Pope Francis Remembers Fr. Enrico Pozzoli

Pope Francis Remembers Fr. Enrico Pozzoli

“Wise, good, hard-working man; an apostle of the confessional”

(ANS - Vatican City – August 29, 2022) – while receiving the representatives of the ecclesial and civil community of Lodi, Italy, during an audience in the Clementine Hall on August 26, Pope Francis shared the reasons for his closeness to that territory and its people: his baptism received from the Salesian priest Fr. Enrico Pozzoli, who was originally from Lodi.

The audience with Pope Francis was attended by priests, sisters, seminarians, and lay faithful, synodal delegates and representatives of parishes and associations, together with their bishop emeritus, volunteers, and communication workers, led by Bishop Maurizio Malvestiti, who presented a greeting to the Pope on behalf of the whole diocese.

During the audience, the Holy Father recalled the “baptismal” bond with Lodi, affirming his “kinship” with this city, and then recounted his personal experience.

“As you know, Fr. Enrico Pozzoli not only baptized me but also helped me to enter the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and followed me up all my life. He is a son of your land, a native of Senna Lodigiana, in the valley area, near the river Po,” explained Pope Francis.

“Attracted by the charism of Don Bosco, he left as a young man for Turin and became a Salesian. Fr. Enrico was immediately sent to Argentina, where he remained throughout his life. He became friends with my parents and helped them accept my call to the priesthood. I was pleased when a good countryman of yours, who is present here, collected documents and news about him and wrote his biography. I had them immediately, of course! But today, I receive it ‘officially,’ and with emotions, because you, friends of Senna Lodigiana, the neighbors of Fr. Pozzoli, bring it to me. He was a true Salesian! A wise, good, hard-working man; an apostle of the confessional, who was never tired of hearing confessions; he was always merciful, capable of listening and giving good advice. Thank you very much! That is why I say that we are relatives, not by blood relations – but the thread that unites us is much stronger and more sacred - because it is that of Baptism,” added the Holy Father.

During his speech, he did not fail to recall the closeness of the Church to migrants and the pandemic. Pope Francis also focused on another important aspect, that of evangelization. Recalling Fr. Pozzoli, the Holy Father affirmed that “evangelization is done essentially with holiness of life, witnessing to love in fact and in truth,” and that, in the face of a changing world, “there is a need to seek newer paths, newer methods, newer languages, but retaining the path of Lord,” he observes. “What remains the same is a witnessing life shaped by the Gospel.”

The Pope then concluded by exhorting the Lodi community “to continue the journey, faithful to the roots and open to the world, with the wisdom and patience of the peasants and the creativity of the artisans; committed to the care of the poor and to the care of the land that God has entrusted to us.”

Artemides Zatti Will Be Canonized on October 9

Artemides Zatti Will Be Canonized on October 9

By Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, postulator general

(ANS – Vatican City – August 27, 2022) – On the occasion of the ordinary public consistory held in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, August 27, for the canonization of blesseds:

- Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza, founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles and the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo;

- Artemides Zatti, professed layman of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco (Salesians).

The Holy Father has decided that the rite of canonization of the two blesseds will be celebrated on Sunday, October 9, 2022.

Artemides Zatti was born in Boretto (Reggio Emilia), Italy, on October 12, 1880. Early in life he experienced the harshness of sacrifice, so much so that at the age of nine he was already earning his living as a laborer. Forced by poverty, in early 1897 the Zatti family emigrated to Argentina and settled in Bahia Blanca. Artemides was then 17 years old.

Young Artemides immediately started working, first in a hotel and then in a brick factory. He started attending the parish run by the Salesians. The parish priest at that time was Fr. Carlo Cavalli, a pious man of extraordinary goodness. Artemides found in him his spiritual director, and the pastor found in Artemides an excellent collaborator. It did not take long for him to turn toward Salesian life. When he was 20 years old, he left for the aspirantate in Bernal. Those were very hard years for Artemides, who was older than his companions but behind them in terms of the few studies he had done. He overcame all the difficulties, however, thanks to his tenacious will, keen intelligence, and solid piety.

