Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for the
28th Sunday
in Ordinary Time

Wis 7: 7-11

Mark 10: 17-30

Oct. 14, 2012

St. Vincent’s Hospital, Harrison, N.Y.

“I preferred wisdom to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her” (Wis 7: 8).

The Book of Wisdom, probably the last book of the OT to be composed, dates from about 100 B.C.  We don’t know who wrote it, but in a style fairly common at the time, the author put much of its contents into the mouth of King Solomon, famous for his wisdom and, at least in the 1st part of his reign, for his piety.

In the teaching of the OT prophets and wisdom literature—the wisdom literature includes Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, and Sirach in addition to Wisdom—in most of this teaching, piety and wisdom go together.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” is a theme in the Psalms (Ps 111:10) and the Book of Proverbs (Prov 1:7; 9:10), for instance.  Here fear means a healthy respect and reverence for the Lord, rather than being afraid of him.

So in today’s short passage from the Book of Wisdom, “Solomon,” i.e., the anonymous author, teaches us that wisdom is to be preferred to power, wealth, prestige, or anything else.

While that’s offered as a religious teaching, ordinary human wisdom agrees with it.  How many times have you heard, “Money can’t buy happiness”?  I’m sure you’ve all seen the MasterCard ads that go like this:  “Object 1 costs $X.  Object 2 costs $X.  Object 3 costs $X.”  Some intangible, valuable experience like “a day spent with your son” of “an evening with your wife” is “Priceless.  There are some things money can’t buy.  For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”

Every year the Salesians of St. John Bosco—like a good number of other religious orders—send out as missionaries a good number of generous young lay men and women (more women than men, by the way), most of them fresh out of college.  When these volunteers get to their Third World destinations, they find out what’s really valuable.  For example, Stephanie blogged from Bolivia on Sept.30 a reflection called “Beauty is everywhere I look!” that began this way:

Last Sunday we went to pick up Lorena [a newly arriving volunteer] from the airport with Sister Nora.  Well on the way home from picking her up, we stopped at a festival and then after that, Sister Nora needed to stop at a house of a family that she helps out.  While she went in to talk with the family, we stayed out in the truck. This family was a family of ten who was struggling financially. While we were waiting in the truck all of a sudden a few of their children came out to the truck with some Coca-Cola for us.  Even though they hardly had anything, they still made sure to give their guests something.  This was not the first time I have seen this.   This has happened to me while I was in Peru on a mission trip as well.  There are some people who have everything but will refuse to give anything.  I was truly touched by this act of kindness.[1]

Some of the children whom Stephanie is teaching in Bolivia

And Caitlin wrote from South Sudan a week before that, in a posting she titled “Late Night Musings of an SLM [Salesian Lay Missioner]”:

Exhausted after chasing the kids around outside, I found myself desperately in need of water.  Not thinking ahead, I filled up my water bottle and brought it outside.  10 kids ran over and fought for the “moya”, and in seconds the bottle was drained.  Afterwards, I remembered:  I am in the middle of a community considered impoverished even by South Sudanese standards.  That bottle might be the only filtered water those kids get in God knows how long.  I am spoiled.[2]

In the same posting, Caitlin—a fair-skinned, red-headed Irish-American lass from New Jersey—also writes:

People appreciate simplicity...  Looking at pictures we’ve taken so far, I realized how terribly washed out I look, and how young.  At home, this would encourage me to wear more makeup.  But here, the fact that I live just as I am (without modifying my appearance), is so much more beautiful a thing than looking a little better in a photograph.  It’s not worth losing that feeling for the sake of a little mascara.  I think I’ll stay washed-out.

St. John Bosco Church in Maridi, South Sudan, where Caitlin and another SLM are serving

Without a doubt, our bonds of family and home and hospitality and belonging are priceless.  Without a doubt, no price can be put on the blessings of fresh air and clean water and the beauty of nature—sunrises and sunsets, woods and oceans, “purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain.”  Without a doubt, it’s a privilege to be able to worship God freely, to be loved and forgiven by him, to be invited into his family as his children and heirs.  That we’d call priceless, except that, as St. Paul says, twice (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23), it did come at a great price—our being ransomed by the Son of God.

It’s wisdom—human wisdom on one level, divine wisdom on another—to recognize all that, and then to make decisions that correspond to that wisdom—to live wisely.  We’re easily tempted by transient things like the “riches, health, comeliness” that “Solomon” lists (Wis 7:8,10)—things like fine clothes, nice vacations, cosmetics, jewelry, pleasure and entertainment, concern about what people will think—all of which the Bible tells us is foolishness; none of which leads us to God or keeps us in touch with God or satisfies the longings of our hearts.  St. Augustine 1,600 years ago wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

The gospel reading today tells us of a restless young man who came to Christ seeking the solution for his restlessness.  But he wanted an easy solution, and Christ doesn’t offer one.  In the end, money separated him from Christ:  “he went away sad, for he had many possessions” (Mark 10:22).  The pursuit of power and prestige separated the scribes and the Sadducees from Christ and induced Pontius Pilate to crucify him.

And us?  When we look into our hearts, do we find any foolishness separating us from him?  If so, we don’t have to imitate the young man of the gospel, or the scribes, or Pilate.  We can renounce whatever it is we’re chasing that’s not God, such as an over-concern for money or self-importance that shows little concern for other people or finding pleasure and comfort in the wrong places (addictive behaviors).

