The Congregation's Mission Offices

The Congregation’s Mission Offices
At the service of Don Bosco’s Charism

L-R: Dr. Pinedo, Ms. Sanchez, Fr. Mairura, Fr. Stawowy,
Fr. Conway, Fr. Moral, Bro. Muller, and Fr. Maravilla

(ANS – New Rochelle – November 15, 2024) – Fr. Alfred Maravilla, general councilor for the missions, convened the directors of the 4 congregation-level mission offices in New Rochelle, November 12-13. Dr. Nelson Pinedo (Don Bosco Mission Bonn); Fr. Luis Manuel Moral Lamela and Paula Alvarez-Naveiro Sanchez (Misiones Salesianas, based in Madrid); Fr. Michael Conway and Fr. Gabriel Stawowy (Salesian Missions, New Rochelle) were present. Bro. Jean Paul Muller, treasurer general, was also present. A representative of Missioni Don Bosco in Turin was unavailable.

This meeting looked at issues addressed at the previous meeting, January 2023 in Turin, focusing on the identity of the four mission offices at the congregational level (R. 24). Fr. Eric Mairura, from the Salesian Missions Department in Rome, moderated the discussion, which focused on the importance of the identity of the mission offices as an expression of the charism of Don Bosco at the service of the charism.

The reflections also stressed that the primary purpose of the mission offices is to be at the service of the Rector Major, organizing initiatives to generate interest in the Church and in society on the missionary commitment of the Salesians of Don Bosco; and then to promote and maintain this commitment, supporting the needs of evangelizing activity and the integral development of the Congregation and new missionary presences.

Each mission office has its own historical development in response to the needs of the missionary activities of the Congregation. “Unfortunately, due to historical circumstances, the mission offices have been seen by many, above all, as an inexhaustible source of funds. This is a distorted and incomplete vision of the mission office,” Fr. Maravilla said. “The mission office is a form of Salesian ministry that makes known the missionary activities of the Congregation and takes a pastoral approach for people who share their resources for the missionary activities of the Congregation regardless of their religious affiliation, so that they can have a spiritual perspective, come closer to God, and be in new spiritual communion with the wider human family,” he added.

Discussion also revolved around how the 4 mission offices can better coordinate the help provided to the provinces thru the Rector Major’s distribution of funds; how to agree on common criteria in responding to direct requests for project funding from the provinces; and how to promote the development of the province mission offices.

The next meeting will be in June 2025 in Rome, where the procurators will also be able to meet the new rector major and the members of the general council, who will be elected in March.

ACSSA Board of Directors Meets

Meeting of the ACSSA Board of Directors

By Sr. Paola Cuccioli and Fr. Stanislaw Zimniak

(ANS – Rome – November 13, 2024) – The board of directors of the Salesian History Association (ACSSA) met from November 8 to 10 at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome. The meeting, attended by the various representatives of the associates from around the world, was also enriched by a meeting with Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, rector major emeritus.

The work involved Sr. Inacia Chaquisse of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Mozambique), Ms. Pamela Alarcon (Argentina), Sr. Maria Imaculada Da Silva (Brazil), Sr. Maria Rohrer (Tunisia), Fr. Matthew Kapplikunnel (India), Fr. Nestor Impelido (Philippines), Sr. Paola Cuccioli (Italy), Sr. Maria Maul (Austria), Fr. Bogdan Kolar (Slovenia) and Fr. Stanislaw Zimniak (Poland-Italy).

The presence of Fr. José Mendonça, Superior of the UPS Vice-Province, Fr. Francesco Motto, and Sr. Grazia Loparco, former presidents of ACSSA, and Sr. Maria Luisa Nicastro, secretary general of the FMAs, further embellished the meeting with interesting content and challenges.

Fr. Motto recalled the responsibility entrusted to the members of the association to keep the Salesian historical memory alive; otherwise it risks being lost. Sr. Loparco urged a study of the past to discover the seeds of a future yet to be imagined. Sr. Nicastro recalled how the mother general of the FMAs, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, and her council, through official communications to the Institute, are committed to soliciting missionary origins in the provinces and in particular to supporting the members of the ACSSA in their commitment to the study of history.

After these enlightening reflections, the board focused on the organization of the continental seminars (Africa, Americas, South Asia, Europe, East Asia-Oceania) and on the world congress to be held in Brazil, the focus of which will be the Salesian missions on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the 1st SDB Missionary Expedition (1875-2025) and that of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (1877-2027).

The individual programs for each event have been presented, which will provide in all circumstances 2 types of contributions:

The general issues:

–     women’s missions;

–     the concept of mission in different historical periods;

–     the influence of missionaries in different contexts and cultural areas;

and specific contributions:

–     biographies of missionaries;

–     architecture and urban planning;

–     the contribution of the press in spreading the testimony of the missionaries in places of action;

–     the contribution of missionaries in safeguarding the specific nature of indigenous peoples through the conservation/decoding of their language, their customs, and other specific details;

–     education and evangelization through the different places of education: schools, oratories, vocational courses, parishes, playgrounds;

–     and the different areas of cultural expression: study, music, theater, sports, literature, groups.

The speakers will be not only SDBs and FMAs, but also other members of the Salesian Family and external scholars who are passionate about Salesian history and missionary activity.