While taking care of a young priest hit by tuberculosis, unfortunately he contracted the disease. The paternal concern of Fr. Cavalli – who followed him from afar – meant that the Salesian house of Viedma was chosen for him, where there was a more suitable climate and above all a missionary hospital with a good Salesian nurse who in practice acted as a “doctor”: Fr.  Evasio Garrone. The latter immediately realized the serious state of the young man’s health and at the same time sensed his uncommon virtues. He invited Artemides to pray to Mary Help of Christians to obtain healing, but also suggested making a promise: “If she heals you, you will dedicate your whole life to these sick people.” Artemides willingly made this promise and was mysteriously healed. He accepted with humility and docility the great suffering of renouncing his desire for priesthood (because of the illness he had contracted). Neither then nor later did he lament this unattained goal of his life.

He made his first profession as a lay brother on January 11, 1908, and his perpetual profession on February 18, 1911. In keeping with the promise he made to our Lady, he immediately and totally consecrated himself to the hospital, initially taking charge of the adjoining pharmacy after obtaining the title of “qualified in pharmacy.” When Fr. Garrone died in 1913, all responsibility for the hospital fell on his shoulders. In fact, he became its vice director, administrator, and an expert nurse esteemed by all the sick and by the doctors themselves, who gradually gave him more and more freedom of action. Throughout his life, the hospital was the place where he exercised his virtue, day after day, to a heroic degree.

His service was not limited to the hospital but extended to the whole city, or rather to the two towns on the opposite banks of the Negro River: Viedma and Patagones. He usually went out with his white coat and with his bag containing the most common medicines; with one hand on the handlebar and the other with the rosary. He preferred poor families but was also called upon by the rich. In case of need, he moved at all hours of the day and night, whatever the weather was. He did not stay in the city center but also went to the hovels of the suburbs. He did everything for free, and if he received anything, he gave it to the hospital.

Artemides Zatti loved his sick in a truly moving way, as he saw Jesus himself in them. He was always obsequious toward the doctors and hospital owners. But the situation was not always easy, both because of the character of some of them and because of the disagreements that could arise between the legal managers and him. But he was able to win them over, and with his harmonious balance he managed to resolve even the most delicate situations. Only a profound self-mastery could make it possible for him to triumph over the hassle and the easy irregularities of the timetable.

He was an edifying witness of fidelity to the community life. It amazed everyone how this holy religious, so busy with his many commitments at the hospital, could at the same time be the exemplary representative of regularity. It was he who rang the bell, it was he who preceded all the other brothers in community appointments. Faithful to the Salesian spirit and to the motto “work and temperance” bequeathed by Don Bosco to his sons, he carried out his prodigious activity with habitual readiness of spirit, with a spirit of sacrifice especially during night duty, with absolute detachment from any personal satisfaction, never taking holidays or rest. As a good Salesian, he knew how to make cheerfulness a component of his holiness. He always appeared cheerfully smiling: this is how all the photos that have reached us portray him. He was a man of easy human relations, with a visible charge of sympathy, always happy to entertain humble people. But he was above all a man of God. He radiated it. One of the hospital doctors said, “When I saw Bro. Zatti, my disbelief wavered.” And another: “I have believed in God ever since I met Bro. Zatti.”

In 1950, he fell from a ladder, and it was at this accident that the symptoms of cancer manifested themselves, which he lucidly diagnosed. He continued with his mission for another year, however, until after heroically accepting his sufferings, he passed away on March 15, 1951, in full consciousness, surrounded by the affection and gratitude of a population that from then on began to invoke him as an intercessor with God. All the inhabitants of Viedma and Patagones flocked to his funeral in an unprecedented procession.

The fame of his holiness spread quickly, and his tomb began to be much venerated. Even today, when people go to the cemetery for funerals, they always visit the tomb of Artemides Zatti. Beatified by St. John Paul II on April 14, 2002, Blessed Artemides Zatti was the first non-martyr Salesian coadjutor to be raised to the honors of the altars.

A short life of Saint Artemides by Fr. Peter Lappin is available from Salesiana Publishers: DBBooks@salesianmissions.org or 914-633-8344.

Homily for 22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

I'm on vacation, and the local pastor in Columbia, Md., didn't call upon me for assistance.  Here's a really old homily.

September 3, 1989
Luke 14: 1, 7-14
Holy Cross, Fairfield, Conn.

Many of us read Ann Landers, Abby, and best of all, Miss Manners in the newspapers.  So many fascinating questions about proper etiquette, especially at weddings!  A surface reading of Luke 14 might give the impression that Jesus is playing Miss Manners.  It’s hardly true; try to imagine her writing:  “Gentle reader, when you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind . . . and you will be repaid in the resurrection of the just” (Luke 7:13-14).