We can, instead, choose to embrace wisdom.  And what might that mean for us?  The liturgy today gives us hints.  In the Collect (or opening prayer), we prayed that God would “make us always determined to carry out good works,” and in the gospel Jesus advised the man who came to him to “give to the poor” from his wealth and “follow me” (10:21).  In this context, wisdom consists in doing good to other people, especially by sharing what we have with the poor—or the weak or the vulnerable.  If we don’t have money, we might have time to spend with someone in need of company and compassion, or time to give to a charitable or community-service organization that needs volunteers; we might have talent and expertise to offer, like teaching a child to read, teaching someone to cook, to knit, to operate tools, to do CPR; next month we’ll vote for our political leaders, and our vote will include an approach to the most vulnerable members of our society, namely, children in the womb.  And while any of that—donating time or talent and voting—is good in itself, if we do it in Jesus’ name, if we do it because that what Jesus would do if he were in our shoes (allowing, obviously, that Jesus might work miracles but you and I don’t!), then we’re “following Jesus”—which is the wisest thing we can do, because Jesus satisfies the deepest longings of our restless hearts; Jesus leads us to eternal happiness.

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[1] http://stephschaubbolivia.blogspot.com/ from Montero, Bolivia.

[2] http://www.forherpieceofmind.blogspot.com/ from Maridi, South Sudan, Sept. 23.

On Syria's Roads of War

On Syria’s Roads of War

This was posted today by ANS.

(ANS – Aleppo) – Fr. Munir El Rai, the Salesian provincial of the Middle East Province, has visited the SDB communities in Syria. He sent a note to ANS about his journey among people who are intimidated by war, young people thirsting for hope, and SDBs who are staying to help the population; in all of them he heard the same cry: “Haaj” (Enough)!

Fr. El Rai first passed thru Beirut, Lebanon, to meet the Salesians of that country. Among the issues addressed were the procedures whereby displaced Syrians have come to Lebanon to find peace and work. “Many Syrian Christian families find refuge from the war by emigrating into Lebanon,” writes Fr. El Rai. “This is desirable because of the strong Christian presence, and the possibility of finding work and of emigrating to other countries. I then asked the Salesians of Lebanon to prepare an emergency plan for the reception of Syrian refugees, as was done with the Lebanese during the Lebanese war.”

On Wednesday, September 26, by public transportation he began an overland trip to Damascus. During the journey, Fr. El Rai had a discussion with the people about the condition of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the suffering in which the people are now living. His arrival in Damascus coincided with the final phase of the attack on the Ministry of Defense: the whole city was on alert and full of army roadblocks. The climate of fear, sadness, and insecurity was very strong. As a result of the attack, the provincial reached the Salesian Center with difficulty.

The community of four Salesians is situated in an area which is safe enough. They are trying to give signs of hope to young people and families, organizing meetings and spiritual and recreational training. The Center is becoming an oasis of peace, sharing, and hospitality, increasingly valuable to young people in the area. “All the confreres have confirmed their determination to remain in Syria to serve young people,” says Fr. El Rai. “On the occasion of my visit we relaunched visits to families with very young children who now avoid the Center for fear of the dangers they might encounter along the way, trying to support them on the spiritual, moral, and material levels.”

“This vision of many young people who have lost all their hopes for the future and for their country saddened me a lot, insofar as it is the collapse of a lifetime of teachings based on having confidence in the future, and I was taken back to the image of a Syria without Christians and without a future, as is happening in other areas of the Middle East,” noted Fr. El Rai.

On Saturday, September 29, at Tartous Fr. El Rai met the bishop of the Maronites, who thanked the Salesians in Kafroun for the activities they have carried out. Focused on that work, Fr. El Rai went through several villages, coming across countless images of those who had died in the clashes. He reports: “At Kafroun I met the Salesian who had been in this house for the summer along with two younger brothers, and has remained with a new confrere who joined him for this new mission. Then we decided to leave the house open all year to continue to host the displaced people of Aleppo: about 40 people, including the families of Salesian brothers and of Salesian Cooperators, and our young people. Currently the number of these displaced people is increasing rapidly due to the escalation of the clashes. The house is also carrying out educational and recreational activities with young people from the city of Homs, the hardest hit by the clashes. The Center is also running an oratory with the youths of the area.”

The internally displaced persons and the Salesian Family at Kafroun share a common life in a family style. They coordinate activities and moments of common life. Guests are engaged in housework, such as maintenance, care of the garden, the kitchen, and laundry; and in pastoral work with the other evacuees and with the children of the area. With the Salesians, the families feel safe, but they remain anxious for loved ones who are still in Aleppo. They are thinking about the future, torn between fear, the desire to flee abroad, and the hope to be able to return to their homes.

“I left for Aleppo on the afternoon of October 2, traveling on a 25-seat bus along with a Salesian Cooperator from Aleppo. The bus, already loaded with the luggage of the refugees it was carrying, was also charged with tension and fears for the trip, which led us through the areas hardest hit by clashes, and the expectations of people who hoped to return to their places of origin to try to reach their loved ones.” The gasoline to start the journey was obtained from a seller who had hidden his supply – because fuel distributors are no longer operating.

