Wife and Mother Maria Cristina Mocellin Will Be "Venerable"

Wife & Mother Maria Cristina Mocellin Will Be “Venerable”

From The Deacon’s Bench (8/30/21)

On August 30, 2021, the Vatican announced the happy news that Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin is on the path to sainthood.  Pope Francis has authorized several decrees concerning heroic virtues; means Maria will be declared a Venerable Servant of God.

Her life testifies not only to her own holiness, but to a young woman who displayed a trusting faith in God in our own time.  She is also a profound witness to the sanctity of life.  She was a laywoman, a wife, a mother, and a protector of the unborn.  She died in 1995.  She was 26.

From an Italian website devoted to her life:

Maria Cristina Cella was born in Monza on August 18,1969, to Caterina Smaniotto and Giuseppe Cella. Hers was a simple, honest working family based on solid Christian principles. At a very early age Cristina began to attend the parish youth group at the family’s parish, Holy Family in Cinisello.  She attended catechism classes taught by the Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida under the direction of Sr. Annarosa Pozzoli, who provided her first basic formation to the sacraments of the Catholic Church….

… During high school years a religious vocation seemed to be the future goal chosen by Maria Cristina.  She was attracted by the example given by the sisters working in the parish and expressed a desire to become a Sister of Charity in the future.  But a casual encounter with Carlo Mocellin of Valstagna in the province of Vicenza at the end of a summer vacation spent with her maternal grandparents upset her plans and changed her mind about her future.  Following long and serious interior discernment, Cristina decided to accept her engagement and consequent marriage as a rich and full way of carrying her toward her encounter with that God she so strongly desired in her heart.

At the age of 18 and only one year after becoming engaged to Carlo, Cristina experienced for the first time great and unexpected suffering.  A tumor on her left thigh appeared upon her return from a vacation in Canada and forced a particularly hard ordeal on her between various hospitals.  Three cycles of chemotherapy kept her from her studies and normal life for many months.  This experience of great suffering cemented her love for Carlo, who had spent his time between hospitals in Veneto and Lombardy to be close to her the whole time.  It was during this experience that their love assumed an eternal aspect: the two swore to love each other forever and began planning their future.  Cristina recovered completely and managed to complete high school with high grades.  Her life suddenly accelerated.  The strong desire to marry Carlo led to their marriage on February 2, 1991, when Cristina and Carlo celebrated their union before God.

Cristina began her married live in Carpanè (province of Venice), Carlo’s hometown, and continued her university studies (she was in her third year studying foreign languages at the Catholic University of Milan).  Their first son, Francesco, was born ten months later, and after two and a half years more Lucia was born.

These were years of serenity and joy for the young family experiencing a strong, extraordinarily rich love.  In the fall of 1993, only a few months after the birth of Lucia, Cristina became pregnant with Riccardo.  Unfortunately, the beginning of the pregnancy also coincided with the appearance of another tumor in the same leg treated five years previously.

After getting over the initial shock, Cristina and Carlo began an intense period of prayer both personal and as a couple.  The couple expressed their decision to the oncologist to safeguard at any cost the life of the baby that Cristina was carrying.  At this point, Cristina underwent a localized operation to remove the tumor but did not begin chemotherapy so as not to endanger the life of the fetus.  Riccardo was born in July 1994—a completely healthy and lively baby boy.

Cristina’s battle now began with her own physical illness.  Unfortunately, the therapies did not have the same success as those of five years earlier.  Some metastases reached Cristina’s lungs; this was the beginning of particularly intense physical suffering.  It was also the beginning of complete abandonment to God’s will and putting all in the hands of the Father whom she always loved and tried to follow throughout her life.

On October 22, 1995, Cristina entered eternal life, leaving behind a profound message of love and faith in God that will be imitated by many people who knew and assisted her in this passage.  St. Paul Publishers published Cristina’s spiritual diary in 2005 entitled A Life Donated, edited by Fr. Patrizio Garascia.

Memory of Ven. Andrew Beltrami Preserved in Hometown

Memory of Ven. Andrew Beltrami Preserved in His Hometown

(ANS – Omegna, Italy – August 23, 2021) – The civil and ecclesial community of Omegna (Verbania) holds dear the memory of its illustrious son Fr. Andrew Beltrami, a Salesian of Don Bosco. This year is the centennial of the transfer of the mortal remains of the young Salesian priest from the cemetery of Omegna to the collegiate church of Sant’Ambrogio, which took place on April 26, 1921, on the occasion of the patronal feast of St. Vito; thus they wished to remember Fr. Beltrami and his testimony as a man of hope and faith.

The monument that preserves Fr. Beltrami’s remains bears this inscription: “The Servant of God ANDREW BELTRAMI, Priest of the Pious Salesian Society. He died in Turin, at the tomb of Ven. Don Bosco, on December 30, 1897, with a reputation for holiness. His venerated body was kept in Omegna, in the family tomb, from January 2, 1898, to April 26, 1921, when, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, it was devoutly transferred to this Collegiate Parish, where it reminds fellow citizens of sublime Christian virtues.” And the chronicle of the time adds that despite the secrecy surrounding the transfer and the closing of the cemetery gates, the people, having learned of it, burst inside en masse, proving the high reputation of holiness in which his fellow citizens held him.

