Message of the Rector Major for July-August

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, SDB

THIS IS LOVE...

This is the simple and silent good that Don Bosco did.

This is the good that we continue to do together.

My friends and readers of Salesian media,

I’m sending you my cordial greeting, as I do every month. It’s a greeting that I prepare by allowing the heart to speak: that heart which wants to continue looking at the Salesian world with the same hope and certainty that Don Bosco himself had – that together we can do much good and that the good that’s done must be made known.

Before writing my greeting, I always read all the content of that month’s Salesian Bulletin. The editors send it to me in advance so that I can write something that takes it into account and accords with its theme.

I like the July-August Bulletin very much, with its great variety of articles that give precious testimony to how one can be very Salesian in his/her daily dedication to the Salesian oratory everywhere: on every playground, in every place where young children and teens – and the young adults who animate them – find a space to live life. The oratory/youth center is a healthy space, an educational space, a space that educates for life and the meaning of life, and a space of faith (if one so desires).

At the same time, however, I felt pain and concern reading the story about Sudan. There, everyone’s living in a very difficult situation, including the Salesians. Today, I wish to share in my greeting another beautiful testimony, even though I wasn’t an eyewitness this time. I’ll relate what was shared with me.

A MOTHER’S COURAGE

The scene takes place in Palabek, Uganda. Five years ago, the first refugees arrived there, and we Salesians of Don Bosco chose to accompany them. Our house was a tent, and the chapel in which we could pray and celebrate the first holy Mass was the shade of a tree.

Hundreds upon hundreds of refugees arrive at Palabek every day from Sudan, at first because of the conflict in South Sudan. Now, years later, they continue to arrive but because of the conflict in North Sudan.

The person who told me what I am narrating now is the general councilor for the Missions. He had gone to Palabek just days before to accompany our missionaries in this refugee camp where tens of thousands of people live.

Ten days ago a woman arrived with 11 boys and girls. Without any help, she and her children had traversed various regions that are fraught with dangers. As they walked more than 700 kilometers (430 miles) in the prior month, the group of children grew. This is what I wish to point out because this is HUMANITY and this is LOVE. This woman arrived at Palabek with 11 children under her care and introduced them all as her children. But, in fact, 6 were the children whom she had carried in her womb. Another 3 were the children of her brother, who had recently died, and for whom she had assumed the care. Another 2 were little orphans whom she had found alone along the way, and, of course, without any papers. (Who would give a thought to look for papers and documentation when the most essential things for life are missing!) They became this woman’s adopted children.

Sometimes the title MOTHER COURAGE! (COURAGEOUS MOTHER) is attributed to a mother who has given her all to defend her child to the end. So, too, in this case, I wish to attribute to this mother of 11 children the title “Mother Courage,” but above all “WOMAN WHO KNOWS VERY WELL” – in the depths of her heart – “WHAT IT IS TO LOVE.” Perhaps she knows that kind of love that lasts “even until it hurts” because she has been living in absolute destitution with these 11 children and continues to do that.

Welcome to Palabek, Mother Courage (Courageous Mother)! Welcome to our Salesian presence. Undoubtedly, everything possible will be done so that her boys and girls don’t lack food and have a place to play and laugh and smile – in the Salesian oratory – and a place to learn in our school.

This is the simple and silent good that Don Bosco did. This is the good that we continue to do together because – believe me! – knowing that we are not alone and certain that many of you welcome and empathize with the efforts we make every day for the good of others, gives us a lot of human strength. We trust, without a doubt, that the Good Lord makes it grow.

I wish you a good summer. Undoubtedly, ours – mine, too – will be more serene and comfortable than that of this mother from Palabek. But I think I can say that, having thought of her and her children, we have somehow built a bridge.

Be very happy.

Fr. Angel

Homily for Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29)

Homily for the Solemnity of
Sts. Peter & Paul

June 29, 2023
2 Tim 4: 6-8, 17-18
Acts 12: 1-11
Ps 34: 1-8
Matt 16: 13-19
St. Edmund, Edmonton, Alberta

“The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that thru me the message might be fully proclaimed” (2 Tim 4: 17).

The two NT lessons this morning speak of deliverance, the first one of St. Peter’s miraculous escape from prison, the second of St. Paul’s less specific rescue “from the lion’s mouth” (4:17).  The psalm likewise tells of the Lord’s power and willingness to save:  “He delivered me from all my fears: (Ps 34:4).

In Paul’s case, we learn the reason for his deliverance:  that the apostle, Paul, might proclaim the word of God fully.  The content of the proclamation is this:  Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16), the righteous judge (2 Tim 4:8), God’s instrument for saving us for his heavenly kingdom (4:18).

The apostolic task is to preach this message of salvation.  The Church today is apostolic because it has received this message from the apostles in our sacred tradition, guarded by the rock foundation of Peter’s successors, right up to Pope Francis, and because it continues to preach the apostolic word of salvation.

Deliverance is not simply physical.  On many occasions Paul narrowly escaped with his life.  At least this one time, so Peter did.  But Paul speaks plainly of being sacrificed, “poured out as a libation” (4:6), as according to tradition he was put to death by the sword during the persecution of Nero.  Peter also shed his blood for Christ under Nero, by crucifixion.

