Homily for Thursday, Week 2 of Lent

Homily for Thursday
2d Week of Lent

Feb. 29, 2024
Luke 16: 19-31
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.

Dives & Lazarus (Gustave Dore')

In his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus strongly contrasts the 2 characters.  The rich man, often called by the Latin term Dives, “rich,” is wealthy beyond comprehension, in his clothes and his menu.  If he were around here, we could imagine him on a 20-acre gated estate in Greenwich with a Range Rover in his garage, a BMW in the driveway, a pool, a tennis court, etc.

Of course, in that scenario, Lazarus wouldn’t get anywhere near Dives’ door, and Dives could more easily ignore him.  In Jesus’ world, tho, the poor were readily at hand and could be ignored only by deliberate choice.

Lazarus is so miserable that his only companions are street dogs, and they’re the only ones who show him any compassion, and they provide his only medical care by licking his sores.  He’s so miserable that he can only lie at Dives’ door—not sit or stand.

Lazarus is precious to God.  In all his parables, Lazarus is the only character Jesus names.  Jesus must feel a special affinity for him.

Jesus addresses the parable to the Pharisees.  He wishes they—and all of society’s rich and comfortable people—would feel some affinity for the poor, and would act on that.  The collect today prayed that we’d be not only “steadfast in faith” but also “effective in works.”  Acting begins with noticing—noticing the wretched on our border, in flimsy boats on the Mediterranean, in the rubble of Gaza and Kharkiv, in refugee camps in Bangladesh, and even on the off ramps of our highways.

After noticing, then what?  We can pray, at least.  Perhaps we can urge our confreres to give their students opportunities to take part in Midnite Run or serve in soup kitchens or go on a mission trip.  We might make family members aware of the poor at their doors.

And we can practice compassion here in our house—with our brothers and our staff.

 

Salesian Theologate Board of Trustees Meets

Salesian Theologate Board of Trustees Meets

(ANS - Tlaquepaque, Mexico – Feb. 28, 2024) – The board of trustees of the Salesian theologate in Tlaquepaque, a formation center for Salesians aspiring to the priesthood, met on Saturday, February 24. The meeting was chaired by Fr. Filiberto Gonzalez, superior of the Guadalajara Province (row 2 standing, 2d Fr.om left), accompanied by Fr. Guido Errico, from the Formation Department at Salesian Headquarters in Rome. Present were Fr. Melchor Trinidad, provincial of the San Francisco Province (row 1 standing, 3d from left); Fr. Dominic Tran, provincial of the New Rochelle Province (row 1 standing, 2d from left); Fr. Morachel Bonhomme, superior of the vice province of Haiti; Fr. Ignacio Ocampo, provincial of the Mexico City Province; and Fr. Carlos Nabel Garcia Capellan, vice provincial of the Antilles. In addition, also involved were the theologate community and the vice provincials and treasurers of the two provinces of Mexico. During the meeting, the house’s Community Life Plan, the academic report of the Salesian Higher Education Institute (ISS), and various reports on the community life were evaluated.

The New Rochelle Province has 2 confreres studying theology at Tlaquepaque: Bro. Tom Junis (top row, far right) and Bro. Dan Glass (2d row standing, 3d from right).

Appeal from Ukrainian Salesians

Appeal from Ukrainian Salesians: 
“Don’t forget us!”

(ANS – Kyiv, Ukraine – Feb. 28, 2024) – Alina fled with her 3 children from Zuivka in eastern Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, 2022, when a new war had just broken out in the heart of Europe. “It took us a day and a half to get to Kyiv, and for months we lived with some relatives,” Alina recalls. Nine months ago they moved and settled in Mariapolis, the Salesian city of prefabricated modules built in Lviv. It’s a city that hosts almost a thousand people in small homes. The war is also felt in this part of western Ukraine, however. “There are frequent power blackouts to save electricity or due to anti-missile alarms,” explains the young mother.

Mariapolis is one of the projects that the Salesians have been carrying out since the beginning of the war, to provide displaced people there with daily food, fuel for their kitchens, appliances, logistical support, etc., and to instill hope in the needy population. Another of the key projects concerns support in the face of the cold of winter, together with guaranteeing children’s access to education, through the construction of safe shelters in educational centers.

In these two years of conflict, thanks to the solidarity of many people, the Salesian mission office in Madrid, Misiones Salesianas, has sent more than 1.5 million euros in all to support 30 projects from which more than 16,000 people have directly benefited.

According to the most up-to-date estimates, 2 years of war have caused more than 10,000 civilian deaths, including nearly 600 children, and more than 18,000 injuries. In addition, about 200,000 soldiers were killed and 400,000 were wounded on both sides. [President Zelensky of Ukraine stated last weekend that his side has suffered about 31,000 deaths.]

No one is safe in Ukraine. 736 days have passed since the beginning of the Russian invasion, and most of the population continues to suffer the consequences of a conflict that has so far left more than 13.3 million displaced people – most of them refugees in neighboring countries – and almost half of the population – 18 million people – in need of emergency aid to survive.

