Homily for Tuesday, Week 1 of Advent

Homily for Tuesday
Week 1 of Advent

Nov. 29, 2022
Collect
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

Today’s Collect petitions the Lord God to grant us his compassionate help.  We acknowledge our need because on our own we’re not able to avoid sin or sin’s penalties.  We need his compassion because our former ways taint us.

A sinful woman experiences Jesus' compassion

(Stained glass, St. Catharine Church, Spring Lake, N.J.)

Our former ways might have changed for the better long ago when we made a firm decision for Christ.  Our former ways might have been as recent as yesterday or even this morning when we grew impatient or were careless about our prayers.

We pray also for consolation.  The presence of the Son of God should console us.  That’s why we await his coming—not at Bethlehem, for that’s already happened, but his coming in grace, in power, to save us now out of his compassion in spite of our weaknesses in the face of trials and temptations.

Come, Lord Jesus!  Come and save us!

Don Bosco's Successor Visits New Rochelle Province

Don Bosco’s Successor 
Visits New Rochelle Province

From Monday, Nov. 21, until Friday, Nov. 15, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, 10th successor of St. John Bosco as Rector Major of the Salesians and head of the entire Salesian Family, visited the Eastern U.S. and Canada Province.

Fr. Angel’s journey was continuing from his visit to the San Francisco Province, Nov. 15-21.  The entire visit to the U.S. completed a visit in 2018 to the New Rochelle Province that had to be confined to Canada because he wasn’t able to secure a visa in time.

On this occasion, Fr. Angel 1st arrived in Washington, D.C., and visited Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School and Work-Study Program in Takoma Park, Md. On the evening of Nov. 21, he met school leaders and major supporters. On the morning of Nov. 22, he met the students, celebrated Mass with them, and toured the facilities. Then he took Amtrak to New Rochelle, arriving at the provincial center by 4:30 p.m.  On this first day in the province, he was accompanied by Fr. Hugo Orozco, general councilor for the Interamerica Region.

In New Rochelle on the 22d, Fr. Angel greeted each confrere and gave the Good Nite after Evening Prayer.  

Then he took part in the gala celebration of the 75th anniversary of Salesian Missions at the Green Tree Country Club, praising the mission office’s work on behalf of poor and endangered young people around the world and thanking the donors who make that work possible.  He also honored a dozen longtime employees (25 years or more). One of the highlights of the evening was Salesian Missions’ presentation of a check for $2 million to be used for Salesian youth work in the poorest and most difficult countries.

Fr. Tim Ploch, Fr. Angel Fernandez, Fr. Tim Zak

260 Salesians, employees, vendors, and benefactors attended the celebration.  He happily called Fr. Tim Ploch, director of the provincial center community, his “personal translator.”  The 2 have a long, warm relationship from the 6 years when Fr. Ploch was on the general council.

On Wednesday, Nov. 23, Fr. Angel presided over a Thanksgiving prayer service in the gymnasium of Salesian High School, including words of encouragement and appreciation for both students and staff. 

He visited the school chapel, which had been consecrated in 1926 by St. Louis Versiglia, Salesian martyr-bishop, and he blessed the school’s new STEM center.  

Then he met in the school cafeteria with student leaders from Salesian, Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey), and Mary Help of Christians Academy (North Haledon).

Fr. Angel with Salesian alumni and animators

Continuing, the Rector Major met briefly in the provincial house with 2 Don Bosco Volunteers, then toured Salesian Missions and spoke to the staff.  He returned to the school cafeteria for lunch with about 30 young graduates of Salesian schools, dialoguing with them about their dreams, how they’ve benefited from their Salesian education, and how they can continue to serve the Church and society.

After a break, Fr. Angel met with the provincial and council for about 90 minutes.  Then he proceeded to St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester for an open-invitation Mass for the Salesian Family at 7:00 p.m.  

About 400 people came, including representatives of the local groups of the Salesian Family:  SDBs, FMAs, Salesian Cooperators, ADMA, and Canção Nova.  He celebrated Mass in Spanish; Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, translated his homily.  There was outstanding warmth and vibrancy between Fr. Angel and the congregation.  He expressed his appreciation for the parish’s diversity, and indeed the diversity and openness he had seen wherever he went in the U.S.