The meeting of the ACSSA board was also enriched by meeting with Cardinal Fernandez, who during his term of office always paid great attention to Salesian history, highlighting not only the origins and development of Don Bosco’s work, but also the challenges and perspectives that arise from it. Once again he stressed in his address that research and study are a privileged and crucial aspect for accepting and living the Salesian charism.

During the work, the activities of the 6 national sections – Poland, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Spain, India – and of the individual members were also examined. Among other things, the updated website of the Association and the  annual magazine ACSSA informa, also accessible online, were presented.

Furthermore, Ms. Pamela Alarcon presented a valuable project to connect all the historical archives of the SDBs and the FMAs thru the Rhizome Project, which will be explored soon.

The treasurer of the Association explained finances, illustrating the financial trend and noting the relevance of registration fees for ACCSA to perform well.

Finally, the publications members of ACSSA published over the year were recalled and others were approved pending publication.

The Association finally ratified the registration of 9 new members:

–     Ana MARTÍN GARCÍA, laywoman, Spanish;

–     Gonzalo VIOLANTE, layman, Argentine;

–     Bro. João Bosco MONTEIRO MACIEL, SDB, Brazilian;

–     Fr. Edson Donizetti CASTILHO, SDB, Brazilian;

–     Rodolfo Luís LEITE BATISTA, layman, Brazilian;

–     Sr. Maria da Paz MILANEZ, FMA, Brazilian;

–     Mr. Samuel RESENDE DALDEGAN, Salesian Lay Cooperator, Brazilian;

–     Bro. Albert RAMADAN, SDB, Chadian, active in Tunisia;

–     Mr. Rinio BRUTTOMESSO, layman, Italian.

 

Mapuche Celebrate Blessed Ceferino Namuncura

The Mapuche People Celebrate 
Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá

(ANS - Namuncurá San Ignacio, Argentina – November 12, 2024) – The community of San Ignacio, a town in the Argentine province of Neuquen, organized a celebration on November 8-10 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the beatification of Ceferino Namuncurá, son of the last Mapuche chieftain.

The event opened with the arrival of the first gauchos on horseback; they were welcomed with a Mass celebrated by Fr. Natalino Freitas. The next day, those present went on pilgrimage to the cemetery where Rosario Burgos de Namuncurá, Ceferino's mother, rests. At the altar in the cemetery, the tombs were blessed, the deceased were prayed for, and flowers were offered in memory of each Mapuche.

The pilgrims then went to the “kultrum,” where the remains of the Blessed Mapuche rest. The pilgrimage was followed by torches to the top of the Cerro Ceferino. There the pilgrims prayed in front of a bust of the young Mapuche.

The event in honor of Blessed Ceferino Namuncurá was also attended by numerous authorities, including the mayor of Junin de los Andes, Luis Madueño; the mayor of Aluminé, Diego Victoria; Deputy Gabriel Álamo; the minister of education and the governor of Neuqeén, Soledad Martinez; and artist Alejandro Santana, author of the “kultrum” and the “Via Christi,” in Junin de los Andes. Cirilo Namuncurá, president of the Ceferinian Commission, addressed a formal greeting to the guests. Mass was then celebrated by Fr. Antonio Sánchez Lara, SDB, pastor of Chimpay, Rio Negro Province, the birthplace of Blessed Namuncurá, and concelebrated by Fr. Freitas and Fr. Isidoro Adami, SDB.

 

Archival Conservation at the Postulator's Office

Archival Conservation at the Postulator’s Office

(ANS – Rome – November 12, 2024) – An important experimental work was carried out from October 10 to November 11 for the conservation, organization, and cataloguing of some documents at the archives of the office of the Salesian postulator general in Rome, who studies and promotes the causes of saints of the Salesian Family. At the invitation of the postulator general, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, and with the collaboration of Fr. Gabriel Cruz, Diego Aguado, archivist at the Salesian Historical Archives of Peru, has carried out an experimental process for preserving original documents relating to the collection of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa, Salesian Cooperator: correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs of great value for the Salesian Family.

This first step is significant since it serves as a model for the treatment of the rest of the materials in the archives, especially in reference to documents of greater historical value. During a month of intense and qualified work, Mr. Aguado carried out an accurate preventive conservation treatment which included the removal of elements harmful to document preservation (metal objects, plastic, adhesive tapes, etc.).

In addition, to ensure the integrity of the documents, custom-made documentary cases were created for each one, using appropriate materials and free of harmful agents. Similarly, the documentation received an archival organization treatment that involved the classification, ordering, and description of the material to facilitate its identification, consultation, and placement in the archival collection.

“We are sure that this effort represents a first step and a reference model to ensure all the documents of great value preserved in the postulator’s archive,” Fr. Cameroni said.

20 Years Serving Lao Youth with Dedication

20 Years Serving Lao Youth with Dedication

(ANS – Vientiane, Laos – November 12, 2024) – Since 2004, more than 1,000 young people from all corners of Laos Peoples Democratic Republic have received good preparation for their lives thanks to Don Bosco Youth Vocational Training Center in Vientiane. Due to the mutual cooperation and trust between the Lao Youth Union and the Salesian Foundation of Thailand, the unique presence of Don Bosco in this country has been developing very well. The Salesian Thai Province has generously funded the whole project.

