything. Since they’re deep roots, storms can shake the branches but can never uproot the tree. Trials can shake it, but they can’t tear it from the ground of the love of Christ. I have the awareness of belonging to Someone who never abandons me.

The nutrition of love

A tree absorbs what it needs to live from the soil in which it’s planted. In the same way, the Christian lives his faith fully, nourished by the love of Christ, because he’s rooted in Christ. But what does this mean, concretely?

It means finding moments for listening and for silence. This choice isn’t something extraordinary or reserved to “religious.” On the contrary: it’s the wise practice of taking a break, of reading the Word of God, of praying, and of simply remaining silent in front of a Mystery that’s bigger than ourselves and that we carry in our hearts. In these times of ceaseless running and constant noise, taking time for these moments on a systematic and regular basis becomes something increasingly precious and appreciated.

It also means participating in the sacraments, not as the fulfillment of an external duty, but as a vital encounter with the grace of Christ. When we take our bodies into consideration, we realize we need to eat. If we’re attentive, we discover that a similar need exists for the soul: it needs to be nourished. The authentic and sincere Christian discovers that without this nourishment, our true life withers and moves ahead aimlessly, without a compass to guide it.

There’s one sure element that brings everything to life. To allow ourselves to be nourished by the love of Christ means that this love, since it’s authentic, transforms our way of relating to ourselves and others. A Christian who is nourished by the love of Christ gradually begins to see life according to a different logic: not the logic of revenge, of ruthless competition, of the desperate search for security thru the accumulation of things, or of indifference to others. Let’s begin to live guided by the logic of love: the love that forgives, that serves, and that trusts – not because we’re naturally good people but because we’ve been transformed from the inside by the love that continually nourishes us.

The “Victory” that sustains us

Perhaps the most powerful dimension of Paul’s message concerns “victory.” This isn’t a theoretical victory but a historical reality: Christ has risen from the dead, and his victory over death radically changes the way we face life. We no longer live in the shadow of death. Instead, we live in the light of the resurrection, in the light of him who, having conquered death, now lives forever.

This doesn’t mean that Christians are exempt from suffering and death. Paul knows this very well: he enumerates the trials that the believer faces — hunger, nakedness, danger, persecution. What it does mean is that these trials don’t have the final say. It means that when the Christian is faced with illness, mourning, or injustice, he’s never abandoned to himself within an indifferent universe. He’s supported by the certainty that the One in whom he has placed his trust has already won. It’s not a certainty that takes away suffering but one that inscribes it within a bigger story, a story that has meaning and doesn’t end in nothingness.

A question for today

Paul’s question resonates today in a world where many seek stability and meaning. Maybe you’re a person of faith, or maybe you’re simply curious about what Christianity has to say about life. In both cases, these questions deserve reflection: On what do I build my identity? What really nourishes me? In what do I trust when everything collapses around me?

Paul offers an answer that isn’t easy, but one which is profound: you can build your life on Christ, you can nourish yourself with his love, and you can live in the certainty of a victory that goes beyond any temporal appearance. It’s not an answer for those looking for ways that are easy, but it’s an answer that has sustained countless people — saints and sinners, heroes and everyday people — thru the most difficult moments of their lives.

Perhaps this is worth considering.

Salesians Step Up Emergency Aid for Displaced Families

Salesians Step Up Emergency Aid for Displaced Families

(ANS – El Houssoun, Lebanon – July 22, 2026) – The latest escalation of violence in Lebanon, which began in early March, continues to worsen the situation for thousands of families who have been forced to flee their homes. In El Houssoun, the Salesians have been supporting 24 families – 116 displaced people, including 42 children and 12 elderly people – since the start of this latest crisis. These families were taken in after fleeing areas affected by bombardments and clashes, and the Salesians are providing them with everything they need: food, water, hygiene supplies, first aid, and socio-educational support. Now the work of Don Bosco’s sons has entered a new phase.

The Salesian community in Lebanon continues to stand by those who find themselves in the most vulnerable situations, in a context characterized by insecurity, displacement, and deteriorating living conditions. The country has for years been grappling with a profound economic, social, and institutional crisis, exacerbated by the financial collapse that began in 2019, the pandemic, the explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020, and the subsequent escalations of violence along the southern border.