The Marriage Feast (Paolo Veronese)

Luke 14 isn’t about etiquette but about something even more important, the kingdom of God, the banquet of eternal life.

There is, nonetheless, a certain practicality to Jesus’ advice about welcoming beggars and the handicapped:  not practical in the sense that we should literally go down to skid row and find them before our next wedding reception or birthday party, but practical in the sense that Jesus is commanding us to practice love of neighbor.

As you know, the Church has in recent years been speaking more and more about social issues such as the arms race, world hunger, the economy, capital punishment, the minimum wage.  The Church does more than talk about such issues.  Our concern for human society is rooted in the teaching and example of Jesus; it’s rooted in the dignity of every human being, created in the image and likeness of God.  Throughout the history of the Church, we find Christians performing the corporal works of mercy:  feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, schooling the ignorant, tending the sick, mediating quarrels.  We still do those things through refugee assistance, famine relief, orphanages, leprosariums and AIDS hospices, shelters for the homeless and for runaways, health clinics, soup kitchens, low-income housing and nursing homes, schools of every kind; we do these things here in the United States and especially in the Third World, where there’s more poverty and misery than most of us can possibly imagine.

Jesus isn’t actually telling us to open our family meals to the folks we meet at the bus station.  But he is telling us to open our hearts and our wallets to the poor, the handicapped, the refugee, the immigrant – through the public policies that we advocate, through Church agencies, perhaps through our volunteer time.

In all of us there’s a tendency to blame beggars and the handicapped, the homeless and the jobless for their problems, a tendency to tell them they should work just like we do if they want to make it.

But what Jesus is saying here is something of a parable, a parable of the kingdom.  His Father is giving a reception, the banquet of eternal life, and he’s invited “beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind” who can’t repay him.  He’s invited us – us undeserving sinners.  Our sins, obviously, are of our own making.  Imagine if God told us, “Heal yourself, and then you’ll be worthy of being my child, of entering my home, and of dining with me.”

Fortunately for us, he’s a God of grace, a God who forgives and heals, a God who takes the first step toward us, a God who loves us so much that he gave us his only Son to be our friend, our guide, and our Savior, without waiting for us to deserve it.

Jesus asks us to try to love one another as he has loved us.

Stephen Sandor Comes Home

The Message of the Rector Major

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime

Message of the Rector Major for September for the Salesian Bulletin and other Salesian media.

STEPHEN SANDOR COMES HOME

“A series of miraculous coincidences surrounded and enhanced the solemn celebration for the blessing of the relics of Blessed Stephen Sandor, who had been martyred for ‘being a Salesian.’”

Cordial greetings, my friends, readers of Salesian media and friends of Don Bosco’s charism.

I know that speaking of anything that refers to armed conflicts and totalitarian regimes of one or another ideological ilk is always a delicate matter because it touches people in many different ways. There is “family heritage” in terms of political positions, and then there is the cultural environment in which one lives. Although I am aware of this, history cannot be changed. It can be rewritten to fall short of the truth, but that does not change what happened. In the case I wish to relate, it is the history of a young Salesian of Don Bosco, a brother, Stephen Sandor.

Stephen Sandor is not a young man whom I met on one of my trips; he was a young Salesian martyred in Hungary and now beatified. At the age of 39, Stephen was sentenced to death and executed during the dark years of Communist rule in Hungary. Of what crime was he accused? He would gather boys for sports, youth activities, and instruction in a trade. This was considered high treason to the regime.

Yet Stephen’s story is very special: in terms of his conviction, how he saved the lives of 6 young people who were arrested with him, his execution, his burial in a common and unmarked grave, and how his body was found 70 years later with the help of Martin, a former student along with 3 professionals who are experts in history and DNA evidence. This discovery made it possible for me to go to Budapest, Hungary, on June 4, 2022, to the Clarisseum to celebrate the Blessed’s return home to the same place from which he had been taken to the gallows. Additionally, after 70 years, the land and the house from which they were once expelled and which they were forbidden ever to enter again has now been returned to the Salesians of Don Bosco.

The Clarisseum reopened

The photograph in which you see us entering from an outside door shows us making a step that no one could have made in the last 70 years, until today. I am telling this because I sincerely believe that despite the difficulties that we are seeing, even at this present moment in European and world history, God continues to have the last word, the definitive one, about life and death. So, it has been with the young Salesian, Br. Stephen Sandor.