On November 8-9, Fr. Joseph Phuoc, regional councilor for East Asia-Oceania, made his extraordinary visitation in Laos. He was welcomed by the Salesian community, staff, and students of Don Bosco Youth Vocational Training Center. He met with the staff, gave the “good morning talk” to the students, and gave a “good night talk” to the boarders. He gave words of encouragement to everyone. In addition, he also met with the Salesian sisters, who have opened a vocational training center for young women.

The Salesian work in Laos started on May 24, 2004, under the leadership of Fr. Tito Pedron and Sanya Boonprasert, a past pupil of Don Bosco Technological College in Bangkok. They started by repairing small vehicles. This activity was called Mitr Samphan. It was managed by 5 young Laotians who also were past pupils of Don Bosco in Bangkok. Later, this work was expanded and became the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center at its present location. The house was canonically erected on January 17, 2019.

At present, the Salesian community is led by Fr. Patrick Maccioni, the director, and includes 4 other confreres (3 priests and a brother). The Center has opened up to various skills, such as electrician, automotive repair, motorcycle repair, and welding. In this 1st school semester of 2024, there are 46 young men. Among these are 36 boarders, who include 5 Catholics.

Tthere is not yet any Lao Salesian of Don Bosco. Teachers, instructors, and former students dream about the first Lao Salesian member. They wholeheartedly commit themselves to follow the path of Don Bosco!

Thailand Province Social Communication Office

Homily for Tuesday, Week 32 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
32d Week of Ordinary Time

Nov. 12, 2024
Luke 17: 7-10
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

The Unprofitable Servant
(by Eugene Burnand)

“We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17: 10).

I preached on this text last year, and of course those of you who were here all remember that!  Or not.

Sometimes the verse is rendered, “We’re worthless servants.”  It means our service doesn’t draw pay or benefit.  We make no profit from it.

The note attached to this parable in the NAB    tells us that it reminds the apostles “that Christian disciples can make no claim on God’s graciousness; in fulfilling the exacting demands of discipleship, they are only doing their duty.”

And how many of us perfectly fulfill our duty?  Who hasn’t fallen short?  Who hasn’t sinned?

So we all depend upon grace.  God the Father thru his Son Jesus freely pardons us and gladly recognizes our efforts, however faulty and feeble.  In another parable, 5 chapters earlier in Luke, Jesus calls “blessed those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival,” and he says the master “will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them” (12:37).

We can say happily, Jesus our master has turned the tables on us (pun intended).  He who calls us his friends, not his servants (John 15:13-15), graciously serves us—at his Eucharistic table and, we trust, will serve us also at his heavenly banquet; not because we’ve earned such a profit, such a blessing, but because he loves us so much.

Province CYMs Meet

Meeting of Province CYMs

16 coordinators of youth ministry (CYMs) and 3 province YM staff gathered at the Sacred Heart Center in Newton, N.J., from October 23 to 25, for their annual meeting. The event began with a day of reflection led by Fr. Tom Dunne on the theme of hope. The 2d day was dedicated to training, starting with a presentation by Adam Rudin on fostering service-oriented hearts to encourage missionary discipleship and vocational discernment. The day concluded with presentations by CYMs on youth ministry in their local settings. The final day involved discussions on various pastoral needs, including debates and a presentation by Fr. Franco Pinto, vice provincial, on the Salesian mission.

150th Anniversary of Salesian Missionary Activity

Give Thanks, Rethink, Relaunch

Toward the 150th anniversary of the 1st Salesian missionary expedition

(ANS – Rome – November 11, 2024) – On November 11 we remember 1875, so many years ago, when the first missionary expedition set out!  The commemoration of this important event opens the celebrations for the 150th anniversary in 2025. The slogan chosen for the occasion helps us enter this anniversary: Give thanks, Rethink, Relaunch.

Give Thanks: We give thanks to God for the gift of missionary vocation which enables the sons of Don Bosco today to reach out to poor and abandoned youths in 137 countries.

Rethink: This is an opportune occasion to rethink and develop a renewed vision on the Salesian missions in the light of new challenges and new perspectives which lead to new missiological reflections.

Relaunch: We have not only a glorious history to remember and be grateful for, but also a great history still to be accomplished! We look to the future with missionary zeal and enthusiasm so that we may reach out to even more poor and abandoned youths.

Celebrations for 150th anniversary will be mainly at the province level: each province is invited to undertake a concrete missionary initiative internally or to strengthen existing initiatives significantly so that they become permanent signs of this celebration.

At the congregational level, the new Rector Major will preside over the missionary send-off on November 11, 2025, in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Valdocco. It is a celebration with which the Congregation renews its missionary commitment in front of Mary Help of Christians.

“All the celebrations at different levels have a single goal,” explains Fr. Alfred Maravilla, general councilor for missions, “to keep the missionary spirit and enthusiasm alive in the Congregation, in order to promote greater missionary zeal and generosity among the Salesians and the entire educational-pastoral community. It’s the missionary spirit of the Salesians that revitalizes the Congregation, keeping it vibrant and attractive to new vocations,” he pointed out.