The Salesians continue to help and be at the side of the displaced population in Ukraine and refugees in neighboring countries, offering basic necessities, housing, and education in emergency situations, health and psychosocial assistance, and the transfer of the elderly to safer areas. “We will continue to be at the side of the population, trying to help and accompany them in everything they need. Thanks to the solidarity of the Salesian Family from all over the world, we have been facing the emergency for 2 years; therefore, we only hope that the people who help us don’t get tired of doing so or forget about us because we still need help and, above all, we want peace to come,” comments Fr. Mykhaylo Chaban, Salesian superior of the vice province in Ukraine.

Source: Salesianos.info

New Rectory Built with Funds from Salesian Missions

New Rectory Built with Funding from Salesian Missions

(ANS – Rundu, Namibia – Feb. 27, 2024) – Salesians in Rundu, Namibia, have a new house thanks to funding from Salesian Missions of New Rochelle.  The house will directly benefit 11 Salesians, 5 of whom will be there full-time. The house will also benefit more than 5,000 people in the community who will be accessing youth programs and the parish.

A Salesian said, “The Salesian community in Rundu is grateful to be able to have a Salesian house, where the growing number of Catholics in Rundu can find spiritual assistance and counseling as needs arise.”

The Don Bosco Parish opened in 2019. At the time, local business people and the community constructed a hall to be used as a church. Over the years, administration space was added. Priests were driving to the church daily for Masses and other pastoral activities, which was expensive for the parish. Salesians needed a local house where they could live while providing for members of the community. The house also reduces overcrowding where the Salesians had been staying.

The most recent phase of construction began in April 2023. It included finalizing internal parts of the home, including 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a sitting area, an entertainment area, a dining room, a kitchen, a storeroom, an office, and a waiting room. Salesians also finished the roof, walls, and installation of windows in the chapel, and the sacristy. In addition, plumbing and electrical work were completed. The Salesian added, “The house that has been constructed with the funding from Salesian Missions will make the pastoral activities of the Salesians easier, especially allowing them to be near the youths who come to the parish for meetings, counseling, and sporting activities.”

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

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

Source: Salesian Missions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia

Homily for 2d Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
2d Sunday of Lent

Feb. 25, 2024
Gen 22: 1-2, 9-13, 15-18
Rom 8: 31-34
The Fountains, Tuckahoe, N.Y.
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“Abraham took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son” (Gen 22: 13).

(Caravaggio)

During Lent we’re preparing to celebrate the central mystery of our faith, which we call the paschal mystery or the passover mystery:  the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus by which he passed from our mortal existence to eternal life, and by which he redeemed us so that we might make the same passover.

Theologians have proposed various theories of how Christ’s paschal mystery has effected our redemption.  The 1st principal always is that we are sinners—whether our sins are grave, or “just” the little daily ones that we regularly flop into, like harsh words, gossip, laziness, fibs, ignoring our neighbor.  And death is the penalty that sinners merit.  A few verses earlier than what we heard in the 2d reading from Romans 8, St. Paul reminds us that if we live according to the flesh, according to unrestrained human nature, we’ll die (8:13).  Two chapters before that, he tells us, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).  That’s the destiny of all of us.

ut—sinners can be saved and come to eternal life by God’s grace, by unmerited forgiveness.  Christ atones for our sins by substitution, by taking our place.  He suffered the death penalty and went down to the underworld, the place of the dead (which the Apostles Creed calls “hell”), with us and for us, so that he might grab us and lead us upward to eternal life alongside him.

In the story of Abraham and Isaac we find an example of substitution.  God intervenes to prevent the death of Isaac and provides a substitute.  Our 1st reading, from Genesis 22, omits a lot of verses.  In verses omitted, we see how strong was Abraham’s faith.  When little Isaac asked his father, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust” (22:7-8).  So God does, and Isaac lives.  The ram caught in the thicket takes Isaac’s place on the altar.

It’s no mystery why Jesus is called the Lamb of God.  He has taken our place as a sacrifice; his cross was the altar where he was offered to God.  He offered himself, freely, to God the Father.  He did that out of love, undeserved love, for us.  As he begins to tells us about the Last Supper, St. John states, “Having loved his own in the world, he loved them to the end” (13:1).  It’s not that God the Father wished Jesus’ death; rather, he permitted wicked people—the chief priests and the Roman rulers—to put Jesus to death because they opposed the truth of his teaching and the miracles he worked.

St. Paul tells us, “God did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all” (Rom 8:32).  Thus God acquits us of our sins (8:33), throwing his grace into the face of the Devil, who, as the Book of Revelation says, “night and day accuses us before God” (12:10) and indicts us—but without effect because the Lamb of God has been sacrificed for us, and the blood he shed in our stead has washed us clean (cf. 12:11).

Engaging Others in Don Bosco's Dream

Engaging Others in Don Bosco's Dream
at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress

(ANS – Anaheim, Calif. – Feb. 22, 2024) – The archdiocese of Los Angeles has gathered church and catechetical leaders for the annual Religious Education Congress for over 50 years. This 3-day gathering is an expo of faith formation, catechetical training, special events, prayer, and the exhibitions of numerous organizations and vendors for the renewal of those who serve the catechetical mission of the Church. Supporting this extraordinary experience of the Church, the Salesians’ Western Province has maintained and developed a Congress exhibit booth for over 30 years. Intending to share the educational philosophy of Don Bosco, the booth offers visitors various ways to learn and experience his Preventive System.

