Homily for Memorial of Bl. Alexandrina da Costa

Homily for the Memorial of
Bl. Alexandrina da Costa

Oct. 13, 2020
Gal 5: 1-6
Tuesday, Week 28 of O.T.
Salesian H.S., New Rochelle, N.Y.

“For freedom Christ set us free” (Gal 5: 1)

In his Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul contrasts the salvation hoped for from obedience to the Law of Moses—“trying to be justified by law” (5:4), i.e., made holy and worthy of eternal life, contrasts that with the salvation that comes from Christ—“from faith working thru love” (5:6).

Thinking that we have to obey the Law meticulously and perfectly, e.g., by how we wash up before a meal, like in today’s gospel (Luke 11:37-41).  Since we’re sinners, repeatedly, we can’t be perfect, and that makes us slaves of a sort.  So Paul tells the Galatians “not to submit to the yoke of slavery” (5:1).  “Christ has set us free” by grace, by forgiveness that we don’t deserve, by his divine love, that we might enjoy God’s love and share it with others.

Bl. Alexandrina knew a kind of bodily slavery—not from being owned by someone and having to work for them, but from a harsh physical paralysis that left her bedridden from age 20 until her death in 1955 at age 51.

She didn’t sink into self-pity, moan about life’s unfairness, or despair.  Instead, she offered herself in a total union with Jesus as a sacrifice, and she did so with serenity and even joy.  That’s something we can do too when we experience some kind of pain—physical, mental, or emotional—or times when life is just unfair, as it is inevitably to everyone sometimes.

Bl. Alexandrina had mystical experiences based on her intense love of Jesus and surrender to him:  for 4 years every Friday she suffered the terrible pains of Christ’s passion in her hands, feet, and side.  When that ceased in 1942, for her last 13 years she ate no food but survived only on the Holy Eucharist.  Thru all that, her peaceful joy brought many people to her seeking spiritual advice or consolation.  She knew the true freedom of being close to Christ.

We don’t need to have such mystical experiences.  Indeed, they’re very rare graces given only to souls extremely close to Jesus.  What we can do is to thank God every day for his graces and his gifts, and with peace of mind and joy offer him ourselves by carrying out our responsibilities in family, school, and work (if we have a job) and by being patient and kind with family, schoolmates, and others.  This kind of attitude will set us free, as it did St. Paul and Bl. Alexandrina.

Homily for 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 11, 2020
Matt 21: 1-14                                                                      
Is 26: 6-10                                                                          
Holy Name of Jesus, Valhalla, N.Y.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” (Matt 22: 2).

Christ presiding over the marriage banquet (Paolo Veronese)

There’s a lot of feasting in today’s sacred Scriptures:  the banquet that God prepares on his holy mountain in the passage from Isaiah (25:6-10), the table that the shepherd Lord spreads before his people (Ps 23:5), and Jesus’ parable of the king’s wedding feast for his son.

The wedding feast is a traditional image of heaven—of its joy, pleasure, contentment, warmth, sense of family and friendship.  The image carries into our Eucharistic celebration when we acclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God!  Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb,” which is a quotation from Rev 19:9, omitting one word, wedding, before “supper,” but implying it.  Blessed, or happy, are those invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb in the kingdom of heaven, of which the Holy Eucharist is a foretaste.

That wedding feast of the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus, God’s Son, is the subject of the parable Jesus tells today, addressing his opponents, the chief priests and elders.  He’s saying to them that God has prepared for them a place in his kingdom, has invited them and “all peoples” (Is 25:6) to a feast celebrating his Son’s marriage.  As Christians we recognize the sacred union of God’s Son with the Church, which is his bride.          

But to Jesus’ distress, many of those invited in the 1st place reject the invitation and even do violence to the king’s servants, the prophets, the apostles, and other preachers of the Gospel.  Jesus—or perhaps Matthew, writing his gospel after the fact—even alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem by the enraged king (22:7), a historical fact of 70 A.D., when a Roman army crushed a Jewish revolt and leveled the city.

With his initial invitation rejected, the king expands his invitation to everyone.  That is, the Gospel is offered to the whole world and not only to the Jewish people:  “The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests” (22:10).

Jesus didn’t confine his preaching or his grace to the virtuous—which scandalized the chief priests and elders and many of the Pharisees, the “good people,” but encompassed the “bad” as well:  “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do.  I didn’t come to call the just but sinners” (Matt 9:12,13).  And he’s come, in Isaiah’s words, “for all peoples,” for the Gentiles too.  “The Lord of hosts … will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations” (25:7).

We, of course, are part of that great assemblage of the nations invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb of God.  We’re invited.  Choosing to accept the invitation is up to us.  The king wants us at the feast of his Son—at the Eucharist, which prefigures the greater banquet of the heavenly kingdom, and at that banquet itself:  “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, … and everything is ready; come to the feast” (22:4).