Why does the Lord save at one time but not at another?  According to his plan, the lives of his chosen ones glorify him and proclaim the word fully at one time by being preserved and at another time by being surrendered even as Christ’s life was.  To be the Christ, the Messiah, is to suffer at the hands of human beings and to find life in God.  To preach the Messiah is to walk in the Messiah’s steps, a journey that can be completed only when we pass thru death, which has not the power to harm us.  Like Paul, we shall be rescued from the lion’s mouth of final evil and destruction.  The Lord stood by Peter and Paul even as they experienced the cross and the sword, preaching Christ in death as in life.

We of the apostolic and Catholic Church, disciples of Jesus the Messiah, must preach the word fully too.  Sometimes preaching demands sacrifices of us, self-denial, losing our lives, our possessions, our comfort, for the Gospel’s sake.  This is the path to life.  This is our confident assurance of faith in God who is our life.  We know that the powers of death cannot shake the Church no matter how much they attack; Jesus is risen and lives in us.  On the Last Day, he will bestow the glorious crown of eternal life not only on Peter and Paul but also on “all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).

Homily for Vigil of Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 28)

Homily for the Vigil Mass
of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul

June 28, 2023
Gal 1: 11-20
John 21: 15-19
St. Edmund, Edmonton, Alberta

If I’m not mistaken, the picture above me depicts Sts. Peter and Paul.  One saint is holding a book, representing Paul as a preacher of the Word of God—indeed, its pre-eminent preacher.  The other is holding a key, the great symbol of Peter’s authority in the Church, and the origin of his traditional reputation as heaven’s gatekeeper.

In the gospel this evening, Jesus entrusts his flock to Peter to tend and to feed.  Jesus so charges him 3 times, which we interpret as his command in response to Peter’s 3-fold affirmation of his love for Jesus after he’d denied him 3 times.  Peter had sinned, but he truly loved Jesus and eventually died for him:  “when you grow old, you’ll stretch out your hands, and someone will … take you where you don’t wish to go” (John 21:18).  Peter was crucified in Rome during the persecution of Nero and buried in a cemetery on the slope of the Vatican hill—a site which Christian memory preserved secretly for almost 3 centuries until Emperor Constantine legalized the Church and built a church over Peter’s grave.  Today pilgrims can visit that cemetery and come near Peter’s tomb deep under St. Peter’s Basilica.

St. Paul, too, was a sinner, as we heard in the 2d reading.  He had judged himself righteous before God because of his observance of the Jewish Law and had “persecuted the Church of God” (Gal 1:13-14), until he had a personal encounter with Christ, who bestowed on him unmerited grace:  pardon and conversion leading to salvation (1:15-16).

When we celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, we’re celebrating the apostolic faith, the Gospel they preached and confirmed with their blood in Rome.  That’s the Gospel of our redemption by the gift of God, by grace.  Grace pardons our sins, as it did Peter’s and Paul’s.  In a few minutes, we’ll pray at the altar that “the more we doubt our own merits, the more we may rejoice that we are to be saved by [God’s] loving kindness” (Prayer over the Offerings).

Day Hike in Elk Island National Park

Day Hike in Elk Island National Park

I have a summer assignment filling in for 4 weeks for a Salesian pastor who's on vacation.  I'm serving at St. Edmund Parish in Edmonton, Alberta, and residing with 3 confreres in our SDB residence (all the way across town).  The SDBs have a day off from parish ministry on Mondays.  When everyone’s around, it serves as a day for community purposes like meetings, recollection, or recreation.

I drove 30 miles east to Elk Island National Park, warmly recommended by several St. Edmund parishioners.  There were a lot of hiking possibilities.  I selected the Moss Lake Trail, which includes 2 loops, A and B.  The B was labeled “difficult,” in contrast to the “moderate” A.  So of course I did B. 

As a Harriman State Park veteran, the only thing I found "difficult" about it was its length, 11.6 km; there were a few gentle ups and downs, but it was mostly level.  I did have to add about 2.5 km of the A section to get to and from B.  That total of about 14 km = about 9 miles.  It took me 4 hours (about 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), including lunch breaks and photo stops.

If you look carefully, you'll see 2 bison across the pond.

It was sunny and warm—upper 70s.  That was good for photography, and I took 37 pix on the trail (and 1 with my phone in the visitors center, which insists on putting itself in the chronological middle of the photos):  https://link.shutterfly.com/CekPLZGvXAb).

Along the trail there were loads of horse droppings, some from another large mammal (moose? elk?), a lot of owl scat, and some poop that belonged perhaps to a dog or else to something like that.  There were horse hoof prints, deer prints, elk (?) prints, and some dog prints.

Along the long B section of trail, I saw only one human, a fair member of the fair sex, with her 2 friendly dogs.  Returning to the parking lot on the A section, I met about a dozen people, mostly heading into the trail.

Beaver lodge in the center.