This veneration for Fr. Beltrami has not died out. Indeed, in recent years, thanks to the commitment of the parish community, led by Msgr. Gian Mario Lanfranchini, and the municipal administration, it has renewed itself with various religious and social initiatives. On Sunday, August 22, in the solemn Mass presided over by Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, postulator general for the causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, it was underlined how Fr. Beltrami knew how to live God’s choice in every moment of his life, especially in the hour of trial and sickness with great faith and abandonment in God. “Beltrami,” said Fr. Cameroni, “made his cross a helm, his suffering a hope, so that nothing and no one could separate him from the redemptive love of Christ.”

For the occasion, new medals in honor of Venerable Andrew Beltrami were blessed and a new painting by the painter Barbara Piana was unveiled and presented.

[Ven. Andrew is one of the Salesian saints commemorated in stained glass in the chapel of Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y.  The others are Sts. Mary, Domenica Mazzarello and Louis Versiglia, and Blesseds Ceferino Namuncura', Philip Rinaldi, and Michael Rua.  The windows were originally in the Salesian novitiate chapel in Newton, N.J.]

Homily for 22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

James 1: 17-18, 21-22, 27
Holy Name, N.R.
Aug. 29, 2021     

“He willed to give us birth by the word of truth…” (Jas 1: 18).

Today we return to Mark’s Gospel for our gospel readings until the end of the church year in November, and we begin a 5-week reading of parts of the Letter of James.

In the 5 verses we read this morning, St. James, a kinsman of our Lord, teaches us that we’ve been given a “perfect gift from above,” namely “birth by the word of truth” (1:17-18).  That birth is our spiritual birth, the birth that Jesus speaks of to Nicodemus when he tells him that we must be born again, born from above, born of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3,5).

We are born by the word of truth when we’re baptized, and the life of Jesus Christ, which we call grace, floods our souls and makes us children of God.  This word of truth speaks to us of God’s love and of his desire that thru Christ we should inherit the kingdom of heaven.

St. James urges us to “welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls” (1:21, and to “be doers of the word and not hearers only” (1:22).  That is, we are to be doers of the word of truth, to allow God’s truth to show in our actions.  James gives one practical example this morning, “to care for orphans and widows in their affliction” (1:27), i.e., to attend to the needs of the most vulnerable and defenseless members of society.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh, the visible presence of God among us.  When he takes root in our souls thru grace, thru our participation in Baptism and the other sacraments, he leads us to salvation (cf. 1:21).  That salvation becomes visible, we might say, thru our good deeds, our lives of virtue, our living like Jesus as best we can.  It’s hardly enuf just to hear what he says or just to read the Bible.  We have to act on what we hear and what we read.

God gave us birth by the word of truth.  Jesus, God’s own truth, is to possess our souls and guide even what we think—take note of his words in today’s gospel about the thoughts of our hearts (Mark 7:21-23)—as well as how we act.  If the word of truth who is Jesus Christ is firmly planted in us, we will be virtuous.

We hear a lot these days from public people about “following the science.”  In a certain way, they’re saying, “Pay attention to what is true.”  Science is one way of knowing the truth about our world and how we are to related to God, creator of the world.  So we’re urged to “follow the science” on Covid-19 and on climate change.  There’s wisdom in that.  God speaks the word of truth thru the realities of the natural world, including viruses, medicine, and the environment.  Pope Francis vigorously affirms that.

It’s very sad—tragic, in fact—that some who urge us to follow science willfully ignore science when it contradicts their personal agenda.  E.g., science teaches us that human life begins at conception, and therefore an unborn child is a human being, not merely a blob of extraneous tissue like a wart.  And God’s word of truth teaches us that all human life is sacred.  That’s why we’re distraught when dozens die in a flash flood in Tennessee, when thousands die in an earthquake in Haiti, when hundreds die in an act of terrorism in Afghanistan or anywhere.  Something precious, something sacred, has been violated.  Similarly, our guts ought to be wrenched by the barbarous slaughter of abortion—which rejects the science of biology, rejects truth.

It’s sad, as well, that our political and media elites ignore the science of biology concerning sex.  Yes, the Bible teaches us that God made human beings male and female.  But we know that without the Bible having to tell us so.  Biology 101 tells us.  Science tells us.  Anyone who tells you that girls may exist in a male body, or vice versa, isn’t following the science.  They’ll even twist language to suit their agenda, e.g., by speaking of “gender assigned at birth.”  Gender isn’t “assigned.”  It’s a given, a self-evident fact.  And we all know it.  No one less than Pope Francis describes transgenderism as “demonic.”  The Biden Administration wants to compel doctors to give trans hormones and perform trans surgery on people, even when doctors know it’s wrong for the person concerned, wrong on the science, wrong in the doctor’s conscience.  That’s demonic.

In his latest book, Abp. Charles Chaput, archbishop-emeritus of Philadelphia, writes that “there are two great temptations that I’ve seen people struggle with over my lifetime.  The first is to try to create life’s meaning for themselves, which translates in the end to no meaning at all.  The second is to live and die for the wrong meaning, the wrong cause, the wrong purpose.  The world is full of disguised and treasonous little gods that demand our full attention and in the end betray our deepest longings.  But there is only one god, the God of Israel.  And only in him, as Augustine said 1,600 years ago, can our hearts finally rest.”[1]

If we are born by the word of truth—that’s our spiritual birth in Christ—we have to reject falsehoods in our personal lives and in public life and public policy, no matter what our friends, politicians, professors, school boards, Hollywood, or the mass media may tell us.  As Christians, we align ourselves with truth—the truth of the Gospel, the truth of science, the truth of the human heart, which seeks God, seeks beauty, seeks goodness, and which strives, as St. James says, “to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27).