So—will we accept the invitation?  Will we show up for the feast?  We make a good start by coming to Mass and welcoming the gospel message.

Jesus tags onto the parable of the wedding feast what some interpreters think is a separate parable, that of the wedding garment.  One doesn’t show up at a royal wedding dressed in raggy jeans and a tank top.  The parable obliges us to assume that the unexpected guests were provided at the palace with suitable attire.  But this particular guest has chosen not to put it on, and he’s speechless when challenged by his host—without excuse—and he’s cast out of the party.

Similarly, just because we’ve shown up for the feast—we come to Mass—doesn’t mean we’re properly disposed to be guests of the king.  When we receive the invitation, whether we’re among the good or the bad (relatively speaking, for “there is only One who is good” [Matt 19:17]), we must be garbed with an attitude of conversion, of rejecting sin, of changing our evil habits, and of doing as best we can the deeds of Christ.  Calling oneself a Catholic hardly suffices to count as a welcome guest at the marriage feast of the Lamb.  As we prayed in the Collect earlier, may God’s grace help us be “determined always to carry out good works.”

Two Days, Five Trails in Central Harriman State Park

Two Days, Five Trails 
in Central Harriman State Park

Taking more vacation time, on Thursday, Oct. 1, I landed at a parking lot on Rte 106 in Harriman State Park at the trailhead for the Victory Trail.  I loaded up my pack, camera, cell phone, and trekking poles and started at 1:10 p.m. on a familiar route that Fr. Jim Mulloy and I have used often.

A quarter mile south brings the hiker to the crossing of the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail.  I turned westward, climbing gently on a path I last traveled in 2008.  I met a couple coming east, and we greeted each other.  Then the trail started up Parker Cabin Mountain.  I met another couple coming east, nearing the end of a long loop hike, they said.  Near the mountain’s summit, I saw a couple of guys resting off the trail, and we greeted each other.

When you finally get to the summit of Parker Cabin Mountain (over 1100 feet), there are fine views to the south and the west.  

Looking west from Parker Cabin Mt.

I leaned my poles against a large boulder while taking some pictures.  Suddenly a woman of mature age popped up from the other side of the boulder, startling me a little.  She said she’d heard me and wanted to make sure the noise came from something with 2 feet and not 4.  That was worth a chuckle.  She was snacking on an apple, and I observed it was a great spot to stop for a snack.

Lake Skenonto from Parker Cabin Mt.

Then a steep descent.  When the trail leveled off (as much as these do in Harriman), I passed the crossing of the trailhead of the White Cross Trail before coming to the White Bar Trail, 1.1 miles from my turn onto the RD Trail.  I headed south on the White Bar, another trail I hadn’t been on since 2008.

The White Bar has a few ups and downs but isn’t as strenuous as the RD was.  Near where the White Cross intersects it, there were power lines down, presumably from Isaias a few weeks back.  

Downed power lines near intersection of White Bar and White Cross trails

The White Bar passed beneath wires still up.  Open woodlands gave way to thickets near a swamp, but we’ve had not much rain and the trail wasn’t mucky.  After a little eastward bend of the White Bar, you can see a well-worn unmarked trail going north toward Lake Skenonto, which I’ve used a few times in the past and planned to use on the morrow.

Another bend in the trail, southeastward, brings one to an intersection with the end of the Triangle Trail, coming from Lake Skenonto and Lake Sebago.  From there it was just .2 mile to the Dutch Doctor shelter, my destination for the day, reached at 4:20 p.m., a bit more than 3 hours from car, and about 3.35 miles of moderate hiking.

The shelter was dirty and cobwebby, as it was when Fr. Jim stayed there on June 23-24.  There was also a lot of litter both inside and out, unlike our earlier stay.  There are spots where water seeps in from the rear wall or the ceiling, but enuf dry spots for me to put down my pads and sleeping bag and settle in.  Then I took my water purifier and headed for a nearby brook.

Late-day sun hits trees in front of Dutch Doctor

Camped at the brook were 2 chaps—with a fantastic set-up of tent, large tarp under which a hammock was strung up and, I think, place for meals, and a good fire going with a log windscreen set up in front of it.  They were friendly guys as we exchanged some conversation before and after I pumped 3 liters of water into my Platypus bags.

Back at the shelter, I put water to boil on my stove and prayed Evening Prayer.  My freeze-dried meal was chili mac with beef; the “mac” component was definitely al dente, requiring more time to soak than the package indicated.  I washed it down with Crystal Lite and followed it with some trail mix and dried apricots.  All in all, a satisfying dinner even if not exactly a chef’s delight.

