Salesians Mourn Benedict XVI

“A great Pope has gone,” says Rector Major

Salesians Mourn Benedict XVI

(ANS – Rome – December 31, 2022) – The Salesian Family prays for the eternal repose of the emeritus pontiff, thanking Pope Benedict XVI for his expressions of friendship and appreciation.

The Pope Emeritus died on the morning of December 31 in the Vatican at the age of 95. Pope Francis had long ago asked for prayers for his predecessor, as his health had deteriorated.

On hearing the news, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime said that “we have received the sad news of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. I say ‘sad news’ because every human loss always leaves a void. But at the same time, his life has been a blessing – a long life lived in total self-giving to the Lord Jesus in his service to the Gospel and to the Church.”

Fr. Fernandez added that “a great Pope has gone to meet his Lord, a great believer, a great theologian and thinker; a man capable of building bridges of communication with the most diverse philosophers, theologians, and intellectuals; a Pope who was respected and who will be even more valued in the years and decades to come; a man and a Pope who knew how to live in simplicity and silence. May the God of life keep him with him. As sons of Don Bosco, and as he taught all his Salesians, today we also say: Long live the Pope!

Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 265th Pope on April 19, 2005, in the conclave that followed the death of St. John Paul II, and took the name Benedict XVI. He held the See of Peter until February 2013 when, in a historic gesture, he resigned the pontificate.

The Thanks of Two Rectors Major

After Benedict XVI’s resignation on February 28, 2013, the then-Rector Major, Fr. Pascual Chavez, expressed his closeness to the German Pope: “We, the Don Bosco Family spread throughout the world, are deeply grateful for this courageous act of service of our beloved Holy Father, and we accompany him with our sincere sympathy and devotion and, as he himself asked of us, with our constant prayer. Pope Benedict XVI, who has shown so many acts of kindness and affection toward our family, was a true gift of God to the Church and to the world today.

The current Rector Major, during his visit to Salesian Spain in 2016, called for greater recognition of the Pope Emeritus: “I am convinced that we have Pope Francis because before him we had Pope Benedict XVI, a very intelligent man, one of deep faith, a great theologian, and very free to do what he did.”

Fr. Augustine Baek, SDB (1958-2022)

Fr. Augustine Baek, SDB (1958-2022)

Fr. Augustine Woon Taek Baek, SDB, died at 2:10 p.m. on December 30 at home, the Salesian Provincial Center, in New Rochelle. He was 64 years old and had been a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for 35 years and a priest for 27 years.

Widely known as Fr. Gus, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2020. The cancer spread in spite of treatment, including several hospitalizations and several forms of chemotherapy. After another Anointing of the Sick by Fr. Provincial on December 26, surrounded by the confreres of the community, arrangements were being made for him to begin hospice care.

Fr. Gus was very much beloved in the Korean community of the New York metro area, whom he had faithfully served for most of his priestly life, and they attended him tenderly in his last months—as did his Salesian confreres.

Woon Taek Baek was born in Kwangju, South Korea, on September 19, 1958. His parents were Nam-Sik Baek and Kwi-Ja Lee. The family was prosperous as owners of a factory that made coal briquettes at a time when every Korean household used them for cooking and heating. The family included two sons and four daughters. Woon Taek became a Christian as a teenager, baptized with the name Augustine on May 29, 1971, in Kwangju.

According to Fr. Henry Bonetti, American Salesian missionary serving in Kwangju, during high school Gus was head of the Catholic students’ movement in his school. “This movement was divided into cells, one cell in each school of the city,” Fr. Henry writes. “Also, each parish alone was one cell. There were about 15 parishes and about 30 high school cells. The cells came together and were formed into a Catholic Student’s Union. This was done both on high school and university level. All spiritual as well as social events were run through these ‘unions.’ I guess you could call it something like CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) only much stronger in Korea than the USA. I [Fr. Henry] was in charge of all the middle school, high school and university students in the Diocese of Kwangju at the time (1975-1990). Sometime in the late seventies, Gus was elected head of the High School Student’s Association by his peers. This is no small feat as the organization was very large and well-organized. He distinguished himself during his term of office as a good leader and organizer even from his early days. Even then he had the same character that characterized him as a Salesian, solid in the faith, a good leader and organizer, friendly, not easily provoked to anger, even-tempered, thoughtful, considerate and respectful.”

Fr. Gus giving a Good Nite

SDB provincial chapter 2019

The influence of Fr. Henry was the seed of Gus’s Salesian vocation. After high school he completed mandatory military training, then emigrated to the U.S., as did most of his family. From there he wrote to Fr. Henry asking advice on what to do as he wanted to become a priest. Fr. Henry referred him to the Salesians’ vocation director. That was enough for Fr. Gus always to consider Fr. Henry as the source of his Salesian vocation and his vocational “father,” although he had many spiritual directors and “fathers” after that.

On August 29, 1984, he entered the Son of Mary program at Don Bosco College Seminary in Newton, N.J., where he was guided in two years of vocational discernment by Fr. Tom Ruekert. He was admitted to St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton on August 24, 1986, and a year later made his first profession as a Salesian (August 25, 1987). The novitiate year began with 11 novices directed by Fr. John Grinsell in his first year as master. Fr. Gus is the only one of the 11 who remained a Salesian. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Don Bosco College in May 1989.