“I owe him my life”

Stephen prevented 6 young people from being executed with him. In one of the photographs, you see me with a man sitting in a wheelchair. His wife could not come because she was very ill. He was one of the 6 young people who, at the age of 22, were arrested along with Stephen, accused of being traitors to the regime. After a very harsh interrogation with torture, the young Salesian managed to talk to the 6 young people at one point and asked them to blame him for whatever they were being accused of by the Communists. Although the young people resisted, he told them that because of both the friendship that united them and their faith in Jesus, they had to do so to save their lives. And that is what happened—that is what this former student, a former youth animator at the Clarisseum, told me. Indeed, Stephen was sentenced to death, and the young men were sentenced to 8 years in prison. Fortunately, our friend told me, 3 years later the Communist regime in Hungary changed, and his sentence was repealed.

DNA from a postage stamp

For 70 years, Bro. Stephen’s body lay in unknown whereabouts. He had been executed and buried in a common grave with 5 others, in a forest on the outskirts of Budapest, without any indication or name that could give clues as regards who or what was there. The burial took place at night without leaving any trace—precisely what those who had executed him intended. For 70 years, the conviction was held that it would be impossible to find his remains. Yet the tenacity of a young ex-student coupled with the experience and great knowledge of an expert on the history of those years in Budapest (who went so far as to say where she sensed they might be buried from what was known of many other burials from that time), caused the mortal remains of 6 executed men to be found a few months ago. It seemed incredible that they had found just the remains of 6 people. It remained to be seen whether one of them could be Blessed Stephen.

DNA from a stamp—it was DNA collected from a letter written by Stephen and from another letter with a stamp put on it by his brother (who spent his whole life looking for Stephen without being able to see it because he died 3 years ago) that allowed two great professionals to identify many of Stephen’s mortal remains, remains now collected in that delicate casket that we see. It was my great joy to meet and greet these experts in DNA recognition techniques.

On account of the above and in many other details, what we have experienced is unique. I can testify to the emotion and even shock of many people at Mass that morning. Sharing in it throughout that day was indescribable. I can testify to the emotion of the now old man who was able to lay his hand on the casket of his Salesian educator, friend, and martyr who saved his and his peers’ lives, who sacrificed himself to free them from the same end. I can testify from what I have experienced that this is not a coincidence; it’s much more than that. It is also the presence of God in the events of history (along with human freedom). That is why I can state what I said at the beginning: Blessed Stephen Sandor returns home. And the Salesians today, with the young people who are there and those who will come, also return home, to his house, to the Clarisseum in Budapest, Hungary.

Homily for Thursday, Week 21 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
21st Week of Ordinary Time

Aug. 25, 2022
1 Cor 1: 1-9
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, New Rochelle

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, … to the Church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1: 1-2).

Many of you remember the bad old days of Times Square.  In St. Paul’s time, Corinth was the Times Square of the Roman Empire.

After being rebuffed, mostly, when he tried to preach our risen Lord Jesus in Athens, city of philosophy and culture, Paul found an audience in Corinth.  Acts tells us he stayed there a year and a half (18:11), and he made many friends.

Paul preaching (St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome)

More important, as he writes in his salutation today, thru him Christ Jesus sanctified many, called them to be holy—which some translations render validly as “saints.”

The word “church,” ekklesia in Greek, means those called out, as for an assembly.  That’s what the believers of Corinth are, thru the grace of Jesus, and their calling is sanctification.  That’s who we are, in this room and in our respective religious congregations (and the parishes of our staff).  In Christ, God has called us to be saints, and his grace effects that in spite of our weaknesses and defects and even our sins.

For this, Paul gives thanks to God always (1:4)—and as the rest of his letter reveals, he certainly was aware of the sins of his friends in Corinth.  For this we also give thanks every day, thru the Eucharist, our other prayers, and our efforts to walk with the Lord Jesus.

FMAs' New Chapel in North Haledon Consecrated

FMAs’ New Chapel in North Haledon Consecrated

(North Haledon, N.J. – August 19) – Bp. Kevin Sweeney of Paterson consecrated the new chapel at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon on August 19. The planning and construction of the chapel took four years, following the destruction of the previous chapel by fire on May 18, 2018. Like the earlier version, the chapel is dedicated to St. Joseph, patron of the Haledon Province (eastern U.S. and all of Canada) of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMAs), better known as the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco.