This situation is now compounded by a new humanitarian emergency. At the beginning of March, the resumption of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, against a backdrop of growing regional tension, has once again led to the displacement of people in various parts of the country, particularly in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Families from villages near the border with Israel and from neighborhoods hit by the attacks have sought refuge in El Houssoun, where the Salesians are coordinating relief efforts alongside the local authorities.

Public aid is proving insufficient to meet basic needs, however, and many families arrive having lost their possessions, their means of livelihood, and the security of their homes. The assistance available is limited and fragmented and does not adequately meet the needs of displaced families.

The Salesians’ comprehensive response to the emergency and displacement in southern Lebanon

The Salesians aim to provide comprehensive assistance for 2 months to the 116 people they’ve taken in. The program includes food and water for 3 meals a day, hygiene products, access to electricity, gas, and the internet, cleaning supplies, first-aid kits, basic medicines, and logistical support. In addition, social and recreational activities have been organized at the oratory for children, teenagers, and young adults – one of the groups most affected by the violence and displacement.

The 24 families receiving assistance reflect a particularly difficult situation. Most are households comprising several members, including children, elderly people, and widows who depend on their extended families to get by. Repeated displacement, the loss of savings, a lack of documents, and family separation increase the risks to their safety and have a severe psychological impact.

The very situation of displaced people living in collective shelters also poses significant challenges. The lack of privacy, overcrowding, poor hygiene and sanitation, and the absence of safe spaces particularly affect women, girls, adolescents, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Therefore the Salesian response is not limited to meeting material needs, but aims to preserve the dignity, safety, and well-being of families.

The experience gained during previous crises has strengthened the capacity to respond to this emergency

The Salesian presence in Lebanon is based on extensive educational and social work. The Salesians run the Don Bosco Technical Centre in Jbeil, which caters for around 400 Lebanese students; the “Angeles de Paz” school in Beirut, attended by Iraqi and Syrian refugee children and youths; and the youth center in El Houssoun, which organizes activities for young people from different communities and promotes intercultural and interfaith dialog.

This previous experience has enabled them to organize a more rapid and coordinated response during the current emergency. During the 2024–2025 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Salesians had already launched the “Salem” initiative (peace, in Arabic), thru which they assisted displaced people and strengthened their capacity to respond to new crises.

In doing all this, the Salesians are working alongside technical staff, educators, volunteers, and security personnel, always with the aim of supporting the reception of displaced families and ensuring they can get thru this difficult time with greater protection.

Amid the uncertainty, the Salesian presence in El Houssoun is once again a place of refuge—a space where education, humanitarian support, and community accompaniment become a concrete way of caring for life and building peace in Lebanon.

Source: Misiones Salesianas

Homily for Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Homily for the Memorial of
St. Lawrence of Brindisi

July 21, 2026
Collect
Matt 12: 46-50
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi
By http://www.cappuccinivenezia.org/spirito.htm,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org

“O God, … you bestowed on the priest St. Lawrence of Brindisi a spirit of counsel and fortitude” (Collect).

You’ve surely heard that old age isn’t for sissies.  Neither was the vocation of being an educator.  For that vocation, we surely needed the Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel, to know how best to lead and guide young people.  For our current vocation—yes, we have a vocation in our senior years—as surely we need fortitude:  courage and strength to persevere in God’s service in a less active life.

Lawrence of Brindisi, a Capuchin whose ministry covered the 1st 2 decades of the 17th century, needed those gifts of counsel and fortitude.  He was charged to preach the Catholic faith in northern Italy and in German lands infected by Lutheranism, to take up leadership posts among the friars, to serve as chaplain in campaigns against Turkish invaders, and to carry out diplomatic assignments.  He journeyed extensively at a time when travel was difficult and dangerous, and in fact died on the road, in Portugal for peacemaking diplomacy.

We prayed specifically that, like St. Lawrence, “we may know what must be done and … bring it to completion.”  As it happens, that prayer coincides with today’s gospel:  “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, sister, and mother” (Matt 12:50).

God’s will sent us into classrooms and other forms of ministry.  Now it’s brought us to this stage of our lives.  What must be done now, and how shall we bring it to completion?  What does divine counsel tell us?