Participants hail from all the dioceses of California, and the Congress welcomes numerous other national and international church leaders. Before the pandemic, expecting as many as 40,000 participants for the RE Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center was customary. Though the numbers are now rebuilding, the spiritual vitality of the Congress never waned.

This year, the Salesian booth welcomed again the expertise of Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez, SDB, who offered new and accessible resources on leadership and the Preventive System in Spanish and English. Sr. Mary Greenan, FMA, also returned with 2 versions of the Salesian Matrix, an assessment resource for living the Preventive System in both school and family settings, also available in English and Spanish. The conversations regarding the educational philosophy of St. John Bosco were supported by the presence of the province delegate for youth ministry, Fr. Fabian Cardenas, the delegate for vocations, Fr. Vien Nguyen, the delegate for communication, Fr. Peter Le, and the province school coordinator, Bro. Al Vu. This area of the booth included Diane Gihring, the director of SJB Global, who offered the opportunity to take online theology classes through St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif.

This year, Salesian Cooperators provided an extension of the booth where visitors joined Don Bosco in sharing their dreams for youth. Three Salesian Family pillars gathered the dreams of our visitors – a visual testimony to a Church that cares for the young. The exchange of dreams prompted conversations whereby many visitors gained a new understanding of the Salesian mission. This area of the booth also offered resource books, including the theological reading of “Don Bosco’s Childhood Dream” by Fr. Andrea Bozzolo, SDB, the Rector Major’s video of the 2024 Strenna, a video montage of Salesian Cooperator life, Salesian apparel, and rosaries.

The prominent presence of a Mary Help of Christians statue was a magnet for many visitors. Sr. Ann Cassidy, the FMA Salesian Family delegate, and members of the Province Office of Youth Ministry, offered visitors the chance to pray to our Mother by writing their intentions on paper hearts, which they attached to ribbon streams held in Mary’s hand. The deep devotion of the people made the booth a sacred space where many needs were entrusted to the tender care of Mary Help of Christians.

On Friday, February 16, Dr. J.C. Montenegro, province delegate for missionary animation, delivered an enlightening workshop at the Congress. His presentation addressed the fundamental aspects of the evangelization process and highlighted an urgent concern: the need to cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

For years, J.C. has been a committed leader in youth ministry and missionary work. His close collaboration with various youth groups, including those preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, has gleaned significant insights for him into the field of evangelization. J.C. addressed the startling reality that many youths participating in Confirmation retreats are unsure of their faith or do not believe in God.

Instead of assuming that youths have already had a personal encounter with Christ, J.C. advocated refocusing on the evangelization process’s first step: the testimony of love and charity that precedes words. Some examples of pastoral charity, of testimony, that J.C. shared were opening dialog with young people through listening, offering the “sacrament of presence” (spending time with young people in what they like), and being kind to people in the ordinary matters of daily life.  This approach, he argued, can transform the experience of sacramental catechesis from mere religious instruction to a vital encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. 

J.C. addressed nearly a thousand participants, including parish leaders, youth ministers, religious brothers and sisters, and priests. This diverse group of attendees reflects the topic’s relevance in the context of youth ministry and evangelization.

The session served as a call for all pastoral communities to reassess their approach to evangelization, inspiring them to rediscover the beauty and urgency of the living testimony of the Gospel for young people today.

The outcomes of the Salesian exhibit booth will unfold in the coming months. With new relationships formed and old friendships renewed, further momentum was set for realizing Don Bosco’s dream more fully in the Church and ministries of the Western U.S. Province.

Source: Salesian Bulletin – USA West

Homily for Commemoration of St. Polycarp

Homily for the Commemoration 
of St. Polycarp

Feb. 23, 2024
Collect
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

We prayed in the collect that we might share in the chalice of Christ with St. Polycarp.  That echoes Jesus’ question to his apostles James and John about their capacity to drink of his cup when they’d come looking for the highest places at his side (Mark 10:38).  We know what cup Jesus meant:  the one he pleaded with his Father in Gethsemane to take away from him (Mark 14:36).

Martyrdom of St. Polycarp
(Foxe's Book of Martyrs)

No one’s eager to drink that cup.  I don’t imagine that Polycarp, the venerable, longtime bishop of Smyrna was, when he was arrested during an anti-Christian riot.  He was about 86 years old, had been a disciple of that same John the Apostle, and had as his disciple the great St. Irenaeus of Lyons.  He had corresponded with Ignatius of Antioch, written supportive letters to the Church at Philippi and to others, and was revered by his flock.

Yet, offered the opportunity to renounce Christ and put aside the cup—to take, instead, the path condemned today by Ezekiel, the path of the virtuous man who goes off the path into sin (18:24)—Polycarp refused to turn aside.