Bro. Gus did two years of practical training (1989-1991), one as a teacher at Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, La., and one as a teacher and Boys Club staff member at St. Dominic Savio High School in East Boston. Theological studies followed at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio (1991-1995), where he earned an M.A. cum laude in biblical studies. He made his perpetual profession on August 21, 1993, at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, N.Y., and was ordained in Columbus, Ohio, on May 28, 1995.

Fr. Gus became an American citizen in 1988.

Fr. Gus’s first priestly assignment was to the Salesian Boys & Girls Club in East Boston as assistant executive director (1995-1997). He was sent next to Corpus Christi Parish in Port Chester, N.Y. (1997-1999) as assistant pastor and youth minister. Then came five years in the formation community at Orange, N.J. (1999-2004), which included a year as youth minister at St. Andrew Kim Parish in Maplewood, N.J., two years as the Salesian community’s treasurer and two as youth minister at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Orange, and four years as an adjunct professor of theology at Caldwell College (Caldwell, N.J.).

Fr. Gus at work at RYC in 2007

In 2004 Fr. Gus founded the Reborn Young Christ (RYC) Center for Korean youth ministry in Stony Point, N.Y., which he coordinated for 15 years. During that period he traveled extensively in service to Korean-American youths, helped bring Salesians from Korea to minister to youths in both the New York area and the Tampa Bay area. His director for five of those 15 years, Fr. John Puntino, writes: “[Fr.] Gus was always so gracious and conscientious regarding community and Shrine affairs. I observed how revered he was in the Korean community and how pastoral he was especially in caring for young adults.”

In 2019 the Salesians called upon Fr. Gus to assume leadership at Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, succeeding Fr. Mark Hyde. He began with energy, making several overseas trips as required by the job. The Covid pandemic slowed that down, and then came his diagnosis with stomach cancer. He carried on as best he could, even traveling in the New York area to make mission appeals as late as August 2022.

The Provincial Residence community

Thanksgiving 2021

Fr. Gus is 2d from right.

Fr. Gus’s executive secretary Joann Oliva said: “I could only add that he was a pleasure to work for and with and to be around, always had a smile on his face. He loved the mission office, and he did so much for all the missionaries. He will truly be missed.”

The Salesians’ representative at the United Nations, Fr. Thomas Pallithanam, who had left for a family visit in India only on December 27, mourned his friend’s sudden loss:  “Though it was not unexpected, I had hoped that when I came back I would still be able to see him and tell him that he had been such a dear friend. Before I left for India I could step into his room, whisper a few words of comfort to him, and say goodbye. But I had also hoped that it would not be the last goodbye. He was so very supportive of my work at the UN. And I knew I could rely on his advice and strength. From him, I always had a willing and patient ear. Above all, he was a friend, kind and gentle. I take comfort in the thought that from where he is now he will continue to be the friend and support he was in the short period of three years I was associated with him.”

During his two years facing his illness, Fr. Gus sometimes got discouraged but at other times was upbeat and hopeful. He acknowledged his pain and the difficulty of having fluid build-up drained from his abdomen, but he didn’t really complain. He was always ready for whatever God was asking of him.

In addition to his Salesian brothers and sisters, Fr. Gus is survived by his sisters Monica Cho of Fairfax, Va.; Soon Ja Baek (Maria) of Seoul, South Korea; and Hyung Hee Baek (Justina) of Seoul; and his brother Hyung Jo Baek (Francis) of Seoul. Another sister, Julia, died recently in Korea.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by John J. Fox Funeral Home of Larchmont, N.Y.

Apostolic Letter "Totum amoris est"

Apostolic Letter Totum amoris est Published

Written for 4th centennial of the death of St. Francis de Sales 

(ANS – Vatican City – December 29, 2022) - “Guide of souls, capable of reading the signs of his time.” This is how Pope Francis refers to St. Francis de Sales in his apostolic letter Totum amoris est, “Everything Pertains to Love,” published yesterday, Dec. 28, exactly four hundred years after the death of the saintly bishop from Geneva, doctor of the Church, patron of journalists and communicators.

Of St. Francis de Sales, who was born in the castle of Sales, Savoy, on Aug. 21, 1567, and died in Lyons on Dec. 28, 1622, the Pope emphasizes the vocation to ask himself “in every circumstance of life where is the greatest love to be found?” Not by chance, St. John Paul II called him the “Doctor of Divine Love,” Pope Francis recalls, not only for having written “a weighty treatise on that subject, but first and foremost because he was an outstanding witness to that love.”

In the Letter, the Pontiff writes that he wondered about the legacy of St. Francis de Sales for our time and found enlightening “his flexibility and his far-sighted vision.” “Partly by God’s gift and partly thanks to his own character, but also by his steady cultivation of lived experience, Francis perceived clearly that the times were changing. On his own, he might never have imagined that those changes represented so great an opportunity for the preaching of the Gospel,” he continues.