Certainly we need fortitude.  But even at St. Joe’s the time for counsel, sharing the Gospel, isn’t past.  Our openness to God’s will edifies our brothers, our families, our staff, and our friends, perhaps including many of those once-young men and women we educated.  Not so long ago, we were amazed at Al Cussen’s continued influence.  We still are blessed with the possibility of living God’s will and counseling others on doing that.

Homily for 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 19, 2026
Ps 86: 5-6, 9-10, 15-16                             
Villa Maria, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“You, O Lord, are good and forgiving” (Ps 86: 5).

We come to Mass every week or more often because God has touched us with his mercy, and we’re grateful for that.  We depend upon it!

When we profess the Creed, we acknowledge that our Lord Jesus will come again to judge us.  Judgment comes at the end of our lives, and our individual judgment will be confirmed before the entire world on the Last Day.  “At harvest time, I’ll say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matt 13:30).

That’s a daunting consideration.  Toward the end of Handel’s Messiah, the oratorio asks, “But who may abide the day of his coming?”, citing the prophet Malachi.  It will be a frightful day for sinners, a day of wrath, dies irae, as we used to chant at funeral Masses:

Dies irae, dies illa, solvet saeclum in favilla

(“Day of wrath and doom impending!  Heaven and earth in ashes ending!”) 

Quantus tremor est futurus, quando iudex est venturus

(“Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth, when from heaven the Judge descendeth”).

But thru our Lord Jesus, our merciful Savior, God gives us the Holy Spirit:  “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness” (Rom 8:26).  God knows we’re weak, not sure how to pray, not sure how to seek his mercy.  In spite of his power, his goodness, his unapproachable holiness, he’s eager to forgive:  “Your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.  Tho you are master of might, you judge with clemency” (Wis 12:16,18).  How often Pope Francis reminded us that “the name of God is mercy”!

Clemency, mercy, pardon—we all need it, and thru Jesus God grants it when we turn to him.  “O Lord, I am not worthy, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed” (Communion rite).  We acclaim gratefully, “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you” (Ps 86:5).

So we don’t hesitate to bring to our Lord Jesus our weakness and our sins:  our pride, greed, lust, laziness, harshness, judgment of others, gossip, selfishness, and whatever else haunts our consciences, whatever weeds are growing within our hearts along with the wheat of goodness that God has planted there.  We turn all that bad stuff over to Jesus, here at Mass and in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  For he is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity” (Ps 86:15) toward every one of us who seeks him from our hearts.

Rest in Peace, Brother Hubert!

Rest in Peace, Brother Hubert!

Bro. Hubert, just graduated from Iona University,
with Fr. Gabe Stawowy (left) and Fr. Dave Moreno.

Bro. Hubert Twagirayezu, SDB, lived with us in New Rochelle for 2 years while working on a degree in business management at Iona University; he graduated in May 2024.

Fr. Gabriel Stawowy, the Salesian Society’s general treasurer, who also is a former member of the New Rochelle community, informed us at 6:26 a.m. Friday that Bro. Hubert Twagirayezu had been killed in a traffic accident while on his way to Rwanda, his home country, from the Palabek refugee camp in Uganda, where he directed the camp’s Vocational Training Center.  Fr. Gabe didn’t say when, where, or how the accident occurred.

Bro. Hubert, 44, belonged to the Africa Great Lakes Salesian Province, which includes Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.

Fr. Dave Moreno, our province secretary, describes Bro. Hubert as a prayerful and cheerful confrere who was very grateful for the hospitality accorded to him by our SUE province. Julia St. Clair of the province communications office says he was a kind man and a wonderful Salesian.  She had interviewed him at least once and reported on him for various province media.

Bro. Bernie Dube', Fr. Mike Conway, and Fr. Tim Ploch
bid farewell to Bro. Hubert in May 2024.

On Sunday morning, the 19th, we received a little bit more information from Fr. Jean-Paul Lebel, originally from the Canada part of our province but for many decades now a "missionary" in Rwanda. He was responding to a query from Fr. Dave Moreno:

I have received your message and we also are shocked with this accident. He was not the driver. This bit of sad news occurs at the same time we are celebrating several priestly ordinations, one yesterday here in Kigali and another one in Burundi today. It Is very sad news because he was a good and well accepted confrere.