---

    [1] “On Matters of Life and Death,” excerpts from Things Worth Dying For, in Columbia, June 2021, p. 24.

Homily for Memorial Mass for Julie Kehoe

Memorial Mass for Julie Kehoe

Juliette Kehoe, longtime principal's secretary at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, N.J., died on March 27, 2020, at age 103.  Her last principal (1980-1981) was your humble blogger, who was privileged to celebrate a memorial Mass for her.

Aug. 28, 2021
John 19: 17-18, 25-30
Is 25: 6-9
Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, N.J.                                   

“Standing by the cross of Jesus [was] his mother…” (John 19: 25).

After Jesus’ infancy and the Temple episode when he was 12, our Blessed Mother appears in the gospels only twice, and once in the Acts of the Apostles.  In each of those 3 places, she exercises a helping or supportive role.

Such a role ties in with Don Bosco’s devotion to Mary as Help of Christians and with Julie’s own devotion to Mary, our mother.  It also ties in with the helping and supportive role that Julie played in our lives and the lives of numerous other people.

We all know the story of the wedding at Cana, where the wine ran out.  It was Mary who took notice and pressed Jesus—pressured him, we could say, like a good Jewish mother—to do something about it.  She’s a powerful intercessor, and we pray to her to use her intercessory power on behalf of our Julie.  At the end of that episode, St. John says that thus “Jesus manifested his glory” (2:11).  We pray that his glory be manifest in Julie for eternity, that she may be one of those who “shall shine” at the time of the Lord’s “visitation,” as the Book of Wisdom says (3:7), that she be one of those who “shall dart about as sparks thru stubble.”

(Corpus Christi Church, Port Chester, N.Y.)

We heard today simply that Mary stood by the cross on Calvary.  According to tradition, she’d also accompanied her Son on his way there.  As our helper, she walks with us on our way thru life; she did so with Julie for 103 years, and we are grateful to our mother Mary for that, and to Jesus for giving us so loving a mother (cf. John 19:26-27).  We’re grateful to Julie, too; she stood by so many of us—immediate family, Salesians, boys of DBT, and probably more people than we can count—and yes, she was a mother to us.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we’re told simply that “Mary the mother of Jesus” was among the 120 or so disciples who gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem after the ascension and before Pentecost, “devoting themselves with one accord to prayer” (1:14).  There’s Mary, part of the Christian community, praying with them, and all of them, presumably, praying for one another.  So do we gather here this afternoon, and we’re certain—on Don Bosco’s word—that Mary is here with us in prayer for Julie.

No doubt Julie is praying, too, for us.  If she has reached that mountain of the Lord of which Isaiah speaks (25:6-9), she knows no more tears, no more sorrow; doesn’t know death but rejoices that the Lord has saved her.  And she prays that we’ll come to that happy place—the Salesian garden that we speak of, a special corner of Paradise.

May the Holy Spirit, who came to the Church gathered with Mary in the upper room, console us who’ve lost our mother and friend Julie.  May Julie receive the recompense of God’s good and faithful servants (cf. 2 Cor 5:10).

Overnite at Fingerboard Shelter

Overnite at Fingerboard Shelter

For several months use of the Fingerboard Shelter in Harriman State Park was discouraged because of bear activity in the area.  Since it's on the Appalachian Trail, tho, a closure presents problems.  It's quite a leap from the Wildcat Shelter in Sterling Forest to the Brien Memorial Shelter south of Silvermine Lake.

On Aug. 20 I went on a quick hike with 2 confreres (after lunch during our retreat at Don Bosco in Haverstraw) to show them the trail and the shelter and to investigate its current state.

Fr. Miguel Suarez at the AT sign near Fingerboard Shelter.

Cables for bear bags have been installed up the ridge from the shelter for quite some time already.

Since the shelter seems to be in use (there's a very active log book in it as well as other evidence of recent visits, Fr. Jim Mulloy and I hiked from the parking lot at Lake Tiorati (using a short connector trail) along the Appalachian Trail (and Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail) to the shelter.  It's 1.4 miles, mostly uphill going.  Photos:  https://link.shutterfly.com/Qt2SEiTq4ib

On the way up to the shelter, we met a youth group that was seriously lost, having missed their turn off the RD Trail almost 2 miles back (south).  They were on the phone with a trip coordinator trying to arrange a bus pickup at Tiorati.  I spoke with one group leader to help her pick up the side trail to Tiorati (they did have a map).

We had the shelter to ourselves till after supper.  Before supper (cooked in one of the shelter fireplaces), 

Hot dogs and green peppers wrapped in aluminum foil

on the fire.

I went out to get wood; didn't have my camera, but did have my phone and caught some shots of a 6-point buck and his lady companion.

After supper, on the trail above the shelter I met a large group (10) of young adults--doing a freshman orientation trip out of Yale, hiking several days from Bear Mountain as far as Fingerboard.