“Along the deserted highway you notice the signs of war: armored cars and tanks, damaged and abandoned houses, various Syrian Army checkpoints, where we were stopped for inspection of our documents. After a stretch of road outside the control of the Syrian Army, just an hour from Aleppo, we ran into a rebel roadblock to check the documents, and they let us go. After another rebel checkpoint we reached Aleppo, aware of how fortunate we had been not to be attacked.”

Having arrived at the Salesian house in the evening, the provincial received a surprise greeting and the thanks of two Syrian SDBs, a Syrian prenovice, and some youths who were playing in the small courtyard. A decade of the Rosary made it possible to close the day with relative equanimity.

But the next morning the awakening was abrupt: “The Salesian house shook due to a huge attack on the main square of Aleppo, which is eight minutes away on foot. At 9:00 a.m. along with another Salesian, I wanted to visit the site of the attack, which resulted in about 50 deaths and more than 100 wounded in the center of Aleppo; but this was impossible because they feared new attacks.”

As recently as last April, the youth center at Aleppo was able to hold a soccer tournament.

Fr. El Rai and other SDBs visited the Christian districts – where all children and young people often visit – that are currently affected by mortars, snipers, and car bombs. “Along the way we were recognized by many who attend the oratories. They invited us into their homes and told us their stories. A child I knew told me that his family was planning to leave, leaving his father to guard the house. Despite everything, the man said: ‘I love Syria!’ and then, ‘I want to return to Syria soon.’”

Another young Syrian confided to Fr. El Rai that the first help people need on the part of the Church “is a strong sign of spiritual and moral support, and later the support of solidarity.” War is not made only by acts of violence; it is also a moral and psychological matter. The streets are full of roadblocks and of armed people and cars; one sees weapons everywhere. All now speak the language of war, children know the names of weapons, and when there is an explosion they recognize the weapon used. In the evening the hits intensify, and the kids fall asleep and dream of finding everything resolved upon awakening.

At Aleppo Fr. El Rai had various meetings with the SDB community to think about how to continue to help young people and their families, on spiritual and material levels. The house of Aleppo is another oasis of peace. The few that attend start coming at 4:30 p.m. and remain until the evening, when the day ends with a prayer to the Virgin Mary.

The SDBs with the help of the Salesians Cooperators and other laity started initiatives with internally displaced people at state schools, but then they stopped because of threats. Now this activity is bouncing back, thanks to the young priests of different rites and various lay groups. “The value of giving oneself to others and the fact of still believing in coexistence, once Syria’s pride, is one of the signs of hope that I found during my trip.”

The provincial departed by plane from Aleppo for Damascus on October 7. “The taxi cost more than the flight, because of the risks which the driver took to accompany me.”

“This trip,” continues Fr. El Rai, “has touched my life from the human, Christian, and Salesian points of view. It took me to see the horrors of war that so quickly have brought destruction, insecurity, sadness, hate, and division to our country. I was also shown the minds of men who strongly want only peace and security, and have realized that the solution can only come about thru dialog. I also witnessed a strong return to faith and to prayer, and the will to live, to the point that, paradoxically, the number of marriages has increased.”

“To me it seems that there are now two major challenges: (1) supporting the population in this emergency phase, facing the current lack of humanitarian aid, dictated by the fact that the situation in Syria is treated only as one of politics and media, while the humanitarian level is being neglected; (2) succeeding in erasing hatred after so much violence, is how peace will finally be restored.”

“On behalf of many Syrians that I met during this trip,” Fr. El Rai concludes, “I ask you to pray for us.”

Children Return to School in Haiti

Children Return 
to School in Haiti

This story was published by ANS on Oct. 8.

 (ANS – Port-au-Prince)  In the last week more than three million Haitian children have returned to their schools. They include more than 20,000 in the Salesian institutions, of whom more than 10,000 are given one meal a day – which may be their only meal – at the Little Schools of Father Bohnen. Haiti continues trying to recover, to become a better country.

Almost three years ago, it took just 45 seconds to destroy 90% of schools and 60% of hospitals, to kill thousands of people, to leave more than 350,000 people injured and more than one million children orphaned. "But in Haiti,” says Olga Regueira, collaborator of Salesian Spanish NGO Jovenes y Desarrollo, “there is a people full of strength and courage…. These have difficult years, but looking at the future, there’s now a little more hope.”

Various figures in the data offered by the World Bank seem to bear witness to the recovery. More than 14 million cubic yards of debris has been removed; it’s finally possible to move about on the streets. One million people have left the camps for displaced persons, and 600,000 people will soon have access to electricity.

The Salesian Missions office in Madrid has produced a 30-minute documentary, “The Awakening of Haiti,” which speaks of a people who on January 12, 2010, lost what little they had but who continue to struggle and improve day after day.

The history of Haiti is also that of the Salesian missionaries, who have lived and worked in the country for more than 75 years. The missionaries have always been on the side of those who had more need of help: the most vulnerable children, the women, the sick, etc. "Our dream is a better Haiti for young people able to take care of themselves, to ensure young people are in safety," says Fr. Sylvain Ducange, superior of the Salesians in Haiti.

There is still a lot of work to be done: half of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, 500,000 people are homeless, 90% of the children have water-related diseases, there is still a cholera epidemic – as well as the economic crisis that has reached even this country.