A reception in the parish hall followed the Mass.  There, as he did everywhere, the Rector Major greeted anyone who approached and posed patiently, even enthusiastically, for photos.

Wednesday was a long day.  So was Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  Fr. Angel left New Rochelle for the Salesian Sisters’ provincialate in Haledon, N.J., where he greeted all the sisters, including the aged and infirm, then celebrated Mass with the 2 FMA communities (also North Haledon).  He took a look at the Sisters’ new chapel and gave it a blessing.

Then it was on to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey for a Thanksgiving prayer service in the school’s main chapel with 86 SDBs from all over the U.S. part of the province and Thanksgiving dinner in the school cafeteria.  There was a lot of photography on this occasion, too, including big group shots and individual takes with the RM.

Fr. Angel moved on to the formation house in Orange, from which 3 of the young confreres took him on a short tour of Manhattan.  Someone later remarked, “Can you imagine the superior general of any other congregation going along as a tourist with 3 young men in formation?”  He is indeed an approachable and charismatic man!

On Friday the Rector Major celebrated Mass and met more formally with the formation community, including men from Tampa, Marrero, Chicago, and Maryland who are still in formation; then with just the formators.

Thruout his visit to the province, the Rector Major noticed the evident signs of joy and fraternity among the confreres, including those in initial formation and. He encouraged all to continue to develop a deep sense of God who gives meaning and purpose to our lives and vocation. 

He exhorted the province to be provocative in our vocation proposal to young people.  He observed that during his visits to the 2 U.S. provinces (East and West), he had met young people who expressed their desire to be Salesian religious.  He added that we also must be present to accompany young people in their vocational journey. 

Your humble blogger taking notes while the RM speaks.

Homily for 1st Sunday of Advent

Homily for the
1st Sunday of Advent

Nov. 27, 2022
Matt 24: 37-44
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“Jesus said to his disciples:  ‘You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Matt 24: 44)

The Last Judgment (Viktor Vasnetsov)

We’ve begun Advent, our 4 weeks of preparing to commemorate and re-live the birth of our Savior.  We’re beginning a new church year and a new cycle of Sunday readings in which we’ll hear mostly from St. Matthew for the next 52 weeks, as we’ve just heard from St. Luke for the last year.

Despite all the commercialism that will surround us during this season, Christmas doesn’t come until the 1st Christmas Masses on Dec. 24.  We do well to keep the season in perspective:  we’re waiting; we’re preparing.

We remember and we celebrate the coming of God’s Son in our human flesh—a historical event that occurred in a specific place on a specific day.  We don’t know the specific date or even the specific year, but that it occurred is a historical certainty.  Jesus of Nazareth was born to a young woman named Mary in Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea toward the end of the reign of King Herod.

That was Christ’s 1st coming.  But in these early Advent days, Jesus advises us of his 2d coming, an event that hasn’t happened yet and therefore an event we can’t remember or celebrate, but one we anticipate with the certainty of faith:  “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead” (Creed).  We’re waiting; we’re preparing.

We anticipate or look for that coming, that Last Day of human history, also with hope, hope that Christ’s redemption will be completed in us.  It will be completed in us if we, as St. Paul urges us, “awake from sleep” and “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:11-12).

In his warning about his 2d coming, Jesus recalls the days of the great flood as recorded in Genesis 6-9, when only faithful Noah and his family stood in God’s favor and were saved from destruction.  “So it will be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (24:37).

Two Women Will Be Grinding at the Mill (Alfred Elmore)

Then Jesus appeals to some familiar, everyday scenes:  farmers in their fields, women grinding grain to make bread.  How many people go about their daily business—standing on a subway platform, going to a nite club, going to Walmart, going to school—when suddenly they’re snatched away from among other commuters, other partiers, other shoppers, other students.  “One will be taken, and one will be left” (24:40).  We’ve seen this too many times.  But these times are reminders that we must stay awake, for we don’t know on which day our Lord will come (24:42).

We can’t know when the Lord will come in his glory and history will end.  The verse immediately before today’s reading says, “Of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (24:36).  Not even Jesus in his humanity knows when his Father will send him back to us.