The logo that sums up the theme was produced by Martina Monceková from the Czech Republic. It shows the world globe washed by waves, which symbolize both courage and new challenges, as well as dynamism and recklessness. It’s a growing dynamic which tends more and more toward new missionary horizons. Three red figures refer to the Salesian logo and to the fire of a renewed missionary enthusiasm. In the middle is a ship, a symbol of the first missionary expedition (1875). The picture shows us that the missionary spirit is not an individual fact, but a charismatic element left by Don Bosco to the Congregation and the entire Salesian Family. The shape of the wheel means unity and mutual connection. The logo is complemented by the three key words and the highlighted anniversary number “150.”

The logo may be used, but only in its official version without any alterations. To receive the logo in different languages and formats write to us at: cagliero11@sdb.org 

Homily for 32d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
32d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Nov. 10, 2024
Mark 12: 38-44
Villa Maria, Bronx [with some adapting]
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“From her poverty, she has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mark 12: 44).

Last Sunday, Jesus taught us the 2 great commandments, love of God and of neighbor (Mark 12:38-34).  The poor widow who put her 2 little bronze coins—the origin of our saying to “put in your 2-cents worth”—into the temple treasury showed her love for God. 

These funds were for the upkeep of God’s temple.  She put in “her whole livelihood,” meaning that she may have gone without food that day, what little she had to live on—like the poor widow of Zarephath, who was generous with the prophet Elijah and so earned God’s protection (1 Kgs 17:10-16).  Both widows have put all their trust in God; their lives are in his hands.

The immediate gospel passage contrasts the widow’s sacrifice with the donations of the rich.  The rich may be generous—which is praiseworthy—but it doesn’t really cost them; they won’t be hungry on that account.

The 1st part of our gospel today offers a further contrast with the poor widow.  We can suppose that no one but Jesus took any notice of her, while the rich—it’s implied—made a show of their generosity.  That showiness is pointed to in that 1st part of the text, the showiness of the scribes who parade their religiosity, their learning, and their dignity (12:38-40) and who sometimes take advantage of the vulnerable.

The scribes were men of learning, especially regarding Torah and Jewish tradition.  In a largely illiterate society, they also served as record keepers.  It’s understandable that people would defer to them.  Tho the Gospels often present them as opponents of Jesus, they weren’t all opposed.  E.g., just last week Jesus praised the scribe who asked him about the greatest commandment and “answered with understanding” (12:34).

But Jesus has no patience for those who seek only their own advantage, like Pope Francis having no patience with clerical careerists, whose thoughts aren’t to serve the people of God but to rise in the church ranks.  We recall the gospel of 3 Sundays back, when James and John asked Jesus to give them the most advantageous positions in his kingdom, and the other 10 apostles were “indignant” with them.  Jesus chewed them all out:  lording it over others is how the pagans act, “but it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”  His followers must be like him:  “The Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:35-45).

by James Tissot

In fact, giving her life is what the poor widow has done with her 2 cents:  “she contributed her whole livelihood.”  Beyond the trust she’s placed in God, the text can also mean that “she has given her very life” to God, observes Salesian scripture scholar Fr. Frank Moloney.  He expands on that:  Jesus’ followers were called away from their livelihoods as fishermen, tax collectors, and other occupations not revealed in the Gospels, and from their human associations, and were challenged to give themselves even “unto death for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.”[1]  Jesus told James and John they’d drink the same cup that he’d drink and be baptized with the same baptism—that is, the cup of suffering and death for the sake of the Gospel (10:39).  Now, Fr. Moloney says, “the widow gives her whole life and becomes a model for the disciples of Jesus,”[2] who in the 1st century had to risk their reputations and their lives to follow him and as many Christians do today in countries like Nigeria, India, and China.

Which means the widow is a model for us.  Jesus, of course, isn’t asking us just to put money into a collection.  He wants our lives—given in service to God and our neighbor.  He wants us to give him time in prayer and reading of the Scriptures.  He wants us to find ways to serve, to be helpful, to our parish, to the young, to the elderly, to the sick, to anyone around us who is in some kind of need.  He wants us to bring our Christian life into our public lives; in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, to “secure justice for the oppressed and food for the hungry, to protect strangers” (Ps 146:7,9).  “Strangers” means migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, as the widow of Zarephath received Elijah, a refugee fleeing for his life from the rulers of Israel; as the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable cared for an anonymous victim of a highway robbery; as Jesus himself has given his life to ransom us from our sins and the punishment they merit—except, of course, we’re not strangers to Jesus but his beloved sisters and brothers; as our 2d reading today said, “Christ offered his blood once to take away the sins of many, … to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him” (Heb 9:28).

---

[1] Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B., The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2002), p. 247.

[2] Ibid.

Sts. Peter and Paul Church Celebrates Faith and 100th Anniversary

Sts. Peter & Paul Church 
Celebrates Faith and 100th Anniversary

By Fr. Vien Nguyen, SDB 

(ANS – San Francisco – November 6, 2024) – The church of Sts. Peter & Paul in San Francisco, a building rich in history and very much part of the national popular culture, has been entrusted to the pastoral care of the Salesians of the San Francisco Province since 1897.  It was the 1st Salesian work in the U.S.

On the Nov. 9-10 weekend, the parish will celebrate the centennial of the church's reconstruction, after it was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1906. After so many years it continues, in its ordinary and extraordinary activities, to be a place where Catholics can find a space for growth in faith and spirituality.