There weren’t a lot of flowers along the trail, but such as they were I shot pictures of.  There were also 3 tiny raspberries—1 so tiny I didn’t pick it and pop it into my mouth.

As for fauna, I saw Canada geese, a lot of ducks, 2 trumpeter swans in flight, a red squirrel, a small gray squirrel, a rabbit, at least 3 varieties of butterflies, dragonflies, a honeybee, a good number of birds, and 2 bison.  Later, on the road, there was another bison right in a parking lot; he got a good bit of attention (from the safety of vehicles).

All photos:  https://link.shutterfly.com/CekPLZGvXAb

 

Homily for 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 25, 2023
Jer 20: 10-13
Rom 10: 12-15
Matt 10: 26-33
St. Edmund, Edmonton, Alberta

You all know the saying, “I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.  Which do you want to hear first?”

from the Sistine Chapel

I’ll start with the bad news:  Jeremiah was loathed because he prophesied in God’s name to the unrepentant leaders of Judah, both nobles and priests.  In our 1st reading, he moaned:  “I hear many whispering…:  ‘Denounce him!  Let us denounce him!’” (20:10).  Not only did they denounce him, but they scourged him, put him in the public stocks, threw him into a dry well, and threatened to kill him—all that besides despising him and refusing to listen to the Lord’s words.

The Psalmist voices a similar lament:  “For your sake [God’s sake] I have borne reproach….  I have become a stranger to my kindred … [because] zeal for your house has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me” (69:7-9).

Those texts form something of a parallel to Jesus’ warning to his disciples not to fear those who might attack them and kill their bodies; rather, to fear the Evil One, who can destroy us in the fire of hell (Matt 10:28).  Yes, the followers of Jesus, like Jeremiah and the anonymous Psalmist, are always in danger of persecution from those who hate the Christian message, the Gospel; e.g., that there’s only one God, and him alone are we to serve—not our own egos or passions or even our nation; that all persons, including the unborn, are created in God’s image and therefore have God-given dignity; that God created us male and female, and that’s his plan and purpose for us as humans.  So Christ’s followers have always been persecuted, and they continue to be persecuted in places like China, Nigeria, India, and Nicaragua, and even in supposedly enlightened Western societies.  Jesus encourages us to proclaim his Gospel from the housetops (10:27) and assures us that he’ll acknowledge us before his Father (10:32) when we’re called to give a reckoning of our lives.

And that’s a hint of the good news I alluded to when I began.  The rest of the good news comes from our 2d reading, St. Paul to the Christian community at Rome (5:12-15).  In this passage, St. Paul contrasts the disobedience of Adam in the garden, which brought death into the world for every human being, with the life that Jesus Christ, the new Adam, has brought into the world as a “free gift”—an undeserved gift freely given to us by God—the gift of redemption from the power of death and the grip of the Devil, who would destroy us in hell.  No matter our sins, Christ’s grace is offered to us.  The only price for that gift is that we accept Christ and follow him, without shame and without reservation.

Fr. Michael Conway Named Director of Salesian Missions

Fr. Michael Conway Named Director of Salesian Missions

Today we have received word that our Rector Major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, SDB, has appointed Fr. Michael Conway, SDB, to be the new executive director of Salesian Missions, New Rochelle, effective immediately.  Fr. Mike succeeds Fr. Gus Baek, SDB, who passed away on December 30, 2022. 

The province of New Rochelle congratulates Fr. Mike, offers him prayers in his new responsibility, and expresses gratitude to Fr. Tim Ploch, SDB, for serving as interim executive director of Salesian Missions for the past six months.

Fr. Conway has been province treasurer and a member of the provincial council for the last two years. Born in 1962, he graduated from St. Dominic Savio HS in East Boston in 1980 and then entered the Salesians. He made his first profession in 1983 and was ordained in 1992 by then-Bishop Oscar Rodriguez. He has served at Salesian schools in Marrero, La., St. Petersburg, Fla., Paterson, N.J., New Rochelle, N.Y., and Takoma Park, Md.

Abp. Lustosa Declared Venerable

Abp. Antonio de Almeida Lustosa Declared Venerable

(ANS – Vatican City – June 22, 2023) – On Tuesday, June 20, during the ordinary session of the cardinals and bishops who are members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, a positive opinion was unanimously given on the heroic exercise of virtues, the reputation for holiness, and the signs of the Servant of Antonio de Almeida Lustosa, SDB (1886-1974), archbishop of Fortaleza, Brazil.

At this session, not only was the doubt about the Servant of God’s heroic exercise of virtue submitted to the members for examination, but also the entire course of the cause and the ecclesial importance of the cause itself.

The cardinal prefect, Marcello Semeraro, submitted the conclusions for the approval of the Supreme Pontiff with the request to confirm the opinion expressed by the members of the dicastery in view of the promulgation of the decree of venerability of the Servant of God Antonio de Almeida Lustosa.

On June 22, the Holy Father received Cardinal Semeraro in audience and authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Antônio de Almeida Lustosa, SDB, archbishop of Fortaleza.