   It would seem that the truck which hit them did not stop and kept on going. May God receive him in His home. Fr. Jean-Paul   

Homily for Thursday, Week 15 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
Week 15 of Ordinary Time

Year II
July 16, 2026
Is 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Isaiah meets King Ahaz
(Benn Matthew)

“When your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn justice” (Is 16: 9).

Isaiah speaks of Israel’s longing to be close to the Lord, and for that closeness to bring his protection.  Deliverance from their oppressors can come only from him.  “Salvation we haven’t achieved for the earth; the inhabitants of the world can’t bring it forth” (26:18).

Our readings earlier in the week concerned Israel’s place amid the power politics of the Middle East.  Isaiah advised Ahaz to rely on the Lord rather than on Assyria (7:1-9).  Assyria’s oppressions were lamented (10:5-7,13-16).  Israel has felt punished (26:16).

But the prophet offers hope:  “My spirit keeps vigil for you,” the Lord says (26:9).  Israel pleads, “For your name and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you” (26:8).  When God acts, Israel will be saved.

That’s the hope of the new Israel, too.  God has acted in Jesus Christ to do what we can’t.  “Salvation we haven’t achieved on the earth.”  Politics, diplomacy, and economic planning aren’t able to convert the human heart and establish justice.  They can’t save us from our sins nor what our sins do to one another.  Taking up the yoke of Jesus (Matt 11:29-30) is salvation for us as individuals and for humanity as a whole.

The judgment of Christ dawning upon the earth teaches us justice—i.e., closeness to the Lord and salvation from our sins and the harm sin does.  When the dawn from on high breaks upon us, those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow (Luke 1:78-79) will be set free; “the land of shades,” the underworld, hades, shall give birth and the “dead shall live” (Is 26:19).

“For your way and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you.”

Card. Reina Leads Generalate Community's Recollection

Cardinal Reina Leads Generalate Community’s Recollection
Theme: “Take up your cross and carry it to Jesus”

(ANS – Rome – July 16, 2026) - On the afternoon of July 15, the Salesians at the Sacred Heart Community – the Generalate – took part in their monthly recollection, led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the diocese of Rome and archpriest of the papal basilica of St. John Lateran.

Attendance

The recollection was attended by Fr. Fabio Attard, the members of the general council, and the other SDBs at headquarters.

The theme of the meditation

Card. Reina based his reflection on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman recounted in the Gospel of John, ch. 4, proposing human needs as the key to understanding it. He invited his listeners to “come down from their pedestals” to look truthfully and without judgment at their own wounded humanity, recalling that Jesus himself takes the initiative in his dialog with the woman, making her need his own even before it’s expressed.

From human need to the longing for God

In the 2d part of his meditation, the cardinal explained how Jesus never disregards human needs, but elevates them to a higher level, transforming material water into “living water.” He urged the priests not to separate the emotional dimension from the spiritual one, emphasizing that within the need for love and recognition there is already “a seed of divinity.” Card. Reina recalled that the priestly life is called to be generative and fruitful at all times, not only in liturgical acts, citing the example of priests who, tho not remembered in the history books, have edified others with a glance or an authentic word.

The demand for truth

The 3d point of the homily concerned the need to live the truth in one’s own life, beginning with the Gospel passage in which Jesus asks the Samaritan woman about her marital status. The cardinal offered an original interpretation of the invitation to “take up one’s cross,” identifying it not with external difficulties, but with that part of oneself which one struggles to accept and of which one is ashamed. He invited the Salesians to ask themselves who their “5 husbands” might be – that is, the parts of their lives not yet reconciled – reminding them that only by bringing this truth before God can one experience authentic worship “in spirit and truth.”

The missionary dimension

In his concluding remarks, the cardinal emphasized how the Samaritan woman, freed from shame, became a credible witness among her fellow citizens, precisely because her words sprang from lived experience and not from theoretical discourse. Card. Reina extended this reflection to the priestly ministry, inviting the SDBs not to fear acknowledging themselves as sinners before others, since an authentic proclamation always springs from a life truly touched by grace.

He also highlighted the common difficulty among priests in sharing their own frailties within the community, as they are often more inclined to judge others than to confide their struggles in prayer and fraternal life.