The last week of October at Sts. Peter & Paul Church was filled with joy and blessings! October, a Marian month, concluded with various activities across the community centered on prayer and the Rosary. Halloween offered a beautiful opportunity for connection – bringing together children and parents, students and teachers, and the Salesian community of priests and brothers.

The Salesian Boys & Girls Club and Sts. Peter & Paul Elementary School organized activities, including costume contests, parades, and youth bingo games—all in the joyful spirit of the Salesian Family. Prizes of candies and chocolates sparked excitement among participants, and it was heartwarming to see young children sharing this joyful experience.

The week continued with All Saints Day, beginning with an early morning Mass to welcome parishioners who came to dedicate this holy day to the Lord before they headed to work. The school Mass at 10:00 a.m. was prepared by the Salesian Sisters and young people. During the homily, Fr. Vien Nguyen, SDB, encouraged everyone to appreciate the saints for their example of holy living and to recognize those around them who embody holiness. Hearing the young students describe a “holy person” as good and prayerful and attending church was meaningful for everyone. Fr. Vien reminded the students that they can become saints by practicing kindness, caring for others, and living their faith.

During November, the month of Thanksgiving, the community looks forward to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the parish church on the weekend of November 9-10. On Saturday, the celebration will include a Mass for the renewal of marriage vows followed by a prime rib feast in the auditorium. The parish community eagerly awaits the many joys and blessings of this celebration.

The Sts. Peter & Paul community remains dedicated to creating a welcoming space for young people. The church offers Masses and sacraments to its parishioners and many tourists who visit San Francisco. The Salesian Boys & Girls Club provides a safe environment where youngsters can feel at home and experience God’s presence in everyday life. The school continues its Salesian mission as a home, school, church, and playground—combining strong academics and spiritual growth. In this vibrant community alive with the spirit of St. John Bosco, God’s presence is truly felt.

Homily for Thursday, Week 31 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
31st Week of Ordinary Time

Nov. 7, 2024
Psalm 105: 2-7
Luke 15: 1-10
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Jesrapo, high school pep assembly
 licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

I suppose that most of you attended pep rallies during your years as students or teachers.  There probably was a lot of enthusiastic noise and activity.  We’ve at least heard about or seen images of enthusiastic fans of Sinatra, the Beatles, Woodstock, political campaign events, or JPII at a youth rally.  Can’t say that I ever participated in those sorts of events; concelebrating Masses with JPII was quite different from his youth rallies.  When I was a student of theology in Columbus, I went to a Jerry Ford appearance in 1976 on the statehouse grounds.  Our SDB residence was about 4 blocks from the capitol.  You can be sure that a Ford campaign event was nothing like a Trump appearance, not even with Woody Hayes introducing the candidate.  (Even in 1976 we had to pass thru metal detectors to enter the capitol grounds for the event.  This was a year after Squeaky Fromme had tried to shoot the President.  I have no idea how I was able to recall her name.)

The responsorial psalm today suggests a pep rally:  “Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord” (105:3).  The psalmist recalls “the wondrous deeds that the Lord has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered” (v. 5)—remembering Israel’s delivery from Egypt.  Later generations of Jews might also recall delivery from exile in Babylon.

We recall and celebrate Christ’s delivering us from our sins.  It’s not so much that we’ve searched for God and found him as that he’s searched for and found us, as Jesus teaches in today’s 2 parables (Luke 15:1-10).  St. Paul rejoiced that he’d finally come to “know the supreme good of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8).  Like him, we rejoice and sing the praise of the God because he found us, wandering sheep, lost drachmas.  (A drachma was equivalent to a denarius—not chump change.)  We “look to the Lord in his strength” (105:4).

Even more, God rejoices to have found us and rescued us—from the wilderness of our sins, from some dark, dusty corner of our souls.  He forgives us.  We seek, then, “to serve him constantly” (105:4) as we “recall the judgments he has uttered” (v. 5), especially the judgment that our sins are forgiven and he calls us his friends (John 15:13-15).  He invites us to “sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds” (105:2), and express our gratitude in an eternal pep rally.

The Gate to Heaven
(Andrea di Bonaiuto)

School Support for Refugee Children in Lebanon

School Support for Refugee Children in Lebanon

(ANS – Beirut, Lebanon – November 6, 2024) – In 2024, Lebanon was showing timid signs of reviving its economy after the previous 4 years of severe economic crisis, which had brought disastrous consequences for human rights and forced more than 80% of the population into poverty. On October 1, however, the escalation of the war in the Middle East also involved Lebanon. The intensification of violence generated an unprecedented humanitarian emergency, with thousands of deaths and injuries and about 1.2 million people having to leave their homes in a hurry to seek a safe haven.

Hundreds of homes and public infrastructure have been destroyed, further aggravating the suffering of the civilian population. War and the closure of all schools continue to threaten the lives and futures of millions of children.

Marginalized communities, including refugees, have suffered heavily from the consequences of the economic crisis in recent years, and now their lives are turned upside down again by yet another conflict. In recent years, it is estimated that about 1.8 million Iraqis and 1.5 million Syrians have left their homes and their country, seeking refuge in neighboring countries, including Lebanon. A very limited number of displaced people require refugee status; many consider Lebanon only a place of transit, since the country has never signed the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, nor its 1967 protocol.