Instead, according to the eyewitness record of his martyrdom (LOH 2:1695), he blessed God for finding him worthy of sharing the cup of Christ and joining the company of martyrs—“the white-robed army of martyrs,” the Te Deum calls it.  Perhaps at 86 he thought that glorious opportunity had passed him by.  He was willing even to bear witness to Christ by being burned alive.  Miraculously spared the flames, he was executed by the sword, sharing the Lord’s cup in the same way as James the Apostle (Acts 12:2).

Millions of our fellow Christians are compelled to drink Christ’s cup every year.  Those who track such matters state that over 300,000,000 Christians live in places with very high levels of persecution—countries like Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and China, among many others.  We must be mindful of them and pray for them.

While we aren’t likely to suffer so for Christ, he still holds out his cup to us daily in the opportunities we have to deny ourselves and serve our brothers and sisters, and to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, as St. Paul says (Rom 12:1), if only by offering to Christ our unavoidable pains of body and heart and the stresses of our apostolates.

 

More Violence in Eastern Congo

More Violence in Eastern Congo

Salesians Serve the Needy

(ANS – Goma, DRC – Feb. 21, 2024) – In the territory of Masisi, a few dozen kilometers from Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, clashes between the regular army and rebels have intensified in recent days, with a consequent new and massive resumption of exoduses by huge masses of the population who fear violence. The humanitarian situation is serious and risks worsening further at any moment. While the Salesians continue to do everything possible to help the needy, moving on all possible fronts, appeals are going to the civilized world not to pretend they can’t see.

Clashes have come closer to Sake, bombs have fallen on the city, the crackle of bullets can be heard. Sake is located about 4 miles from Goma, in the territory of Masisi. The traditional leaders and inhabitants here are utterly desolate. They say that more than 3,000 families had already left their homes and work four days ago and now are wanderers without a fixed address. They have neither water nor food. Due to poor hygienic conditions, cholera affects some people and is a risk for everyone.

“Along the Sake-Goma road, toward Mugunga, we see children, young and old, sitting, tired, not knowing where to go. They were displaced people who had previously set their sights on Sake; now, following the approaching clashes, they were forced to leave Sake and head toward Goma. This is a second exodus for those who have been displaced,” testifies Pascal Bauma, from the Salesians’ Goma Project Office.

The new emergency is in addition to all the previous ones. Now there is no more space in the refugee camps, and those displaced must find other alternatives.

“We cannot yet estimate the number of people who have moved from Sake to Goma. On the other hand, the exodus is ongoing and is a mass phenomenon,” Mr. Bauma said. “Thousands of families have been forced to flee. There are those who stayed in Shasha and Sake because they were afraid of living as a displaced person; others stayed in Mugunga waiting for the situation to improve so they can quickly return home.”

This already difficult and painful situation has been aggravated by the approach of the fighting. Fortunately, no loss of life has been reported, and this is a mystery of Providence. But the bombs seem to follow wherever the fugitives flee.

In Goma, the anomalous situation and the difficult living conditions of the displaced have become the norm, a permanent reality. But now, all the streets that supplied the city with food and other supplies are no longer accessible. If things don’t change, a serious famine looms for all the inhabitants of Goma. The scarcity of some foodstuffs is already perceived, and the population lives in an extreme psychosis. They don’t care about the displaced, but are protecting themselves in the face of the risk of the city’s falling into the hands of the rebels.

Among other organizations, the Salesians are alongside the displaced, there with them in different camps, and they intervene at various levels. At first they tried to collaborate with the local parish to support the population taken in at the Kanyaruchinya refugee camp. Then the gradual saturation of the camps in the area pushed the displaced to create other refugee camps, including those built on the land of the Salesians’ Don Bosco-Ngangi work, which currently has more than 3,500 families, and Don Bosco Shasha, where until a few days ago almost 1,000 families were gathered, but which is empty now because the militant rebels have moved in.

The Salesians help the displaced people through frequent distributions of food and non-food items; the displaced are essentially dependent on humanitarian aid. In particular, it’s essential to distribute corn, soy, and sorghum to the children of the displaced, waiting for a possible meal in the evening. Other children benefit in one way or another from other types of support, such as games, hot meals, school, and medical care.

The Salesians in Goma would like to improve their service further, in order to buffer the emergency situation. In their projects there are an external dispensary in Ngangi; the activation of schooling possibilities adapted to displaced children who will otherwise have their entire education compromised; similar vocational training initiatives for older children; the training of social workers to accompany unaccompanied minors; and economic support for families to be able to start small income-generating activities.

But for a long-term solution to the difficulties that thousands and thousands of families have been experiencing for years in Eastern Congo, the decisive and real intervention of the international community is needed. In this sense, the work of raising awareness that even famous personalities and sportsmen – such as the Leopards of the National Soccer Team of the Democratic Republic of Congo – carried out during the last series of the African Cup of Nations should be welcomed with pleasure, as a reminder that in the indifference of many in the Eastern Congo there are those who continue to kill. “No lives are more important than others,” echoed the defender of Paris Saint-Germain, Presnel Kimpembe, a Congolese-born Frenchman.