“The Word he had loved from his youth was capable of making its way, opening up new and unpredictable horizons, in a world in rapid transition.” This, for the Pope, is what awaits us as an essential task: “to be a Church that is outward-looking and free from all worldliness, even as we live in this world, share people’s lives and journey with them in attentive of listening and acceptance,” having special concern not so much “for ourselves, for our structures, and for what society thinks about us” but rather in considering “what the real spiritual needs and expectations of our people are.”

But it is only in the heart and through the heart, Pope Francis continues, that man recognizes God and, at the same time, himself, his own origin and depth, his own fulfillment, in the call to love, because “faith is not a passive surrender to a doctrine without flesh and without history” but an attitude of the heart.

Finally, in the second part of the apostolic letter, the Pontiff looks at the legacy of St. Francis de Sales for our age through “some of his crucial choices, in order to inhabit change with evangelical wisdom.”

Fr. Michele Molinar, vice provincial of the Salesians of Piedmont, also spoke on the apostolic letter Totum amoris est yesterday as part of the “Sacre Questioni” program, interviewed by Filippo Peschiera.

“Charity, as St. Francis de Sales understands it, is love with the traits of God,” says Fr. Molinar in the interview, available here, “And then to God, we answer with devotion, which ... as St. Francis de Sales understands it is the ‘tip’ of charity.”

The full text of the Letter is available at vatican.va

Source: Vatican News

Bishop Maksym Ryabukha, SDB, Ordained in Kyiv

Episcopal Ordination of Bp. Maksym Ryabukha, SDB, Celebrated in Kyiv

 

Photo: Alexander Savransky

(ANS - Kyiv, Ukraine – December 23, 2022) – On December 22 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv, the episcopal ordination of Maksym Ryabukha, SDB, auxiliary bishop of the Donetsk Archiepiscopal Exarchate, was celebrated. The ceremony was presided over by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head and father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Being Yeast in Today's Human Family

“Being Yeast in Today’s Human Family”

Presentation of the Strenna 2023 by the Rector Major

(ANS – Rome – December 28, 2022) – On Tuesday, December 27, at the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians the Rector Major presented Strenna 2023: “AS THE YEAST IN TODAY’S HUMAN FAMILY: The lay dimension of the Family of Don Bosco,” to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the whole Salesian Family.

Present for this event were the Mother general of the FMAs, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, and her council, the mother emerita, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat; the general councilor for communications, Fr. Gildasio Mendes; the treasurer general of the Salesian Congregation Bro. Jean Paul Muller; the provincial of the SDB Roman Province, the superior of the FMA vice province of Rome, the novices of the FMA international novitiate of Castel Gandolfo, several FMAs, other SDBs, and representatives of the Salesian Family.

The event began with a song to our Blessed Mother led by the novices, protagonists of a juggling show, followed by the introductory note on the Strenna 2023 Video by Sr. Leslye Sandigo, the FMA general councilor for the Salesian Family. The presentation of the video was followed by an interview with the Rector Major by Sr. Maria Ausilia De Siena, FMA, general councilor for communications, and Marta Rossi, Salesian Cooperator. Several questions were asked: the reasons for choosing the theme of the lay dimension and the meaning of being yeast, an element “that belongs to the DNA of all Christians,” with what pertains properly to the Salesian charism. And again: how to propose to young people a lifestyle that grows in silence, like leaven, and, as Salesian Family, how to be leaven for these young people who live conditions of hardship amplified by the pandemic.

It was an opportunity for Fr. Angel Fernandez to explain the reason for choosing this theme and above all to emphasize the complementarity between the members of the Salesian Family with regard to the mission for the young people. He invited the whole Salesian Family not to be discouraged in the mission, not to believe that young people are closed to proposals, not to want to change the world with a magic wand, but above all to sow small seeds and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. The “sowing of small seeds,” the Rector Major emphasized, consists of “a continuous presence with young people, attentive listening, a word whispered in their ear with affection.”

Responding to the other questions – on the community, on Salesian identity, on politics – Fr. Angel also highlighted the challenges of an authentically Christian witness, the need to walk together, to engage in the world with courageous choices, to which members of the Salesian Family are called to support young people so that they learn to “be honest public workers” and to “engage in political life” with the aim of transforming their society and the world. Special attention was given to adolescents, described by the Rector Major as “a special part of society” that deserves great attention.

“To be leaven, with the presence and personal encounter with young people, through small daily gestures, made with love” are some of the ways suggested by the Rector Major, who emphasized the great opportunity that the Salesian Family has to be with a large number of boys and girls and their families every day, a source of commitment in life and hope in today’s difficult existential reality. He also urged everyone to continue to be the daily leaven in preparing the tasty bread in the Salesian mission in the world.

The FMA Mother General, Sr. Chiara, thanked Fr. Angel for the “live” presentation of the strenna, and for the opportunity, through this theme, to deepen the lay dimension of the Salesian Family, a profound intuition of Don Bosco, reviving in each person the awareness of being able to be a family, to pursue the good and be fruitful as yeast every day.