In this tragic situation, the Salesians, who have been in the country since 1952, have asked for help to support the activities of their Angels of Peace school, attended by 250 Iraqi and Syrian refugee children between the ages of 6 and 15. All schools in the country have been closed for security reasons, including the Salesian school located on the outskirts of Beirut, where most of the refugee and asylum seeker community lives. For now teachers are able to reach it and use the equipment and stable internet connection to manage distance classes with students.

Since 2015, the Angels of Peace school has been providing education to refugee children, as well as a psycho-social support program carried out by psychotherapists and speech therapists, to try to work on the difficulties arising from being victims of war and displacement.

Refugee children in Lebanon face several obstacles to accessing education. Until 2023, they could attend school only in the afternoon, exposed to risks and dangers: this has caused an increase in school dropouts. After the teachers’ strikes against the strong devaluation of their salaries, the afternoon shifts were suspended.

Refugee children are de facto excluded from the formal school system. The school of the Angels of Peace is the only possibility for them  to access quality education. The Salesians intend to carry out their activities, and in this tragic moment they need help to cover the costs of buying computers, tablets, and internet connection for those refugee families who do not have them. Their goal, in fact, is to continue to guarantee lessons to 250 vulnerable children, for whom the link, including digital, with school means not only preserving the path of study and the possibilities of the future, but also having moments of sharing with their classmates and having a minimum of respite from the constant fear of war.

For more information, visit: www.missionidonbosco.org (Turin).

Akash Bashir's Cause Certified in Rome

Diocesan Inquiry into the Cause 
of the Servant of God Akash Bashir 
Certified in Rome

(ANS – Vatican City – November 6, 2024) – On November 5, a communiqué was sent to the postulator general for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, that the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in its ordinary meeting of October 24 gave legal validity to the diocesan inquiry for the cause of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Akash Bashir (b. at Risalpur, Pakistan, June 22, 1994 – d. at Lahore, March 15, 2015), layman and past pupil of Don Bosco. This follows the verification carried out on the formal aspects of the procedural documents and the consistency of the evidentiary apparatus: number and quality of witnesses, documents collected.

The postulator general stresses that “this is a great achievement, the result of the work done with passion and competence by the members of the diocesan tribunal and by those who have contributed, in particular by the historical commission and the vice postulator Fr. Gabriel Cruz SDB.” The postulator general will now ask the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to appoint a rapporteur to guide the preparation of the Positio super martyrio of the Servant of God. It will be drawn up by Dr. Matteo Penati, collaborator of the postulation. The diocesan inquiry was held at the diocesan chancery in Lahore, Pakistan, from March 15, 2022, to March 15, 2024.

Akash Bashir was born to a lower-class family and studied at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Lahore. He led a life like any other young man’s and had dreams for his future. He lived with his family, he had friends both at school and at work, he liked to play sports, and prayer was part of his life. He had committed himself to living as an “a good Christian and upright citizen,” as Don Bosco wanted, and had become a security volunteer in his parish church, at a time when the situation in Pakistan was worrisome, with the risk of encountering suicide bombers who targeted religious sites.

One Sunday morning, March 15 2015, a suicide bomber attempted to enter the church of St. John in Youhanabad, a Christian district of Lahore, which at that time had over 800 faithful participating in Mass. When he realized the situation, Akash did not hesitate to sacrifice himself, grappling the bomber to keep him from causing a massacre in the church.

Homily for Tuesday, Week 31 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
31st Week of Ordinary Time

Nov. 5, 2024
Phil 2: 5-11
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

Salesian sisters singing at Mass of Religious Profession
St. Anthony's Church, Hawthorne, N.J., Aug. 5, 2022

About 2 weeks ago, the bishop of Jefferson City got some attention by publishing a list of hymns and individual composers not to be used in the diocese.  The hymns were deemed deficient doctrinally, e.g., in Eucharistic theology or ecclesiology, and the composers are accused of offenses against human dignity.  The bishop was actually the 1st to implement guidelines from the USCCB’s doctrine committee published 4 years ago.

Why?  Because music is an effective teaching tool.  Consider the place of patriotic hymns, campaign songs, and folk music in stirring national, political, or social movements.  Sacred music also teaches and moves, as Protestants like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley knew very well, not to mention St. Ambrose and St. Thomas.  Consider hymns like “Faith of Our Fathers,” “Amazing Grace,” “Silent Night,” “Here I Am, Lord,” and even “This Little Light of Mine.”

Writing to his disciples at Philippi, Paul turns to what scholars think was an early liturgical hymn celebrating Christ’s exaltation and pointing to reasons for his glorification:  sharing the human experience of suffering and death in humble, faithful obedience to God his Father.

That hymn, Paul says, shows us how to act as disciples, what kind of attitude must motivate us:  be humble like Jesus, be obedient like Jesus, and you’ll be exalted like Jesus.

Message of the Rector Major's Vicar

THE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR

Fr. Stefano Martoglio, SDB 

THE ROSE PATH

“How lucky Don Bosco is! His path is forever strewn with roses! He hasn’t a worry in the world. No troubles at all!” But they couldn’t see the thorns that were piercing my poor legs.” Nevertheless, I kept going. Every life is interwoven with thorns and roses as in Don Bosco’s famous “Dream of the Roses and Thorns.”[1] Hope is the force that keeps us going despite the thorns.

