Rector Major's Message for March

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime 

DON BOSCO WOULD DO THE SAME

“Imagining my Salesian confrere being a friend, a brother, and a father to them, waiting until that very late hour for the young man returning from work and offering him to join himself and two other educators for dinner, truly touched my heart. Again, I said to myself: Don Bosco would do the same.”

My good friends who read Salesian media and all friends of Don Bosco’s charism, I am writing to you from Quito, Ecuador, a Salesian province that is distinguished for its mission among the original Ashuar and Achuar peoples, as well as for its educational outreach to the most disadvantaged boys rescued from the streets.

Youths who've just finished paying for the motorcycles they've been using as deliverymen, sponsored by Casa Don Bosco.

In a meeting with a Salesian from Peru, I had the great joy of hearing about a work that profoundly impresses the following thought upon my heart: DON BOSCO WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME.

The story of this new Salesian presence in Lima, Peru, is what I want to share with you.

The house into which these young people and families are received (and later you will see why I also say families) is called Casa Don Bosco. Since 2018, they have welcomed young immigrants and refugees. The work began with the reception of five boys, all still minors, who had arrived at the Salesian house from Venezuela without papers. They were living on the streets of Lima, trying to survive. Then they received the invitation to go to Don Bosco’s House. As I listened to Father tell this story, I thought, “This is the same path that Don Bosco took in Valdocco at the beginning of the Oratory in the little Pinardi house.”

A different house, a different life

It was in this house that those boys began their “different life” in Lima. Since then, more than 600 young people have passed through that house until they were able to find a stable situation. Currently, 47 live in the house; seven of them are already young adults who have families or young wives whom they have brought with them.

The young people make contact with Casa Don Bosco, which is becoming better and better known, since they spread the word among themselves. Those who wish to live there share life with other young people, their educators, and the Salesian who accompanies the project and follows up on day-to-day life in the house. This Salesian also follows each of the young people during the day until the last ones arrive home, who are often those who work in the hotel business. At the end of their workday, around 1:00 a.m., they come to Don Bosco’s House to get some rest. Imagining my Salesian confrere being a friend, a brother, and a father to them, waiting until that very late hour for the young man returning from work and inviting him to join himself and two other educators for dinner, truly touched my heart. Again, I said to myself: Don Bosco would do the same.

They also help these boys prepare necessary documents and receive psychological help from volunteer psychologists and some training. Those who are most suited to it are also offered the possibility to start a job so they can earn an honest living. These young people come from the most diverse situations and have experienced the most varied forms of violence. They are from all different religions or have no religious affiliation at all. The only important thing is that they are young people who need help. That is the only documentation they need to present. Everything else will sort itself out.

A motorcycle for the future

Some of them have found work in the following way: with the help of Missioni Don Bosco of Turin and the Mission Office of Bonn, Germany, 20 motorcycles were purchased and offered to those young people who found work as delivery men. The motorcycle is not just given to them. They borrow it, paying for it little-by-little over time from what they save from their salaries. These payments then allow others to be purchased so that newcomers also may find a job. I liked this creative response to this emergency situation.

I think that is a great way to get these young people away from the dangers of drug addiction. Actually, many of them had already been using some type of narcotic. Casa Don Bosco helps them get away from it altogether.

There is still something else that I found precious. It turns out that several of these young men left their young wives, sometimes with babies, in their country. Fortunately, by taking advantage of the fact that the house is large, seven of these young couples have their own room where their families have been able to get together and have a small home. Here the young couples share some common space, such as the kitchen and dining room. They, too, are accompanied by their educators and the Salesian confrere who runs the project on behalf of the nearby Salesian community to which he belongs.

The important thing is that the Casa Don Bosco in Magdalena del Mar in Lima for immigrants and refugees is changing the lives of many young people or very young married couples for the better. Perhaps realities such as this one are not always discussed in the news. Perhaps we “feed” daily on terrible and hard-to-take news, but the good that is sown every day also exists. It is that good that must be shared and made known.

Thank you, dear friends, for also welcoming this good news with big hearts. I remain convinced that Don Bosco would be doing the same today.

I wish you all the best.

Fr. Angel

Homily for 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 27, 2022
1 Cor 15: 54-58
St. Joseph Church, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:  ‘Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15: 54).

The Resurrection of the Body by Luca Signorelli

(Chapel of St. Brice, Cathedral of Orvieto)

That which is corruptible, that which is mortal, is our human body.  In ch. 15 of 1 Corinthians, Paul has been instructing the Christians of Corinth about the resurrection of the dead.  Today’s our 4th straight Sunday hearing parts of that chapter.  Last week Paul spoke of Jesus as the new Adam who restores humanity to the heavenly life that the 1st Adam forfeited for all of us by sin (15:45-49).

“The sting of death is sin,” Paul writes (15:56).  Sin is like a scorpion or viper; it stings or bites, and the poison gets into your system with bodily consequences.  A scorpion or viper may kill you.  Sin certainly kills; it certainly brings death to all of Adam’s children.

Of death’s certainty we’ll all be graphically reminded on Wednesday if we come to church to receive ashes.  “Remember, mortal man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  In Gen 2:7 we read, “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life.”  Made of clay, without the breath of God (the Holy Spirit) lost by sin, back to clay we crumble.