Once again Salesian Missions in Madrid has launched an appeal for solidarity, to ensure that the current international economic difficulties and lack of resources does not undermine Haiti's dream. The campaign “75 years in Haiti” was therefore launched, linked by an invitation to the international community to continue to work – because Haiti cannot be forgotten.

The Salesian work in Haiti may also be assisted thru Salesian Missions in New Rochelle: http://www.salesianmissions.org/

Salesian Input at Synod of Bishops

Salesian Input
at the Synod of Bishops
on New Evangelization 
This item was published by ANS on Oct. 8.

(ANS - Rome)  On Sunday, October 7 , the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops opened officially. It’s charged with discussing the theme "The New Evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith”—in other words, with how to revive the proclamation of the Gospel thruout the world. Fifteen members of the Salesian Family are participants, with different roles and expertise.

The Synod has brought together over 400 people, the highest number in the history of the synods. Of these, 37  are participants ex officio; 172 were elected by their respective episcopal conferences, 10 by the Union of Superiors General, and 3 by the Eastern Catholic Churches; another 40 were chosen directly by the Holy Father.

In addition there are 49 experts and 45 auditors, who include both men and women specialists or  involved in evangelism in the six continents. Completing the list are some people with practical expertise, like the 5 attachés for printing, 32 assistants, and 30 translators.

Two Salesians are Synod members ex officio: the secretary of state of the Holy See, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Bishop Enrico dal Covolo, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, was appointed by the Pope.

Five Salesian bishops were elected by their bishops conferences: Bishop Rosario Rosario Vella of Ambanja, Madagascar; Bishop Bernardo Miguel Bastres Florence of Punta Arenas, Chile; Archbishop Miguel Ignazio Bedini of Ispahan of the Latins in Iran, who is president of the episcopal conference; Archbishop Malayappan Chinnappa of Madras and Mylapore, India; and Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth, Australia.

Among the 10 from male religious orders is our rector major, Fr. Pascual Chavez, who is president of the Union of Superiors General.

In the role of experts are Fr. Luiz Alves de Lima, SDB, from the Catechists Society of Latin America (Brazil); Fr. Cleto Pavanetto, SDB, professor emeritus of the School of Christian and Classical Letters of the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome; and Sr. Dalina Rosanna, FMA, former undersecretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The group of auditors includes the superior general of the Salesian Sisters, Mother Yvonne Reungoat, FMA, and Fr. Renato De Guzman, SDB, chief assistant for pastoral care of the Grade School and High School Departments, Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati City, Philippines, who is also director of the Philippines’ Episcopal Advisory Commission for Catechesis and Catholic Education.

Even in logistical tasks, the Congregation will make a contribution: Fr. Markus Graulich, SDB, an adviser to the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, was selected as press officer for the German language.

Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for the
27th Sunday
in Ordinary Time

Gen 2: 18-24

Don Bosco Tech, Paterson, N.J.

Oct. 8, 2000                   

I had no Mass assignment this weekend, thus no new homily to prepare.  He’s an old one that remains timely, I think.

“It is not good for man to be alone.  I will make a suitable partner for him” (Gen 2: 18).

The 2d chapter of Genesis offers us a variant in the story of how God created the earth.  Variation 1 is the 6 days of creation that we’re all familiar with from ch. 1.  In the 2d variation there is no breakdown day by day, man is the 1st of God’s creatures, rather than the last, and male and female are created separately rather than simultaneously.  But the truths of the 2 different tales are the same.

Most people are animal lovers in some fashion or other.  Many like to watch nature shows on TV.  We’re fond of dogs, cats, birds, and other pets, talking to them (you should hear Bro. Henry with his fish), taking them with us when we travel, spending large amounts of money on them for food and health care, even treating them like members of the family.  (Bro. Henry only talks to them and feeds them.)

Creation of the Animals, by Tintoretto

According to Gen 2, the animals are, in a limited sense, our brothers.  Man was created out of the clay of the earth (v. 7), and as we just heard, so were the animals as God was trying to figure out “a suitable partner” for the male human being (v. 18).  But there was a significant omission in the creation of the animals.  When God made the man, he “blew into his nostrils the breath of life” (v. 7),  a share of the divine life.  God didn’t do that for the animals, and so “none proved to be the suitable partner for the man” (v. 20).

But the animals are brought to the man, and he names them.  Brought to him as potential companions, they’re found worthy only to be subjects.  The man rules them.  They are part of God’s creation, all of which merits our respect.  But it is patently absurd to equate animals with human beings —possessing rights, capable of being treated “inhumanely.”  The treatment of animals can be called “humane” only in the sense that it reflects who we humans are, God’s viceroys on the earth.  Mistreatment of animals demeans us, makes us less than God wants us to be.  But to say, as you often hear, that it’s “inhumane” or unethical to eat meat or to hunt or to wear fur or to conduct medical experiments on animals makes them our equals or partners in creation.  They’re not.  Note, however, that anything done to excess or for the wrong reasons—concerning the animals or anything else—is wrong.

Having given the animal kingdom a thumbs down as “the suitable partner for the man,” God experiments some more.  The portrait of God in Gen 2 is interesting.  He’s not at all like the grand designer, the systematic and universal planner, of ch. 1.  Here God gets down in the dirt, so to speak; maybe in 9th grade you read James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Creation,” in which he compares God to a Negro mammy on her knees by the river bank, digging her fingers into the clay and rolling it around and forming and shaping it into the man.  Then he blows a deep divine breath into the clay to bring it to life.  In ch. 2 God creates by trial and error, as we hear in today’s reading.