An abundance of roses
in the yard of a home outside Denver, 2013

Dear readers, friends of the Salesian Family, and benefactors who help with Don Bosco’s work in all situations and contexts, I’m sending you a thought via the various Salesian media. I’ve chosen to reflect a little longer, as we did last month, on the topic of hope. I do so not only for the sake of continuity, but mainly because it’s a topic that begs to be addressed because we all need it so much. It’s an acceptance of God’s gentleness in our lives. But when we speak about hope, let’s remember, first of all, that it’s a component of profound humanity and a clear criterion for interpreting life in every religion.

Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han points out that hope has a lot to do with transcendence and faith, love and eternal life. He underlines in his writings that while we are working, producing, and consuming, there’s no form of openness to the transcendent and no hope when living in this way.

We live in a time deprived of the dimension of celebration, even though we’re surrounded by things that dazzle us. A time without celebration is a time without hope. The society of consumption and performance that we live in is in danger of making us incapable of happiness, of rejoicing over the reality of our lives (even the most difficult situation always shows glimmers of light!).

Hope makes us believers in the future because the place where we experience hope most intensely is in the Transcendent. Czech writer and politician Vaclav Havel, president of Czechoslovakia in the era of “The Velvet Revolution,” which many of us remember, defines “hope” as a state of mind, a dimension of the soul.

Hope is an orientation of the heart that transcends the world of experience in the here and now; it’s a mooring somewhere else beyond the horizon. The roots of hope lie somewhere within the Transcendent. That’s why having hope and being satisfied because things are going well aren’t one and the same thing.

When we speak about the future, we understand it in relation to what will happen tomorrow, next month, or two years from now. The future is what we can plan, predict, control, and make optimal. Hope is the construction of a future that connects us to that future that never ends – to the Transcendent, to the Divine dimension. Cultivating hope is good for our hearts because it puts energy into our efforts to construct our way to Heaven.

The word most uttered by Don Bosco

Fr. Albert Caviglia wrote, “Leafing through the pages that record Don Bosco’s words and speeches, one finds that “Paradise” was the word he used to employ in every circumstance as the most compelling argument for every activity for good and for every forbearance in adversity.”

“A piece of Heaven fixes everything!” Don Bosco repeated in the midst of difficulties. Even in modern schools of management, they teach that a positive vision of the future turns into a life force.

When he was old and bent over and would walk across the courtyard in strides as long as an ant’s, those who were passing by would greet him without much thought, “Where are we going, Don Bosco?” The saint would reply, with a smile, “To Paradise.”

How much Don Bosco insisted on this: Paradise! He raised his young people to keep the vision of Paradise in their hearts and before their eyes. We can be Christians, even convinced Christians, but not believe in Paradise.

Don Bosco teaches us to unite our here present with the hereafter. And he does so through the virtue of hope.

Let’s carry this in our hearts and open our hearts to the charity and the humanity that incarnate our deep beliefs.

When you receive this brief message in November, live this hope together with our saints and with your beloved deceased, like of group of mountain climbers tethered together by a rope that has its origins in our everyday lives and is anchored, at its end, in the Infinite.

Like Don Bosco, let’s live as though we see the invisible, nourished by the hope that is the Provident Presence of God. Only those who are very grounded, practical, and solid, as Don Bosco was, are able to live by fixing their gaze on the invisible.

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[1] “The Dream of the Roses and Thorns.” The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco,  III, 25-28. Online. https://donboscosalesianportal.org/wp-content/uploads/BM_03_en.pdf

The anchor of hope figures prominently
in the SDB coat of arms

Homily for Thursday, Week 30 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Thursday
30th Week of Ordinary Time

Oct. 31, 2024
Eph 6: 10-20
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.

“Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power” (Eph 6: 10).

Today Paul paints a dark picture of the world we live in—perhaps as dark today as it was in his time and place—a world ruled in large part by the powers of darkness.  It’s dark in Gaza and Lebanon; in Ukraine, Sudan, the eastern Congo, Nigeria; in the South China Sea, in the worlds of drug cartels and human trafficking; even in an election in which the Pope advises us to choose the lesser evil—which means still to choose evil (unless you want to cast a protest vote for a 3d party; there’s one whose platform aligns with Catholic social teaching).

Nevertheless, the Pope continues to preach hope, which is the theme for the coming Jubilee Year.  We have hope because the armor of God (6:11) protects us; faith shields us (6:16).  By the mighty power of the Word of God—enfleshed into our world in the person of Jesus Christ—we are “able to stand firm against the tactics of the Devil” (6:17,11).

The tactics of the Devil won momentarily in the Sanhedrin, the court of Pontius Pilate, and Calvary.  But the strategic victory is revealed in “the mystery of the Gospel” (6:19), in the power of Christ’s resurrection.

Prayer by Antoni Piotrowski

For God’s help, we rely upon prayer:  “With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit” (6:18).  That’s a vital ministry of God’s people, whom the Fathers of the Church call the soul of the world—the world’s life, the world’s hope.  We place our confidence in him who is the light that overcomes the darkness of the Devil and his world.

Homily for 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 27, 2024
Creed
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

This is the 5th, final homily in a series on the Nicene Creed, preached in alternating weeks in the 2 parishes.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life” (Nicene Creed).