The MHCA chapel is the heart of the FMA province, the usual site of their professions, jubilees, and other major celebrations.

Approximately 400 of the faithful took part in the splendid liturgy of consecration, which included proper prayers, a rich anointing of the new altar and the walls of the church, and solemn incensations. The rite was further solemnized by the presence of Auxiliary Bp. Manny Cruz of Newark, a good friend of the FMAs, and Bp. Robert Brennan of Brooklyn (the home diocese of Bp. Sweeney, which he made a point to mention). While bishop of Columbus, Bp. Brennan had invited the sisters to take up apostolic ministry in that city.

Also concelebrating were 10 Salesian priests, including Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, and 3 diocesan priests. Salesian Cooperator Joe Caporaso served as deacon. Among the scores of sisters taking part was Sister Phyllis Neves, a former provincial of both FMA provinces of North American and presently a member of their general council.

Fr. Jim Mulloy, SDB, for many years the chaplain of the sisters’ summer camp at North Haledon and a frequent celebrant of their daily Mass, was given the honor of symbolically unlocking and opening the church door for the first time.

Summary of Bp. Sweeney’s Homily

Whenever we gather in church, we’re gathering with the whole Church, including the saints in heaven. Today we’re also gathering those taking part by livestream. The FMAs worldwide are thus connected to this celebration.

This chapel is the center of the sisters’ life in the province. They are a blessing to the Paterson Diocese. We ask God’s blessing on all who are here.

The gospel we read today (John 2:13-22) made a deep impact on me when I was in high school (thanks in part to seeing it portrayed in Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth), and later when I did lectio as a seminarian. St. John cites the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.” What impact did that have on the apostles who were with Jesus?

In every Mass we encounter Jesus, the one who cleansed the Temple and who rose from the dead. We encounter him as members of his Body, which we are wherever we are. We come to this chapel, particularly, to listen to him and to receive him.

At this first Mass in this new church, we’ll be with the apostles in the upper room, hearing Jesus say to love one another. We’ll go with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane and on to Calvary, as he gives his body and pours out his blood. We’ll be with him risen from the tomb. Jesus’ love has conquered sin and death, and we encounter that love in the Eucharist.

[The bishop recapped the history of FMAs’ arrival in Paterson and their spread throughout the country and Canada.]

It’s really God who is dedicating this chapel, not so much Bp. Sweeney.

God calls us to be living stones, the temple of God, of which this building is a sign. Every Christian, in fact, is a temple of God, called to encounter Jesus and to be his witness of zeal and love.

Bp. Sweeney, Bp. Brennan, Aux. Bp. Cruz

Additional photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/gwf0CbZfJsb

5 SLMs Commissioned for Bolivia and Mexico

5 SLMs Commissioned for Bolivia & Mexico

Newly committed SLMs and their orientation team. Front: Katherine Mendoza, Tim Hughes, Adam Goetz. Back: Adam Rudin, Bro. Dan Glass, Mara Fenn, Paul Chappell, Katie Church. 

Five Salesian Lay Missioners were commissioned on August 18, 2022, near the end of their retreat at Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y. The weeklong retreat capped 3 weeks of orientation for the 5, as well as earlier discernment periods. The first 2 weeks of orientation were based at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, N.Y., where they were introduced to Don Bosco and the Salesians, were given an understanding of mission and inculturation, received safe environment training, completed necessary paperwork, and had some service experiences in the parish.

The orientation program was led by Adam Rudin, director of the Lay Missioners program. He was assisted by 3 returned SLMs: Bro. Daniel Glass, SDB (2012 South Sudan), Katie Church (2018 Cambodia), and Grace Mosher (2021 Bolivia).

Paul Chappell from Scituate, R.I., will be assigned to Kami, Bolivia, which is near Cochabamba. The Salesians’ St. Joseph work there includes a school, parish, and social assistance. Paul’s actually doing his second turn in the SLM program; a good many years ago he was an SLM in Papua New Guinea.

Mara Fenn (at left) from Waxhaw, N.C., and Katherine Mendoza from Frisco, Tex., will be posted together at Hogar Maria Auxiliadora, a girls orphanage in Cochabamba, Bolivia, replacing SLMs who have been there for a year.