Antônio de Almeida Lustosa was born in São João del Rei in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on February 11, 1886, anniversary of the first apparition of the Immaculate Conception in Lourdes. That natal circumstance profoundly marked him, inducing a filial devotion to our Lady, so much that when he was a priest, he was described as the poet of the Virgin Mary.

He received a good Christian and human upbringing from his parents. At the age of 16 he entered the Salesian school at Cachoeira do Campo, Minas Gerais, and three years later he was in Lorraine as a novice and assistant to his companions. After his first religious profession, which took place in 1906, he also became a teacher of philosophy, studying theology in the meantime. His perpetual profession took place three years later, and on January 28,1912, he received priestly ordination.

After various assignments within the Salesians, in 1916 he became director and master of novices at the Colegio São Manoel in Lavrinhas. After being director at Bagé Mary Help of Christians secondary school and assistant pastor in the attached parish, on February 11, 1925, he was consecrated bishop of Uberaba, a day he chose to remember the presence of our Lady in his life. In 1928 he was transferred to Corumbá in the State of Mato Grosso, and in 1931 he was promoted to archbishop of Belém do Pará, where he remained for 10 years.

On November 5, 1941, he became archbishop of Fortaleza, capital of the State of Ceará. In addition to a large number of initiatives and activities of a social and charitable nature, he erected more than 30 new parishes, 45 schools for the needy, 14 health centers on the outskirts of Fortaleza, the School of Social Services, the São José and Cura d'Ars hospitals, to recall just some of the most important works attributed to his episcopate.

His pastoral activity can be particularly noted for catechetics, education, pastoral visits, the increase in vocations, the value he saw in Catholic Action, improvement of the living conditions of the poorest, his defense of the rights of workers, renewal of the clergy, the establishment of new religious congregations in Ceará, not to mention his rich and fruitful activity as a poet and writer. He founded two religious congregations, the Institute of Cooperators of the Clergy and the Congregation of the Josefinas.

Eleven years after his resignation from the archdiocese, following which he retired to the Salesian house in Carpina, and forced to be in a wheelchair by a fall that fractured his femur, he died on August 14, 1974, demonstrating, even during illness and suffering, an exemplary attitude of complete and unconditional acceptance of the will of God. His burial became, to all intents and purposes, a truly popular consecration of a life (such was the life of Archbishop Lustosa) entirely devoted to God and the good of his neighbor.

“Archbishop Lustosa," Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, postulator general of the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, commented, “was a great ascetic. He was endowed with an adamantine will that belied the fire that burned within him. He lived poorly: ‘I have nothing,’ he had written in his will. He was a humble man of prayer, dedicated to penance. He knew how to approach everyone, especially the neediest, and was totally dedicated to the cause of the Kingdom of God: ‘I would continue here simply to work for the Our Father: hallowed be your name! Let your Kingdom come; the program of a bishop is always the same: to fulfill his duty!’”

Homily for Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Homily for the Memorial
of St. Aloysius Gonzaga

June 21, 2023
Collect
St. Edmund, Edmonton

Today’s collect called our attention to St. Aloysius’s penitence and “wonderful innocence of life.”  The Gonzagas were a distinguished noble family, lords of the territory of Mantua in northern Italy for almost 400 years.  Born in 1568, Aloysius was trained for a courtly or a military life.  His Renaissance world has been characterized as one of “fraud, dagger, poison, and lust.”[1]

Statue of St. Aloysius

Church of St. Francis de Sales, Valdocco

Aloysius was repelled by that world and pursued a life of prayer and ascetical practices that we today consider harsh, and he taught catechism to younger children.  On becoming acquainted with the Jesuits, he determined to join them.  It took 4 years to overcome his father’s objections and to renounce his princely title and inheritance.  With the Jesuits he had to learn a new form of asceticism based on obedience, community life, and a balanced humanity.  He also had the distinct advantage of having as his spiritual director a saint, Robert Bellarmine.

An example of how Aloysius practiced this new asceticism as a Jesuit:  The young men in formation were taking recreation (whatever that meant in Rome ca. 1590) when someone asked Aloysius what he’d do if he knew that he was going to die in one hour.  He replied that he’d continue his recreation because that was what he was supposed to be doing at that moment.  His holiness was based on fulfilling God’s will, indicated by the duty of the moment.

So it is for us, too.  We prayed that we who are less innocent than Aloysius was might imitate his penitence.  Carrying out our responsibilities diligently is a form of penitence, whether at a given moment we should be doing house chores, helping kids with homework, taking a walk, going to church, or entertaining friends.

Finally, Aloysius became what the Church calls a “martyr of charity.”  When the plague struck Rome in 1591, Aloysius and other Jesuits cared for the sick, and he fell victim to the illness himself, dying at age 23 on June 21.  During the Covid pandemic there were similar martyrs among our front-line workers.  But heroic charity isn’t restricted to a plague or pandemic.  Each of us has numerous opportunities daily to practice charity toward our family members, neighbors, colleagues at work—e.g., by being patient and gentle, by being generous (as St. Paul urges the Christians of Corinth [2 Cor 9:5-11]), by lending a helping hand, by visiting someone who’s elderly or sick, and by praying for people in need whom we can’t assist directly.  Prayer, in fact, is an exercise of our Christian priesthood as followers of our Lord Jesus.