Ash Wednesday, then, is a sobering reminder, a reminder for all of us to sober up in the face of death’s inevitability, and with death divine judgment of our lives:  of our sins and virtues, of our rejection of the gift of God’s grace offered us by Jesus Christ or our acceptance of the gift.

Quoting the prophet Hosea (13:14), Paul writes, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (15:54).  Our Lord Jesus rose from his tomb on the 3d day after his crucifixion.  He whom the tomb swallowed conquered the tomb and left it empty except for his burial cloths (John 20:5-6).  Jesus removed death’s fatal sting; he swallowed death, and as the new Adam needed no burial shroud; he was clothed with immortality.

“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory thru our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:57).  Our Lord Jesus Christ became man in order to share his divine life with us:  to breathe into our dusty form the breath of immortal life.  He became the new, life-giving Adam, a new father of the human race.  He offers us heavenly life thru the forgiveness of our sins.

During Lent, which we’ll enter on Wednesday, we’ll remember our sinfulness, the sting that brings death, the poison that courses thru our spiritual veins, and be invited to repent.  Is it the poison of passing judgment on our neighbor, of gossip, of laziness at work, of using pornography, of excessive drinking, of wasteful spending of money, of carelessness in the use of natural resources, of sexual misbehavior?  Lent invites us to repent, to renew our commitment to Christ and the divine life he desires to share with us.  His victory over the grave is promised to us, too.

Jesus says in today’s gospel, “When fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).  In boot camp, soldiers, sailors, and Marines are trained to be like their teachers and become capable of defending our country.  In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker trained under Yoda to become a Jedi knight and defend the republic against the empire.  If we strive to accept the training of Jesus our master, we’ll be transformed into children of God, Jesus will bring us to same heavenly life that he already enjoys.

Crazies in the Woods

Crazies in the Woods

On Tuesday, Feb. 22, the crazies would've been my usual camping companion Fr. Jim Mulloy, his longtime friend Arthur from Boston, and I.  On a foggy, damp, soupy day with some serious rain in the forecast, we set off for a hike and a nite encampment in Harriman State Park.

Your humble blogger with Arthur Demopoulous

in the parking lot at Tiorati Circle.

We left our tents at Don Bosco Prep, resolved to seek the Fingerboard shelter, and if it should already be occupied to return to our car and try Big Hill instead.  None of us relished the thought of camping in an all-nite rain.

We parked at the lot at Tiorati Circle, encouraged that there were no other cars to be seen.  We hiked up a short connecting trail, then followed the Appalachian Trail south just over a mile to reach the shelter.  There were lots of footprints in the mud, but nary a soul.  One spot, perhaps 100 yards long, as the AT climbed up from the water tanks was very icy, and we were very cautious skirting it.

We reached the shelter around 12:30 after an hour's slow, careful hike, and were happy to find it empty.  We were also happy to discover that a previous occupant had left a nice stack of short logs by one of the fireplaces.  (Inside fireplaces was one of the reasons why we chose Fingerboard as our destination.)

The shelter was damp inside on account of the low cloud covering everything.  At this season, from the shelter we should have been able to see Lake Tiorati far below. But the fog/low cloud was too thick to see 100 yards.  

Looking downhill from the shelter, 1:40 p.m.

We were a little damp, too, from our hike, and maybe a little chilled.  Fr. Jim and Arthur immediately tested their mattresses and sleeping bags.

I went out to gather firewood.  It wasn't hard to find, but it required a lot of trips hiking back up the ridge from the shelter and foraging in several directions, then carefully picking my way back down the steep decline to the shelter.

We got pretty nervous when we checked the weather on our phones.  The check told us that it was 43 in Harriman (N.Y.), and the day's low would be 28.  We hadn't expected that!  In fact, however, it stayed in the 40s all afternoon and all nite.  The day's low had already occurred in Tuesday's early hours.  Wind gusts were as forecast, however, and that was one more reason to be happy to be inside a shelter.

I kindled a fire much earlier than I'd usually do, around 3:30.  Since I carry good tinder with me, and Fr. Jim carries homemade fire starters, that was no problem.  I skinned wet bark off the twigs and small branches that I'd collected, and they fed the fire well enuf that larger stuff, also scraped off, could soon be added to the flames.  Fr. Jim handled the camp saw.

Both Fr. Jim and I prayed Evening Prayer with my iPad.

We let the flames go down around 5:00, and I inserted the little grill I carry. Fr. Jim sliced some kielbasa, and I put that onto the grill.  Before long we were indulging in that with hot dog buns, plus sundry other items like cheese, nuts, apricots, Ramen noodles, and beverages (Crystal lite, in my case).  

Another advantage of Fingerboard shelter is the bear bag cables rigged on the ridge behind the shelter.  I hung 2 bags up there with our remaining food and the trash bag.

There was lots of conversation till about 7:00 p.m., when Fr. Jim and Arthur called it a day.  Fr. Jim turned in entirely, while Arthur read for a while.  I kept the fire going and did some reading.  With rain still falling and wind still gusting, I put some of those nice logs onto the fire around 8:30 and retired.

