Fr. Mantovani Appointed Vatican Librarian

Fr. Mauro Mantovani Appointed Prefect of Vatican Apostolic Library

(ANS – Vatican City – February 14, 2023) – On February 14 the Holy See Press Office announced that the Holy Father has appointed Fr. Mauro Mantovani, SDB, hitherto dean of the School of Philosophy at the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) in Rome and former rector magnificus at UPS, as prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

Mauro Mantovani was born on January 3, 1966, in Moncalieri, Italy, carried out his novitiate at the Salesian house Monteoliveto in Pinerolo, and made his first vows in the Salesian Society on September 8, 1986; he professed his perpetual vows in Castelnuovo Don Bosco on September 27, 1992, and was ordained a priest on September 12, 1994 in Turin.

He completed studies in philosophy and theology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (degree in Philosophy, 1995); at the Salesian Pontifical University, baccalaureate and licentiate in philosophy; baccalaureate in theology at the Turin section, and licentiate in dogmatic theology; at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca in Spain, a doctorate in philosophy and letters, 2006; and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, a doctorate in Thomistic theology, 2011.

Since 2007, he has been a full professor at the UPS in Rome, with research and publications concerning philosophical theology, philosophy of history, philosophical propaedeutics, and various border/crossover topics between theology, philosophy, and science. He is especially concerned with Thomism and the commentarial tradition on the Summa Theologiae (especially q. 2 of Pars I) of Thomas Aquinas in the authors of the "Second Scholasticism" and the so-called School of Salamanca.

For UPS he has held the following positions: dean of the School of Philosophy; dean of the School of Communications; vice rector; and rector magnificus for two terms (2015-2021).

In 2016 he was appointed president of the Conference of Rectors of the Roman Pontifical Universities and is currently a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and of the Scientific Committee of the Holy See Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality on Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties.

Homily for Monday, Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Homily for Monday
Week 6 of Ordinary Time

Feb.13, 2023
Gen 4: 1-15, 25
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

The 3d chapter of Genesis presented mankind’s alienation from God by an act of disobedience.  The 4th chapter presents humans’ alienation from each other by envy.

The passage doesn’t tell us why God looked favorably on Abel’s sacrifice but not on Cain’s (4:4-5).  Perhaps there’s a hint here of tensions within Israel between the nomadic way of life in the heroic age of their ancestors like Abraham, and the settled way of life of cities and farms.  That tension is something of a constant in human history, even in our own American history, as we see in the disagreements between Jefferson and his party, preferring a society of agriculture and small craftsmen, and Hamilton, advocate of big cities and industry; and in the perennial range wars of the West between ranchers and farmers.  Even today a large part of the civil strife in Nigeria and other countries is over land use—grazing flocks vs. cultivation.

God advises resentful Cain that he can do well and can resist sinful envy (4:6-7).  He can live at peace with his brother, as can people of varied ways of life.  As they sing in Oklahoma, “The farmer and the cowman can be friends.”

But Cain chooses not to, as we’re all tempted to put our own concerns in 1st place:  “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (4:9).

God, however, identifies himself as the champion of the offended and oppressed.  Abel’s blood cries out from the soil (4:10).  God has a preferential option for the poor and the marginalized.  We are meant to be mutually supportive.

God also shows compassion for the offender, offering Cain a measure of protection (4:15).  God doesn’t demand vengeance but offers mercy and opportunity to repent.

One more theme to discern:  as noted, it’s not evident why Abel’s sacrifice pleased God but Cain’s didn’t.  God’s choices are his own, unknowable to us.  He preferred the younger son Jacob over Esau, the youngest son David over his brothers, even Israel, so tiny among all the nations of the earth.  God choices—his elections—are acts of grace calling for our gratitude and faithfulness.