50th Anniversary of Martyrdom of Fr. Rudolph Lunkenbein and Simon Bororo

July 15, 2026: 50th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Fr. Rudolph Lunkenbein and Simon Bororo

(ANS – Meruri, Brazil – July 14, 2026) – July 15 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of the Servants of God Fr. Rudolph Lunkenbein, SDB, and Simon Bororo, who were killed at the Salesian mission in Meruri, Mato Grosso (Brazil).

The Salesian province of Campo Grande has organized a day of thanksgiving and remembrance at the graves of these brothers to thank God for all the blessings received since the day Fr. Lunkenbein and Simon sealed and bore witness with their own blood to the covenant made with the Boe Bororo people and with this blessed land of Meruri. Thanks will also be given for the journey undertaken over the years toward the recognition of their martyrdom: the diocesan process initiated on January 31, 2018, concluded and approved by the Holy See in 2020; the preparation and submission of the Positio super Martyrio to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican on November 28, 2024; the favorable assessment of the Positio by the theological censors on November 20, 2025. All that remains now is the ordinary session of the cardinals and bishops of the dicastery.

July 15 therefore was a day of thanksgiving: for the demarcated land, for the growth and strengthening of the people, for the enduring memory, witness, and prophecy that have indelibly marked the history and life of the Bororo people, the Salesian Congregation ,and the Church in this part of Brazil.

On this day, together with Jesus, the Faithful Witness (Rev 1:5), we celebrated the victory of forgiveness and peace over evil and arrogance, as Pope Francis said during the general audience on June 28, 2017: “For there is indeed Someone among us who is stronger than evil, stronger than the mafias, than dark conspiracies, than those who profit at the expense of the desperate, than those who crush others with tyranny…. Someone who has always heeded the voice of Abel’s blood crying out from the earth. Christians must therefore always be found on the ‘other side’ of the world, the side chosen by God: not persecutors, but the persecuted; not arrogant, but meek; not peddlers of empty promises, but submissive to the truth; not impostors, but honest.”

Rudolph and Simon shine out among these witnesses to the Gospel as signs of hope and seeds of peace.

Rudolph Lunkenbein was born on April 1, 1939, in Döringstadt, Germany. From his teenage years, reading Salesian publications awakened in him a desire to become a missionary. He was sent to Brazil as a missionary and undertook his practical training period at the Meruri mission in Mato Grosso, where he remained until 1965. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1969, in Germany, choosing as his motto: “I have come to serve and to lay down my life.” He returned to Meruri, where he was welcomed with great affection by the Bororo people, who gave him the name “Koge Ekureu” (Golden Fish). In 1972, he helped found the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and fought to defend indigenous reserves. On July 15, 1976, he was murdered in the courtyard of the Salesian mission.

Simon Bororo, a friend of Fr. Lunkenbein, was born in Meruri on October 27, 1937, and was baptized on November 7 of the same year. He was a member of the group of Bororo who accompanied Salesian missionaries Fr. Pedro Sbardellotto and Bro. Jorge Wörz to the first mission station among the Xavantes at the Santa Teresina mission in 1957–1958. Between 1962 and 1964, he helped build the first brick houses for the Bororo families of Meruri, becoming a skilled bricklayer and devoting the rest of his life to this trade. He was fatally wounded while trying to defend Fr. Lunkenbein’s life on July 15, 1976. Before he died, he forgave his attackers.

Homily for Tuesday, Week 15 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 15 of Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Katherine Tekakwitha

July 14, 2026
Matt 11: 20-24
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.       

Jesus preaches at the Sea of Galilee
(Gerbrand van den Eeckhout)

“Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!” (Matt 11: 21).

In spite of all his teachings and miraculous healings, the majority of Jewish people didn’t follow Jesus, not even in those towns along the Sea of Galilee where he spent so much of his time, including Capernaum, where he made his home during his public ministry.

If we hear what the Lord says today, it sounds like those towns and their inhabitants were willfully unrepentant.  Seeing and hearing Jesus in action wasn’t enuf to save them from their sins; only repentance and turning to him for deliverance from sin can do that.  “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Resp. Psalm).

It’s an old story in Israel.  Jeremiah warned the citizens of Jerusalem not to place their confidence in the temple, where God dwelt among them.  They needed to reform their ways and their deeds, deal justly with their neighbors, cease oppressing the resident aliens, widows, and orphans, stop shedding innocent blood (Jer 7:4-6).