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[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-aloysius-gonzaga/

Salesian Missions Highlights Aid to Refugees

World Refugee Day: Salesian Missions highlights programs that aid refugees

(ANS – New Rochelle – June 20, 2023) – Salesian Missions in New Rochelle joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in honoring World Refugee Day, held each year since 2001 on June 20. The day, coordinated by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other international organizations, honors the plight of millions of refugees and internally displaced people (refugees within the borders of their own countries) who have been forced to flee their homes.

UNHCR estimates that global forced displacement has reached 103 million people. This includes 53.2 million people who are displaced within their own country and 32.5 million refugees. More than 72% come from just 5 countries: Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, and South Sudan. UNHCR expects the number to climb to 117.2 million people who will be forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023.

“Salesian missionaries live among the communities they work in and are on the front lines of the refugee crisis. They provide support and services for refugees and internally displaced persons whose lives have been affected by war, persecution, famine, and natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes,” said Fr. Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions. “Salesian programs provide much-needed education and technical skills training, workforce development, health care, and nutrition.”

To mark World Refugee Day 2023, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight programs around the globe that provide life-changing education and support for refugees and internally displaced people in need.

Displaced people are able to receive care at the Don Bosco Ngangi medical center in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

While the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces ongoing clashes that have been displacing thousands of people, Salesian missionaries continue with their work. The medical center at Don Bosco Ngangi in Goma just delivered triplets for Dorcas Ndibungo, who had a boy and two girls.

Ndibungo, age 36, has been at Don Bosco Ngangi since she was displaced in November 2022. She fled Kibumba village in the Nyiragongo territory north of Goma with her 8 children. She has been seeking shelter at the center since then and was fortunate to have the medical center to aid in her pregnancy and delivery.

Initially set up to provide care for youths living at Don Bosco Ngangi, the medical center later began providing maternity, consultation, laboratory, hospitalization, prevention, pharmacy, and nutrition services. This has been particularly important with the addition of 28,000 people who have sought shelter on the center’s fields.

The medical center has been transformed into an emergency hospital for thousands who have been displaced. The medical team includes a doctor, a laboratory technician, a physiotherapist, a clinical psychologist, two hygienists, and five nurses. The team is providing both preventive and medical care for those who have been injured and have emergencies.

In the first two months of assisting those displaced, the medical center treated 1,702 people, and in the last week of February and the first week of March, care was provided for 766 vulnerable people. A total of 16 women gave birth, 9 patients were referred to more specialized facilities, and 18 were hospitalized.

Sudanese refugees receive education and support at Don Bosco Zeitoun in Cairo, Egypt.

Don Bosco Zeitoun, located in Cairo, Egypt, provides education and support to Sudanese refugees in the country. Work with refugees began in 2000 when several arrived at the Salesian organization hoping to celebrate Catholic Mass.

The Salesian community welcomed the refugees with open arms. Initially, the Comboni Fathers were responsible for working with the refugees, but gradually that work transitioned over to the Salesian community.

Since space is very limited, Don Bosco Zeitoun Oratory organizes activities for refugees three days a week. An average of 250 children attend the oratory, and mothers have their own meetings. On the three days when not working with Sudanese refugees, the Don Bosco Zeitoun Oratory organizes activities for as many youths from the neighborhood as possible.

Salesians continue efforts to provide food, shelter, and medical care for young refugees from Ukraine.

Salesian missionaries who remain in the Ukraine and in surrounding countries like Poland and Slovakia are still hard at work caring for those who have been impacted and displaced. More than 8.1 million Ukrainian citizens, mostly women, the elderly, and children, are living as refugees in other countries.

Salesian missionaries in Slovakia have been at the side of people in need since the first hours of the conflict, taking in orphans from Lviv and opening the doors to their centers to provide shelter for as many people as possible. Despite all the difficulties that a sustained effort entails, Salesians continue to care for them today.

Salesians have been providing basic needs like food, shelter, and medical care. They are also ensuring education for youths and language courses for adults, so that they can become as self-sufficient as possible and find work to support themselves.

The psychological needs of refugees have not been overlooked. For youths, Salesians have tried to offer times of joy and peace and a sense of normalcy. For 47 orphans rescued from Lviv who were scattered among various homes, Salesians gathered them all during Christmas break to take them on a ski vacation and to enjoy time together.

Salesian missionaries with St. Vincent de Paul Parish are operating the Don Bosco Gumbo camp (outside Juba, the capital) for internally displaced persons in South Sudan. Don Bosco Gumbo camp for internally displaced persons currently hosts 10,000 people, most of whom are women, children, and the elderly.

The camp was established in January 2014 after the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013. Salesians provide shelter, food, education, medical care, and other basic needs.