But we do know this:  for every one of us, our personal history will end—perhaps with ample warning, e.g., following a long illness; perhaps with the suddenness of an accident, an assault, a heart attack.  “You do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

One book about the death of Pope John Paul I, now Blessed John Paul I, is called A Thief in the Night.  Whether or not he knew the hour of night when the thief was coming, Pope John Paul was prepared and went home to Jesus in peace.  That’s our prayer for ourselves, and Advent is a season for us to get ready, to put our souls in order.

In his latest column,[1] Bp. Robert Barron makes this suggestion to us for Advent:

Wear the world lightly.  The reason that we feel spiritual anguish is that the deepest desire of our heart cannot be met by any merely worldly good.  We look to something beyond our ken and capacity precisely because we realize, consciously or unconsciously, that the hungry soul cannot be satisfied by any amount of esteem, riches, power, or pleasure.  The attainment of any of these goods produces a momentary bliss followed by a letdown, a disappointment.  But this truth mustn’t be allowed to depress us; rather, it should compel us to adopt the spiritual stance that the spiritual masters call “detachment.” This means enjoying wealth and then letting it go; using power for good but not clinging to it; taking in honor and not caring a whit for it.  It is to adopt the attitude that St.  Ignatius of Loyola calls “indifference.” Advent is a privileged time to practice this virtue.

Above all, Advent is a time to focus our eyes and our hearts on Christ, so that we might—as this afternoon’s Collect prayed to God the Father—“run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming” and be “gathered at his right hand” among the flock of the blessed.

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     [1] “Entering the spiritual space of John the Baptist,” The Pilot online, 11/23/22: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/WhctKKXpMTlWtsBKcvcMQrDdSgcTXJXVpFJmqZSxtkqZLJMzVtpwJLJtjzGJbdffdtglWVl

Salesians Aid More Than 1,200 Victims of Pakistan Floods

Salesians Aid More Than 1,200 Victims of Pakistan Floods

A large, multifaceted international effort

(ANS – Lahore, Pakistan – November 18, 2022) – Pakistan is still counting the victims and adding up the damage from the monsoon rains that killed more than 1,500 people in late August, leaving at least half a million Pakistanis homeless and one-third of the country underwater; lakes hundreds of miles long and dozens wide were formed. More than one million homes and about 2,000 miles of roads were damaged or destroyed. More than one million animals were killed, crops wiped out. The government said a total of more than 33 million people were affected and quantified the damage as at least $10 billion.

The Salesians responded immediately to the emergency, giving themselves and asking for outside help to increase opportunities to help those in need. For example, Salesian coadjutor Bro. Piero Ramello, a native of the Piedmont Province who has been a missionary in Pakistan since 2020, immediately contacted Turin’s Missioni Don Bosco, which took immediate action, ensuring that the needy in Pakistan would receive initial help thru its emergency fund.

Bro. Ramello reports gratefully: “With the funds received from Missioni Don Bosco, from Misiones Salesianas of Madrid, from the Salesian Mission Office of South Korea, and from Switzerland, we won’t be able exactly to support all the families who have asked for help and who were included in the ‘Flood emergency in Sindh and Punjab’ project, but a good part of them, yes!”

He continues: “Between Jacobabad, Sukkar, and Shakarput, we’re reaching 100 families with a total of 720 people, including many children and adolescents. In the city of Sukkar, the money has been delivered to the parish priest and the distribution has been taken care of directly by the parish; in Jacobabad and Shakarput the distribution is taken care of directly by the Salesians in Lahore who, with the help of some past pupils and older boys from the boarding school, are in charge of delivering the material, avoiding gatherings, and trying to make the recipients comfortable.”

The materials distributed consist of food (flour, rice, lentils, oil), camp tents, mosquito repellent tents, personal hygiene supplies, and medicine (especially medicines for the prevention and treatment of cholera and dengue fever).

A similar project, supported by funding from Germany’s Don Bosco Mission Bonn, is being led by the Salesians in Quetta for the Beluchistan Province.

“Through these two initiatives, the Salesians in Pakistan are bringing relief to more than 1,200 people,” Bro. Ramello concluded.

And now, with the first intervention initiatives over, Missioni Don Bosco is working to continue to stand by the people.

Read more at: www.missionidonbosco.org 

Homily for Solemnity of Christ the King

Homily for the Solemnity of
Christ the King

Nov. 20, 2022
Luke 23: 35-43
Col 1: 12-20
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself” (Luke 23: 37).