Sculpture of St. Katherine Tekakwitha
on the central door of St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC

For Katherine Tekakwitha, it wasn’t enuf that heroic Jesuits had preached Jesus in Ossernenon and saints had been martyred there.  She had to reject the superstitions and wanton life of her town and flee to a foreign land where she could practice her faith and live for Jesus.

We sons of holy founders can’t rely on our noble heritage.  You must listen to Edmund and imitate his closeness to the Lord, as I must do with Don Bosco.  At her young life’s end, Katherine’s visage was wondrously transformed, the scars of smallpox giving way to a luminous beauty, symbolic of her transition to the glory of her Lord.  At life’s end, we hope to hear from Jesus not, “Woe to you!” but “Come, blessed by my Father, and take possession of the inheritance he’s prepared for you” (cf. Matt 25:34).

17 Salesians Make Perpetual Profession in DRC

17 Salesians Make Perpetual Profession in the D.R.C.

(ANS – Lubumbashi, DRC – July 13, 2026) – The Salesian Province of Central Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, celebrated the perpetual profession of 17 Salesians of Don Bosco during a solemn Eucharist at St. Amand Parish in Lubumbashi. The Mass was presided over by the provincial, Fr. Guillermo Basañes. The joyful celebration brought together Salesian confreres, religious from various congregations, parents, relatives, friends, and numerous young people of the Salesian Youth Movement, who accompanied the new perpetually professed Salesians with prayer. The day concluded with a fraternal gathering at the community of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Hodari, marking a memorable moment of thanksgiving and communion for the province.

Fr. Aldo Giraudo Appointed Director of Salesian Historical Institute

Fr. Aldo Giraudo Appointed Director of the Salesian Historical Institute

ANS – Rome – July 13, 2026) – On July 7, with the consent of the members of the general council, Fr. Fabio Attard appointed Fr. Aldo Giraudo as the new director of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS), with an indefinite term of office (ad nutum superioris), as provided for in the ISS Regulations (Art. 30). Fr. Giraudo succeeds Fr. Thomas Anchukandam, who has led the ISS since 2015.

Aldo Giraudo was born in Cuneo, Piedmont, on April 13, 1950, and entered the Salesians at the novitiate in Bagnolo Piemonte on August 15, 1967. A professed Salesian since 1968, he took his perpetual vows on September 14, 1974, and was ordained on September 9, 1978.

After obtaining a licentiate in spiritual theology, specializing in Salesian studies (June 1982), he was assigned to the Turin Section of the School of Theology at the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS), where he served as a lecturer in Salesian history and spirituality, a pastoral animator for theology students, and a formator for young people at the local oratory and university residence hall.

On October 30, 1991, he was awarded a PhD, under the supervision of Fr. Pietro Stella, with a thesis entitled The Church and the Turin clergy during the Restoration period: The case of the Chieri seminary (1829–1848).

In 1992, he was appointed an associate member of the ISS. In January 2001, he was transferred from Crocetta in Turin to the UPS Rome campus as professor of the history of modern and contemporary spirituality and the history and spirituality of St. John Bosco. He continued his teaching and research there until 2025.

Over the last 5 years, he also served as director of the University’s historical archives.

From 2002 until 2020, he was a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Spirituality of the Auxilium School of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, teaching a course on the history and spirituality of Don Bosco.

He was the first secretary general of ACSSA, from its foundation until 2000. Since 2012, he has been a member of the executive council of the ISS. For several years now, he has been working on the critical edition of Don Bosco’s manuscripts and works.

(ANS – Rome) – On Tuesday 7 July 2026, with the consent of the members of the general Council, the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard, appointed Fr. Aldo Giraudo as the new Director of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS), with a term of office of indefinite duration (ad nutum superioris), as provided for in the ISS Regulations (Art. 30). Fr. Giraudo succeeds Fr. Thomas Anchukandam, who has led the ISS since 2015.

Aldo Giraudo was born in Cuneo, Piedmont, on 13 April 1950 and entered the Salesians at the novitiate in Bagnolo Piemonte on 15 August 1967. A professed Salesian since 1968, he took his perpetual vows on 14 September 1974 and was ordained a priest on 9 September 1978.