The Rector Major offers a strenna to the Salesian Family, with focus on a specific theme, and this is Fr. Angel’s ninth presentation of the strenna. The event was followed worldwide through the live broadcast in French, Italian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Here is the video of the Strenna.

Homily for Christmas Day at Noon

Homily for Christmas Day

Dec. 25, 2022
John 1: 1-5, 9-14
Holy Name, New Rochelle
Mass at Noon

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1: 9).

Christmas lights at the LaSalette Shrine, Attleboro, Mass.

It’s the season of light, even tho we’ve just begun winter and are experiencing the longest nites of the year.  Houses are festooned with colorful lights, cities put extra lights on lampposts, New York and other cities stage grand lightings of Christmas trees; in Chandler, Ariz., they construct a spectacular multicolored “tree” out of tumbleweeds.  We decorate trees in our living rooms and put candles in our windows.  By instinct we love light, are drawn to light, and want to bask ourselves in light.

At the same time, we dislike darkness, even fear darkness.  Kids are afraid of the dark, we’re uneasy on dark streets, movie villains like Darth Vader often wear black, and fictional villains may bear names like the Dark Lord.

Christianity warns us against the Prince of Darkness.  Sin blackens our souls.  Into a world darkened by sin and under the power of Satan, God has sent his eternal Word, the Word that said at the beginning of creation, “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3).  “All things came to be thru him,” St. John assures us (1:3), and he gave life to plants, animals, and human beings.  He created a vast and good universe.

After human beings brought sin and darkness into creation, God continued to shine light upon us thru his divine revelation:  thru patriarchs, prophets, and his chosen people.  And finally, as the author of Hebrew says, “in these last days he has spoken to us thru the Son … thru whom he created the universe,” who shines with divine glory (1:2-3).

That Son of God entered human history, taking our flesh of the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to him at Bethlehem.  He is “the true light, which enlightens everyone,” come into our world, shining in the darkness (John 1:9,5).  Satan and his cohorts—the dark, bloodthirsty warlords and tyrants of our world, the drug lords, the human traffickers, the killers of the unborn, all the merchants of death—rage against the light.  Altho “the world came to be thru him” yet doesn’t recognize him (1:10), the light continues to shine.  Every Christmas reminds of that, renews our hope that we might truly “become children of God” because we believe in him (1:12). we believe in the light.

The reverse is true, too.  God’s Son became a human being because he believes in us.  He “made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory,” and he is “full of grace and truth” (1:14), which he brings us as gifts.  This wondrous divine activity is not “by human choice nor by a man’s decision, but of God” (1:13).  Grace and truth are the divine light bursting into our darkness, wonderfully restoring the dignity of our human nature (Collect), created in God’s own image.  When we accept the grace and truth offered to us by Christ, he makes us children of God, St. John says (1:12).  In Baptism, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments, our Lord Jesus re-makes us in his image, so that “we may share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity” (Collect).

This is the light and the grace and the wonder we celebrate today.

Homily for Christmas Morning

Homily for Christmas Morning

Dec. 25, 2022
Titus 2: 11-14
Is 9: 1-6
Texts of Mass during the Nite
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“Beloved:  The grace of God has appeared” (Titus 2: 11).

(by Govert Flinck)

For most of society, today’s the culmination of Christmas.  What Christians know as Advent has passed in a spree of spending money—the newscasts often leading with reports of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other sales, to be followed by reports of consumer debt; a spree of office parties and other celebrations; and reports of holiday travel, gas prices, and problems at airports; this year, add a major winter storm.

But we call the season Advent, which means “coming,” because we’re waiting—not for Santa but for the “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5).  We are people who have been walking in darkness, longing for “a great light” (cf. 9:1)—literally true this year of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who lack both electricity and heat, thanks to the barbaric assaults on their country.  We hope that soon cloaks and uniforms “rolled in blood” will become “fuel for flames” (9:4), that the “judgment and justice” of God’s kingdom will be confirmed and sustained (9:6).

The grace of God did in fact appear in our midst, in “the city of David that is called Bethlehem” (Luke 2:4).  Mary’s child, greeted by lofty angels and lowly shepherds, “our great God and savior” (Tit 2:13), came to us, walked among us, and taught us how “to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age” (2:12).

If boots tramping in battle and bloodshed are all around us—not only in Ukraine but also in Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Congo, Syria, and Palestine; on our streets, in our schools and shopping malls, in our abortion clinics, even in our homes—it’s because men and women have refused the grace offered to us, rejected the “good news of great joy” (2:10).  And we continue a long Advent of waiting for “the grace of God that has appeared” to be realized in human hearts.

The God who appeared in a manger at Bethlehem appears among us at every Christian liturgy.  He comes to us in the sacred Scriptures, wherein his Word effectively touches our hearts and changes them if we are receptive.  The Word that took on human flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14) comes to us in the Eucharist—appearing under the forms of bread and wine that mask the hidden reality of his Divinity, even as his infant flesh in the manger masked his Divinity.  How better can we celebrate the historical birth of “our great God and Savior” than by doing again what he told us to, taking bread and wine in his memory, praying his Holy Spirit to transform them into his body and blood, and consuming them, so that we might be transformed by grace into better disciples, better images of Christ, the perfect image of God the Father.