When I got up at 12:15 a.m. to visit Mother Nature, but the fog had lifted, and lights at Tiorati Circle could be seen thru the trees, and the lights glowing out along the Hudson River (beyond the hills).  The fire had died out, but there was no need to rekindle it.

We got up after 7:00 a.m.  Fr. Jim and I celebrated Mass on the big rock table outside the left side of the shelter.  My comrades ate light.  I had my usual sturdy breakfast of oatmeal, coffee, apricots, and nuts.  We all packed up.  I poured water on the embers in the fireplace.

Fr. Jim was ready to go well before Arthur or me.  He suggested we take the half-mile Hurst Trail straight down to 7 Lakes Drive, and we agreed.  He went ahead while we were still packing up.  When Arthur and I reached the road, we called for taxi service, Fr. Jim came with the van to pick us up.  In the meantime, Arthur and I shot a few photos.  

Lake Tiorati, mostly iced over

He thought I looked good with a Bud can camped on a rock behind me while we waited.  Fr. Jim advised him that anyone who knows me knows that I always pick up trash, especially recyclables, in the woods.

It was still gray with low clouds, and still no one else was nuts enuf to be out in the woods at that point on Wednesday a.m.  But on our way back down 7 Lakes Drive we saw a few bikers, and when we stopped at the Reeves Meadow visitor center, the sun was beginning to emerge; lots of people were getting out to hike or bike, or were already on the trail.

Funeral Homily for Fr. Arthur Lenti, SDB

Funeral Homily for Fr. Arthur Lenti, SDB

February 18, 2022

By Fr. John Itzaina, SDB

(Republished with permission from the author, vice provincial of the U.S. Western Province)

Fr. John Itzaina (right) proclaims the Gospel and preaches at Fr. Arthur Lenti’s funeral / Photo Credit: Bro. Khoa Pham, SDB

Preaching in the presence of Fr. Arthur, however kind and endearing he was, gracious and understanding at all times, was not a pleasant experience. He believed the homily to be a time to open up the Word of God to its meaning and its connection to the Eucharistic celebration. For Fr. Arthur it was not a time for sidebars or even practical applications or personal reflection as most of us preachers do repeatedly. Although he would keep his evaluation of other preachers to himself, he still was quite intimidating. I considered it a triumph if he admitted that I was at least attempting to focus on the meaning of the text. It rarely happened, however.

Fr. Arthur passionately believed that preaching a scriptural text without context is pretext, that is, obscures its divine inspiration. So, let me give you the context for the first reading from Lamentations. The book of Lamentations was used as part of the liturgy of a Jewish Festival called the Ninth of Ev. Sounds like something from the Game of Thrones. The Ninth of Ev commemorates all the negative things that happened to Jews, God’s Chosen People: the destruction of the Temples of Solomon and Herod the Great, and more contemporary disasters like the expulsions of the Jews from England (1290), from Spain (1492), and the Holocaust ordered by Himmler in Nazi Germany in 1942. But in the passage of Lamentations even with its heartache, depression, poverty, wormwood and gall are found distinct reasons for hope even in the midst of persecution and disaster, because the favors of the Lord are not exhausted, nor are God’s mercies limited, for God is good and faithful. With the Jewish people we celebrate the life of Fr. Arthur whose soul, like this passage from Lamentations, sought the Lord, who waited to meet the Lord whose Word he studied, pondered, and lived throughout his life of ministry, of consecrated life, of study of Holy Scripture and the history and spirit of Don Bosco.

Fr. Arthur had his own Ninth of Ev in 1983. He began his study of Don Bosco in the two years he attended the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. The house in Berkeley had been closed for lack of specific Salesian formation; so, Fr. Arthur and I, along with Fr. Tom Juarez, had been sent to the Salesian University in order to return to the Graduate Theology Union (Berkeley) to teach and form our students of theology in all things Salesian. Fr. Arthur immersed himself in the Don Bosco library of Fr. Peter Stella in preparation for his return to Don Bosco Hall (Berkeley). Towards the end of our preparation, he and Fr. Carmine Vairo, provincial at the time, met with the Rector Major, Fr. Egidio Viganò, to petition the re-opening of the theologate in Berkeley. Sad to say, the Rector Major denied the re-opening of the house in Berkeley. We felt that we had been betrayed; that the very reason qualification and degrees had been attained was the condition and requirement for reopening, but it was all for naught. It was for Fr. Arthur his Ninth of Ev, his lamentation of promises not kept and a waste of two years of intense preparation in Salesian Spirituality. But it was a waste of time, by no means. Almost immediately, at the insistence of Fr. Thomas Prendiville, Fr. Arthur and the provincial began to think of opening Don Bosco Hall in Berkeley as an Institute of Salesian Studies (ISS). The ISS opened in late summer of 1984. I remind you of today’s words from Lamentations: “The favors of the Lord are not exhausted; his mercies are not spent…and good is the Lord to one who waits for him…in hope.”  Arthur’s Ninth of Ev morphed very quickly into almost 35 years of teaching the history and spirit of St. John Bosco and his monumental seven-volume Don Bosco: History and Spirit. And in just four years Don Bosco Hall again saw Salesian students of theology!