For several weeks our Sunday readings have followed Jesus as he journeyed from Galilee up to Jerusalem.  In Jerusalem he fulfills the mission on which his Father sent him:  to save the world.

The Good Thief (Titian)

It’s a paradox; it’s the heart of the Christian mystery:  that by dying on a cross, Jesus of Nazareth has saved not himself but the whole human race.  He has become not just the King of the Jews but even the King of the Universe—Christ the King, anointed by God the Father as ruler and savior, “the firstborn from the dead,” as St. Paul writes to the Colossians (1:18), the 1st of many brothers and sisters who have become, thru him, God’s people, God’s children, “delivered from the power of darkness” and “transferred to the kingdom” of God, forgiven and redeemed (Col 1:13-14).

Crucifixion was the ultimate, most painful, most shameful form of execution that the Roman Empire had found—learned from the Persians—a fit punishment for slaves, rebels, pirates, highway robbers, murderers, anyone whom the Empire considered to be the scum of society.

How did the cross become the sign of Christ’s kingship?  How is that our churches proudly display Christ on a cross?  How is it that every September 14 we celebrate a feast called the Exaltation of the Cross, the triumph of the cross?

Because the Son of God became a human being—“was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,” we say in the Creed.  God assumed our lowly human condition, our flesh and blood, bones and nerves and emotions.  Jesus of Nazareth, Mary’s Son, suffered abandonment and unjust persecution, as so many people do, and he suffered the harshest punishment known to his society:  crucifixion.

Not the end of the story, as his enemies thought it would be:  “He saved others.  Let him save himself!” (Luke 23:35).  Rather, his identification with humanity, his solidarity with us, put him into a position to lead us to the wholeness and glory he enjoys as God—in a position to make a promise even to a wretched, dying criminal:  “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (23:43).  Those who identify with Jesus, who are in solidarity with him, will share in his triumph over the grave because the cross isn’t the end of the story.  As Paul Harvey might say, “the rest of the story” is the empty tomb and the ascension of Jesus to his Father’s side in heaven.  In anticipation of that, Christ reigns already from the cross and dispenses royal favor, a promise of salvation, a promise of eternal life.

Rising from the dead, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, delivers all his followers “from the power of darkness,” from the power that our sins hold over us, from the power of the Dark Lord we call Satan—even as he delivered that condemned criminal on Calvary.

We don’t really know what crimes the 2 men alongside Jesus had committed.  Matthew and Mark call them robbers, Luke a more generic “criminals.”  One of these, whom we traditionally call “the good thief,” turns to Jesus and is immediately pardoned and redeemed; from being a wicked thief he’s transformed into a good person.

Whatever you and I have done in the past is immediately redeemable by our Lord Jesus, who suffered like a criminal but has the royal power of pardon.  He continues to exercise that royal power thru the Church he left behind for the express purpose of announcing the Good News of forgiveness of sins and of effecting divine pardon.  Back to St. Paul:  in him “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:14).

Rector Major Captivated by American Youths

“You’ve left a marvelous impression on me!”

Rector Major Captivated by American Youths

(ANS – Los Angeles – November 18, 2022) – On the third day of his visit to the United States Western Province, Nov. 17, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime continued his acquaintance with the Salesian presence in the Los Angeles area. The three highlights of his day were visits to St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower and Don Bosco Tech in Rosemead, and, back in Bellflower, the Eucharist in honor of St. Artemides Zatti, celebrated together with Salesian Family members.

Fr. Angel’s morning had opened with the Eucharistic celebration he presided over with the Salesians, the lay people involved in the Salesian mission, and the young people present at the St. John Bosco High School. “It is something very meaningful to celebrate the Eucharist with all of you: this is what Don Bosco did every day,” the 10th successor of the saint of youth said on the occasion.

Next, moving among the different facilities of the same work, the Rector Major went to the institute’s freshly renovated gymnasium: in front of the stands filled with students and staff of the school, the Rector Major received tributes from the educational community – including a school sweatshirt – and gave the solemn blessing to the new basketball court; and to inaugurate the facility, he also threw a shot at the basket, the first “official” one of the renovated institute.