The Richness of Don Bosco's Dreams

The Richness of Don Bosco’s Dreams

19th-Century Turin, the Church, the Young

John Bosco's 1st Dream
(Mario Bogani)

(ANS – Rome – Feb. 20, 2024) – Thinking about Don Bosco and detaching him from his dreams means taking away a fundamental aspect of his complex and rich personality. Besides, he himself recounted many of his dreams in his Memoirs of the Oratory, where dreamlike experiences, external psycho-sensations, and spiritual inspirations make whole and define a reality even when not always prophetic.

In Don Bosco’s dreams there is 19th-century Turin, a city still with a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants but rich in industrial and political ferment. There is the Church, with the vicissitudes of an exalted and persecuted Papacy. There is the scenography of an urban landscape still mixed with an ambiance of the countryside and the peasantry. There are the young people, protagonists in spite of a society that had ignored them for so long. And then there is the encounter with the Lord Jesus, the great Mother and Help of Christians, the practice of the sacraments and great processions; the struggles with the devil and his wiles to defeat the apostle of the young. There is the development of his work, which delighted Don Bosco because it was at the service of those young people, all of whom he wanted happy in Paradise and as well as on earth. There are openly clairvoyant dreams, I would dare say, on par with biblical dreams so imbued with supernatural presence.

Don Bosco lived the development of his work, and he also lived with suffering, limitations, and shortcomings. Pope St. Paul VI, who knew the Salesians well and promoted their works as a great friend of the Salesians, used to say that the development of the Salesians in the world reminded him of the Gospel parable of the seed, just as he considered Don Bosco among the great holy Founders in the history of the Church. After all, even today it happens that someone knocks on a Salesian school door and asks to speak to Don Bosco, thinking he is alive.

Scattered in over 130 countries with the most varied activities aimed at education of the youth, the Salesians represent, according to UNESCO data, the largest private association in the world operating in this sector. And certainly, if one looks at the numbers, this is indeed the case: more than 14,000 male religious plus 32 groups adhering to the Salesian Family made up of the same number of consecrated and non-consecrated religious, and laity – are they not the realization of Don Bosco’s dreams?

Undoubtedly there are also difficulties with regard to newer vocations -especially in the old continent of Europe. This dearth of vocations weighs heavily at a time when 48% of Salesians are still in formation. This is why we need to return to Don Bosco the dreamer, to the essence of his asceticism made up of work, prayer, and the fulfilment of one’s duties, and of an interrelationship of reason, religion, and loving kindness.

The dream at the age of 9 to which Don Bosco’s 10th successor, Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, dedicated the 2024 Strenna means precisely this. “Don Bosco,” the Rector Major wrote to the Salesian Family, “showed us throughout his life that only authentic relationships transform and save. Pope Francis tells us the same thing: ‘It’s not enough, therefore, to have structures if authentic relationships are not developed in them; it is the quality of these relationships, in fact, that evangelizes.’”

“For this reason,” continues the Rector Major, “I express the desire that every house of our Salesian Family in the world be or become a truly educational space, a space of respectful relationships; a space that helps to grow in a healthy way. In this we can and must make a difference, because authentic relationships are at the origin of our charism, at the origin of the encounter with Bartholomew Garelli, at the origin of Don Bosco’s own vocation.”

Fr. Giuseppe Costa,
Co-spokesman of the Salesian Congregation

Mary Help of Christians Center Opens in Los Angeles

Great Joy as Mary Help of Christians Center Opens in Los Angeles

(ANS – Los Angeles – February 15, 2024) – St. Bridget Chinese Catholic Church in Chinatown, Los Angeles, celebrated the grand opening of the Mary Help of Christians Center on February 11. Bp. Matthew Elshoff, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, and St. Bridget's pastor, Fr. Peter Pong, SDB, presided over the cutting of the ribbon, with which the Center was officially opened. It will be dedicated to supporting the teachings of St. John Bosco and will help the young people of Los Angeles become good Christians and upright citizens. Two other events were also celebrated during the opening ceremony, namely the wedding anniversary of the oldest couple in the parish, spouses Tom and Lily Lowe, who have been married for 75 years, and the Lunar New Year celebrations. The Chinese community welcomed the Year of the Dragon.

Average Age of Salesians by Region

The average age of Salesians by region

The missionary bulletin Cagliero11 in February 2024 focuses on the average age of Salesians in each of the Congregation’s 7 regions, plus the communities directly under the Rector Major.  You can see that our Interamerica Region (North America and a big chunk of South America) is either the 5th youngest region or the 4th oldest.  The 2 U.S. provinces are the oldest in our region.

Average age
Africa: 37.9
South Asia: 44.2
East Asia-Oceania: 49.2
America South Cone: 55.2
Interamerica: 56.6
Central and North Europe: 58.8
RMG–UPS: 59.7
Mediterranean: 67.2

Homily for 1st Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
1st Sunday of Lent

Feb. 18, 2024
Gen 9: 8-15
Ps 25: 4-9
1 Pet 3: 18-22
Mark 1: 12-15
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants” (Gen 9: 9)

Landscape with Noah's Thank Offering
(Joseph A. Koch)

The word covenant occurs in 5x in the 1st reading about Noah, and once in the psalm responsory.  It’s not a stretch to find the covenant idea also in the 2d reading and the gospel.