They'd spent previous nites at West Mt. and Brien Memorial shelters.  This nite, since we were already in the shelter (which would accommodate 6 at best), they took an adjacent campsite and rigged up a tarp.  They were nice kids and didn't make much noise.  They were also early risers, were out of camp and on their way back to Tiorati (for a pick-up, I guess) just after 6:00 a.m., which is when Fr. Jim and I got up.  We saw the kids at a picnic table at Tiorati as we were leaving at 8:30.

Apart from gathering firewood and eating supper, we spent our time yakking.  I did some reading.  Both of us prayed the Divine Office, of course, and on Friday morning we celebrated the Eucharist on a huge rock table set up outside the shelter. (Thank, you NY-NJ Trail Conference!)

Fr. Jim using my iPad to pray Evening Prayer.

It was beastly hot and humid under the sun.  Happily, we were under the cover the trees most of the time, and that was comfortable.  The nite was sufficiently cool in the shelter, but mosquitoes were a problem for me; not for Fr Jim in his hammock and netting.

Homily for Thursday, Week 21 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
21st Week of Ordinary Time

Aug. 26, 2020
Year I:  1 Thess 3: 7-13
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Home, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“What thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy we feel on your account before our God?” (1 Thess 3: 9).

Paul poses that as a rhetorical questions, but it’s really an expression of his happy affection for his converts in Thessalonica.  In them he finds comfort “in every distress and affliction” (3:7), as we also do when we think of our brothers and friends who support us and pray for us.

Paul continues by informing his friends of his longing to see them again, just as we might.  He was separated by distance and his mode of transportation, viz., walking.  Tho we have must faster ways to travel, we might be separated from our loved ones by pandemic.

But prayer unites Paul to the Thessalonians, as prayer unites many people with us.  It’s such a powerful expression of affection.  Like Paul, we may pray that “the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all” (3:12).  What a great service that is for the whole Church and particularly for our families, benefactors, and confreres.  And what comfort and strength we derive from their prayers!

Thanks be to God!

Homily for Memorial of Bl. Maria Troncatti, FMA

Homily for the Memorial of
Bl. Maria Troncatti, FMA

1 Thess 2: 9-13 [1st reading of the day]
Aug. 25, 2021
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“We treated each one of you as a father treats his children” (1 Thess 2: 11).

If we change “father” to “mother,” we have in that line an apt summary of Bl. Maria Troncatti’s missionary life among the Shuar natives of the forests of eastern Ecuador.  She labored among them from 1922 till her death in 1969, never returning to her family in Italy, and indeed for the first 20 years or so completely cut off from civilization.

For the Shuar she was the madrecita buena: catechist, nurse, emergency doctor, educator, friend, defender, peacemaker, and teacher of family life and the rights of women.  She was a woman of intense prayer.

“For this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly” (2:13).  Bl. Maria lived a long and faithful life of 86 years seeking souls and leaving all the rest, setting for the whole Salesian Family a glorious example.

Homily for Feast of St. Bartholomew

Homily for the Feast of St. Bartholomew

Aug. 24, 2021
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Home, New Rochelle, N.Y.

In New Rochelle, St. Bartholomew’s Day brings the historical memory of the terrible massacre of thousands of Huguenots in Paris and other French towns in 1572, an antecedent of those Protestants’ flight from France in the 17th and 18th centuries to England, the British colonies, and other places of refuge, and the founding of our own city in 1688 on a large grant of land from the Pell family thru the mediation of Lt. Gov. Jacob Leisler, whose imposing statue stands on North Ave. opposite New Rochelle HS—which in days of yore the students of Iona Prep used to “decorate” with maroon paint before the annual football game against New Rochelle.

by El Greco

St. Bartholomew’s name appears in all the lists of the 12 apostles in the New Testament.  It means “son of Talmai” and so isn’t a proper name.  His own name may well have been Nathanael.  That’s certainly the tradition, as we can tell from the gospel selection (John 1:45-51).  That’s the only place where Nathanael appears in the gospels except among those who went fishing on the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection and then met risen Jesus (John 21:1-14).

Regardless of how little we know about Bartholomew—or most of the 12—he “clung wholeheartedly to” Jesus, the Collect says, and became his preacher among the nations.  Jesus knew this man intimately, we can tell from the gospel reading, and Nathanael/Bartholomew responded “wholeheartedly” with a confession of faith in Jesus as both Son of God and Savior of Israel (1:49).  Then he followed Jesus faithfully and without fanfare or fame—as most of us do, by God’s great gift of grace.

 

Three Salesians Make Perpetual Vows

Three Salesians Make Perpetual Vows

Bros. Branden Gordon, Joshua Sciullo, and Rafael Vargas made their perpetual profession of religious vows as Salesians on Saturday, Aug. 21, at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y.

Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, received their vows, which came at the end of 6 years in temporary vows in accordance with the Salesian rule. The brothers are members of the SDBs’ New Rochelle Province. (The province encompasses the eastern half of the U.S. and all of Canada.)

About 100 people took part in the Mass of Religious Profession, including 49 Salesian priests and brothers, a few other members of the Salesian Family, almost 20 members of the brothers’ families, including Deacon Mark Sciullo, father of Bro. Josh, 7 Salesian Lay Missioners, and other friends of the professing brothers. Also present were 6 Boy Scouts from Troop 28 in Croton-on-Hudson who are completing the Ad Altare Dei religious emblem program.