In his address to all present afterward, Fr. Angel said he was favorably impressed by the “Salesian brotherhood” seen in the student community, and urged the boys and girls to cultivate and preserve it, even beyond their years of study.

The Rector Major’s day then continued with a stop at Don Bosco Tech in Rosemead; greeted with all the tributes by the Salesian community, staff, and faculty of the center, and later by the student band – which performed, playing some famous rock songs by U.S. bands. Before kicking off the other scheduled activities, the Rector Major was also offered a Mexican-style outdoor agape time.

Then began the long sweep to the various workshops and labs of the work, a boys’ high school and college that boast a long tradition and excellent record of teaching technical disciplines. In visiting it Fr. Angel showed great interest in the shops, the disciplines taught, and the methodologies used, but especially in the school’s young students and alumni, inquiring about their present in the school and their dreams for the future.

All this served as a preamble to the moment of the direct meeting with the students. It was a moment that developed in two parts: first, the more intimate one, in the chapel, during which the Rector Major spoke openheartedly with the youngsters; and then the more festive one, in the gymnasium, with artistic and technical skill performances by the youngsters, and the musical response, on guitar, by Don Bosco’s successor.

On this occasion, too, the Rector Major did not fail to emphasize the typically Salesian atmosphere of joy and cheerfulness that he experienced, and he pointed out that such a family spirit is not learned as content in the classroom or in the shop, but is breathed in those environments that truly live and carry forward the spirit and charism of Don Bosco. And in his greeting to the students, openly appreciating their enthusiasm, welcoming spirit, and cultural diversity, he commented, “This being the first time I have met any [American youngsters], I could not imagine what the young people of the United States were like. You have left a marvelous impression in me!”

At the end of the day, Fr. Angel presided over Mass with the Salesian Family in honor of St. Artemides Zatti, in which he retraced the path of sanctification taken by the Salesian coadjutor, under the banner of humility and trust in Mary Help of Christians.

Empowering the Young

National Catholic Youth Conference

Empowering the Young

J.C. Montenegro and some of his young friends

(photo by U.S. Western Province)

 
(ANS – Long Beach, Calif. – November 18, 2022) – From Thursday, November 10, through Sunday, November 13, young people and their youth ministers from the United States gathered in Long Beach, Calif., to do a number of important things: “Get into the boat with Jesus” and commit their lives ever more deeply to their Catholic faith; give praise and worship to God as a Catholic community; be formed in those skills, attitudes, and choices that would make them more solid in their Catholic faith; be of responsible service to others; and discern their vocation in life.

Sponsored by the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry, this conference represents the largest movement of Catholic youths in the United States. “As we were reminded, they are not the Church of the future. No—they are the Church now!” explains Fr. Lou Molinelli, SDB, delegate for youth Ministry for the United States East and Canada Province.

The Salesian Family was well represented from all the North American provinces with Salesians, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and lay collaborators in the various youth ministry offices and ministries. Also, the Salesian Family was responsible for organizing the Reconciliation room, where over 1,000 young people received the sacrament of Reconciliation over 2 days.

Sr. Elfie Del Rosario and some of the youths she met at NCYC.

(photo by Fr. Lou Molinelli)

Moreover, 6 young people from St. Dominic Savio Church in Bellflower, Calif., United States West Province, were invited to present at NCYC (National Catholic Youth Conference in the USA). Their topic was “How to accompany young people with the Salesian charism.”

“When we were invited by Juan Carlos Montenegro, our youth minister, to be co-speakers at this convention, we were beyond thrilled,” Victoria Figueroa, a youth leader, states. “October consisted of rigorous planning and discussion about what it means to empower the youth here at our parish, St. Dominic Savio.”

“The group that accompanied Juan Carlos was the Oratory’s core team, a team that consists of trained leaders that are high school students and 2 college students,” she describes. “Our youth ministry empowers our youths in a unique way that builds a community of respect, friendship, and family. We are a welcoming ministry that is open to everyone in our church and our community. Everything that we do and all interactions that we have with the youths are following the example of St John Bosco. Our Salesian spirit at Savio is found in our youth group, our after-school program, and all of our other groups.”