After the great flood, Noah offered a sacrifice to God, appreciative that he, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives—“8 persons in all,” St. Peter observes (I, 3:20)—were saved from destruction.  God was so pleased with Noah’s sacrifice that he established a covenant with Noah and his descendants—which in the context of the book of Genesis means with the whole human race.  By that covenant God promises never again to destroy life on earth with another flood.  He seals this covenant by creating a rainbow as a permanent sign of his promise.

That, of course, isn’t a scientific explanation for rainbows.  But in the rainbow the ancient Israelites saw a reminder of God’s care for them and his fidelity.

That covenant promise was initiated by God and had no condition attached to it.  It was God’s free gift.

We read later in the Scriptures of further covenants between God and human beings, particularly between God and Abraham and between God and the Hebrews whom Moses led out of Egypt.  God initiated those covenants, too. 

In Abraham’s case, there was a sign attached to his relationship with God, the sign of circumcision.  That practice remains an external sign of every male Jew’s belonging to the people of the covenant.  Unlike Noah, Abraham and his descendants were required to make a commitment:  they’d worship God alone.  He would be their God, and they’d be his people, special above all other nations of the earth.

Moses (Washington National Cathedral)

When God made a covenant with Moses and the Hebrew nation at Mt. Sinai, the 10 Commandments were the sign of the covenant.  Again, it was God who initiated the covenant, God who led Israel out of slavery, God who promised to protect Israel from their enemies, God who promised to give them a permanent homeland.  Israel would obey his commands and worship only him.  Israel is still fighting to defend and preserve that promised homeland.  One might debate whether they’re depending more on F-15s than on the power of God—but this isn’t the occasion for that debate.

The psalm response assures us that God’s love and truth remain with “those who keep you covenant.”  The psalm verses, however, don’t speak of covenant; rather, of God’s guidance and compassion toward those who turn to him.  Those who turn to him, the psalm says, are the humble; they are sinners who confess their faults and seek the Lord’s kindness:  “In your kindness remember me.”  Show us sinners the way (25:7-9).

And that’s where St. Peter brings us to the idea of covenant without using the word.  In Baptism we entered a covenant relationship with God thru Jesus Christ.  God cleared our consciences and saved us thru water (3:20-21), to lead us to himself (3:18).

Jesus, too, implies covenant:  “The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).  Let the Gospel cleanse your conscience—wash it free of sin—by turning to Christ.

Is this a covenant relationship?  Yes, it is!  At every Mass, we hear Jesus’ words:  “This is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out … for the forgiveness of sins.”  As the rainbow, circumcision, and the 10 Commandments are signs of God’s covenants, the Eucharist also is a sign—of God’s love for us.  St. Peter echoes that when he reminds us that “Christ suffered for sins once … that he might lead you to God” (3:18).

Jesus takes the initiative to invite us into a covenant with God by confessing our sins, turning away from our sins, and pledging ourselves to live his way of life.  “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”  He doesn’t command us to be morally perfect but to try—try hard and sincerely—to live the way he teaches us; and he’ll cleanse our consciences, forgive our sins.

That’s the bottom line for Lent, dear brothers and sisters.  Lent’s not about a black smudge on your face—which should be long gone by now; and it’s not about giving up chocolate or TV.  It’s about building up our covenant relationship with God thru prayer and the denial of our nasty instincts.  It’s about “growing in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and … pursuing their effects” (Collect), the effects of the riches of God’s mercy.

Homily for Ash Wednesday

Homily for Ash Wednesday

Feb. 14, 2024
Collect
Sophomores, Salesian HS, New Rochelle

If you’ve been paying the least bit of attention to the news, you know that there are campaigns going on.  There are military campaigns in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.  We have a presidential campaign in our country.

Fr. Bruce Craig gives ashes to a boy
at the Salesian Oratory on Paris St., East Boston

The collect (or opening prayer) today speaks of a different kind of campaign, a “campaign of Christian service.”  We are, the collect says, engaged in a “battle against spiritual evils.”  You’re all aware of evils around us—not in foreign countries, but in our neighborhoods.  A guy was shot dead on a subway platform in the Bronx on Monday, and other people were wounded.  A woman brought a rifle into a church service in Houston on Sunday and opened fire.  You know how available drugs are, and how much shoplifting goes on.  You know a lot of people are hungry, a lot are homeless, and a lot are fleeing violence in their homelands.

Those are physical and social evils—real, dangerous, and harmful to society.  But we’re at war with spiritual evil, the evil that is dangerous to our souls and therefore not to our physical life but to our eternal life.  That evil is sin.  During Lent we renew our war against sin in our lives:  we take up “weapons of self-restraint,” the prayer says.  That is, we renew our commitment to restrain ourselves from sins like lying, theft, impurity, cheating, disrespect for our parents, meanness toward our brothers and sisters, laziness about our schoolwork, etc.