If a critical reading of Lamentations gives us insight into Fr. Arthur as a man of hope, the second reading gives us a reminder of how to live life in the shadow of the death of Fr. Arthur and our own inevitable deaths. St. Paul writes in Romans that we experience the death of Jesus in and through our Christian baptism. Jesus’ death was his baptism; our baptism is dying and rising with Christ in the Sacrament of our Baptism. By our Baptism we walk in the newness of life, not in waiting for a future final resurrection from the dead, but right here, right now through our participation in Jesus’ death on the Cross and his Resurrection. This we are remined of in the death, funeral, and burial of Fr. Arthur, but also in every Eucharistic celebration: that Jesus is raised from the dead, dies no more, and that death no longer has power over him.

For me, the Gospel of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus is just another way of experiencing our own Ninth of Ev, fortifying ourselves in the celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and beginning to understand and celebrate Jesus dying and rising.

The two disciples escaping from events of Jesus’ death on the Cross are joined on the way by Jesus. We experience the deep emotional turmoil, their own Ninth of Ev, of the two disciples at the death of Jesus, plus their confusion of reports of Jesus alive and the empty tomb. Knowing the difficulty of coherently putting all these events together, Jesus explains everything with the use of Moses and the prophets, explaining how their (Moses’ and the prophets’) rejection and acceptance shed light on his own death and resurrection. When Jesus is at table with the two travelers and takes bread, blesses, breaks, and gives it to them, Scripture and Liturgy come together, and they recognized the Risen Lord in the breaking of Bread.

In the interest of full disclosure, Fr. Arthur taught me Old Testament when I was a student of theology in 1970-71 at the Josephinum near Columbus, Ohio. I cannot say that I was a particularly good student, and I did once characterize his teaching as going out in a vast field of Hebrew Scripture and digging a hole 12-feet deep. I lived with him for nine years and never discussed this with him; but he did tend to dig deep for just a fleck of gold. I now admit that I was too intellectually immature and a biblical coward to look into the Biblical 12-foot-deep hole full of fascinating and helpful biblical gold nuggets. Whether it was Old Testament or New Testament, his digging deep always clarified the text, gave the needed context, and helped us all to enter the core divine truth of God’s Word.

Another illustration: 1 Kings 19 where Elijah is fleeing Israel and the wrath of Jezebel and goes to Mount Horeb (Sinai in another tradition) experiencing the wind, earthquake and fire and a tiny whispering sound. I asked Arthur why “windstorm” and “earthquake” and “fire.”  I had a little time for a 12-foot-hole answer. He explained in great detail that the Hebrew words of storm, earthquake and fire are similar and sounds building up to a Hebrew word that approximates the sound of God like a whisper, vibration, and a mysterious movement…or something like a “silent sound.”

The post-resurrection narrative of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus mirrors not only in Fr. Arthur’s life of scholarship and teaching Scripture and Salesian history and spirit, but also in the God’s revelation of friendship and communion in the sharing of a meal. Fr. Arthur shared his friendship with many of you here by his wizardry of cooking. Whereas he shared his vast knowledge as a renaissance man with some of us; he shared his love of cooking with most of us, his beef Wellington, or his deboned duck, or his Christmas English pudding laced with brandy and marinaded for months! Or his stuffed mushrooms and elegant hors d’oeuvres that took hours and hours of preparation. Dining on his culinary creations was an experience of dying and rising and going to heaven; except for those of us who had to wash the pots and pans and the dirty dishes or debone the ducks or watch him plough through mountains of vegetables for the elusive perfect shape and texture. He was accomplished in a wide variety of things: in ancient languages, as a poet, songwriter, artist, chef, opera singer that he learned from his parents, researcher, professor, liturgist, much of any and everything except for being a meteorologist. I hold him in high regard in all things but for predicting the local weather.

I know I have rambled and strayed far from Fr. Arthur’s homiletic rules of limiting the homily to its strict textual meaning; but we all have our personal stories of Fr. Arthur, and we ought to share them today in his memory. “We have loved him in life; let us not forget him in death.”

Homily for 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 20, 2022
1 Sam 26: 2-23
Luke 6: 27-38
St. Joseph Church, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“Tho the Lord delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam 26: 23).

(by Richard Dadd, 1846)

At considerable length the 1st Book of Samuel reports King Saul’s hatred for David and his attempts to kill him.  Our 1st reading today presents one such episode, condensed from 25 verses to 8.  The passage is paired with the gospel reading, which is aptly summed up in the verse “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

At great length Jesus commands us to be forgiving toward our enemies, to be like his Father.  Pope Francis reminds us that “the name of God is mercy.”[1]  Jesus commands us to be like himself, who treated sinners so tenderly and forgave even his executioners.

The 1st reading gives us the example of David, destined to become the ideal king of Israel, but at this point a fugitive, unjustly pursued by King Saul and his soldiers.  When David had a chance to kill his mortal enemy, he didn’t do so, showing mercy—as well as reverence for God, who had chosen Saul and made him king:  “Who can lay hands on the Lord’s anointed and remain unpunished?” (1 Sam 26:9).