Paul writing to Titus speaks of yet another coming:  “We await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ” (2:13).  The infant laid in the manger, as I said, masked the glory of God.  No glory there, just an ordinary infant, and I don’t have to tell you parents what ordinary infants are like.

No, the glorious coming we await with “blessed hope” (Communion Rite) which we speak of at every Mass after the Lord’s Prayer, is Christ’s return.  When he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, then he will make real what Isaiah prophesied, bringing light into our gloomy land, bringing “abundant joy and great rejoicing” (9:2), lifting the oppressive yokes of tyrants and warmakers, establishing a forever peaceful dominion (9:6).  He will deliver “from all lawlessness and cleanse for himself a people as his own” (Tit 2:14); he will bring “peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).  This is our “blessed hope”, our confidence that God’s grace will appear in majesty, in the person of Jesus on the Last Day, to complete the salvation foreseen by Isaiah and announced by angels at Bethlehem.

The Missionary Strategy of St. Francis de Sales

The Missionary Strategy 
of St. Francis de Sales

by Fr. Alfred Maravilla SDB, General Councilor for Missions

(ANS – Rome – December 14, 2022) – Inspired by the goodness, zeal, and optimistic humanism of St. Francis de Sales, Don Bosco chose him as the patron of his congregation and called his followers Salesians (SDB Const 4, 17). But we can also learn a lot from the missionary strategy of St. Francis which he developed during his experience in the Chablais region of France (1594–1597), and during his ministry as exiled bishop of Geneva (1602-1622).

First, to be near the people St. Francis accepted to live in the chateau of Allinges accompanied only by his cousin. By choosing to walk down to Thonon every day, he met people in their ordinary daily life: workers in their shops, farmers in their fields, and villagers in their homes. Thus, he established a simple personal relationship with them. Becoming their friend, his witness of life became even more appealing. This apostolate of relationship and friendship became the foundation of his missionary work.

Second, St. Francis lived poor, deprived of resources. He had little by way of human support. Although he was housed in the chateau of Allinges as guest of the baron of Hermance, he refused to preach the Gospel protected by weapons of the Catholic army.

Third, he placed his hope in God alone. His strength was in prayer and daily Mass in the small chapel of the chateau before descending to Thonon. Even if he was insulted and mocked, even if the Protestants avoided or assailed him, he treated them with great respect and profound charity.

Fourth, he was convinced of the natural inclination to love of every human heart. For Francis the missionary challenge was to help every person believe, by the gift of faith, in the existence of a God of love, incarnate in our humanity in Jesus, crucified for love of us, and risen so that we may enter fully the communion of love with God.

Fifth, he prepared himself well to preach with the same care for his rather small flock of faithful in the Chablais as he would for a crowd of the faithful. When people refused to listen to him, Francis wrote pamphlets and distributed them. Like the Protestants, he also used Scriptures in his preaching and discussions with some of them.

Finally, during St. Francis’s time, academies were the predominant venue for intellectual endeavors among the increasingly educated population in Europe. Thus, in 1606 he founded the Florimontane Academy, together with Antoine Favre, the president of the Senate of Savoy. Its ultimate purpose was to foster a “devout humanism” by infusing gospel values in literature and science, thus creating a link between faith and culture and fostering the integration of faith and reason. In this light, “devotion” (holiness) is infused in all dimensions of our ordinary daily human life. The Florimontane Academy ceased its activities in 1610 when the Senate of Savoy was relocated to Chambery. Its founding members included the poet, Honoré d‘Urfé, and the two sons of Favre, one of whom (Claude Favre de Vaugelas) would later serve as one of the original academicians in the renowned French Academy in Paris.

Indeed, St. Francis de Sales touched people’s hearts above all, through his personal witness of life – by way of his missionary zeal, his courage, his faith, his charity, and his preaching – which led to the conversion of many.

For reflection and sharing:

What can I learn from missionary strategy of St. Francis de Sales that is applicable in my context?

What importance do I place on my personal witness of life?

 

Pope's World Peace Day Message

Pope's World Peace Day Message

There is light even in our darkest hour

Pope Francis releases his message for the World Day of Peace to be celebrated on January 1, 2023, and recalls that all crises are interconnected and that we must not forget any of them, but work for the good of humanity.

By Francesca Merlo, Vatican News

“No one can be saved alone. Combatting Covid-19 together, embarking together on paths of peace.” With this as its title, Pope Francis has presented his message for the 56th World Day of Peace, held annually on 1 January.

Remain steadfast

The Holy Father’s message, released on Friday, opens with a quotation from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians (5:1-2).

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

Thus, the Pope recalls that the Apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonian community to remain steadfast. Likewise he says, “when tragic events seem to overwhelm our lives, we are called to keep our hearts open to hope and to trust in God, who makes himself present, accompanies us with tenderness, sustains us in our weariness and, above all, guides our path.”

Darkness of the Covid-19 pandemic

There is light even in the darkest hour, says Pope Francis, before going on to use the Covid-19 pandemic as an example: “The pandemic seems to have upset even the most peaceful parts of our world, and exposed any number of forms of fragility.”