Sunset, from Dutch Doctor

I hung up my bear bag with my remaining food and the trash, and hunted up firewood.  At dusk I laid and lit the fire in a small pit in front of the lean-to under the overhang.  Dutch Doctor’s main fault is that it doesn’t have an actual fireplace within.  I don’t know whether there was a wind causing it, or the shelter somehow drew the smoke, but I nearly got smoked out.  Eventually the smoke became tolerable (and maybe I had some drier wood).  So, in front of the fire I read from an issue of America and then Night Prayer.  Clouds were gathering, but some stars were still visible, and a full moon gave some light outside.

Around 8:45 p.m. I turned in, not exactly comfortable on a wooden floor, even with 2 pads under me.  At least I was warm in my sleeping bag.

The weather forecast was for rain after midnite, and sure enuf, rain came; it rained steadily right past dawn.  When it was light enuf to see, I went out (at 6:20) to visit Mother Nature and to bring in the bear bag.  The bag itself was wet, of course, but the contents were dry, thanks to their packaging or and a Ziplock bag for my oatmeal.

I celebrated Mass,

 then had oatmeal, nuts, and apricots for breakfast—and coffee, of course.  I prayed Readings before breakfast and Morning Prayer after.  Wearing rain pants, I packed up everything, put on my rain jacket, put the rain cover over the pack, and off I went in the rain at 9:19 a.m.

That was a little later than I’d hoped, as I was eager to get to Tom Jones shelter by noon before the expected Friday crowd of campers would show up.  The unmarked trail toward Lake Skenonto is labeled as unmaintained, and it lived up to that.  There were a lot of big trees down across it, Isaias’s legacy, but the trail has been well enuf traveled that it wasn’t difficult, and I covered its mile (approximately) by 10:00, reaching the lake and a segment of the Triangle Trail.

About .3 mile north, the Victory Trail comes in from the west and follows the lakeshore north by northeast while the Triangle continues north to go over Parker Cabin Mountain (where I’d crossed it yesterday).  The Victory Trail along the lake climbs, then dips at the north end, where there’s an easy approach to the water.  

Across the lake at a favored camping place were 2 tents, and at least one person was stirring over there.  I spent about 20 minutes pumping a gallon of water for my 2 Platypus bags and canteen; there’s no water on Tom Jones Mountain, so I’d have to tote with me whatever I’d need for lunch, supper, breakfast, and cleaning.

A smashed utility pole along the Victory Trail near Lake Skenonto

Swamp full of cattails with pines beyond, along the Victory Trail

The Victory Trail tended uphill as it ran north from the lake, especially as it approached the edges of Tom Jones Mountain.  One spot was really troublesome, not because of steepness but because a huge tree lay across the trail as the trail scrambled up a short rock face.  I had to get on my knees to get under the tree—carrying 40 pounds of backpack—and then try to stand up in very narrow confines, which I finally managed, and then continued to step up the trail.  In retrospect, it would have been worthwhile to take the pack off and then muscle it back on.

The Victory Trail, as often as I’ve hiked it, never seemed quite so long—in part because of the weight of my pack with a gallon of water in it, and in part because I was in a hurry to get to the shelter.  Worse, my glasses kept sliding down my nose, due to the moisture.  Several times I took them off and put them into my camera case, but anytime the trail got a little uncertain, I had to put them back on to discern a trail blaze. 

The rain had started to ease up, at least.  But at last I’d covered the 1.9 miles from the Triangle crossing to the RD crossing where I’d been yesterday.  Coming down the mountain was a couple who said they’d misread their map and gone the wrong way—east up the mountain instead of west, as I’d done yesterday.  And off they went on a long loop route that would take them, eventually, to Lake Skenonto and then up the trail that I’d just taken.

I, on the other hand, started up the trail they’d just been on mistakenly.  The climb up Tom Jones Mountain on the RD is short, just .2 mile, but very steep (all the worse with a full pack!).  Was I happy when I reached the top!  Shortly, the shelter was in view, about 100 yards off the trail below the ridge on the east side.  It was about noon and the sun was making an effort to come out (as had been forecast).

No one was there, to my relief.  There was, however, an amazing amount of gear within:  at least 4 chairs, a cooler, a grill, food, cooking implements.  I didn’t know whether someone had left it and gone hiking, or someone had left it for some future visit.  

So I didn’t rush to settle in, just to get lunch ready (ramen noodles, trail mix, nuts, apricots, hot tea).  The shelter itself is in a sorry state—lots of leaks, a hole in the roof, and the rest of the ceiling not looking good.  At least there wasn’t a lot of litter around.

I collected and cut firewood—my Sven saw is great!  I relaxed in one of those chairs, reading (after Daytime Prayer).  Then, around 2:00 p.m., hikers began to show up:  first 4 youths from Brooklyn, without any gear, water, or map, “looking for a place to camp.”  We talked a little, and eventually they departed back up to the ridge.  (Later I discovered they had friends coming up with tents and at least one cooler, and they settled in nicely on the west side of the ridge.)