Love for one’s enemies, prayer for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28), patience in the face of personal offenses, however, doesn’t mean leaving ourselves defenseless.  We hire and train law enforcement officers expecting them to use necessary force to protect society (we get rightly upset if they should abuse their power).  In these weeks we’re watching anxiously as Ukraine resists Russia’s bullying, and altho we pray for peace, we’re glad that our country and many others are backing vulnerable Ukraine.  “Turning the other cheek” (6:29) doesn’t mean letting yourself be abused—not as a spouse, a child being taken advantage of, or someone accosted by a mugger.  It didn’t mean Poland should have rolled over before Hitler’s threats, or that Ukraine should fold before a Russian bully.

What does it mean to be merciful like Jesus or like our heavenly Father?  Forgiveness is one of the hardest things commanded of Christians, maybe harder than chastity or complete honesty.  But forgiveness isn’t optional.  We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Forgive our sins, just as we forgive those who sin against us.  “Forgive and you will be forgiven” (6:37).  If you don’t forgive, you won’t be forgiven.

Yes, people do sin against us:  taking advantage of us at home or at work, lying, stealing, ignoring our needs, failing to support us, misjudging us, etc., etc.  But getting even is exactly the opposite of Jesus’ example.  When he was being arrested, he commanded his disciples to put away their swords (Matt 26:51-52), adding, “Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than 12 legions of angels?” (26:53), i.e., with 100,000 spiritual soldiers.  Assuredly, that force would have been quite enuf to make mincemeat of the police and soldiers come to arrest him.

But Jesus’ all-surpassing love wouldn’t let him harm even his bitter foes.  “The Most High is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked” (Luke 6:35)—even to us sinners who gather here unworthy in his presence.

Still, forgiving those who offend us is a process for most of us.  If we’ve been physically injured, healing takes time.  Scars remain.  I can show you 25-year-old surgical scars.  The scars on our souls don’t disappear either.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t pray for those who’ve hurt us.  We must pray for them—pray for their conversion and healing, pray that they might be (or become) friends of God and come to eternal life (and not praying that this happen soon!).  We must pray for our own healing.  Some of the fault in a broken relationship might be ours, after all.  At the least, we pray for a more tranquil heart when we remember our injuries.

Finally, we entrust everything and everyone to God, as David did.  God had made known to David his future, that he should become king.  Yet, in the face of Saul’s deadly hostility, David maintained, “The Lord will reward each man for his justice and his faithfulness” (1 Sam 26:23), not for his military skill or his power over his enemies.  In fact, along with the Psalmist, we all depend upon the Lord to be “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in kindness” and “not to deal with us according to our sins” (103:8,10).

Therefore, may our gracious and merciful Father pardon not only our sins but also the sins of everyone in our lives.  At this time, may his mercy defend those in need of his help and keep the world at peace.

---

          [1] Title of a book by Pope Francis with Andrea Tornielli (Random House, 2016).

 

Salesian Missions' 75th Anniversary Campaign

Salesian Missions Launches
75th Anniversary Campaign

Aims to Help Ship Supplies to Poor Youths and Families

(ANS – New Rochelle – February 17, 2022) – In honor and celebration of its 75th anniversary, Salesian Missions in New Rochelle has launched a new campaign to raise $75,000 by Feb. 28, 2022. The time-limited campaign will help the organization leverage the power of its Gifts in Kind program to deliver nearly $1.1 million worth of goods to youths and families in need in 2022. For every $1 donation, Salesian Missions is able to send up to $14 in goods.

Fr. James O’Loughlen established the Salesian Missions office in 1947 with a charter to tell the stories of the Salesians’ global programs and rally support to enhance their efforts. During the past 75 years, Salesian Missions has provided a remarkable impact for the poorest, most disenfranchised, and most vulnerable children and families. To date, more than 3 million children have been helped by Salesian programs in more than 130 countries around the globe.

“Ever since I stepped into this role three years ago, I have heard about so many children and adults whose names I will always remember. Youths are building much brighter futures thanks to the education, training, social support, and other assistance they needed but could never have accessed on their own,” said Fr. Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions.

While education is always a primary focus, Salesian missionaries know that other supports are needed to help youths excel in school. They need a bed to get a good night’s rest. They need a desk and chair to be able to focus in the classroom. While many people do not give these items a second thought, for countless at-risk and marginalized youths, these items bring dignity and hope for the future—and set them on the path for school success.

“Many bright, motivated students who attend Salesian schools face profound disadvantages in the classroom,” noted Fr. Gus. “In addition to the challenges they must overcome just to get to school—some walking several hours each way—they often struggle to focus and learn. It’s important that we provide the social supports and the material items needed to help youths be prepared. Youths cannot focus without sleep or on an empty stomach. It’s hard to learn in environments that are not conducive to education. We must provide them with the necessities that start them on the right path.”

To help provide these materials items, Salesian Missions partners with organizations like IRN-The Reuse Network, an association that matches surplus items with the organizations and people who need them most. Since 1999, IRN-The Reuse Network has worked with nonprofits which are known to be reputable, effective providers of relief work and development assistance, and which are able to put to effective use the items that IRN-The Reuse Network collects.