In addition to the camp, Don Bosco Gumbo provides education for more than 4,000 children and older youths in its schools. There are two kindergartens, two primary-middle schools, an accelerated elementary school, a secondary school, and vocational training center which offers courses in electricity, mechanics, stonework-masonry, solar panel technician skills, welding, and computer studies. More than 700 older youths gain skills for later employment through this training.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of people living in nearby villages had little or no access to face masks, hand sanitizers, and immunization. They also had little information about the spread of COVID-19, leaving the population at risk. Salesians worked to create awareness and provide information to create healthy practices to fight the disease.

Source: Mission Newswire

Homily for 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 18, 2023
Ex 19: 2-6
Rom 5: 6-11
St. Edmund, Edmonton, Alberta

“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (Ex 19: 6).

(Philippe de Champaigne)

At Mt. Sinai, the Lord gave Israel the commandments and the whole Law, which became known as the Law of Moses because Moses was the intermediary.

In today’s short passage from the Book of Exodus, God tells the Israelites why he’s chosen them, delivered them from slavery in Egypt, brought them to the sacred mountain, and given them the Law:  they are to be his “special possession, … a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6).

That is, by taking them to himself, into a special relationship, God consecrates them, shares his holiness with them, and empowers them to worship him as priests by offering worthy sacrifices.

The followers of Jesus have received the same call, the same vocation:  a call to be transformed by Christ, transformed from sinners into holy people who are fit to worship God in a priestly way.  “While we were still sinners,” St. Paul writes, “Christ died for us” and cleansed us by his blood (Rom 5:8-9).

We respond to God’s call and to Christ’s grace by worshipping God gratefully—which we do in the Eucharist, our act of thanksgiving, our priestly action as God’s chosen people in which we offer the perfect sacrifice:  the body and blood of Jesus, who died for us yet lives for us.

We also respond by living holy lives inspired by Christ.  It’s true that we’re sinners.  It’s true that we’re unworthy to share in his priesthood.  We confess before Holy Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy.”  But he makes us worthy:  “only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Healed by Christ, empowered by Christ, we go from the Eucharist as his “kingdom of priests, a holy nation,” and we become the new laborers in his harvest (cf. Matt 9:37-38), proclaiming that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (10:7) because Christ is alive in us, and we make him present to our families, our neighbors, our colleagues at work and leisure.

Christ has freely and graciously taken away our sins and made us new.  We are “his people, the flock he tends” (Ps 100:3).  “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give” (10:8).  Go forth and be God’s holy people, loving him who proved his love for us (Rom 5:8), and joyfully making him known (cf. Ps 100:1).

Thousands of Syrians Aided by Salesians since Earthquake

Thousands of Syrians Aided by Salesians since February’s Earthquake

(ANS – Aleppo, Syria – June 15, 2023) – Four months after the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, thousands of people are still living on the streets. The consequences of the powerful earthquake have been aggravated by the state of decay many buildings are in, due to 12 years of civil war in the country. From the beginning, the Salesians of Aleppo opened the doors of Don Bosco House to help the population. Salesian solidarity around the world has allocated almost €2.4 million for the emergency projects developed so far. During this month, most emergency projects will come to a conclusion to make room for reconstruction, educational projects, and summer camps for young people affected by the earthquake.

“The situation is calmer now. The need is still great, but in these months we have helped many people,” the Salesians from Aleppo report. “Emergency projects will end this month to make room for reconstruction and other educational and care projects for children and youths. We continue to work on psychological assistance and overcoming trauma,” they explain.

Misiones Salesianas in Madrid alone has sent more than €400,000 for essential projects and assistance to displaced people. “In Syria we find ourselves in a situation of critical poverty due to the war and the earthquake,” reports Mateo Colmenares, a young Salesian volunteer stationed in Aleppo. “The basic salary in the country is 150,000 lire (€55), but two hours of light a day for a week costs 100,000 Syrian lire.”

The aid given over these months covers all types of aid, from the reception of almost 800 people at the Salesian center in Aleppo, to the distribution of daily food during Ramadan in the most remote villages, to the repair of damaged houses and academic assistance to young people, to the distribution of vouchers for food, electricity, and basic necessities.

In detail: “The delivery of a monthly economic voucher of almost 400,000 Syrian lire to 224 families; the assistance with engineers and laborers to 40 families for the reconstruction of their homes; help got 116 families with a single voucher for electricity of 400,000 lire; the distribution of vouchers for purchases worth 300,000 lire to 220 needy families,” the Salesians testify.

But Salesian aid to the earthquake victims went much further: “We helped 300 families with the purchase of medicine and another 100 people with health advice (mainly cardiologists and ophthalmologists). We have also provided school assistance to children between 10 and 16 years of age thanks to our youth centers, helped 900 children and university students in our settings to pay school fees, and supported 600 children in obtaining school supplies, ”says Mr. Colmenares.

A few weeks ago, thanks to an agreement with a shoe factory, the Salesians distributed 800 pairs of shoes through a voucher for people in need in the city. “In addition, for two months we have provided food to 300 people in Kafroun, and we are currently distributing 450 vouchers to do shopping at the market,” the Salesians added.

In the coming months they will be busy setting up summer camps for children. More than a thousand children will be involved. A Salesian theme is envisaged, designed to help them overcome psychological traumas. They will receive completely free transport, food, snacks, and teaching materials.