All three brothers completed two years of practical training in a Salesian apostolate. Then Bros. Gordon and Sciullo began theological studies that will lead to priestly ordination in 2 years (God willing). Bro. Rafi is a coadjutor or lay Salesian, and this profession completes his period of initial formation.

Bro. Branden Jermaine Gordon is the older of Ronald Gordon and Rita Pipito’s two sons. He was born in Toronto, Ont., in 1987.  Unfortunately, his parents weren’t able to come to the profession rite because of Covid restrictions on travel.

Branden met the SDBs while he was in high school. A conversation with Fr. Frank Kelly of the SDBs’ St. Benedict Parish in Etobicoke, Ont., led Branden to further spiritual seeking and an eventual return to religious practice. Fr. Frank’s “unflagging cheerfulness and personal warmth” was backed up by the example of other SDBs in the parish: Fr. Michael Pace, Fr. John Puntino, and Bro. Bernie Dubé. He got involved in the parish’s youth ministry and developed a relationship with God.

After high school and university, Branden worked for Toronto Parks and Recreation for nearly 10 years, then became a teacher. His parents had already inspired in him a concern for young people. This, together with an interest in religious life, induced him to consider becoming a Salesian.

Branden became a Salesian candidate in the Etobicoke community in April 2013, where he was guided by Fr. Puntino, director of the community. As they studied together Don Bosco’s Memoirs of the Oratory, Fr. Puntino convinced him “that there was something special about the Salesian charism.” At the beginning of 2014, he began prenovitiate at Holy Rosary Parish in Port Chester, N.Y.; he was a novice in Rosemead, Calif., in 2014-2015 and made his first profession of vows on Aug. 16, 2015, in Port Chester.

During 2 further years of formation in Orange, N.J., he was influenced by Bro. Tom Dion as a formator and spiritual director. He did his practical training at Salesian HS in New Rochelle, N.Y., from 2017 to 2019, teaching religion to freshmen. In 2019 he returned to the Orange community and began theology studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange. He has spent his summers back in Canada brushing up on his French, which he admits has been a challenge for him.

His apostolic work in Orange has included helping with RCIA and other catechetical programs as well as some dramatic presentations at Our Lady of the Valley Church, the parish in Orange staffed by the SDBs. During summer 2021 he assisted with the Bosco Bicycle program conducted by Seminaire Salesien in Sherbrooke, Que., which takes teen students on tours of the Canadian Eastern Townships region.

The best part of Bro. Branden’s initial formation thus far were his postnovitate years in Orange (2015-2017): “I enjoyed the brotherhood that I experienced with my novitiate companions. The fraternal spirit among us overflowed into our ministry to the young. I especially enjoyed our Friday nights at the Our Lady of the Valley youth center.”

He aspires in the next few years “to become a better brother in community—more understanding, more compassionate, and more open-hearted toward the confreres,” and to “become a better preacher as I prepare for ordination.”

Eventually, Bro. Branden would like to learn more about St. Francis de Sales and become a specialist in de Sales studies like Fr. Joe Boenzi of the Institute of Salesian Studies in Berkeley, Calif., and the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome.

Bro. Joshua Christian Sciullo was born in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1993, the last of Mark and Jody Sciullo’s 4 children (3 boys and a girl). They belonged to Immaculate Conception Parish there, but Deacon Mark and Mrs. Sciullo are now members of Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Jacksonville.

Josh found the SDBs through an online search, prodded also by his father and sister. The priests and brothers of the Servants of the Home of the Mother religious congregation also influenced his vocational discernment. “The environment and relatability of the first Salesians” whom he met clinched his decision to enter Salesian formation at Orange in July 2011. He advanced to the prenovitiate at Holy Rosary in Port Chester in 2013-2014 and thence to the novitiate in Rosemead, Calif., in 2014-2015. He made his first profession on Aug. 16, 2015, at Port Chester.

Bro. Joshua had 2 years of postnovitiate formation in Orange, then went to Abp. Shaw HS in Marrero, La., for practical training (2017-2019). He taught freshman and sophomore religion. Since the fall of 2019 he has been studying theology at the Ratisbonne Institute in Jerusalem (an affiliate of the Salesian Pontifical University). This summer he was assigned to day camp at Mary Help of Christians Center in Tampa.

The best part of his postnovitiate years has been the brotherhood he has experienced in his Salesian communities and what he has learned in them. After his perpetual profession, he hopes to continue “growing closer to the heart of Christ.” He looks forward to more young adult ministry, accompanying them toward Christ.

Bro. Rafael Ramon Vargas, the middle child of Rafael and Carmen Vargas, is a native of Paterson, N.J., where he was born in 1992, and of St. Therese Parish in that city. He has an older brother and a younger sister. They was raised in neighboring Fair Lawn, where his parents now attend St. Anne Church.

Rafael got to know the SDBs well as a student at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.—“immersed in the Salesian charism,” family spirit, and “visible dedication of the Salesians and faculty.” Especially influential were Fr. Lou Molinelli, the director, and Fr. Jay Horan, campus minister.