Three years later, he stresses, “the time is right to question, learn, grow and allow ourselves to be transformed as individuals and as communities” reminding us, as he has done before, that “we never emerge the same from times of crisis: we emerge either better or worse."

This experience has made us all the more aware of the need for everyone, including peoples and nations, to restore the word “together” to a central place in our lexicon.  Only the peace that comes from a fraternal and disinterested love can help us overcome personal, societal, and global crises.

“Our greatest and yet most fragile treasure is our shared humanity as brothers and sisters, children of God. None of us can be saved alone.”

Man-made wars

Pope Francis goes on to stress that this is not the post-Covid era we had hoped for or expected. “At the very moment when we dared to hope that the darkest hours of the Covid-19 pandemic were over, a terrible new disaster befell humanity,” he said, noting that the world witnessed the onslaught of another scourge: another war, “driven by culpable human decisions.”

Pope Francis notes that the war in Ukraine is “reaping innocent victims and spreading insecurity, not only among those directly affected, but in a widespread and indiscriminate way for everyone, also for those who, even thousands of miles away, suffer its collateral effects – we need but think of grain shortages and fuel prices.”

“This war,” he says, “together with all the other conflicts around the globe, represents a setback for the whole of humanity and not merely for the parties directly involved. While a vaccine has been found for Covid-19, suitable solutions have not yet been found for the war.”

“Certainly, the virus of war is more difficult to overcome than the viruses that compromise our bodies, because it comes, not from outside of us, but from within the human heart corrupted by sin.”

No one can be saved alone

“What then is being asked of us?” the Pope asks, in light of all these difficult times: “First of all, to let our hearts be changed by our experience of the crisis.”

In fact, he explains: “we can no longer think exclusively of carving out space for our personal or national interests, ... instead we must think in terms of the common good.”

We cannot, however, ignore one fundamental fact, he continues: “Many moral, social, political, and economic crises we are experiencing are all interconnected, and what we see as isolated problems are actually causes and effects of one another.”

And he calls on all those in positions of responsibility and on all men and women of good will “to revisit the issue of ensuring public health for all”; to “promote actions that enhance peace and put an end to the conflicts and wars that continue to spawn poverty and death”; “to join in caring for our common home and in implementing clear and effective measures to combat climate change”; “to battle the virus of inequality and to ensure food and dignified labor for all, supporting those who lack even a minimum wage and find themselves in great difficulty.”

“The scandal of entire peoples starving remains an open wound.”

May we make this a good year for all

Finally, Pope Francis asks that in the coming New Year that “we journey together, valuing the lessons that history has to teach us.”

“To all men and women of good will, I express my prayerful trust that, as artisans of peace, they may work, day by day, to make this a good year!”

Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent

Homily for the
4th Sunday of Advent

Dec. 18, 2022
Matt 1: 18-24
Is 7: 10-14
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matt 1: 24).

St. Joseph's Anxiety (James Tissot)

Two men are given directives from heaven in today’s 1st and 3d readings.  In the Old Testament reading, the prophet Isaiah directs Ahaz, king of Judah, to ask for a sign from God.  In the gospel, Joseph of Nazareth is directed to go thru with his planned marriage to Mary.

More than 700 years before Christ—Ahaz reigned from 736 to 716 B.C.—in God’s name Isaiah has been cautioning the king against involvement in the power politics of the Middle East.  Isaiah tells him to trust in God’s help rather than in the Assyrian Empire, making Judah a vassal state of Assyria.  Pretending piety, Ahaz won’t listen to the prophet, not even when Isaiah offers a sign from heaven, namely that a young woman[1] whose identity we don’t know—but Ahaz must have known—will conceive and bear a son.

St. Matthew sees in Isaiah’s words a new meaning[2] that bears on the coming of Israel’s Messiah:  “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (1:18).  Of course, St. Joseph’s totally in the dark about the miraculous pregnancy of his betrothed.  Mary and he are legally committed to each other; betrothal is more than an engagement, in our pre-marriage customs.  Legally they are husband and wife, tho they won’t live together or have relations until the public marriage ceremony is celebrated some months after the betrothal agreement.

Unlike Ahaz, Joseph is “a righteous man” (1:19), which means he truly worships the Lord and always wants to do what is right, to do what God wants.  Thus when “the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream” (1:20) and informed him of the origin of the child Mary was carrying, he was ready to listen to God’s message and to obey.  And when he awoke, he “did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (1:24).

Each of us can live like either Ahaz or Joseph.  Our piety, our devotion to God, can be fake like Ahaz’s, who’s going to do what he’s decided to do, regardless of God’s word addressed to him.  Ahaz is like Catholics who, when reminded of church teaching on marriage, birth control, or abortion, respond, “I disagree.”  Or we can strive to be righteous, just, holy, pleasing to God like Joseph, who makes 2 decisions in the gospel as he tries to live by God’s law.  All of us have a bit of Ahaz in us—our sinful selves—and a bit of Joseph, the self that wants to live like a disciple and friend of Jesus.