A couple showed up with a dog.  He (Andrew) and the dog (Winston) were from Hoboken, she (Ashley) from Norwalk, all friendly.  He’d been there often and had a favorite spot to pitch a tent and get a good fire going.  He was hacking at wood with a hatchet; I offered my saw, but he declined, liking the exercise he was getting.

A younger couple came up from NYC—the guy (Dee) from the Bronx and the gal (Emma) from Brooklyn.  He’s a veteran camper, she a rookie.  We talked a while, and I invited them to come to the shelter when I had the fire going after sunset.  They did, and they brought marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars—s’mores!

Before the fire and the s’mores, of course there was supper:  freeze-dried sweet and sour chicken and rice, along with the usual Crystal Lite, nuts, trail mix, and apricots.  I said the Rosary, then went up to the ridge to watch the sun set.  Not spectacular this time.

Quite a few other folks, almost all guys, eventually showed up and pitched tents or tarps here and there—including one guy on Saturday morning right on the trail from the shelter back to the RD.  “Do you realize you’re right on the trail?” “I had no idea.”  (That’s a very big no-no in camping etiquette.)  Everyone was mercifully quiet and respectful of social distancing.  The only loud sounds were the trains running off to the west near Rte 17 and some jerks running motorcycles up and down Rte 106 well after dark.

After the s’mores, I helped Dee hang their food bag up with my bear bag, and they retired to their tent.  I sat by the fire and read from America for a while, then Night Prayer, and went into my bag around 9:00 p.m.

"Blood moon" from Tom Jones shelter

It was a chilly nite, and eventually I put on additional clothing to stay warm enuf in my bag.  As usual, I didn’t sleep very well and did a lot of turning over.  So at dawn I was ready to rise; it was 6:30.  I celebrated Mass and went to fetch my bear bag.

Happily, there weren’t any bears.  One deer at Dutch Doctor—not a threat to one’s food; and lots of chipmunks around Tom Jones, definitely a threat.

Breakfast, the same as yesterday.  Overnite my iPad had expired; it shouldn’t have, but maybe the cover wasn’t completely shut.  So no Divine Office before I packed up.  Happily, I’d brought my breviary in the car, so could attend to that later.  And I was back on the trail at 8:11 a.m.  Needless to say, the descent of Tom Jones was much easier than the ascent had been (and my pack much lighter)—12 minutes down (carefully) to the Victory Trail, and then 9 minutes (gently downhill) to the parking lot.

End of another hiking and camping saga!

Photos:  https://link.shutterfly.com/6xTnCs1riab

Don Bosco House Museum Opens

Don Bosco House Museum Opens 

“a precious pearl that will testify to Don Bosco’s greatness”

(ANS – Turin – October 5, 2020) – The 27th General Chapter asked the Rector Major and his council to take over the most sacred Salesian sites and make them something special for the Salesian world. That consignment gave rise to a new reality: the Don Bosco House Museum, which was solemnly inaugurated in Valdocco (Turin) with three days of events on October 2-4.

Instead of the Camerette (Don Bosco’s rooms), where one could see Don Bosco’s presence in Valdocco, today visitors can now get to know the Pinardi house, the first settlement of Don Bosco’s Oratory, in detail. “Here, in these corridors, 11 people lived whom today the Church recognizes as venerable, blessed, or saint: this means that Valdocco was a school of humanity and holiness, and we want to transmit this heritage to the world,” said the Rector Major at the October 2 press conference to present the new museum.

Fr. Angel Fernandez also announced that, to enhance Valdocco as the custodian of Salesian historical memory, the most important documents of the origins of the Congregation will be transferred from the Central Archives in Rome to the Don Bosco House Museum.

Also at the press conference, art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, a past pupil of the Salesian school in Este, spoke. “There are various types of saints. In many the human dimension is sublimated by canonization, while Don Bosco remains human. It is difficult to call him St. John Bosco....” As for the new exhibition “with effective solutions,” he observed, “there are no Tiepolo, Picasso, or Giotto, but a story: the story of life, education, books read, holy cards, worship, etc.”

The second day, Saturday, October 3, was dedicated to institutional personages. In addition to the Rector Major, Anna Laura Orrico and those responsible for the architectural works and the museographic and museological projects also took part. The rich assemblage of prominent figures saw the presence of the ambassadors of several Latin American countries strongly marked by the Salesian presence, such as Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, and El Salvador.

On the 4th, after the solemn Mass presided over by the Rector Major in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, the Don Bosco House Museum was opened to the public.