He entered Salesian formation as a candidate in Orange in August 2010, continued into prenovitiate in Port Chester in 2012-2013, and made his novitiate in Rosemead in 2013-2014. He made his first profession as a coadjutor (lay) brother at Haverstraw on Aug. 16, 2014. Returning to the formation community in Orange, he attended Seton Hall University to finish a B.A. in Catholic Studies with a minor in Spanish.

From 2016 to 2018 he did practical training at Abp. Shaw HS in Marrero, teaching religion to 8th graders and juniors, coaching cross country, leading Scripture study, and moderating a breakdancing group.

In 2019 he went to Guatemala for specialized formation for Salesian brothers, returning to Marrero this year. He ministered in summer camp there before moving to a new assignment in Orange, where he worked in their summer camp work and prepared for service as a formation guide for the young SDBs there.

For Bro. Rafi the best part of his postnovitiate period was “the opportunity to spend 2 years leading and animating the youth group” at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Orange. “It was also a blessing to return to Shaw after being away for 2 years [in Guatemala] and see the growth in the young.”

In Orange this year, he will begin a Master’s program in social work at Seton Hall, hoping for a better understanding of the young people in the province’s works and of how to collaborate with the lay people in those works.

Fr. Tim began his homily at the Profession Mass by recalling Pope Francis’s extraordinary prayer service on March 27, 2020, invoking God’s help against the Covid pandemic. The Holy Father read Mark 4:35-41, Jesus’ calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and then commented upon it. The Pope said that we are all in the same boat, and we will all survive by working together.

Fr. Tim told the congregation that the Pope’s words speak to every age. These three SDBs are making a radical commitment to working for others. Then he cited the day’s second reading (Rom 12:1-13), in which St. Paul admonishes the early Christians to be concerned for one another. He asked what Paul’s words mean for Bros. Branden, Joshua, and Rafael.

The preacher explained that St. Paul was teaching a different way of obeying God’s commandments, a new covenantal relationship (cf. the first reading, Jer 31:31-37) based on Jesus Christ and his new law of love. How do Christians function in this new law? He explained that St. Paul was concerned that they act freely and make daily decisions that reflect their faith.

Fr. Tim continued: Christians need each other; no one can follow Christ by himself. These 3 brothers are offering their lives entirely to God by giving themselves to others, offering their living bodies, as St. Paul says, sacrificially. They will need the help of their Salesian confreres and others to do so.

They make their self-giving, Fr. Tim went on, as a response to God’s gifts to them, starting with the covenant that he made with them (and with all of us) in Baptism. We are all in the same boat of the Church together and depend upon one another in union with Christ.

Homily for 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Aug. 22, 2021
Collect
Christian Brothers, Iona College, New Rochelle, N.Y.

We prayed in the Collect:  “O God, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise.”

The readings gave us some specifics about what God commands.  In the 1st reading (Josh 24:1-2,15-18), Joshua led Israel in a renewal of their covenant with the Lord, the covenant initiated thru Moses at Mt. Sinai.  They promise to serve the Lord rather than any other god, to be faithful to him alone.  He commands fidelity in their worship and in observance of his particular commandments, most notably those we call the 10 Commandments.

(St. Catharine's Church, Spring Lake, N.J.)

Fidelity is also a topic in the 2d reading, from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (5:21-32).  If we can lay aside the 1st-century cultural overlay—the part about wives being subordinate—we hear a command of mutual love, commitment, and service.  This is the basis for any healthy marriage and any healthy family relationship such as our community life.  Such a marriage, Paul says, “is a great mystery,” for it’s an image of “Christ and the Church” (5:32).  That’s why marriage is a sacrament, an outward sign of the grace Christ brings to human beings.[1]  He and the Church are engaged in mutual love, commitment, and service.  Our community life also is a mysterious living out of the relationship between Christ and his Church, even if it’s not sacramental.

The gospel reading follows the key passage in John 6 (vv. 51-59) that we missed last week because of the feast of the Assumption.  In that passage Christ gave us the command to eat his flesh and drink his blood.  As we heard today, many of Jesus’ followers found this teaching too hard to accept.  And they walked away (6:60,66).

For all these commands—faithful worship of God alone; mutual love, commitment, and service in our most basic relationships; and adherence to the Holy Eucharist—we pray that God grant us a love for them and fidelity in practicing them.  For, as Simon Peter says to Jesus in one of his great professions of faith, “You have the words of eternal life” (6:68).

We prayed to desire what God promises.  He promises us eternal life.  “Amid the uncertainties of this world,” as the Collect noted, it can be hard to focus on eternity, “on that place where true gladness is found.”

A couple of months ago, our political leaders were trumpeting that we’d turned the corner on Covid-19.  Not so certain now.  Only a couple of weeks ago, the President was assuring us of the stability of the Afghan government and its army.  Well!  We’re not much more certain than the unfortunate people of Haiti that we’ll be around in 2 weeks.  Covid leaves us all feeling extremely vulnerable, accidents and violence happen unexpectedly, some of us are in delicate health.  “Amid the uncertainties of this world,” how do we look to what God has promised?