Adam Goetz (right) from Peosta, Iowa, and Timothy Hughes from Carlsbad, Calif., will go to the St. Dominic Savio School and youth center in Colima, Mexico, a new site for the SLM program.

The SLM retreat, as usual, coincided with an SDB retreat—about two dozen SDBs in this case. They shared prayers, meals, recreation, and conversation with the SDBs but followed their own program of spiritual exercises. Recreation with SDBs included basketball, soccer, and a strenuous 6-hour hike in Bear Mountain State Park.

Fr. Tim Zak prays for the lay missioners at the beginning of their commissioning service 

in the presence of SDBs on retreat. 

Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, presided over the Evening Prayer service that included the commissioning rite. He introduced the service by linking our province’s sending forth missionaries to what the early Church did (cf. Acts of the Apostles).

In his homily Fr. Tim first cited the Rector Major’s call for a “time for generosity” in the Congregation, specifically for missionary generosity. The Rector Major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, alluded to the 150th anniversary of the Salesian missions (Argentina, 1875) and to the great work that has blossomed in Northeast India since the first Salesians went there in 1906. Indians now make up 20% of Salesians worldwide, and they’re going out as missionaries, including to our own province.

Fr. Tim preaching the homily

The courageous example of our first missionaries and later ones spurs us on, Fr. Tim continued. The generosity and the witness of the SLMs also encourage us in the province to carry out our own mission where we are, including supporting one another.

After receiving his or her missionary cross, each SLM made a statement of how s/he heard the missionary call and of what s/he hopes to accomplish as an SLM.

Paul Chappell (left) aims to grow, especially grow closer to God; and to be present to the people he’ll be with.

Mara Fenn wants to love God and know she’s loved by God, and to accompany the young girls she’ll be with on their journey to God.

Adam Goetz is seeking to live the joy of his vocation and of being a child of God, and he wants others to know that joy, as well.

Tim Hughes (right) wants to continue saying “yes” to God in whatever way God sets before him, which now is centered on the kids of Colima.

Kat Mendoza (left) aspires to be a faith-base for the girls in Cochabamba, revealing to them God’s fatherly love.

Additional photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/1745xZVPHsb

Homily for Memorial of St. Rose of Lima

Homily for the Memorial of
St. Rose of Lima

Aug. 23, 2022
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

(by Claudio Coello)

The collect of St. Rose (1586-1617), 1st canonized saint from the New World, and one of 4 more or less contemporary saints from Lima, highlights her seclusion from the world and her life of penance.

You’re wondering who the other 3 saints of early 17th-century Lima were.  The best known is St. Martin de Porres (1579-1639).  Almost unknown is Martin’s friend and fellow Dominican lay brother St. John Macias (1585-1645).  The 4th was Abp. Turibius of Mogrovejo (1538-1606), abp. of Lima, who confirmed Rose.

No one would want to imitate Rose’s extreme forms of penance; they were extreme even in her own time.  What we might imitate is her willingness to suffer with Christ.  As long as we’re embodied humans, we have no choice but to suffer, and that also includes emotional, psychological, and spiritual suffering.  Like Rose, we can hand all that over to Christ.

She secluded herself from a very young age in her family’s garden, living in a little hut, praying and having mystical experiences.  She was even investigated by the Inquisition, which concluded that her experiences were of divine origin.  When her family hit hard times, she helped support them by selling the flowers she cultivated in the garden and the lacework she produced.

You who are somewhat secluded can join Rose in praying for all sorts of people, especially the poor, the sick, and the desperate—the sorts of people to whom Rose reached out.  Likewise, we can try to practice patience with those who misunderstand us.

Denied entrance to a convent by her mother’s opposition, she became a 3d Order Dominican.  In that capacity, she took St. Catherine of Siena as a model, but without Catherine’s intellectual gifts and force of personality.  Like Catherine, she died very young—just 31 (Catherine was 33).  What she did have was devotion and zeal.  Rose advocated for the poor, especially the oppressed native people, so brutalized by the conquistadors.  When her sisters married and moved out of the house, Rose set up a little hospital for the needy.  She was their friend, and they recognized and appreciated that.  Friendship with whoever comes to us is, thus, another way we might imitate Rose. 

Lay Missioners Conquer the Mountain

Lay Missioners Conquer the Mountain

Every August the new batch of Salesian Lay Missioners goes thru 3 weeks of orientation (actually beginning in July). The last week is a retreat during which they share prayers, meals, recreation, and conversation with Salesian priests and brothers on retreat at the same time at Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y.