Sin is so tempting!  And not just to teenagers!  But Jesus loves us and is ready to forgive us and to give us a fresh start in our “campaign of Christian service.”  We’re in service to Christ, sort of like military service.  In the ancient world, soldiers and slaves—men and women who were bound to service to Caesar or to some owner—were branded to indicate who owned them.  You probably know that on Western cattle ranges, steers and cows were branded to identify who owned them.  When you were baptized, you were branded too; your soul received a spiritual seal that marks you as belonging to Christ, as his servant, as someone who wants to follow him.

Today you’re going to be sealed or branded again.  You’re going to be signed with ashes—usually with a sign of the cross—which marks you as a repentant sinner and a man who commits himself to Jesus.  You want to take up his “battle against spiritual evils,” against your personal temptations and sins.  St. Paul urges us, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).  Jesus loves us; he is “gracious and merciful, rich in kindness,” as the prophet Joel says (2:13).  Jesus welcomes us and promises us, “This is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).

Homily for Tuesday, Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Tuesday
Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Feb.13, 2020
Jas 1: 12-18
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, N.R.

St. James appears to address 2 topics in our 1st reading:  temptation and the gifts of God.

Christ's 3 Temptations

Temptations, James says, arise from our own desires (1:14).  Last Wednesday, Jesus taught his disciples that evil emerges from the human heart; unchastity, theft, envy, etc. come from within and defile a person (Mark 7:21-23).  James is saying the same thing:  “Desire conceives and brings forth sin” (1:15).  Hence the necessity of our filling our hearts and minds with good thoughts, of care in what we watch, read, and listen to.  St. Paul urged the Philippians:  “Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there’s any excellence and if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8).

Every year on the feast of St. Ignatius, we read in the Office of how his conversion began with his reading the lives of the saints, and from those edifying stories being filled with joy and a desire to imitate them (LOH 3:1566).  We benefit ourselves and our brothers by holy reading, edifying conversation, and due care in our legitimate recreational viewing and reading.

Turning to divine gifts, James tells us that God has blessed us from above, especially with “the word of truth” (1:18).  This word purifies and saves us.  It makes of us God’s harvest of salvation, its “firstfruits” (1:18).  For this we give him thanks; we celebrate Eucharist.

International Day Against Use of Child Soldiers

International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers
Salesian Missions Assists Former Child Soldiers

(ANS – New Rochelle – Feb. 12, 2024) - Salesian Missions of New Rochelle joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in honoring Feb. 12 as Red Hand Day, also known as the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers. The day was started when the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict entered into force on Feb. 12, 2002. This protocol was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in May 2000 and has been ratified by 168 U.N. member states.

In 2001, the U.N. Security Council sent a powerful message to the world that the recruitment of child soldiers would no longer be tolerated. Resolution 1379 requested the U.N. secretary general attach an annex to his report on children and armed conflict, in which he would list parties to conflict who recruit and use children in situations on the U.N. Security Council’s agenda. Subsequent resolutions added 4 additional triggers for listing: sexual violence, killing and maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, and abduction of children.

Salesian organizations around the globe give youths who have been recruited as child soldiers a chance at a better life. They offer shelter, counseling, and education to gain the skills for later employment.

“Children utilized in hostilities and war have faced unimaginable violence and abuses and need our support to have a second chance in life,” said Father Michael Conway, director of Salesian Missions. “Salesian missionaries work with former child soldiers so that they may overcome the traumas of war and reintegrate into society.”

In honor of International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight programs that help child soldiers by offering education and psychosocial support.

COLOMBIA

Salesians are helping former child soldiers and at-risk youths in Colombia gain an education and have hope for the future. It is estimated that close to 6,000 minors are still used as child soldiers with thousands more having reached their 18th birthday after years of combat. In addition, the country’s guerrilla warfare has caused more than 300,000 deaths and fueled the growth of powerful drug cartels.

Don Bosco City, located in Medellin, has been working with youths for more than 55 years and has saved more than 1,300 from a life of violence. The long rehabilitation process at Don Bosco City focuses on 3 things youths need to learn — how to trust, to have hope for the future and to build relationships with others. Psychologists and teachers work together with youths, giving them the tools for a better future including basic education and more advanced skills training that will lead to stable employment.

Don Bosco City is one of the oldest and largest programs for street children in Latin America. Since its start in 1965, the program has rescued more than 83,000 boys and girls. Through the program, Salesian missionaries offer a multipronged approach designed to address the broad social issues that contribute to the poverty and exploitation these youths face while training them in the skills necessary to break the cycle of violence and poverty.

Another program focused on similar work is the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center (Don Bosco Center) in Cali. The Don Bosco Center provides a chance at rehabilitation for youths who have been ripped from their families at a young age to become soldiers.

LIBERIA

Mary Help of Christians School, operated by Salesian sisters, provides a foundation of education and support for young students who would otherwise have limited opportunities — many of whom are former child soldiers. The school started in 1993 and serves just over 560 students. The school also has a feeding program, which serves more than 100 students each day.

This is one of many schools that Salesian missionaries operate in Liberia. Salesians have been present in Monrovia since 1979 and manage parishes, youth centers, schools, and oratories.

In 2019, Don Bosco Technical High School, also in Monrovia, launched a vocational training course for electro-technicians. An afternoon class is available to high school students, which complements their current educational path. There is also a morning class for young workers to help them obtain certification to improve their options in the workforce.