Joseph’s 1st decision is “to divorce her quietly,” not “to expose her to shame” (1:19) before their families and the rest of Nazareth, possibly even to expose Mary to death by stoning for the crime of adultery (cf. John 8:3-5).  Joseph wants to balance mercy and respect for the Law of Moses by putting aside a woman who appears to have been unfaithful.  That’s his 1st decision.

His 2d decision reverses that 1st one.  When God speaks to him thru an angel, he changes his plan—unlike Ahaz.  As a righteous or just man, he’s ruled by faith in God.  He adjusts his intention to what God commands.

God doesn’t use angels to speak to us today.  But he continues to address us concerning what he wants of us by several means.  The 1st means is his revealed word in the sacred Scriptures.  So it’s important for us to read the Bible regularly, especially the Gospels, and not only when we come to church.

The 2d means is in the teachings of the Church.  Jesus says explicitly that whoever hears his apostles hears him:  “Whoever listens to you listens to me.  Whoever rejects you rejects me.  And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16).  The apostles have been succeeded by the Pope, successor of St. Peter, and the bishops.  They teach us God’s ways with the authority that Christ has given to them when they speak about the commandments, the beatitudes, war and peace, marriage, sexuality, abortion, care for creation, human dignity, human rights, etc.

The 3d means by which God speaks to us is thru modern prophets, thru saints like Mother Teresa and Oscar Romero, thru people who show us what’s right and wrong in contemporary society, people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Dorothy Day.

St. Paul reminds us today that we are “beloved of God, called to be holy” (Rom 1:7).  Brothers and sisters, each day we have occasions to hear God speaking to us.  Each day we have opportunities to speak and to live as the Gospel instructs us—to act obediently and righteously like St. Joseph rather than stubbornly and self-willed like King Ahaz.

---

[1] almah in Hebrew, “young woman” of marriageable age.

[2] Working from the Septuagint Greek text, which renders almah as parthenos, “maiden, virgin.”

Salesian Wins International Human Rights Award

Salesian Wins International Human Rights Award

by Fr. Bastin Nellissery, SDB

(ANS – Delhi, India – December 12, 2022) – The 12th International Human Rights Award was conferred on Salesian priest Fr. C.M. Paul (photo, 2d from left) for his contribution to peace with media reforms. The award was given by the All India Council of Human Rights, Delhi, at the Lodhi Road Islamic Centre Auditorium on International Human Rights Day, December 10. Accepting the award for his contribution to peace with the media ministry, Fr. Paul said, “This award is for all those who suffer injustice and human rights violation silently.” Speaking at the panel discussion before the award function, he said: “If you have been a victim of human rights violation and injustice, only then can you be a voice for the voiceless. Let us pledge to protect human rights in our neighborhood, society, and country.” Fr. Paul, from the Salesians’ Calcutta Province, currently works as vice principal at Salesian College, Siliguri.

Fr. Paul is also a recipient of the John Barrett Best Report Award from the Indian Catholic Press Association in 2008, the Ambassador of Jesus Award Calcutta for outstanding Media Priest in 2006, and the Media at the Service of the Gospel Award from International Catholic Film Festival, Warsaw, in 2010. A Kerala-born missionary priest, Fr. Paul is the founder-director of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, and Salesian College, Sonada. He is also the founder-director of Radio Salesian 90.8 FM in 2016 and Salesian TV (YouTube) in 2018 at Salesian College, Darjeeling. Fr. Paul completed his Master’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Fordham University in New York; during his student years in the late 1980s, he resided with the provincial residence community in New Rochelle. He then became the first non-Italian director of the Don Bosco News Agency in Rome. He has served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification, Govt of India, Information & Broadcasting Ministry from 2006 to 2008, and also is the founder-director of the first two Mother Teresa International Film Festivals held in Kolkata (Calcutta).

Source: Don Bosco India - Don Bosco South Asia

Salesian Missions Brings Clean Water to Namibian Village

Salesian Missions Brings Clean Water to Namibian Village

(ANS – Ruurumwe, Namibia – December 12, 2022) – Residents of the Ruurumwe village, located outside of Rundu, Namibia, have access to clean water thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle. The project, part of the Salesian Missions “Clean Water Initiative,” provided a new borewell, water tank, and pump.

The 550 people living in the village are poor and survive on small-scale farming and government grants. The water supply from a small seasonal river is erratic and too often not enough. During the summer, residents survive on water from holes and small wells, but this water is not safe for human consumption. The new borewell and 5,000-liter water storage tank will supply fresh, clean water for the entire village and allow people to grow food for the community.

One of the beneficiaries, Ethel Hamutenya, has had a difficult life. She had to stop school at grade 9 after she became pregnant, and she has not been able to go back. Hamutenya struggles to find work to earn money to feed herself and her child. She is grateful for the new water supply.

Hamutenya said, “Today I have a small garden that has given me hope in my life. I have planted some vegetables, and my life has changed because of this water. If I work hard, after next year, I will have enough money to go back to school.”

According to the World Bank, Namibia is just one of 9 countries in Africa considered as upper middle income, but poverty is still prevalent with extreme wealth imbalances. Namibia’s poverty rate is 32% with an unemployment rate of 29.6%. Poverty in Namibia is acute in the northern regions of Kavango, Oshikoto, Zambezi, Kunene, and Ohangwena, where upwards of 1/3 of the population lives in poverty. HIV prevalence in the country is 16.9%.