Today, IRN-The Reuse Network donations have provided Salesian programs in East Timor, El Salvador, Vietnam, and Ivory Coast with school desks and chairs, bookcases, filing cabinets, and bedroom furniture.

For further information, visit the Salesian Missions website https://salesianmissions.org.

Homily for Tuesday, Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Feb.15, 2020
Psalm 94: 12-15, 18-19
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

“Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord” (Ps 94: 12).

In the gospels we witness a superabundance of divine instruction.  Nevertheless, yesterday the Pharisees sought a sign from heaven as a test of Jesus’ validity as a prophet (Mark 8:11).  And today Jesus chews out the disciples because “they do not yet understand or comprehend” (8:17).

(Duccio di Buoninsegna)

Divine instruction abounds for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to understand (8:18; cf. Matt 13:14-15).  God instructs us thru the life, ministry, teaching, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Further, he instructs us thru the lives of the saints, particularly our founder, the life-story of our congregation—its history and experience—the charism of the founder and the congregation, our rule of life sanctioned by the Church.

The Lord instructs us thru the brothers whose lives we share, thru the lay people around us, thru our years of experience and reflection upon our own lives.

The instruction of the Lord comes in many forms.  Blessed are those who perceive it, learn from it, practice it.

Salesian Missions' Clean Water Initiative Benefits Thousands

Salesian Missions’ Clean Water Initiative Benefits Almost 5,000 People

(ANS – Nafa Nkwanta, Ghana – February 15, 2022) – Close to 5,000 people in villages across the Bono region of Ghana have access to clean water thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions in New Rochelle. The seven projects, part of the Salesian Missions Clean Water Initiative, provided the villages with new boreholes, hand pumps, and in a few of the projects, water tanks.

Water remains one of the main challenges in the Bono region. Access to the nearest available water sources is several miles from these villages. The residents who live in the region, mostly farmers, depend on stream water for all their needs and have to share it with grazing animals.

The health and social implications of using this water are having devastating effects on the community. Residents have waited for a long time for a better and cleaner water source for drinking, cooking, and other activities, and they are appreciative of the support and assistance.

Leticia Gyan, a community resident in the village of Nafa Nkwanta, said: “It has been our dream, and we have been praying about it. It is really difficult to find drinking water here when the stream dries. Sometimes we have to go to Senase, a community 3 miles away, to get some water for drinking. So, we have to ration it otherwise. When we finish it, we have to walk through hills and valleys to reach Senase in order to get water again. I think now we can also bathe. I am very happy. We are all happy.”

The chief and elder of the Aboabo village also expressed appreciation, saying: “Many years of long-distance walking in search of water on a daily basis has now come to an end. With this precious gift, we think that you are not only giving us drinking water but also helping us to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful, and may God bless everyone involved. We are highly honored.”

U.N.-Water estimates that worldwide 2.2 billion people are living without access to safe water. One in four primary schools has no drinking water service, with students using unprotected water sources or going thirsty. In addition, U.N.-Water notes that more than 700 children under age 5 die every day from diarrheal disease linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation.

“Water is essential for life, which is why Salesian Missions has made it a priority that Salesian programs around the globe have access to safe, clean water for the health and safety of those we serve,” said Fr. Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Improving water access brings a sense of dignity to children and families and reduces the number of waterborne illnesses.”

While Ghana’s economy continues to improve, nearly 45% of the population lives on less than $1 a day, according to UNICEF. Rural poverty remains widespread in the dry savannah region that covers roughly two-thirds of Ghana’s northern territory. Small-scale farms suffer from a lack of infrastructure and equipment, both of which are needed to shift from subsistence farming to more modern commercial farming, which would yield greater incomes and a chance to escape poverty.

To learn more about the Salesian Missions Clean Water Initiative, go to SalesianMissions.org/water

Salesians Help Child Soldiers Recover from Their Ordeal

Salesians Help Child Soldiers 
Recover from Their Ordeal

(ANS – New Rochelle – February 14, 2022) – Thousands of children are being recruited and used in armed conflicts all over the world. Between 2005 and 2020, more than 93,000 cases of children recruited and used by the warring parties were verified. The actual number of cases is believed to be much higher. UNICEF ​​recalled this on February 12, which was International Day Against the Use of Children Soldiers.

“Often referred to as ‘child soldiers,’ these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully understood in this term,” UNICEF emphasizes. The warring parties, in fact, use children not only as fighters, but also as scouts, cooks, porters, guards, messengers, and more. Many, especially girls, are also subjected to gender-based violence.

According to the latest annual report by the U.N. secretary general on minors and armed conflicts, in 2020 the United Nations verified 26,425 serious violations, including the recruitment and use of 8,521 children, an increase compared to the 7,750 cases recorded in 2019.

“Children utilized in hostilities and war have faced unimaginable violence and abuses and need our support to have a second chance in life,” said Fr. Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle. “In countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries work with former child soldiers so that they may overcome the traumas of war and reintegrate into society.”