So, turning away from the animals, “The Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.  When he brought her to the man, the man said:  ‘This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called “woman,” for out of “her man” this one has been taken’” (vv. 21-23).

Now I understand why some of my confreres fall into deep sleep sometimes in front of the TV or at spiritual reading.  They’re hoping to wake up and find a wonderful new gift from God, a nice partner, next to them.

Joking aside, God’s word is making a serious point here.  1st, there’s a play on words in Hebrew.  I don’t read Hebrew, but I do read commentaries.  From the male ish comes the female ishshah; the wordplay goes well also in English:  from man comes woman.  There is a deep and personal relationship here, far deeper than the verbal one.  And that’s the 2d point.  The man enthusiastically recognizes his partner, his equal, his own reflection as a human being:  “This other person is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh.”

Creation of Eve, by George Frederic Watts (1873)

So Genesis 2—like ch. 1, where we read, “God created humanity in his own image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (1:27)—teaches us the equal dignity of men and women.  God made them both, made them for each other as “suitable partners.”  They’re made of the same stuff, formed and shaped by God, inspirited by God.

Yesterday The New York Times carried a front-page story that began this way:  “The House overwhelmingly approved a wide-ranging measure … that toughens laws against the trafficking of women and children for prostitution and sweatshop labor and helps states and localities fight domestic violence.”  This bill, which the Senate, too, is expected to pass and the President to sign into law, attacks a couple of practices that take advantage of women, and children too, treating them as less than full and equal human beings.  It is, of course, nothing new that women are treated as unequal; not as partners but as property; not as persons but as playthings.

Biblical truth has not penetrated our sinful human nature.  Some men abuse their wives and girl friends.  Some husbands expect their wives to wait on them; they’re not their wives’ partners but their lords.  A lot of men look at women as objects of physical desire rather than as persons; as objects to be used for selfish pleasure and then discarded like soiled laundry.  In a talk on marriage some years ago, Pope John Paul raised a lot of eyebrows when he observed that even husbands could sin by lusting for their wives—if they selfishly forced themselves, forgetting that “the two become one flesh” (v. 24) in love, equality, and partnership, not in a relationship of power, control, or self-gratification.  These are some areas in which society still needs to learn from Genesis as well as from our Lord Jesus.

The question of human dignity, of the inherent value of every person, male or female, is a constant challenge to modern man.  Science and technology can make it so easy for us to ignore our standing as God’s creatures, his self-image, the viceroys of his creation.  We can, for instance, separate human reproduction from human love, either by “making love” while blocking our God-given fertility, or by “making fertility” in a lab without personal intimacy.

On Wednesday both The New York Times and the Bergen Record carried articles about a child “conceived to provide blood cells” for his sister.[1]  This, by the way, was not the 1st time this sort of thing has happened.  But it must have been the 1st time it was done by in vitro fertilization.

The girl, Molly Nash, who is 6 and lives in Colorado, has a rare blood disease for which a difficult cell transplant offers hope for treatment.  Ordinary bone marrow transplants offer very modest hope of success.  So the doctors got Molly’s parents to contribute sperm and ova for union in a lab—in vitro fertilization—and from several embryos that resulted, selected the one that tested genetically free from Molly’s disease and most compatible for potential blood transplant.  They successfully implanted that embryo in Mrs. Nash’s womb, and a healthy baby boy resulted.

The story did not say what happened to the other embryos, the ones that weren’t used.  Presumably, they were destroyed, as is usually the case.  In laboratory experimentation and in fertility clinics, the human dignity of these smallest and most vulnerable of human beings is usually disregarded.

As for Molly, stem cells from her newborn brother’s placenta and umbilical cord were transfused to her, and now everyone’s waiting to see whether her blood condition improves.  It’s a dramatic and touching story.  But, even without the question of the unused embryos, we have a moral difficulty.  As one professor of bioethics put it, “We’ve crossed the line …, selecting [an embryo for implantation] based on characteristics that are not the best for the child being born, but for somebody else.”  The same doctor remarked, “Nobody wants babies to be born strictly for the parts they could create, but….”[2]

Actually, we crossed that line long ago, when we began to decide which unborn babes in the womb would live and which would die, based not on what’s best for the child but for someone else:  one or both of the parents; when we began to use in vitro fertilization routinely for otherwise infertile parents—for that laboratory process involves the selection of some embryos and the indefinite shelving or destruction of others.

What was different in Molly Nash’s case, and in one other I’m aware of that occurred several years ago, was that a human being was procreated in order to be used—to be used for spare parts.  Isn’t this treating people as commodities?  Is it, morally, any different from selling an unwanted baby to someone who desperately wants one?  Or from using a prostitute?  from using sweatshop labor to get rich?  The only difference, it seems to me, is that the goal of Molly’s parents and doctors—to try to cure her—is unquestionably a noble one.

But not every means to a noble end is good or moral, as instanced graphically in another news story earlier in the week, the one about the woman who wanted a baby so badly that she and her husband killed a pregnant, near-term woman, delivered the child by C-section, buried the mother, and passed off the baby as their own.  Wanting a child is a noble end.  Obviously, the means used in this case were grossly immoral.