“We have tried to represent this long journey of youthful holiness, starting from 1846, inside the Don Bosco House Museum.... The Salesian community of Valdocco is pleased to make this precious pearl available to all of you, and the world will testify to the greatness of Don Bosco,” said Fr. Cristian Besso, head of the museum project, together with the director of the museum, Stefania De Vita.

Notes from the 1854 meeting at which Don Bosco and a few of his young men committed themselves
to works of charity after the example of St. Francis de Sales

The Rector Major then carried out the symbolic cutting of the ribbon, flanked by Mother General Yvonne Reungoat of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and by his predecessor at the head of the Congregation, Fr. Pascual Chavez. (Behind them at the far left, we see Canadian Fr. Mike Pace, a member of the New Rochelle Province, taking a photo; he’s part of the staff that will assist pilgrims to these Salesian holy places.)

Photos and videos of the events are available on ANSFlickr and ANSChannel.

 

Salesians Honor 20 Jubilarians

Salesians Honor 20 Jubilarians

The New Rochelle Province celebrated the profession and ordination anniversaries of 20 jubilarians on September 26, at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y. The jubilarians included 14 confreres observing 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 65th, and even 70th anniversaries of their first religious profession in 2020; 5 observing 25th, 40th, or 50th anniversaries of priestly ordination; and 1 observing both priestly and religious anniversaries.

The New Rochelle Province includes Salesian works in the eastern half of the United States and all of Canada: schools, parishes, youth centers, a retreat house, and a Marian shrine.

The 5 jubilarians present at their places in the sanctuary:
Frs. Gus Baek, Dominic Tran, Jim McKenna, John Grinsell, and John Blanco

Distance, health, or Covid-19 restrictions prevented 15 of the jubilarians from being physically present at the Shrine for the celebration.

Taking part in the jubilees Mass, in addition to Fr. Timothy Zak, provincial, and 5 jubilarians were another 49 Salesian priests, brothers, and candidates, and almost 30 family members, Salesian Cooperators, and other friends of the jubilarians. The Mass included the renewal of priestly commitment by the men celebrating their presbyteral jubilee, and the renewal of Salesian religious profession by those celebrating that anniversary.

Fr. Tim called the jubilarians “living witnesses” to Salesian pastoral plans and ideals. He stated that the Congregation’s 28th General Chapter, which met earlier this year, calls Salesians to return to Jesus Christ, the center of religious life. The jubilarians have presented Jesus to their confreres in multiple ways: as apostle, high priest, Son of God in human form, carpenter’s son, meek and humble, welcoming the poor, zealous preacher and healer, teacher, good shepherd, unifier in brotherhood, a living rule.

Fr. Tim leads Frs. Jim McKenna and Gus Baek
in the renewal of priestly commitment

Fr. Tim continued: All “the jubilarians have found in Christ the happiness for which we were created. . . . They’re living memorials of our Lord.” With the prophet Isaiah (first reading, Is 44:1-5), they’ve responded to the Lord’s invitation by saying, “I am the Lord’s.” Their fidelity has brought us the fruit of the Lord’s blessings and reminds all of us that we’re chosen by the Lord. Therefore we all join the jubilarians in thanking God “for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (second reading, Phil 3:8-14).

The longest-serving confreres are Fr. Jan Bernas, professed 70 years; and with 65 years professed, Bro. Gerard Richard and Frs. John Blanco, Bob Falk, and George Hanna.

Fr. Jan Bernas
(2008)

Fr. Jan Bernas, a former missionary in Zambia (1984-1994), is now semi-retired at age 90, after 23 years as chaplain at St. Joseph’s Terrace, a Polish nursing home, in Woodbridge, N.J., where he still resides. He was born at Oswiecim, Poland, where one of the main Salesian works of his native land is located. He made his first profession at Kopiec, Poland, on August 16, 1950, and was ordained in 1958 in Krakow.

Bro. Gerard Richard, 97, a member of the Salesian community of Sherbrooke, Que., is the oldest confrere in the province. Born at St. Louis de Kent, N.B., in 1923, he professed in Newton, N.J., on September 8, 1955, and has spent most of his life in the Salesian works of Canada: Boucherville, Que., Jacquet River, N.B., and especially Seminaire Salesien in Sherbrooke, for over 40 years. He served as a general fix-it man, doing electricity, plumbing, carpentry, and locks, and was a skilled craftsman in wood. Before joining the Salesians, he worked to pay for the studies of his youngest brother, Arsene, who became a priest and, eventually, bishop of Bathurst, N.B. Bishop Arsene died of cancer in 1989 at age 53; Bro. Gerard spent six months caring for him until he passed away. Bro. Gerard is. His greatest joy was to participate in Arsene’s episcopal ordination. Bro. Gerard himself crafted his episcopal crosier and presented it to him the day of his ordination!