For example, in Colombia, one of the countries most afflicted by the phenomenon of child soldiers, the Salesians are active with various centers and programs for their recovery. One of the model centers is in Cali. Upon their arrival at the Don Bosco Center, the young people who are welcomed receive a uniform and the tools that correspond to the profession they have chosen to learn. More important, they are given a chance to regain their personal identity and start rebuilding their self-esteem and trust in others. The Salesian center counts on a team of professionals who help the young people to establish a formation plan. Young people can take courses to become electricians, industrial mechanics, auto repair technicians, cooks, tailors, beauticians, welders, IT operators, accountants, librarians, or secretaries. Courses are the cornerstone of development, and young people also learn safety rules there, such as handling machines and products, and undergo life-skills training that helps them regain the ability to relate to others as well. There are currently 30 young people in training at this center.

But there is more than just recovery; prevention is also important. In the city of Bamako, the capital of Mali, the Salesian Pere Michel training center is bringing joy, providing education, and fostering peace among the young people of the Niarela district and the outskirts of the city, functioning as a deterrent for children being recruited as child soldiers. In a country that in the space of nine months during 2020-2021 has suffered two coups d’etat, these young people receive the opportunity to play sports, learn music, study in its library. In this way, they are kept away from the street, from harmful habits such as alcohol or drugs, acquire useful skills for their present and future, grow in safety, and do not fall prey to those who want to use them in conflicts and operations much larger than they.

Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 13, 2022
Collect
Jer 17: 5-8
Ps 1: 1-4, 6
1 Cor 15: 12, 16-20                    
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
St. Joseph, N.R.
Assumption, Bronx
Blessed Sacrament, N.R.

“O God, you abide in hearts that are just and true.  Grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you” (Collect).

The readings and the responsorial psalm today offer us a set of contrasts:  between someone who trusts in human beings (or in himself) and someone who trusts in the Lord (Jer 17:5-8); between the wicked person and the one who delights in the law of the Lord (Ps 1:1-4,6); between one who believes in the resurrection and one who doesn’t (1 Cor 15:12,16-20); between those who are poor, suffering, or persecuted for Christ’s name and those who have all the satisfactions of this life but care not for Christ (Luke 6:20-26).

In that context, we prayed in the Collect—the formal name for our opening prayer—that God fashion our hearts, shape our hearts, fill our hearts with an appreciation of and practice of his justice and truth.  It’s God’s grace alone that can do that, that can keep us faithful to the law of the Lord day and nite (Ps 1:2), that can strengthen our often faltering hearts to keep their trust in Christ as our Redeemer, firmly planted like a tree beside a stream of water, as both Jeremiah (17:8) and the psalm (1:3) say.  It’s God’s grace alone that enables us to believe that Christ has been raised from the dead (1 Cor 15:12), obtaining for us who belong to him the forgiveness of our sins (cf. 15:17) and the promise of being raised up ourselves to live alongside Jesus.

St. Paul makes the point that if there is no resurrection of men and women, then Christ can’t have been raised from the dead, and our supposed faith is worthless:  “we are the most pitiable people of all” (15:19), living lives based on empty hope, on eternal nothingness.  Then we might as well strive to live among those upon whom Christ pronounces “woe”:  the rich, the fat and comfortable, those whom the world praises (Luke 6:24-26).

Our hearts want to believe that there is life beyond death, that this is true; that God rewards the just and punishes the wicked; that God really is faithful to men and women who try to practice virtue, who pursue and live truth.  If we do our best to seek truth and practice justice (live virtuously), then our hearts will please God and he’ll dwell in us—the life of grace, the gateway to eternal life.

Last Wednesday the Holy Father spoke about death.  In his weekly public audiences, he’s been meditating upon St. Joseph for several months, and he came to Joseph’s death, accompanied by Jesus and Mary.  With them at his side, Joseph had no reason to fear death, and neither do we.  If Jesus is truly raised from the dead, then our own death is only a transition from one form of living to another.  In the Mass for deceased Christians, we note that for God’s faithful, “life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven” (Preface I for the Dead).

Pope Francis said:  “It is only through faith in resurrection that we can face the abyss of death without being overwhelmed by fear, because ‘the true light that illuminates the mystery of death comes from the resurrection of Christ.’ Thinking about death in the light of the mystery of Christ helps us to look at all life through fresh eyes.”[1]  There’s nothing to fear when God’s dwelling in our hearts, when Christ is at our side.

Christians, therefore, welcome death but don’t hurry it along; they welcome death but don’t administer it by euthanasia or assisted suicide, which are sins of despair, sins of whose who seek their strength in flesh, whose hearts turn away from the Lord, as Jeremiah says (17:5).  Christians place their hope in the Lord.  We hope in life after death.  We look forward to a great reward in heaven, as Jesus says (cf. Luke 6:23), because we live the truth that God is in charge of our lives, in charge of our eternal destiny—and in Christ Jesus he redeems all who are his own.

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       [1] Vatican News, Feb. 9, 2022, edited.

Homily for Saturday, Week 5 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Saturday
5th Week of Ordinary Time

Feb. 12, 2022
1 Kings 12: 26-32; 13: 33-34
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways” (1 Kings 13: 33).