In the parking lot, photo set up by Kat Mendoza (half squatting)--with (front row) Katie Church, Mara Fenn, Tim Hughes, and Fr. Steve DeMaio; (back row) Fr. Mike Mendl, Adam Goetz, Bro. Dan Glass, Paul Chappell, and Adam Rudin.

Since 2011, one piece of the recreation has been a day hike in Harriman State Park or Bear Mountain State Park. Program director Adam Rudin calls upon your humble blogger to lead the hikes. We’ve gone to Big Hill Shelter along the Suffern-Bear Mt. Trail (moderately difficult; not as easy as using the Long Path); Bear Mountain several times (strenuous); Stockbridge Shelter (using either the Long Path or the Menomine Trail, both moderately difficult); and this year, on August 17, West Mountain (strenuous).

We parked off 7 Lakes Drive and picked up the 1777W trail (.25 mi) to the Appalachian Trail. We ascended the mountain on the AT (1.65 mi) and picked up the Timp-Torne Trail at the top of the ridge, following it as it ran along with the AT and then continued to the West (.55 mi)—almost 2½ miles in each direction, 2 hours going up, 1¾ coming down.  It was a little harder going for someone of a certain age, but the “kids” were stalwart, full of energy, and enthusiastic.

Bear Mountain seen from the West Mountain ridge

There were 10 in our party:  the 5 SLMs, Adam, 2 returned SLMs who helped Adam with the orientation (Bro. Dan Glass, 2012 South Sudan, and now a Salesian; and Katie Church, 2010 Cambodia), Fr. Steve DeMaio, and I. We were blessed with some cloud cover but no threat of rain; I’d been afraid we’d bake up on the ridge.

Appalachian Trail Hikers

On our way up, we met 2 northbound AT hikers who’d come up from Georgia; one told us he’d started on May 16.  On our way down, we met 6 southbound hikers who’d begun in Maine, all of whom seemed to be traveling, loosely, together.  One said they’d begun in mid-June.  All were aiming to complete the full hike, over 2,100 miles.  The halfway point is Harpers Ferry, W.Va., in case you’re wondering.  They were going strong—the southbound crew aiming to reach the Brien Memorial Shelter for the nite (that link is to a longer story), and hoping the fresh water spring there wouldn’t be dry in the current drought.

At the shelter we found a smoldering campfire on the approach—bad, bad campers!  In fact, the previous weekend the park rangers had to close access to Bear Mountain because of a brush fire and had reopened the AT crossing on a limited scale.  In this case, after we’d celebrated Mass and eaten lunch, we prepared to head back and found the campfire blazing away; it took quite an effort with dirt and some of our spare water to stifle it.

Waiting for Mass to start

The SLMs delight in the outdoor Masses that we celebrate on these hikes.  When I backpack, I don’t carry the full vestments; but for the SLMs I do, altho some of the other liturgical accoutrements are scaled back a bit (no candles, for instance—they wouldn’t stay lit anyway).

I think Adam Rudin and I were the only ones tired by the time we got back to our cars.  But everyone was looking forward to a shower!

More pictures:  https://link.shutterfly.com/GrjYj4YUzsb

 

Looking south from West Mountain Shelter

overlooking the Hudson River and Haverstraw Bay

 

Homily for 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Aug. 21, 2022
Luke 13: 22-30
Ursulines, The Fountains, Tuckahoe, N.Y.                             
St. Pius X, Scarsdale, N.Y.

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” (Luke 13: 23).

Some of Jesus’ parables and some of his warnings to the scribes and Pharisees may have caused his listeners to wonder at their chances of salvation; or, human nature being what it is, to wonder at someone else’s chance of salvation.

There’s a strain of Christianity, and I suspect in some other faiths, that takes pride in being among the elect, God’s chosen ones, and almost sneers at the unfortunates who don’t follow Jesus, or follow Torah, or follow the Prophet, as the case may be.  The Christian variety of such souls may almost gloat that most people will be lost—but not them.  “I was saved when I gave my life to my Lord Jesus on such-and-such a day.”  (To be clear, some evangelicals who talk that way sincerely work to bring other souls to the Lord.)