We might attend to what the Israelites said of God to Joshua at Shechem:  “He performed great miracles before our very eyes” (Josh 24:17).  Eyewitnesses have testified to the works of Christ.  Thru his saints God has worked and continues to work miracles, whether we mean unexplainable healings or phenomena like the sudden collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989.  God testifies that he remains among us, remains with us, in the Person of his Son:  “Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her (Eph 5:25), and he continues to do so thru saints like Mother Teresa and John Paul II and St. Gianna Molla and modern martyrs like Abp. Oscar Romero and Bl. Stanley Rother and Chaplain Fr. Vincent Capodanno.  All these and many others “fixed their hearts on that place where true gladness is found” and always desired what God has promised us.

We can do that too:  desire God’s promises and live with our focus on them.

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[1] The homily was originally to be given also in a parish, but the Masses were canceled because of a power failure.

Beatification Process of Fr. Luigi Bolla Begins

Process of Beatification of Salesian Missionary Luigi Bolla Has Begun

Source: Vatican News

(ANS – Lima – August 20, 2021) – On August 12, Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio of Lima issued the “Edict of Introduction of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Luigi Bolla (1932-2013).” Fr. Bolla was a priest of the Society of Saint Francis de Sales who gave his life for the Achuar people on the Amazonian border between Peru and Ecuador.

The archdiocese of Lima invited all the faithful to provide useful information and documents (letters, writings, etc.) regarding the cause, to be presented to the diocesan tribunal of Lima. The edict, which will be kept for two months in the Lima cathedral, will then be communicated to the vicariate apostolic of Yurimaguas, Peru , to the vicariate apostolic of Mendez, Ecuador, and to the diocese of Vicenza, Italy.

Yankuam ‘Jintia, “Light of Twilight,” the name given by the Achuar people to the man who walked day and night with them for decades, is thus a step closer to beatification.

Fr. Bolla dedicated his life to evangelization, enduring harsh living conditions, always alongside his Achuar brothers and sisters, who dwell on the border between Peru and Ecuador, several days’ journey from Yurimaguas, the nearest city, located in eastern Peru.  

“This news causes great joy not only among the members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales,” explains the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network, “but also throughout the vicariate of Yurimaguas and the Amazonian Church, since Fr. Luigi Bolla was a great missionary example who, with his unique and prolific life testimony, inspires the new paths of the synodal Church, outgoing and intercultural, that Pope Francis requests.”

5 SLMs Commissioned on August 20

5 SLMs Commissioned on August 20

The Salesians of the New Rochelle Province commissioned 5 Salesian Lay Missioners at a prayer service on Aug. 20 as they concluded 6 days of retreat at Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y. Vice Provincial Fr. Dominic Tran presided at the service, at which 35 Salesians also on retreat assisted.

3 of the 5 will be missioned to Hogar Maria Auxiliadora, a girls’ orphanage in Cochabamba, Bolivia:  Hannah Mercado of California, Grace Mosher of Connecticut, and Olivia Wyles of Ohio. 2 will be missioned to the Salesian work in Wau, South Sudan: John Funk and Theresa Hoang. Except Ms. Hoang, a widow, all are recent college graduates. They will be joining one or more SLMs already at their sites, who will help them with their transitions.

All of the new missioners are still in the process of securing the necessary visas.

They spent one week of orientation at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, N.Y., and one week on retreat, under the leadership of program director Adam Rudin and Fr. Tom Brennan of Salesian Missions, New Rochelle.  Ordinarily, orientation would take 3 weeks, but because of Covid this year’s was curtailed.

Photos from their week at Haverstraw, which included a hike in Harriman State Park (Aug. 17) and their commissioning prayer service: https://link.shutterfly.com/dcKVmFb0Vib

Two Salesians Make First Profession

Two Salesians Make First Profession

Bros. Paul Hotovy and Francis Nguyen made their first profession of vows as Salesians of Don Bosco on Sunday, Aug. 15, at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y.

Bro. Paul Hotovy and Bro. Francis Nguyen

(credit: Vicky Weekley)

Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, received their vows, made for one year in accordance with the Salesian rule. They are members of the Salesians’ New Rochelle Province.

25 priests, mostly Salesians, concelebrated. Also taking part were Deacon Ky Nguyen, 5 non-celebrating priests (including your humble blogger, who was trying to take photos), 9 brothers, and 1 FMA. Many members of the families of the 2 newly professed were present, members of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth, and Salesian Lay Missioners. Total attendance was about 150.

The Music Ministry Team of Don Bosco Prep High School, Ramsey, N.J., and some members of Bro. Francis’s family provided music.

The 2 new brothers made their year of novitiate (2020-2021) at the Salesian house in Richmond, Calif., under the guidance of Fr. Joseph Thinh Nguyen (no relation), master of novices, and Fr. John Puntino, socius. A third novice, Reegen Ledet of the San Francisco Province, professed vows separately in San Francisco, also on Aug. 15.

All 3 of the newly professed brothers will join the Salesian formation community in Orange, N.J., to further their Salesian formation and continue academic studies (philosophy and theology) at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

At the Profession Mass 3 other young Salesians renewed their temporary vows. Bro. John Castonguay and Bro. Kevin White each renewed for 1 year in accordance with the Salesian practice of annual vows for 3 years. Bro. Daniel Glass, having completed 3 years of annual vows, renewed for 3 years.

Bro. Paul Augustine Hotovy was born in 1989. His hometown is Omaha, Neb., and his home parish is St. Leo the Great in that city. His parents, Steven Hotovy and Marguerite Miller, also belong to St. Leo. He has 4 brothers and a sister.