Jeroboam worships a gold bull (Jean-Honoré Fragonard)

They say that the victors get to write the history books and put their own interpretation on events.  The sacred scribes we call the Deuteronomist have interpreted Jewish history from the perspective of the tribe of Judah during or after the Exile, from the perspective of the Davidic dynasty, and from the perspective of the tribe of Levi.

Regarding our 1st reading, those perspectives center on 2 covenants.  The 1st is the Sinai covenant, which established the Levites as the priestly order in Israel, established a calendar of public festivals and pilgrimages to the holy place appointed by God, and (implicitly) established Jerusalem as the center of Israelite worship.  The 2d is the covenant with David, that his house should rule Israel forever.

Jeroboam has upended those covenants by rebelling against David’s grandson and dividing Israel, and by trying to consolidate his rebellion by setting up other places of worship—which recall the Hebrews’ rebellion in the desert when they worshiped the golden calf—by desecrating priestly worship in his kingdom, and by decreeing a new calendar of feasts to keep the people of the northern tribes from returning to Jerusalem.

Moreover, Jeroboam subverts the religion of Israel by using it for his own end, to uphold his rule.  As Christians we note that Jesus came to establish the reign of God.  Jeroboam wants God to establish his reign.  This deviant form of religious practice, based on royal control, has tempted rulers thruout history:  Roman emperors, medieval kings, Henry VIII, Gallican tendencies in France, the Communists of China.

Our country once experienced a secession:  not of 10 northern tribes but of 11 southern tribes.  The violation of a covenant didn’t follow that secession; rather, the violation of a covenant was the cause.  Our Founding Fathers solemnly declared that all men are created equal, and after outlining other principles and a list of grievances, solemnly declared our independence and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in support of their principles and declaration.  Lincoln referenced that covenant when he counted “four score and seven years ago.”  But some of those Fathers and their offspring derived their fortunes from human bondage and pledged their sacred honor to uphold the unequal treatment of some men and women—violating not only the covenant of 1776 but a fundamental covenant between humanity and God.

That secession, like Jeroboam’s, was doomed to eventual failure, based as it was on gross injustice.  Whereas Jeroboam’s secession took 209 years to collapse, the southern secession collapsed in just 4 years of brutal civil war.  Unhappily, parts of the evil heritage of that rebellion linger into our own day in an ideology that some people are more equal than others, as Orwell suggested.  Racists have not given up their evil ways, not in our country nor in many others.

What does all that have to do with us, all that rebellion and deviant religion?

In the 1st place, we are children of the new covenant in Christ’s blood.  Each day we renew that covenant, pledge our fidelity, our sacred honor, to it, strive to live as loyal subjects of the kingdom of God.  Daily, we turn from our evil ways, repenting of our sins, seeking the Lord’s mercy.  Rather than leading others away from true worship, like Jeroboam, we pledge our lives to bring them closer to Jesus.

In the 2d place, we can give our religious loyalty to no earthly regime, no political party, no charismatic star of politics or even of religion.  Remember Jim Jones, or just Jim and Tammy Faye or a certain former SDB who’s attained some notoriety.  Remember the words of the Psalmist:  put not your trust in princes.  Remember our national motto:  In God we trust.

Retreat with Rector Major in Quito Concludes

Retreat with Rector Major in Quito Concludes

(ANS – Quito, Ecuador - February 10, 2022) – On February 10, a spiritual retreat preached by the Rector Major at the St. Patricio Salesian Center for Spirituality and Conferences in Quito concluded. The provincials and provincial councilors of 13 provinces of the Interamerica Region and the regional councilor Fr. Hugo Orozco participated—including both U.S. provincials and most of the U.S. councilors.

Fr. Angel Fernandez with the provincials and councilors of the New Rochelle and San Francisco provinces: l-r Bro. Tom Mass, Fr. Mike Conway, Fr. Tim Zak, the RM, Fr. Mel Trinidad, Fr. Lou Molinelli, Fr. Mike Gergen, Fr. Dave Moreno, & Fr. John Itzaina

Homily for Memorial Mass for Bro. Andrew Rose, CFC

Homily for the Memorial Mass
for Bro. Andrew Rose, CFC

Feb. 8, 2022
1 John 3: 1-3
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, New Rochelle

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us” (1 John 3: 1).

Saints above, saints below (Raphael)

This morning’s reflection from St. John begins with the work of God:  see what God has done for us, what love he has bestowed on us.  Christian life is a gift, a grace.  Likewise our religious vocation, of which Bro. Andy seems to have been particularly aware.  And what a grace it is to be aware of God’s gift in us!

The gift of God that is ours thru Baptism is to “be called the children of God” (3:1).  Quite simply, Baptism joins us to Christ, God’s Son by nature.  We become his children by grace, or by adoption as we often say—because the Father has chosen to love us as he naturally loves the Son.

So we are already God’s children (3:2).  According to John, more is coming.  When Christ returns, it will be revealed, i.e., our future destiny, our eternal destiny, will be revealed.  We shall “be like him,” i.e., like Christ, “for we shall see him as he is” (3:2), as the risen, glorious, perfect human being, the very image of God the Father.  And in the glorious reflection of Jesus, we shall be the images of God that God 1st intended in Eden.

May it be so for our Bro. Andy and for each of us.