Even after all these efforts, the Salesians have no intention of slowing down: “We will continue with educational projects and give priority to teaching languages, because 90% of young people leave the country: boys, to avoid military service, which can be indefinite and take them to war; and girls, because they do not have professional opportunities in Syria.”

Source: Misiones Salesianas

Fr. Dominic Tran Appointed Provincial

 Fr. Dominic Tran Appointed Provincial

Fr. Tim Zak, current provincial, on June 14 announced to the confreres of the New Rochelle Province and others that the Rector Major, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, with the consent of the general council, has appointed Fr. Dominic Tran the next provincial superior.

Fr. Dominic's 6-year-term will begin on July 1.  He is currently serving as vice provincial and delegate for formation, residing at the provincial house in New Rochelle.  He has past experience as coordinator of youth ministry, community director, and vocations director.

Fr. Dominic was born in Vietnam in 1969 and began Salesian formation there.  He resumed his formation in Orange, N.J., after his family immigrated to the U.S., and he made first profession of vows in 1995 and was ordained in 2003.

Salesians Leave Khartoum Technical School

Salesians Leave Khartoum Technical School

“Bullets came into the rooms”

 

Photo: Misiones Salesianas

(ANS – Khartoum, Sudan – June 14, 2023) – For 60 days now, Sudan has been experiencing its third internal war. Despite the numerous ceasefires, mostly not respected, the situation worsens day by day. More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes, thousands have died, electricity is intermittent, and food is still scarce. No one leaves the house for fear of being shot, and clashes between army and paramilitary forces continue to spread throughout the country. The Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) are the only religious still in the capital, Khartoum, and are seeking to start an emergency aid project to help 300 families in dire need.

Don Bosco’s sons were forced to abandon the St. Joseph's Technical School due to the advance of the paramilitaries and the insecurity of the area. They took refuge, together with the sisters, several kilometers away. “The bullets came into the rooms, and we were asked  to leave, so we just took some clothes and left,” explains the director of the community.

But the situation has worsened: “We are experiencing the worst moments of the war. These days there has been heavy gunfire, artillery fire, and the noise of explosions about 100 meters from the house. Many people have come with their children to take refuge with the FMAs. We went to the chapel with the sisters and said the Rosary,” says the Salesian. “When one of the nearest fuel stations was hit, black smoke darkened the sky,” he went on.

The conflict in the capital, which began on April 15, has forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes. Many of them have become refugees in neighboring countries such as Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. So far there have been more than 40 attacks on health facilities, and as a result more than 20,000 pregnant women are unable to access prenatal care.

The official toll of casualties, which is recorded in hospitals, is about 1,200 dead and more than 6,000 wounded, but it is certainly incomplete.

The difficulty in communication and the impossibility of leaving home due to the fighting make it impossible to know the situation of the Salesian center. “We are in Shajara, 7 kilometers from Khartoum, and since the telephone networks and internet are not stable, we cannot get in touch with our colleagues at the technical school,” the director says.

Electricity is available only on alternate days, there is no transport, and 90% of religious have left the capital. “We Salesians and the Salesian Sisters are the only representatives of the Church left around the capital of Sudan, but it is difficult to know what is happening and how the war is going. The fighting now seems to be heading south, which is where we are,” he adds.

Misiones Salesianas, the Salesian mission office in Madrid, has launched an emergency project to help 300 families in vulnerable situations due to the conflict in Sudan. The project will provide immediate assistance to those most affected by the conflict and will continue to work with the displaced population. The aid will go to students and staff from Salesian schools, parishioners of Salesian parishes, and their families. A first shipment of more than €93,000 has been put toward this project, which will consist of food assistance, access to drinking water, medical care, and protection.

The Salesian Martyrs of Poznan

The Salesian Martyrs of Poznan

Blessed Francis Kesy
& Companions, martyrs (†1942)

June 12, optional memorial

By Bp. Enrico dal Covolo and Fr. Giorgio Mocci*

            On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, touching off World War II.  The German Army occupied the Salesian house of Poznan on Wroniecka Street and turned it into a storehouse.  The youngsters continued to meet in gardens outside the city and the nearby woods.  Many secret groups were created.

            In September 1940 Francis Kesy and four companions from the youth center were arrested, accused of belonging to an illegal organization.  They were brought to the frightful Fortress VII near Poznan, where they were tortured and interrogated.  Subsequently they were transferred to several other prisons, sometimes together, sometimes not.  Brought back to Poznan, they were accused of high treason, tried, and condemned to death.  They were beheaded at Dresden on August 24, 1942.

            While in prison they lived their Salesian spirituality with a spirit of faith.  They prayed continually:  the Rosary, novenas to Don Bosco and Mary Help of Christians, morning and evening prayers.  They tried to keep in touch with their families thru messages, which they often succeeded in sending out secretly.  They maintained their courage, asking for and promising prayers.  When they could, they celebrated liturgical feasts joyfully in their cells.  Their faith never wavered.  They were incredible witnesses until the end.