Salesian programs across Namibia are primarily focused on education. Salesian primary and secondary education in the country helps youths prepare for later technical, vocational, or university study. Other programs help to support poor youths and their families by meeting the basic needs of shelter, proper nutrition, and medical care.

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

Source: Salesian Missions

Salesian Programs Help Poor Youths Receive an Education

Salesian Programs Help Poor Youths 
Receive an Education and Find a Path Out of Poverty

(ANS – New Rochelle, N.Y. – December 9, 2022) – Salesian Missions of New Rochelle joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in honoring Human Rights Day, celebrated each year on December 10. Human Rights Day commemorates the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been translated into more than 500 languages. This milestone document proclaimed the inalienable rights that everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being — regardless of race, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

This year’s Human Rights Day “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All” focuses on “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” The call to action is #StandUp4HumanRights.

Through education and social development programming, Salesians in more than 130 countries around the globe work to ensure that all youths know their rights, are able to fully participate in their communities, and have their voices heard.

Whether it’s combating child labor, assisting homeless youths, or building schools where children previously had no access to education, Salesians are educating youths on their rights and ensuring access to programs and services they need. Working in more than 5,500 Salesian educational institutions and youths centers around the world, Salesian priests, brothers, sisters, and volunteers educate children in some of the poorest places on the planet.

“Education is always our primary focus, but we know youths are faced with many more challenges that sometimes prevent their access to education,” said Fr. Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Salesians provide education on human rights which provides vulnerable youths a sense of personal dignity and self-worth. At Salesian schools, young children gain an education, learn about their rights and freedoms, and participate in sports and other activities — all in a safe environment that encourages learning and growth.”

In honor of Human Rights Day, Salesian Missions highlights unique programs that are helping poor youths receive an education and find a path out of poverty, bringing them hope for the future.

Children at Foyer Don Bosco, a home for abused and abandoned children in Kandi, Benin, have received food support thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The funding provided food support for 36 children, as well as cleaning products and medicines for the infirmary. Ten girls and boys have also benefited from the purchase of toolboxes for various trades.

Foyer Don Bosco serves boys and girls in very complex situations, including those who have been abandoned by their families, victims of abuse, and victims of forced marriages. The area of Kandi often has an influx of children who are on their own. Children are sometimes sold on the black market and exploited in the workforce. A transit home was started with the support of UNICEF to host these children, while guiding them to other homes or trying to find their families.

Foyer Don Bosco was created for children who have nowhere else to go or need to stay for long periods of time. In collaboration with the juvenile courts of Benin, minors who are in conflict with the law and in high-risk situations are assisted by the Salesians. The border police also intercept children being trafficked from Niger and Burkina Faso.

Children living at the Ekalavya Children’s Home were supported by donor funds from Salesian Missions. The home was created by the Salesian-run People’s Action for Rural Awakening for disadvantaged children in Konaseema, located in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The home, which can accommodate up to 50 children, was started to support school dropouts, rescue child laborers, and provide a home for at-risk children, those living on the street, or those who have run away from dysfunctional families. Ekalavya Children’s Home is a childcare institution licensed under the Juvenile Justice Act. Every home for children at risk needs to be licensed by the Women Development and Child Welfare Department of the state government.

While providing for basic needs and connecting children to educational programs, Ekalavya Children’s Home also helps children understand their emotions and connect better with their peers and adults. The home provides a weekly meeting where children can talk about issues that are bothering them, whether it’s with other children, school, or adults. This helps children work through interpersonal issues and helps them resolve conflict in a productive way.

Youths attending the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center in Koko, within the Kebbi State of Nigeria, received scholarships thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The 150 students who received scholarships were selected based on criteria developed at the school.

Among the students were youths who were directly affected by bandit attacks, teenage girls who were about to be forced into marriage, youths from poor backgrounds, and orphans who lost either parent. Other students selected had not received any formal education and were willing to learn a skill.

Lydia, one of the recipients, is the oldest of seven daughters. Three years ago, her father died and her mother passed away last year. Lydia was left to take care of her siblings, but she cannot afford the fees to send them to school. She is continuing her education to be able to help her siblings.

Bosco Sevana Center, in Uswetakeiyawa, Sri Lanka, started more than 25 years ago as a rehabilitation center for sexually abused minors. Since then, the center has been converted into a children’s home where vulnerable children, such as street children or orphans, receive care and support to become responsible citizens.

These children, ages 7-16, often grow up on their own and face drug addiction and sexual abuse at an early age. As a result, the school dropout rate has risen alarmingly, exceeding 53 percent. The recent political crisis in the country has compounded an already dire situation.

The multifaceted project aims to ensure that children receive healthy nutrition and good medical care, along with an education. Students can attend the nearby state school and participate in evening educational support classes. A Salesian noted, “We want to give children the opportunity to continue growing up in a protected family environment, enjoying moments of sports and play like all children in the world.”

Source: Salesian Missions