As believers in the revealed word of God, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we must respect the equal dignity of every person:  male or female, born or unborn, young or old, without regard to race, nationality, or creed.  We have a very serious moral obligation to remember that on Nov. 7 when we vote.  Elections are not about the economy, per se, but about people:  who will best serve them with justice, respect, dignity—especially the inalienable right to life.  For we are all of the same flesh and bone, all shaped by the hand of God for his purposes and not our own.

Molly Nash’s story is updated by USA Today: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2010-01-10-embryo-genetic-screening_n.htm

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        [1] Denise Grady, “Son Conceived to Provide Blood Cells for Daughter,” NYT, Oct. 4, 2000, p. A24.

        [2] Ibid.

Blessed Albert Marvelli (1918-1946)

Blessed Albert Marvelli (1918-1946)

Engineer and Apostle

October 5 is observed by the Salesian Family as the liturgical memorial of Blessed Albert Marvelli (except in the New York Archdiocese, where a diocesan feast outranks the memorial in the calendar).

The diocese of Rimini, the Vatican news service, Fr. Pascual Chavez, and yours truly contributed various parts of this biographical sketch.

Poster for Albert's beatification. The quotation reads,
"Our progress in the spiritual life must be a continuous and decisive leap."

On September 5, 2004, at Loreto, Italy, Pope John Paul II beatified a young Italian layman, Albert Marvelli. In spite of his short lifetime of only 28 years, he was a hero of Christian charity. The Pope said of him, “He has shown how, in changing times and situations, Christian laymen are able to devote themselves unreservedly to building God’s kingdom in family, work, culture, and politics, taking the Gospel into the heart of society.” The Church is offering him as a pattern of sanctity in daily life for young Christians in the 21st century.

Albert was born at Ferrara on March 21, 1918, the second of seven children. From his boyhood, Albert lived his faith ardently and prayerfully in his daily duties of study and work, in church, and in his social life. The poor and the suffering were the special objects of his apostolate. He learned that from his parents. Although the family was not well off, they taught their children to be thrifty so they would be able to give away what they did not use.

In 1930 the Marvellis moved to Rimini, and Albert began to attend the Salesian oratory (youth center) there and the Catholic Action group in his parish, where his faith was nurtured. He became president of the parish unit of Catholic Action and vice president of the diocesan organization.

Albert, age 18, with his classmates. He's in the top row, 5th from the right.

He made Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925, beatified 1990) his model. In high school he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. At age 15 he began to keep a diary, which reveals his ideals; for example: “We must love our fellow creatures with the sweat of our brow and the work of our arms.” He became increasingly aware of his call to holiness. He read the lives of the saints and deepened his prayer life, centered on the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin. Totally Catholic, he made his program “Jesus, the Church, and the Pope.”

World War II erupted when Albert was 21. Although Italy didn’t enter the war until several months later, he lamented the loss of life and destruction, the ruin of the very structure of society. As a Christian prophet Albert believed that “national and international rights must be founded on a Christian basis. The Gospel and the teachings of the Popes must be the rule of life for individuals, peoples, governments, the world. The only cause of war is our scanty love for God and men … instead of loving each other as brothers, all redeemed by Christ!”

Albert (right) on duty in Trieste, 1941

While studying engineering in Bologna, Albert was faithful to his religious practices, even to daily Mass. After earning his degree in 1941, he moved to Turin and went to work for FIAT. He did his military service in Trieste, and succeeded in bringing many of his friends to Mass.

In 1943 he returned to Rimini, which suffered terribly from Allied bombardments. He soon became well known, riding his bicycle to go and rescue people buried in the wreckage, aid the wounded, encourage the survivors, assist the dying with brotherly love, or secure household goods. He scrounged up food and clothing; he gave away his own belongings to the needy. He hunted up new lodging for the displaced.

No matter how weary he was, those familiar with him say he never lost his patience or complained. Albert found his strength in daily Communion and the Rosary. Perhaps that inner strength was also the root of the legend that developed about him, that he was invulnerable, because he always escaped danger.

Refugees to whom Albert brought food and clothing

Albert’s apostolic ventures were not risk-free. During the German occupation, he joined the Todt Organization, whose job was to maintain infrastructure within the Reich. His aim was to impede the deportation of Italians to Germany. In fact Todt gave him a special pass, which proved quite useful. One example of the risks he took was freeing deportees from sealed cattle cars ready to leave the railway station. On one occasion he hid two deserters in his home. Had he been caught at such activity, the Germans would have shot him. Friendship for Albert meant selfless charity.

When the war ended, Albert continued his material assistance to those in distress, now adding his technical expertise as an engineer. He was also appointed to the city council. He collected data and drew up plans for those who needed help to rebuild. Rimini had suffered heavy damage during the war. To the young engineer were entrusted the presidency of the reconstruction committee and the one for temporary lodging. At this time he jotted in a notebook, “It’s better to serve than to be served. Jesus serves.” Albert worked rapidly and decisively, handling large sums of money fairly and transparently. He could not even eat in peace, so many came to him for assistance.