“At NCYC we heard incredible speakers and inspiring testimonies. Along with these speakers were our young people from St. Dominic Savio. They were inspiring and eloquent, our Salesian spirit shined through,” Victoria ends.

Fr. Molinelli adds: “What are some of the things our young people are asking for? First, our young people ask for a voice in sharing their struggles, faith journey, and challenges in living their Catholic identity. These young people are committed to following Jesus as committed Catholics. They want to be heard and appreciated for the insights and perspectives they bring to the Catholic community.”

Then Fr. Molinelli goes on: “Second, our young people are looking to us, those who accompany them as youth leaders, to be role models and good examples of living their Catholic faith. They want to see how we have ‘weathered the storm’ and have remained faithful. And finally, our young people are searching for ways to make choices in their lives that will lead to a meaningful living of their faith in the world, and to make a difference in the lives of others.”

“We had an interactive booth that encouraged and challenged our young people to be saints,” Fr. Molinelli concludes.

Fr. Lou Molinelli with postulants of the Salesian Sisters.

(photo by Fr. Molinelli)

Here are some testimonies from other youth leaders of the St. Dominic Savio Church who attended NCYC.

Gabbie Guzman, 16, states: “My close friends and I had a great time at NCYC since we got to meet a lot of people from all around the country and help others empower the youths. I was incredibly appreciative of the opportunity to share my perspective as a teen on how parishes may engage the youths. I also enjoyed hearing how others learned to grow in their faith and overcome their struggles and doubts in their journeys. I had a great time talking to priests and nuns from other states about how their parishes are. I overall had a great time, and I’m so blessed I was invited to NCYC.”

Joaquin Perez, 16: “Being invited to NCYC by Juan Carlos, my original thoughts consisted of being uninterested because I was thinking this convention was going to be just one of those ‘boring Jesus talks.’ After going to NCYC, I can say it was an overwhelming amount of excitement and celebrations. Everyone we turned to was so joyful and kind; everywhere we went it was filled with color and excitement. The level of passion in so many young people is inspirational and absolutely fabulous. Overall, the conference was so much fun and helped me learn so many things about myself and my faith.”

Abby Najarro, 17: “My experience at NCYC was incredible! I had a great time learning and meeting new people out of our home state. I wish it was longer to meet more people and to learn more about different topics and from different parishes. I was glad to be able to make it because I have made amazing memories with my group and others as well.”

2022 Michael A. Boccardi Memorial Trek-o-ree

2022 Michael A. Boccardi Memorial 
Trek-o-ree

Each fall the Algonquin and Mohegan districts of the Greater Hudson Valley Council (which includes the former Westchester-Putnam Council) hold a trek-o-ree at the council’s Durland Scout Reservation in Putnam Valley, N.Y., in memory of Michael A. Boccardi.

Scouts assembled for flag-raising

At the time of his death on Sept. 11, 2001, Mike Boccardi was 30 years old and had been Scoutmaster of Troop Forty, Mt. Vernon, for about 7 years.  

Before that he was a member of the troop, attaining the rank of Eagle, and then an Assistant Scoutmaster.  For several years he organized the annual trek-o-ree for the Four Rivers District (later combined with another district to form the Algonquin District).  He gave to his troop, the district, and the council far more than the proverbial “one hour a week.”  Altho working full-time for Fred Alger Associates in the World Trade Center, he devoted many hours a week to Scouting with abundant personal attention to individual Scouts.  His last communication, minutes before one of the terrorist planes crashed into the North Tower, was to the mother of a Troop Forty Scout concerning an upcoming activity.  In addition to weekly meetings and monthly campouts, Mike organized numerous long trips for Scouts and family members:  to Florida, California, the Adirondacks, and Philmont Scout Reservation.  In response to his long dedication, the Algonquin and Mohegan districts have dedicated the annual trek-o-ree to Mike.

A patrol from Bethel, Conn., checking in

The trek-o-ree is a Scouting activity that combines hiking and the demonstration of skills learned in Scouting.  The hike might be as short as 3 miles or as long as 7.  It’s usually done within the boundaries of the Scout camp, but sometimes has been on the Appalachian Trail near the camp or in adjacent public lands like Fahnestock State Park.