            Francis Kesy was born in Berlin on November 13, 1920.  His family moved to Poznan on account of his father’s job.  Francis was a seminary aspirant with the Salesians at Lad.  During the German occupation he couldn’t continue his studies, and he went to work in an industrial establishment.  He spent his free time at the youth center, where he formed a close, idealistic friendship with the other four youths, and animated youth groups and activities.  People remember that he was sensible but at the same time cheerful, calm, understanding, and ever ready to help others.  He received Communion almost every day; in the evening he prayed the Rosary.  “At Wronki, since I was alone in my cell,” he wrote to his family, “I had time to examine myself.  I promised to live differently, as Don Bosco recommended to us, to live to please our Lord and his Mother, Mary most holy.  I pray to the good God that all these tribulations and unpleasantries might touch me and not you.”

            Chester Jozwiak, born at Lazynie on September 7, 1919, was of a rather irascible character, but spontaneous, full of energy, master of himself, ready to make sacrifices, consistent, and definitely influential.  People saw that he aspired to Christian perfection, to progress in Christian life.  A companion in prison wrote of him:  “He was of good character and good heart; he had a soul of crystal….  He confided one preoccupation to me:  that he never stain himself with any impurity.”

            Edward Kazmierski was born in Poznan on October 1, 1919.  He was marked by sobriety, prudence, and goodness.  At the youth center he was able to develop his unusual musical talent.  His family was imbued with religious spirit, and with he brought that the Salesians quickly to Christian maturity.  During his imprisonment he showed a great love toward his fellow inmates, even the oldest.  He was free of any sentiment of hatred toward his persecutors.

            Edward Klinik was born at Bochum on June 21, 1919.  Timid and calm, he became lively when he entered the youth center.  He was a methodical and responsible student.  He was noted because he was so dedicated in every field of activity, and he gave the impression of being most serious and deep.

            Jarogniew Wojciechowski, born in Poznan on November 5, 1922, was thoughtful and tended toward grasping more deeply what he saw so as to understand events.  He was an animator in the best sense of the term.  He was distinguished by his good humor, his sense of duty, and the good example that he gave.

            The Vatican decree of martyrdom of the five young men was published on March 26, 1999.  They were beatified by St. John Paul II on June 13, 1999, as part of a large group of Polish victims of the Nazis.

*Santi nella Famiglia Salesiana, 2d ed. (Turin: LDC, 2009), pp. 38-39, trans. Fr. Mike Mendl.

Homily for Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Homily for the Solemnity
of Corpus Christi

June 11, 2023
John 6: 51-58
Villa Maria, Bronx[1]
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6: 54).

Window originally in the chapel of

St. Joseph's Novitiate, Newton, N.J.

Now in the provincial house chapel.

Why does the Church command us to come to Mass on Sunday?  Is it just to keep us from sleeping in?  or going to the beach early enuf to beat the traffic?

Sleep and recreation are 2 of life’s goods, for sure.  We need sleep for health, and thus for a good life.  We need recreation for health of both body and mind.

But there’s more to life than sleep or recreation.  Jesus calls our attention to eternal life.  The Son of God came among us as a human being, in our flesh and blood, and in our flesh and blood he rose from the grave to live forever.

That “forever” life is what he wants to share with us.  He starts doing that even while we live our limited, mortal lives by giving us his own living flesh and blood, the same flesh and blood that rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father:  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (6:56).  Our transformation begins with our consuming the Eucharist—the true flesh and blood of Jesus our Savior.

That’s why we need to come to Mass on Sunday.  It’s only because of the celebration of the Eucharist that we have access to the Lord’s body and blood—an access that watching Mass on TV doesn’t allow.  On TV we’re cut off from the Lord, who is his own lasting gift to us:  “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (6:51).

At the Last Supper Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his apostles, saying, “This is my body” (Luke 22:19).  Not a symbol, not a representation—but “my body”; “my flesh is true food” (John 6:55).  Likewise, he gave the cup of wine to them, saying, “This is my blood” (Mark 14:24).  Then he said, “Do this in memory of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25).  This is what we do.  Actually, it’s what he does; he is the priest who changes bread and wine into his body and blood when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist.

He does this so that “whoever eats this bread will live forever” (6:58), as he lives forever.  We are what we eat:  the living body and blood of Christ.  “In his Easter Sermon 227, St. Augustine exhorts: ‘If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.’  And in receiving Christ, we become one body in him, and through him, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Through receiving the Eucharist, we enter a unique and personal relationship with the Trinity and with one another, the Body of Christ.  We become what we eat.”[2]

Some of you, maybe many of you, know that our bishops have organized a Eucharistic revival for our country, a 3-year program who purpose is to foster a personal encounter with Christ in the heart of every Catholic—the Christ whom we encounter in the Eucharist.

That’s why it’s imperative for us to come to Mass—so that Jesus may feed us, Jesus may give us his own eternal life.

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[1] Homily much adapted for the sisters.

[2] Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. ,“The Way of Beauty: You are what you eat,” May 2, 2012: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/52131/you-are-what-you-eat.