In postwar Rimini, Albert could not avoid political involvement. Political passions and a lust for revenge for wrongs suffered under the Fascists were a threat to the civil and democratic renewal of Italy. Albert assumed the defense of the rights of the weak and the persecuted. As a Catholic Action leader, he taught and tried to practice the social principles of the Popes. He continued to bicycle around town, even in winter, to bring milk, bread, clothes, etc., to the poor—sometimes even his own shoes and clothes. Joining the Catholic Association of Italian Workers, Albert used their offices to search for missing citizens and hasten the repatriation of POWs.

In the face of a growing political and social threat from the Communist Party, he promoted Christian principles among workers. He became active in the Christian Democratic Party and  agreed to run for mayor as the Christian Democrat candidate. He was recognized as a committed Christian by everyone but was never divisive, so much so that one of his Communist opponents said: “I don’t mind if my party loses, so long as the Engineer Marvelli becomes mayor.” When he died, the Communists acknowledged him by “bowing in reverence and hailing the son, the brother, who has done so much good in this land.”

Albert riding his bike around Rimini

Albert’s Marian and Eucharistic devotion really were the supporting columns in his life. “What a new world opens up to me contemplating Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,” he wrote in his diary. “Each time I receive Holy Communion, each time Jesus in his divinity and humanity enters me, in contact with my soul, it awakens holy ideas in me, a burning and consuming flame, but one that makes me so happy!”

Death came suddenly to Albert Marvelli as he was heading to a polling station on October 5, 1946, on his bicycle as usual. He was run down by a speeding military truck.

The Church is proposing Albert to the young of the third millennium as a model of everyday holiness. His beatification is a call to find the path of holiness in the family, in one’s profession, in politics. It is further evidence that Salesian education can produce saints.

NRAA Honors Bro. Andy LaCombe

New Rochelle Art Association
Honors Bro. Andy LaCombe

2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the New Rochelle Art Association. The Association celebrated its centennial last nite (Oct. 2) with a fine buffet dinner at Top of the Roc, an events venue on the 40th floor of Avalon Building, one of the 2 tallest skyscrapers in the Queen City of the Sound, and at the dinner they honored our own Bro. Andy LaCombe.

Bro. Andy invited your humble blogger to join him at the dinner--at which even he had to pay to attend.  Fr. Dennis Donovan, province treasurer, bought one more ticket, hoping that he'd be able to attend, but he wasn't able.  So Bro. Andy invited our mutual friend journalist Claudia McDonnell to come along, and she was delighted to do so.

It was my 1st time in the building, and Bro. Andy's also.  There are spectacular views from that high up--from our room, to the west, mainly.  Unfortunately, it was far too foggy and rainy to see much; we could barely make out the spire of Blessed Sacrament Church (just off center here):

But the company was excellent! Since Bro. Andy was the honoree--beyond the NRAA itself--we were seated at Table 1 along with Mayor Bransom (who didn't stay long), Jesse Sanchez, the president of the Association, and Barbara Davis, the city's unofficial historian and a great friend of the NRAA and of Brother, and a couple of other attendees.  There were about 80 others present, mostly members of the NRAA and their spouses.

The mayor presented a proclamation from the city honoring the NRAA, and County Representative Sheila Marcotte did the same on behalf of County Executive Rob Astorino.  Mercifully, the speechifying was brief and on point!

In mid-dinner (between courses) Bro. Andy was presented with a plaque from the Association, reading (beneath his name) "In Recognition Of Your Dedication, Creativity, Hard Work, And Devotion To The Ideals Of The New Rochelle Art Association."

Bro. Andy has belonged to our provincial residence community since 1967 and is the province's architect. He studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and is a member of the AIA.

I don't know when Brother joined the NRAA, but he has been heavily involved in it for many, many years.  Besides serving as its  president from 1985 to 1989, he has chaired the admissions committee (one has to be qualified as an artist to join), organized numerous shows (competitive and otherwise) at the public library, and on several occasions taken care of refurbishing the 10 signs that welcome people to New Rochelle at most of the main entrances to the city.

Edward Penfield's sign at the west end of the Boston Post Road (US 1).

There are signs at both ends of the Post Road, Pelham Road, 2 entrances from the Hutchinson Parkway, Kings Highway, Eastchester Road, Lincoln Avenue, 2 on or near Weaver Street. The signs were proposed by the NRAA around 1921 and commissioned by the city in 1923. They were designed by 10 luminaries of the Association, including Norman Rockwell. Others were executed by Clare Briggs, Cole Phillips, Lawrence Loeb, Frederick Dana Marsh, Edward Penfield, Ralph Robertson, and George Tobin.  (One doesn't have the artist's name on it--the one closest to our house, as it happens, just east of us on Main Street.  And I still haven't located one of the 10, altho Ms. Davis last nite gave me indications of its whereabouts.)

At the beginning of the 20th century, New Rochelle was home to many of the leading illustrators of the magazine and advertising businesses based in Manhattan.  Frederic Remington died in 1908, four years before others organized the NRAA.  Founders included Charles Ayer, Frederick Dana Marsh, Remington Schuyler, Herman Lambden, George Tobin, Armand Booth, Leon Schafer, Lucius Hitchcock, Orson Lowell, and Alta Salisbury West.

Pres. Jesse Sanchez presents plaque to Bro. Andy. Note Norman Rockwell in the title frame of a PowerPoint (behind Mr. Sanchez) that Mr. Sanchez prepared to review the NRAA's 100 years.

Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for the
26th Sunday
in Ordinary Time

Sept. 30, 2012

Mark 9: 38-48

Christian Bros., Iona

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Mark 9: 43).

The gospel reading this evening is a collection of Jesus’ teachings loosely linked by verbal connections.  The exorcist who “does not follow us” (9:38) is a disciple of Jesus in some sense; in the previous passage, last week’s gospel (9:30-37), Jesus taught what it means to be an authentic disciple.  In today’s episode, moreover, John continues to contend about rank and prestige, which the disciples were arguing about last week.

The 2d verbal link is “in my name.”  Last week Jesus taught that “receiving one child such as this in my name” is the same as receiving himself (9:37), i.e., giving pastoral attention to the poor, the weak, the powerless, those on the margins of society and of no worldly account is equivalent to caring for Jesus when it’s done for him.  It’s the same teaching detailed in Matthew’s well known parable to the Last Judgment (25:31-46).  This week the teaching is about those who ally themselves with Jesus by invoking his name in order to do good (9:39).  This, and the following saying about those who assist others “because you belong to Christ” (9:41), remind us that there are different ways of following Jesus, and all who follow Jesus are joined to him and are thus joined to one another.  We have much that we can do in common “in his name” for the benefit of the Church and of humanity, for the advancement of God’s kingdom.  Whatever the original context of Mark’s Gospel, today we can say that Catholics and Protestants, liberals and conservatives, adherents of different spiritualities, members of different religious families, ought not to be contending with each other when there are “mighty deeds” to be done—works of charity, works of healing.

Then Jesus returns to “these little ones” (9:42).  This could mean, literally, children, like the child whom Jesus embraced when speaking of receiving children (9:36).  It could, on the other hand, mean those who are little in the world’s eyes because they’ve humbled themselves by becoming the servants of their brothers and sisters.  It could mean those who’ve become lowly in the world’s eyes by embracing the teaching and the cross of Jesus, which is, as St. Paul wrote, “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23).

In any case, “these little ones,” whether children or believers in general, are sacred to Jesus.  To “cause one of [them] to sin,” is literally to “cause someone to fall,” to “scandalize” someone; that’s the verb used here, and it’s the same word that Paul uses in noun form, “a stumbling block.”   Jesus identifies genuine scandal as a terrible crime that deserves a terrible punishment.  The punishment that Jesus mentions (9:42) was practiced by the Romans and others, and the Roman Martyrology also records the deaths of some saints by that practice.

A “scandal” or “stumbling block” or “cause of sin” doesn’t mean what it’s come to mean in common English—the “scandal sheets” of the daily newspapers or the supermarket tabloids reporting the shenanigans of the rich and famous or the outrageous behavior of some clergy and religious that has blackened the name and the moral stature of Christ’s Church.  No, “scandal” really means leading another person to sin thru one’s bad example or false teaching.  Contemporary examples would be politicians who condone abortion or embryonic stem cell research and thus make those sins more widespread; theologians and religious leaders who give their approval to moral behaviors that the Church consistently teaches are sinful; parents or coaches who habitually lie, cheat, or use abusive language and so teach those habits to their children or players; religious whose lax observance of their rules encourages others to do the same; chronic criticism of others that so easily becomes a “chapter of faults” completely devoid of any charity.  These are all examples of how we can “cause others to stumble.”

The verbal link “causes one to sin” brings us to the graphic examples that Jesus uses, including the punishment for sin that’s far worse than “a great millstone.”  There are at least 3 ways to read Jesus’ words here about “your hand,” “your foot,” or “your eye” causing you to sin.  Origen, the great 3d-century Church Father from Alexandria, seems to have taken the passage literally in regard, we suppose, to sexual temptations, and that seems to be why, almost alone among the Fathers, he’s never been venerated as a saint.  I suppose we could also say that the strictest adherents of Sharia law in the Muslim world are practicing these sayings literally when they cut off the hands of thieves.  It’s also what lies behind the severe bodily penances that some people have practiced—almost literally beating their bodies into submission lest passions ever get the upper hand.

But mainstream Christianity has always taken them metaphorically.  The more common interpretation is that our following of Jesus on the way to eternal life must be total, without reservation.  Nothing must come between us and his teachings, his way of life.  Anything that might separate us from him, anything that might induce us to sin, is to be avoided (we pray that in the traditional Act of Contrition) at all cost.  “Death rather than sin” was one of St. Dominic Savio’s First Communion resolutions (not bad for a 7-year-old).

One of the oldest sketches of Savio. He holds a scroll with 2 of his Communion resolutions: "My friends will be Jesus and Mary," and "Death but not sin."

Another interpretation kind of flips the sayings.  Our hands, feet, and eyes really can’t cause us to sin.  What does?  Do you remember Jesus’ dispute with the scribes and Pharisees about the traditions of the elders, which was our gospel 4 weeks ago?  Jesus explained:  “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile him; but the things that come out from within are what defile.  From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within, and they defile” (Mark 7:15,21-23).  Thus, not the individual parts of our bodies but our inner selves, our deep desires, our attitudes—these are what we have to examine to find the real causes of our sins.  And these are what must be cut off, plucked out, uprooted, that is to say, what must be converted so as to reflect the desires and attitudes of Jesus, so that our inmost self may become what God created it to be:  an image of himself.