MALI

The Salesian Pere Michael Training Center in Bamako, the capital and largest city of Mali, is bringing joy, providing education, and cultivating peace among children and older youths. The center keeps its doors open all day and provides support to hundreds of youths from the Niarela district and the outskirts of the city. It also works as a deterrent for children being recruited as child soldiers.

Youths come to the center to play sports, learn music, or study at its library. The center provides a safe haven where youths have an opportunity to live, dream of a future, study, and learn the importance of being committed and collaborating in groups. They are able to express themselves freely and access the support of adults.

The goal is to keep young people, ages 12 to 25, away from the street and harmful habits such as alcohol or drugs. Instead, youths are offered an educational space during their free time, which promotes cultural activities and allows the development of values. Salesian missionaries have been able to access sports equipment for the girls basketball team, set up a music training center, and organize health and hygiene awareness days to prevent diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
6th Sunday 0f Ordinary Time

Feb. 11, 2024
Collect
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx              
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

We prayed in this morning’s collect that we might become dwellings pleasing to God, who abides in hearts that are just and true.  If our hearts are just and true, it’s because God’s grace has so fashioned them.

When we were young, we learned that Baptism makes us temples of the Holy Spirit.  That is, God dwells in us by his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace and of special virtues like wisdom, fortitude, understanding, and piety.

Pouring out of the Holy Spirit
(National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)

The grace of the Holy Spirit transforms us.  It makes us just and true rather than evil and false.  The Evil One, the enemy of God and of our souls, is a liar; Jesus tells us, “He is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).  That’s been so from the beginning of humanity, when the serpent deceived our 1st parents and caused them to rebel against God.  He tricked them into thinking they could become like gods themselves; that’s what he told Eve in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:5).

God’s grace, on the other hand, makes us just and true, friends of God, so that he may abide with us and we with him.  God’s grace conforms us to himself, the way he created us to be:  “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27).

When we look at the world around us, we see so much injustice:  so much violence between nations and within nations, on our own streets, even in our schools; so much hatred, rancor, and dissension in families, in politics, even in the Church.  It’s hard to see God’s image in warlords, dictators, terrorists, drug pushers, human traffickers, gangsters, racists, abusers of children and of women, etc.

Such criminal activity, such injustice, begins with a failure to see God’s image in every person, with a desire to act like God and use others for one’s own selfish purposes.

When G.K. Chesterton was asked what’s wrong with the world today, he responded, “I am.”  Injustice begins in the hearts of individual men and women—your heart and mine.  The healing of the world can come about only when our individual hearts are healed by God’s grace; when each of us regards everyone else as a child of God, a brother or sister, and treats everyone with justice, fairness, and respect rather than selfishness.

Christ before Pilate
(Mihaly Munkacsy)

According to the collect, we also need hearts that are true.  When Jesus was on trial, he told Pontius Pilate, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  And Pilate retorted, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38).

Truth is the great problem of our time.  So many of the political, academic, media, and entertainment leaders of society recognize only scientific truth.  No one will contest that 2+2 must always equal 4, or that there’s a law of gravity.  A corollary of that law holds that any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place in the universe.

Joking aside, even scientific truths are argued.  Believe it or not, there still are people who maintain that the world is flat, and who deny that NASA put men on the moon.  More complicated are questions like “What’s the origin of the universe?” and “What’s its destiny?”  Not to mention whether climate change is a fact or just a theory.

Truth becomes a bigger question when we go to questions of right and wrong.  A lot of people deny that there’s an objective or universal morality.  Many people think that they personally decide what’s true, which can change according to circumstances.  What I think is good and virtuous, you think is abhorrent, and vice versa.

For instance, Planned Parenthood and its friends in politics and the media insist that women need access to abortion for their freedom or their dignity.  To that end, they deny the truth that abortion kills a human being—a person made in God’s image and destined for eternal life like you and me.  They use language to hide this reality.  They speak of a “fetus,” not a baby.  They speak of “reproductive health,” “reproductive rights,” and “products of conception,” not of killing a human being.  They can’t admit that reproduction takes place when a child is conceived, not when it’s born—as if, at the moment of birth, a “fetus” magically becomes a baby and a person.  They speak of “choice” as if choice is the gold standard of morality.  Moral questions aren’t like choosing between McDonalds or your mom’s spaghetti and meatballs.  In morality what we choose gives our choice its moral character.  Regarding unborn human life, are we choosing to preserve human life or to extinguish it?

Jesus teaches us that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  Everyone who loves truth follows him and belongs to his kingdom.  To help us grasp the truth, we have not only the sacred Scriptures but also Jesus’ living Body, the Church, which makes his teaching and his grace available to us 2,000 years after his death and resurrection.  So we listen to the Church when it teaches us about human dignity, human life, the meaning of human sexuality, marriage, and gender.  Christ’s truths don’t vary from one person to another, one place to another, one time in history to another.  The Letter to the Hebrews tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8).

Therefore we pray that God’s grace will fashion our hearts into hearts that are just and true, places where God may dwell now and forever.