Fr. John Blanco and Fr. Tim Zak

Fr. John Blanco, 90, has been serving at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., home of the Ironmen, for the last 3 years. He has proven to be an ironman his whole life, still working at odd jobs around the house rather than “retire.” The New Rochelle native, a member of the city’s Hall of Fame, first professed at Newton on September 8, 1955. He has been a house treasurer for much of his Salesian life in Ramsey, Columbus, Ohio, New Rochelle-Salesian HS, East Boston, Paterson, N.J., and New Rochelle-provincial house (24 years total) as well as director at Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero, La., for 6 years and a parish priest in Port Chester (N.Y.)-Corpus Christi and Manhattan-Mary Help of Christians for 13 years. As a Salesian he has found his greatest satisfaction in celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, and preaching.

Fr. Bob Falk, 88, has been a missionary in Korea for his entire Salesian life. He hails originally from Green Bay, Wisc., and made his first profession at Newton on September 8, 1955. He was ordained in Turin, Italy, in 1963. In Korea he has been director of two communities, master of novices, and delegate to the Salesian Cooperators and the Don Bosco Volunteers secular institute, besides doing teaching and retreat ministries.

Fr. George Hanna, 86, is assistant pastor at St. Rosalie and St. John Bosco parishes in Harvey, La., and a member of the Salesian community of Marrero, La. He was born in Pawtucket, R.I., and made his first profession at Newton on September 8, 1955. He was ordained in Rome in 1966 and has been a parish priest for most of the years since, in Paterson, Port Chester-Holy Rosary, Elizabeth, N.J., Harlem, Orange, N.J., Washington, D.C., and Harvey (47 years in all). He was director of the communities of Port Chester, Harlem, the provincial house, and Washington (22 years), and part of the province’s vocation team for 4 years early in his priesthood. Fr. Hanna states: “I have great joy and satisfaction from my Salesian family and from the parishioners, young and old in various parishes who have touched my heart, to have journeyed with these people and to have had the privilege to love them and be loved by them. More now than ever I have come to understand that we are deeply loved by God. What greater joy can there be!”

Jubilarians celebrating 60 years of religious profession, from September 8, 1960, when they completed their novitiate at Newton and professed there, include:

Bro. Mike Brinkman
(2010)

Bro. Mike Brinkman, 88, has been retired at the St. Philip Residence in Tampa since 2012. His hometown is Dayton, Ohio. He taught electronics at Don Bosco Tech in Rosemead, Calif., Don Bosco Tech in Boston, and St. Thomas the Apostle in Harlem (16 years total). He also taught at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, was principal at Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, and was on staff of Don Bosco Multimedia in New Rochelle, the province development office at the provincial house in New Rochelle, and for 10 years at Salesian Boys & Girls Club in Columbus, Ohio.

Fr. John Grinsell, 78, was ordained in 1971 in Columbus. He was director of the communities of New Rochelle-Salesian HS, Ramsey, and St. Petersburg for 6 years each and master of novices in Newton (1986-1989) and has done a lot of teaching and/or guidance work at Cedar Lake, Ind., Paterson, and South Orange, N.J. He served in parishes for 16 years in Port Chester (both Holy Rosary and St. John Bosco), Miami, and Orange. He has been coordinator of the Don Bosco Community Center in Port Chester since 2015.

Bro. Jerry Meegan
(2010)

Bro. Jerry Meegan, 78, was born in Teaneck, N.J. He taught in the junior seminaries at Haverstraw, N.Y., and Goshen, N.Y., and served as principal in Boston-Don Bosco Tech, New Rochelle-Salesian HS, and St. Petersburg (13 years total). During 12 years at the provincial house, he was a provincial councilor, and 3 years superintendent of province schools. He was coordinator of the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw for 2 years and director of youth ministry for the diocese of St. Petersburg for 9 years. From 2010 to 2020 he was campus minister at Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero, La. He is beginning a new assignment at Cristo Rey Tampa HS in Tampa. Bro. Meegan states: “My greatest satisfaction as a Salesian brother has been working with young men and women as a high school principal and a campus minister. These opportunities gave me a chance to get closer to young adults and help them along their journeys.”

Fr. Francis Twardzik, 80, is a golden jubilarian of ordination. He was born in Springfield, Mass., and was ordained at St. Anthony Church in Elizabeth, N.J., on March 21, 1970. He has been a member of the community of the Salesian formation house in Orange since 2017. He made his first profession in Newton in 1959 and has spent most of his priestly life in parishes of Byzantine Eparchy of Passaic: assistant pastor in Minersville, Pa. (1973-1976), pastor in Dunellen, N.J. (1978-1989), and Scranton, Pa. (1989-2017). He had brief stints as a teacher in Tampa and Marrero and one year at St. Rosalie in Harvey. Since the pandemic outbreak, he has resided in Haledon as chaplain for the Salesian sisters.