The flip side of that strain of Christianity is the kind of Christian, including many Catholics, who almost despairs of salvation.  They fear death.  They fear the vengeance of God, like “sinners in the hand of an angry God,” to cite a sermon of Jonathan Edwards that we used to read in American lit.  They may be half sincere when they tell you that the church roof would collapse if ever they entered the building; or, “Father, you wouldn’t have enuf time to hear my confession” (which more often means either, “I’m too embarrassed to confess,” or “I’m not ready to change my behavior”).  This kind of Christian is afraid, precisely, that only a few will be saved, and he or she won’t make the cut.

Illustration from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

Jesus avoids answering the question.  He encourages his listeners, “Strive to enter thru the narrow gate” (13:24), which means it takes effort to get into God’s kingdom; and also warns the complacent not to presume that they’ll be able to get in.  They may claim that they know Jesus:  “We ate and drank in your company” (13:26), we went to church on Sunday, we bought raffle tickets, we went to pancake breakfasts.

Jesus’ warning is certainly directed to some who heard his preaching but didn’t accept it, like his opponents among the scribes and Pharisees, and anyone whom he calls an “evildoer”—“Depart from me, all you evildoers” (13:27).  He also warns them that outsiders “from the east and the west and the north and south” will get into the kingdom of God (13:29), from the foreign nations, non-Jews—because they’ve listened to Jesus and changed their evil ways.  Jesus isn’t a moral marshmallow.  He makes demands on us:  “strive to enter thru the narrow gate.”

You all know that St. Peter watches the gates of heaven, right?  Actually, St. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus himself stands at the gate:  “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.  Whoever enters thru me will be saved” (10:7,9).  And this is encouraging.  He wants us to come to him and be admitted to the sheepfold—or to the kingdom of God:  different image, same goal.  He even lays down his life to protect his sheep (John 10:15).

It’s God’s will that everyone be saved and come to eternal life.  That’s why the Son of God became one of us—to show us the depth of God’s love, God’s desire to reclaim us as his children.  Will many be saved?  As many as sincerely turn to Jesus and let him embrace them and lead them back to God; as many as “make straight paths for [their] feet,” as the Letter to the Hebrews says (12:13), who strive to walk in the ways that Jesus teaches us:  kindness, forgiveness, generosity, peaceableness, honesty, faithfulness.  “People will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29).

An evangelical may claim that Jesus saved him on such-and-such a day.  It’s true that Jesus has already accomplished the work of our salvation.  But our end of the work is never complete in this life:  “strive to enter thru the narrow gate.”  Our following Jesus to and thru the gate is a daily strife against the Evil One and against our own sinful inclinations.  “So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees,” Hebrews urges us (12:12).  But Jesus is with us.  The saints [like St. Pius] encourage us.  Last week’s reading from Hebrews said, “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” who encourage us to persevere in running the race before us, the race toward Jesus and eternal life (12:1).  The saints are like a stadium full of fans rooting for us—more than that, interceding for us, that God forgive our sins, heal us, and bring us safely home alongside them.

And God wants us safely home.  “Will only a few people be saved?”  Not if it’s up to God, not if we’re willing to let Jesus seize us and lead us thru the narrow gate.

Preparations for 153d Missionary Expedition

Preparations for the 153d Salesian Missionary Expedition

(ANS – Rome – August 11, 2022) – 37 Salesians responded to the missionary appeal of the Rector Major last December 18, by presenting their availability to be sent as missionaries. Following the now established process, the general councilor for the missions then moved on to the next level of discernment by conferring with the candidates’ respective provincial and council as well as director and local house council regarding the missionary suitability of the candidate and assuring that he had been previously spiritually accompanied.

“This is an important part of discernment because they know the candidate very well. We also want to ensure that the candidate had been accompanied to discern his missionary vocation,” explained Fr. Alfred Maravilla, general councilor for the missions. “Although it is a prerequisite that each candidate is always open to be sent where the Rector Major will send him, in actual fact there is always a good dialog with each candidate regarding his possible missionary destination,” he added.

The destination of each missionary is ultimately presented to the Rector Major and the general council for approval. The coming missionary send-off on Sept. 25 in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Valdocco (Turin) will be composed of 25 missionaries from the Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and Interamerica regions of the Congregation. They are being sent to Africa, East Asia, the American South Cone, and North-central Europe regions.

The missionary sendoff will be preceded by the Orientation course for new missionaries, which will be held at Colle Don Bosco starting September 1. The members of the 153rd missionary expedition are now making their final preparations for travel to Italy.