Bernini's Holy Spirit

2 weeks ago we began to consider the 3d Person of the Holy Trinity.  I quoted a writer who calls the Holy Spirit is “the effective presence and power of God among humans.”^[1]  His presence and power are spelled out in the last paragraph of the Creed.

This final section is the 4th that begins “I believe,” after the sections on “one God,” “one Lord Jesus Christ,” and “the Holy Spirit.”

“I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”  The Church is one, bound in a unity by the Holy Spirit even tho she’s also diverse—not only among the hundreds of nations and peoples of the world, but also in 24 different rites with their particular laws, customs, languages, and liturgies.  We belong to the Latin Rite, by far the largest in numbers.  There are also Byzantine, Maronite, Melkite, Syro-Malabar, Coptic and 18 other “Eastern Rites,” all united by the Catholic faith and the authority of the Pope, all united by the Holy Spirit.^[2]  Many of our prayers to God the Father, you’ve noticed, end with the phrase “through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit.”  As we noted 2 weeks ago, the Spirit is the bond of unity between the Father and the Son; he’s also the bond of unity between the Church and the Trinity and between all the members of the Church.  We are the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Further, it’s the Holy Spirit who guides our prayer, as St. Paul teaches in his Letter to the Romans:  “The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don’t know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  And the one who searches hearts knows what’s the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” (8:26-27).  The Spirit unites us with the Father and the Son in our prayer.

Unfortunately, Christians aren’t completely united.  That’s been a problem since earliest Christianity.  Some reject a truth of the faith like the divinity of Christ or Christ’s working thru the sacraments; others reject the unifying office of the Holy Father.  St. John XXIII called the 2d Vatican Council, which met in 4 sessions between 1962 and 1965, in part to seek ways to reunite all Christ’s followers.  We’re still working on that.

The Spirit makes the Church holy because the Spirit conveys the grace of God to us.  We’re not professing that there are no sinners in the Church.  Lord knows there are, starting with you and me.  But when the Spirit pours God’s sacramental grace upon us, he renders us holy and eligible for eternal life.  More on that momentarily.

The Church is catholic, with a small c.  That’s from the Greek word for universal.  Jesus, Mary, the apostles, and the 1st believers were all Jewish.  But the Church isn’t just for the Jews.  It’s for every race and nation, like the Gospel itself—“from the rising of the sun to its setting,” in the words of the prophet Malachi (1:11) and the 3d Eucharistic Prayer.

And the Church is apostolic.  As St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, she’s “founded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (2:20).  She continues to be guided by the apostles’ successors, the bishops, and by the work of the Holy Spirit infallibly preserves the apostolic faith—which the Holy Father, successor of St. Peter, guarantees.

Next, we “confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”  This brings us back to the sanctifying work of the Spirit.  Jesus teaches that to enter the kingdom of God we must be “born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5), i.e., washed in Baptism, which confers the Holy Spirit upon us, makes us children of God by our relationship to Christ, and unites us to Christ’s saving death and resurrection.  Baptism and the other 6 sacraments convey God’s grace to us; the Eucharist and others renew the forgiveness that began when we were 1st washed clean.  In the Eucharistic Prayer, listen to how the Spirit is invoked as we pray that our bread and wine be changed into the body and blood of Christ and we be firmly united to God thru Christ. 

The forgiveness of the sins we commit after Baptism is particularly renewed in the sacrament of Reconciliation, which we sinners need on a regular basis.  How good Jesus is; he came to call not the just but sinners (Matt 9:13), and he makes himself available to us so easily thru his priestly ministers.^[3]

In truth, there’s only one Christian priest, Jesus Christ, whom the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of in today’s 2d reading (5:5-6).  All others whom we call priests and bishops only exercise Christ’s ministry; they act “in the person of Christ” by the great gift and call of the Holy Spirit, conferred by the laying on of a bishop’s hands, anointing with sacred chrism, and prayer.

Finally, we “look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  We’ll all die, as Christ died.  But by the power of his resurrection, he’ll restore to life all who are united to him by the Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of life.”  Not only our souls but our whole persons, body and soul, are meant for eternal life, for heaven, for unending happiness.  St. Paul writes to the Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead has made his home in you, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies thru his Spirit living in you” (8:11).

I used to joke when I was a lot younger that heaven would be an eternity of ice cream and baseball.  (That might not be good news for Yankees fans right now.^[4])  Now I think it’ll be far, far better than that!  It’ll be a homecoming among all who love us most tenderly, starting with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

“This is our faith.  This is the faith of the Church.  We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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[1] Luke Timothy Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters (New York: Doubleday, 2003), p. 158.

[2] We might also consider the Anglican Ordinariate of Catholics who have converted from the Anglican or Episcopal Churches a distinct rite.

[3] Jesus says there’s only one unforgiveable sin:  “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin” (Mark 3:29).  If the Spirit is the giver of forgiveness and one curses the Spirit, rejects him, or calls his work evil—then how can that person be forgiven?  If the Spirit guides our prayer to God and we reject the Spirit, how can we come to God?  Unless one repents, of course.  As long as we’re in this life, we can turn back to God, who will never reject a prayer that the Holy Spirit come to us.

[4] They lost to the Dodgers last nite to go down 2-0 in the World Series.