Fr. Jim Cerbone, 71, completed 50 years of religious profession this year and 40 years of ordination. He professed at Newton on September 1, 1970, and was ordained in East Orange, N.J., on October 4, 1980. He was born in Newark, N.J., in 1949. During his Salesian life he spent 7 years at the provincial house as assistant province treasurer and another 9 years in residence while serving as campus minister at Manhattan College. He taught at Ramsey, and New Rochelle for a total of 10 years and has also done parish ministry in Manhattan and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He has been part of the Ramsey community for the last 11 years.

Three confreres came to our province from elsewhere have observed their 40th anniversary of profession: Fr. Rufo “Junji” Zarate, Fr. Sagayaraj Devadoss, and Fr. John Louis Mariapragasam.

Fr. Sagayaraj Joseph Devadoss, was born in 1960 in Tamil Nadu state, India, and made his first profession on May 24, 1980, in the province of Madras (Chennai). He was ordained in 1991 in Madras. The most interesting periods of his priestly life came in houses of formation—a diocesan major seminary and a Salesian studentate of philosophy. Since 2018 he has been pastor of St. Dominic Savio Parish in Edmonton, Alta., after two years as pastor of St. Thomas More Church in the same city. He states: “Ministering for the holistic growth of those in their postnovitiate formation was a more enriching experience (not without challenges, of course) both for the candidates and for me.”

Fr. John L. Mariapragasam
(2013)

Fr. John Louis Mariapragasam, 60, is from Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu state, India, and made his first profession on May 24, 1980, in the province of Madras (Chennai). After ministry in many of that province’s schools and parishes as teacher, director, and parish priest, he came to Edmonton, Alta., in 2013, where he was director of the community and pastor of St. Matthew Church. In March 2020 he was transferred to Etobicoke, Ont., as director of the Salesian community of St. Benedict Parish.

Fr. Rufo “Junji” Zarate, 59, is from Binan (Laguna), Philippines, made his first profession on April 1, 1980, and was ordained in 1990. After ordination he served as a campus minister in several schools, as a parish priest, administrator of the province retreat center, and administrator of one of the most important schools in the province, Don Bosco Makati, from 2008 to 2014. He came to Canada in 2014 to minister to the Filipino members of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Surrey, B.C., which he continues. In addition, he’s the local delegate for the Salesian Cooperators. In 2019 he transferred canonically from the North Philippines Province to the New Rochelle Province. He has found his greatest joy as a Salesian priest in his strong faith in the real presence of the Lord especially during the Eucharistic celebration, inculcated by Don Bosco through his admirable mentors in formation. 

Fr. Dominic Tran

Fr. Dominic Tran, 51, was the lone silver jubilarian of religious profession. A native of Dalat Vietnam, he came to America as a young boy and was professed on August 15, 1995, in Bellflower, Calif. He was ordained in 2003 at Orange. Since 2016 he has been province director of vocations, based at the provincial house in New Rochelle. After 6 years teaching at Paterson, and New Rochelle, he was assigned to formation ministry in Orange. (2007-2016), including 3 years as director.

Celebrating jubilees of priestly ordination were Frs. Dennis Hartigan, Jim McKenna, Gus Baek, and Richard Rosin.

Fr. Dennis Hartigan, 69, ordained for 40 years, comes from Kearny, N.J., and was ordained for the diocese of Toledo, Ohio, on June 7, 1980. He professed as a Salesian in 1971 but withdrew when his vows expired in 1977. After many years of both high school and parish ministry in the diocese, earning a doctorate in educational leadership, and teaching at the University of Dayton, he returned to the Salesians and professed again in 2014. He is serving now at Cristo Rey Tampa HS in Tampa and previously served at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, the formation house in Orange, and Don Bosco Cristo Rey HS in Takoma Park, Md.

Fr. Jim McKenna, 69, was ordained on May 24, 1980, in Columbus, Ohio. He made his first profession in 1971 in Newton. Since 2009 he has been director of the Marian Shrine-Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw-Stony Point, N.Y. He comes from Jersey City and is an alumnus of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey. He was province treasurer (1991-1994) and treasurer of the communities in Newton and Tampa, director at Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero, La., and pastor in Port Chester-Corpus Christi. He was an assistant pastor in Manhattan and Belle Glade, Fla. He has found that the years went fast, and “being a Salesian priest has been a great fit for me vocationally. The many places being of service have given me a wider view of how God in this world is present in His church and sacraments.”