(Vicky Weekley)

Paul became acquainted with the SDBs through the province vocation director, Fr. Dominic Tran, who was taking spirituality courses at Creighton University in Omaha. He spent a summer with the SDBs in Chicago, helping with day camp. Working with the young sparked his desire to become a Salesian; that was reinforced by his experience as a teacher. He also felt a calling to become a priest. Several priests and SDBs have inspired him.

When he was accepted as a candidate in 2018, he was assigned to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., where he provided various forms of assistance during both his year of candidacy and his prenovitiate year; he also taught catechism at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, N.Y.

Bro. Paul says that the best part of his novitiate year was the time he had for prayer and reflection. Now he looks forward to “living the vows with integrity, being a supportive confrere, and laboring in the field of evangelization.” He would like to be a teacher, in particular.

Fr. Jim Heuser, former director of Don Bosco Prep

with the Hotovys

(Fr. Mike Mendl)

He adds: “I feel that God has blessed me with numerous graces in my life. There have been many people who have changed my life and helped me along the path of holiness – whether through a word of encouragement (or challenge), through a witness of fidelity to God, by showing me how to live out a virtue, or by making me laugh when I needed it most. I hope that God will use me to have a similar effect on others.”

Bro. Francis An Nguyen, born in 1993, claims Annandale, Va., as his hometown, and Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Church in Arlington, Va., as his home parish. His father Vong Nguyen and his mother Vinhsinh Bui also are parishioners. He has two brothers and two sisters.

(Vicky Weekley)

He met the SDBs by attending a cousin’s ordination and then speaking with Fr. Tran as well as with SDBs of the Don Bosco Cristo Rey community nearby in Maryland. He found inspiration in several priests and religious. He writes: “I wanted to become a Salesian because at the time I was discerning, I was involved with my parish youth group, which I found great joy in being a part of. I felt called to live a life dedicated to youth, and felt the Salesians were the place for me, especially after coming and seeing community life.”

On acceptance as a candidate, he joined the formation community in Orange in August 2018. The following year, his moved to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey as a prenovice. He also assisted with youth ministry (recreation and catechism) at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester.

For Bro. Francis the best part of his novitiate year was “being with the students [of Salesian College Prep on the same Richmond campus] whenever they returned to in-person classes. Those were moments when I was able to get to know them one-on-one or just play volleyball with a group of them.”

The Nguyens with Fr. Tim Zak

(Fr. Mike Mendl)

For the immediate future as a Salesian, his “aspirations are to deepen my motivations and continue to be open to the formation process. I aspire to make what ‘Salesian’ means to me a truly personal one.”

Bro. Francis has a particular interest in nutrition, through which he believes he could be an asset to his confreres and to their apostolic mission.

Fr. Tim Zak began his homily by quoting the entrance antiphon for the day’s Mass of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary: “Let us rejoice in the Lord as we celebrate….” He credited the musicians with lifting the congregation’s hearts to God and noted our reasons for rejoicing: Mary’s Assumption, the first religious profession of two Salesians, and the renewal of vows of three men.

Fr. Tim described the Assumption as the completion of Mary’s journey and the fulfillment of God’s promises to her. Her journey began in the heart of God, proceeding to her immaculate conception, to her birth and on through her life of mothering Jesus. All of God’s plan for her was completed in her Assumption into heaven.

Fr. Tim cited St. Paul’s words that God will bring his work in Christians to completion; the two men professing today aspire to have God complete his plan in their lives, as he has already done for Mary.

We don’t know what heaven is like, said the preacher. Mary’s Assumption, he asserted, gives us a glimpse. The Preface of the Mass acclaims her as an image and “a sign of sure hope and comfort” for the Church. The newly professed Salesians also are a sign of hope. They will live out radically their baptismal calling; they will be prophets for the faithful, demonstrating that nothing satisfies our human hearts except God. They will be witnesses of fraternity and community in a world often focused on individualism. They will fulfill a mission of service and not live for themselves. In their lives they will leave space for God’s grace. Their lives testify to the world to come, thus giving us a little view of heaven upon this earth.

The Virgin Mary gave herself to God without reservation, Fr. Tim stated. These two young Salesians will try to do the same.

After the profession Mass, Bro. Paul told the province’s communications director, Julia St. Clair, “I’m very excited and grateful that my family and friends can be here. I’m looking forward to the future and whatever God has planned for me these next couple of years.”

Chris Holcomb, a friend of Bro. Paul, told Miss St. Clair, “I’ve known Paul for 10 years and walked with him in all the steps he’s taken. It’s been great! I’m also a seminarian in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, and Paul inspired me to make this next jump and commitment.”

Bro. Francis stated, “I feel grateful for this and am entrusting all things this day, especially to Mary. I’m excited to be back with my family, begin my consecrated life, and see what God has planned for me.”

His best friend, Patrick Nguyen (no relation), told Miss St. Clair: “We’ve been together since we were 5 and have known each other longer than that. It’s very emotional for me since we’ve seen him go and grow through everything. We also haven’t seen Francis in so long due to the pandemic.”

A catered buffet followed the Mass in the Marian Shrine’s outdoor pavilion.

(Fr. Mike Mendl)