There was no trek-o-ree in 2020 (Covid year).  In 2021 and 2022 the trek was organized by Robby Huneke, who was a young Scout in Mike Boccardi’s time and eventually became an Eagle Scout in 2008.  He has a tattoo reading “M.A.B.” to honor his early mentor.

This year’s trek-o-ree on Nov. 12 included a hike of about 3 miles within the Durland Reservation and skills stations covering first aid, plant ID, lashing, emergency shelter, flag etiquette, orienteering, fire starting, etc.  The Scouts divide into patrols, which usually are equivalent to the boys or girls of individual troops, depending on the number taking part.  The activity is competitive, with points awarded for each segment of it, starting with their having required gear when they check in.

Besides all the cars that were parked at various cabins and campsites,

the parking lot at the Sperling Center was packed.

There were 12 patrols this year and about 120 Scouts registered.  At least 3 of the patrols were from girl troops (420 Port Chester, 19 Tuckahoe, and 271 Bethel [Conn.]).  At least 1 adult accompanies each patrol—there have been too many instances of lost patrols in the past; safety is a concern, too, of course.  This year no one was injured, and no one got lost, altho at least one patrol was rather late returning.

Patrols engaged in several activities at the Sperling Center

The 1st-place patrol was 420 from Port Chester—an all-girl troop.

The Scouts are encouraged to camp out on Friday and Saturday nites, either in tents or in one of Durland’s comfortable cabins.  Not many did that on Friday nite, which was wet and windy (wise decision!).  The weather cleared spectacularly on Saturday morning, making for ideal hiking weather.

I gave opening prayers at the trek-o-ree assembly and a later assembly of Webelo Cub Scouts, who also had a hiking program.  The trek concluded with Mass celebrated for about 50 Scouts, Scouters, and some parents. 

Between my religious duties, I took a long hike on the orange and blue trails up to the northern edge of the Scout property, where it abuts Fahnestock SP.

I took most of the photos linked here.  Robby Huneke took 3 during Mass (specifically at the general intercessions).  See https://link.shutterfly.com/tHrU730JVub

Clear Lake; the blue trail follows the ridge above the lake.

Clear Lake with a troop camped at Site 40

There are some good views from the blue trail.

This one overlooks Clear Lake, but Lake Oscawana is visible in the distance.

Rainy Day on the A.T.

Rainy Day on the A.T. 

Photos from a wet 6-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail on Sunday, Nov. 6: https://link.shutterfly.com/ViYawgjlLub

My only Sunday Mass was at 8:00 a.m., after which I changed and headed north on the Taconic State Parkway.

My hike was 3 miles in, 3 miles back, most of it ascending and descending Shenandoah Mt. in Dutchess County.  

Starting up Shenandoah Mt.

I hiked this section in August 2021 and meant to resume my coverage of the AT starting from where I’d left off, at the Ralph’s Peak Hikers (RPH) shelter on Hortontown Rd.  But there was no place to park there, and I drove almost 2 miles to the nearest parking lot on my AT map, where the AT crosses Longhill Rd.  There were 4 other cars there, and I think I met all their owners on my trek.

The woods are full of old stone walls.

I hiked over the same ground as 15 months earlier—not that I remembered much of it.  Most of the trees were bare.  

There were a few splashes of color.

It rained off and on, including a heavy half-hour; so I had to be extra careful treading all the wet leaves, especially on ascents and descents.

Boardwalk approaching a bridge, close to RPH shelter

I met 3 fellows who are volunteers of the NYNJ Trail Conference, doing trail and shelter maintenance.  They’re what the hiking community knows as “trail angels,” looking after hikers’ needs like water and snacks, and trash removal.  They informed me that I could have parked at the Taconic Pkwy underpass and hiked .3 mile down to the shelter! 

The Taconic underpass at the Miller Rd. exit

Once I made it to the shelter and finished my lunch there, I hiked up to the parkway (and it was up, with a staircase); that little bit was my only new section of trail.  At RPH are bunk beds, picnic tables, a back porch, and even a privy; in season, a water pump (sealed up by now).

 

Some info outside the RPH shelter

The shelter's neighbors include this handsome horse farm.

Heading back south, looking at that bridge

and the long ascent of Shenandoah Mt.

The entire hike covered took 4.5 hours, including lunch/snack stops and photography.  I met only one day hiker.  It’s past the season for AT thru hikers.