Fr. Gus Baek

Fr. Gus Baek, 62, was ordained 25 years ago on May 28, 1995, in Columbus, Ohio. He is currently director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, having taken on that responsibility a year ago. He was born in Kwangju, Korea, in 1958 and was encouraged to join the Salesians, which he did at Newton in 1985, professing vows in 1987. He has taught at Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero, La., and St. Dominic Savio in East Boston, done Boys & Girls Club ministry in East Boston and parish ministry in Port Chester-Corpus Christi and Orange, and taught theology at Caldwell College in New Jersey. For 15 years he coordinated Korean youth ministry from the Reborn Young Christ Center in Stony Point, N.Y. (2004-2019); that ministry, chiefly conducting retreats for the high school students, has been his greatest joy as a Salesian priest. He feels blessed to be a Salesian priest for 25 years, working for the young and the poor. “I am very grateful to God,” he adds, “for the many blessings that have been given me. I would like to ask the Lord His wisdom, courage and strength to continue working for the poorest children and families of the world.”

Fr. Rich Rosin, 58, was ordained on May 28, 1995, at Columbus, Ohio. He comes from Queens, N.Y., and was professed at Newton on August 25, 1988. He served mainly in schools: Marrero, La., New Rochelle, Ramsey, and St. Petersburg including stints as principal in Marrero and New Rochelle and director in St. Petersburg. He has also been a parish priest in Etobicoke, Ont., and Chicago.

The 5 jubilarians present
prepare to cut their anniversary cake

Homily for 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 4, 2020
Ps 80: 9, 12-16, 19-20
Matt 21: 33-43                                                                                   
Is 5: 1-7
Collect
Holy Name of Jesus, Valhalla, N.Y.

“The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel” (Psalm Refrain).

We can’t miss the allegory in today’s Scriptures, that God’s chosen people is his vineyard.  God’s chosen people is Israel first, and then it’s the Christian people, the new Israel cultivated and saved by Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah describes how the Lord created Israel, his vineyard, and the Lord’s distress, his anger, when it produces “wild grapes” (5:2), not the good fruit he’d expected (5:4).

In Jesus’ parable, the problem is different:  the vineyard’s good fruit is denied to its owner, its lord—violently so.  Jesus highlights the tenants’ desire to be masters of the vineyard, and the terrible consequences for them, because the owner will enforce his rights.

Both Isaiah and Psalm 80 also speak of terrible consequences that have followed Israel’s “wildness,” their unfaithfulness.  Isaiah speaks of trampling, ruin, bloodshed, the outcry of the poor who have been the victims of brutal social practices—like those who today cry out for justice against oppressive policies.  The psalm speaks of broken walls and invasion by wild beasts.

If we live in a world ravaged by war, terrorism, persecution, racial, ethnic, and gender oppression, economic turmoil, pandemic, and natural disaster—it sure doesn’t sound like or feel like a vineyard the Lord is tenderly cultivating; rather, like a vineyard that has distressed the Lord, angered him, refused him his due share of the harvest.  So many of the Lord’s people—and of all his human creatures—have taken the attitude of the tenants in Jesus’ parable:  let us seize this vineyard and make it our own and deny the owner his rights.  And we see—and maybe we practice—greed, oppression, violence, prejudice of various stripes.

So how should we be thinking and acting?  The starting point has to be recognizing who owns the vineyard.  Whether we speak of society or of the Church, it is the Lord’s.  The earth and the entire universe belong to him, and not to us.  Our country belongs to the Lord, and from that premise follow our responsibilities as citizens—in the policies we support or oppose, in whom we’ll vote for this month by mail or early voting or next month in person.  Our bishops have provided us with guidelines and moral instruction for our consciences as we weigh issues and candidates in a document called “Faithful Citizenship,” which you can find online.  (Its full name is “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”)

And we belong to the Lord.  Our bodies are not our own, no matter what supporters of abortion say.  Our lives are not our own, no matter what supporters of euthanasia or assisted suicide say.  God created us to serve him—to return to him the vintage of his vineyard—and in this alone is our happiness.  He made us, as the old catechism taught us, “to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next world.”

St. Paul today gives us some positive guidance on how to serve the Lord:  “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Phil 4:6).  Pray for what you need and for what others need.  “Your kindness should be known to all” (4:5).  Think about, and of course act upon, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,” whatever is excellent and “worthy of praise” (4:8).

If we’ve been half-hearted or faint-hearted or unconvinced in our service to the Lord, it’s certainly not too late to recognize his lordship and to resolve to give him his share of the harvest of our lives.  The Collect of today’s Mass refers to “the abundance of [his] kindness,” which “surpasses the merits and the desires of those who entreat” him, viz., us.  And we pray for his mercy, regardless of what we might have done, said, or neglected in the past—“what conscience dreads,” in the words of the Collect.  We can, instead, make the psalmist’s prayer our own:  “We will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name.  O Lord, God of hosts, … if your face shine upon us, then  we shall be saved” (Ps 80:19-20).