After obtaining a licentiate in spiritual theology, specialising in Salesian Studies (June 1982), he was assigned to the Turin Section of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS), where he served as a lecturer in Salesian History and Spirituality, a pastoral animator for theology students, and a formator for young people at the local oratory and university hall of residence.

On 30 October 1991, he was awarded a PhD, under the supervision of Prof. Fr. Pietro Stella, with a thesis entitled The Church and the Turin clergy during the Restoration period. The case of the Chieri seminary (1829–1848).

In 1992, he was appointed an associate member of the Salesian Historical Institute.

In January 2001, he was transferred from Crocetta in Turin to the UPS’ Rome campus as professor of the History of Modern and Contemporary Spirituality and the History and Spirituality of St John Bosco. He continued his teaching and research there until 2025.

Over the last five years, he also served as Director of the University’s Historical Archives.

From 2002 until 2020, he was a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Spirituality of the Auxilium Faculty of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, teaching a course on the history and spirituality of Don Bosco.

He was the first Secretary-general of ACSSA, from its foundation until the year 2000.

Since 2012, he has been a member of the Executive Council of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS). For several years now, he has been working on the critical edition of Don Bosco’s manuscripts and works.

Homily for 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 12, 2026
Is 55: 10-11
Ps 65: 10-14
Rom 8: 18-23
Matt 13: 1-9
Collect
The Fountains, Tuckahoe
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

The Sower
(taken from InTouch newsletter, 9-30-25)

“My word shall … achieve the end for which I sent it” (Is 55: 11).

2 words stand out in today’s readings:  word and seed.  They’re linked when Jesus compares the seed strewn about by a farmer with God’s word offered to our ears.

In 1st-century Palestine, farmers trudged thru their fields with bags of seed—wheat, barley, rye, or millet—and scattered it by hand.  As Jesus’ parable suggests, the seeds might land anywhere.  Some wouldn’t produce much.  Some would produce prolifically.

The “word of God” carries 2 meanings to us:  the words spoken by prophets like Moses and Isaiah, and the living Word of God, Jesus of Nazareth.  Isaiah reminds us that God’s prophetic word is always fulfilled—both words of disaster when Israel is unfaithful, and words of promise and deliverance: “my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it” (55:11).

The psalmist and Jesus both speak of seed falling on good, fertile ground that yields a fruitful harvest.  Without speaking of seeds, St. Paul presents a similar thought:  when the Spirit of God is at work, creation brings forth a rich harvest of life and freedom, “the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23) that were laid in the earth, springing up alive and reborn as God’s children for eternal life, risen with Christ.  Creation will “be set free from slavery to corruption”—being dead and buried—“and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (8:21).  That’s the end for which God has sent his Word into the world, and his Word will be effective, like the farmer’s seeds, in receptive soil.

So we need to ask ourselves what kind of soil are we?  When the seed of God’s saving word—the teachings of Jesus, and Jesus himself—lands in our hearts, does that seed find ready soil to bear fruit?  Are we receptive, “eager with expectation [for] God’s revelation” (Rom 8:19)?  Or is our soil hard and rocky or filled with weeds and thorns, so that God’s word hasn’t got a chance?

God has been preparing his holy ground:  “drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers” (Ps 65:11).  We hear the word of God every Sunday.  Perhaps we read the Scriptures during the week.  We’ve been catechized, maybe gone to Catholic school, maybe listen to some Catholic teaching on TV or the internet.  Do we let God’s word sink into our hearts and plant deep roots (cf. Matt 13:5-6)?  Do we water it with prayer?  Do we resolve to act on what God tells us in Christ?

In the collect we prayed that “all who profess the Christian faith”—that’s us who are baptized, come to church, recite the Creed—may by God’s grace “reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and strive after all that does [his name] honor.”  Do we try to live as Jesus teaches us:  giving God 1st place in our lives, loving our neighbor, speaking well of others and being patient with them, forgiving injuries, sharing our goods with the needy, voting for candidates who will treat everyone with the human dignity that belongs to them because everyone’s created in God’s image?  Do we confess our sins and resolve to do better, to “return to the right path,” as we prayed in the collect?

God has given us his Word so that it might bear fruit for eternity.  “Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Matt 13:9)—and after hearing, to act.