Tampa Salesians Celebrate Don Bosco

Tampa Salesians Celebrate Don Bosco

(ANS – Tampa – February 10, 2023) – On Don Bosco’s feast day, January 31, the Salesian community of Tampa gathered to celebrate the Saint of Youth, reflecting on the 2023 Strenna of the Rector Major. In this year’s call to focus on collaboration between religious and laity, the Tampa Salesians reflected on the Salesian mission and asked how to “be leaven in today’s human family.” The festivities also included the annual Don Bosco Festival, hosted by Mary Help of Christians Parish, during which numerous activities, carnival games, and group dances were organized. Also, Cristo Rey Salesian High School hosted “Don Bosco Day,” a celebration time consisting of games, obstacle courses, tournaments, and a spectacular talent show. Finally, at the Mary Help of Christians Center, the Don Bosco Gala was held, with a closing dinner, games, and dancing. Each event was planned and led by lay members of the Salesian Family with the collaboration of the Salesians.

Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 12, 2023
Matt 5: 17-37
Villa Maria, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors….  But I say to you…” (Matt 5 passim).

Sermon on the Mount by Rosselli

We continue listening to the Sermon on the Mount, that radical core of the Gospel.  For 3 Sundays now, and 1 more before Lent, Matthew and Holy Mother Church lay it before us.  We’re challenged to decide whether Jesus’ words feast our souls or make them uneasy.

Obviously, it’s no easy thing to live out the beatitudes, to be the light of the world, or to fulfill the commandments.  The disciples of Jesus find these things hard, including and consecrated religious.

When the Founding Fathers of our nation gathered in Philadelphia 236 years ago to amend the Articles of the Confederation, which was our 1st national constitution, they quickly realized that that project was more hopeless than getting teenagers to Sunday Mass.  They scrapped the Articles, started from scratch, and produced a new and marvelous instrument of government.

To it they prefixed a little introduction or preamble: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union [etc.], do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”

Was Jesus doing what the Founding Fathers did?  Yes and no.  He was not throwing out the old constitution and giving out a new one.  He was calling his listeners to a more perfect way of living out who they are, of living as children of God’s kingdom.

Really, Jesus cannot be any clearer that the law and the prophets still stand:  “Do not think that I have come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (5:17).  To fulfill the law and the prophets means, in part, to fulfill the messianic promises, a major theme in Matthew.  It also means to go beyond the letter of the law and the prophets to their heart, to live out what they intend, to fulfill their deepest meaning.

We all know that legal observance can be completely empty.  It can be a public relations show.  It can be social conformity.  It can be a way of showing oneself to be superior to others.  It can be an escape from an unwritten responsibility.  Legal observance alone is damnable:  “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20).

In essence, Jesus is saying that the law and the prophets must be written on our hearts, as Jeremiah prophesied (31:33).  Indirectly, Jesus turns the negative commands of the law into something positive as we sometimes do when trying to teach youngsters.

For example, “You shall not kill” means that we have to respect everyone’s life and health, as well as our own.  “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment….  First be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt 5:21-22,24).  Not only our external actions must be controlled, but our interior dispositions too, if we are to fulfill the law and the prophets, be disciples of Jesus, and enter the kingdom.  Reconciliation begins as an interior disposition, a desire for the well-being of our sister and brother.

Likewise, we all struggle to keep our heart free of lust and “unadulterated.”  On this point, we’ve been catechized according to the Gospel about serious sin.  Not many, tho, accept that we can sin in our thoughts—lustful desires or desires for revenge or envious thoughts.  Fortunately, we haven’t taken the part about our right eyes and right hands literally.  But the point is, our hearts and souls must belong to our spouses—husband, wife, Jesus Christ (spouse of the Church)—and not just our bodies, if we are to fulfill the law and the prophets, be disciples of Jesus, and enter the kingdom.  In the beatitudes Jesus blessed the clean of heart (5:8).  He also teaches that where our heart is, there is our treasure (6:21).  So we perfect the Law of Moses by giving ourselves wholeheartedly to God.

“But I say to you, Do not swear at all” (5:34).  When people speak of swearing, they may mean such expressions as “O my God,” which is a violation of the 2d commandment (“You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain”).  More often, they mean common vulgarity, using 4-letter words, which generally aren’t sinful, just bad manners (of which I’m guilty now and then).  But that’s not Jesus’ point.  “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’  Anything more is from the evil one” (5:37).  If our hearts are truthful, if we are men and women of integrity and honor, our words will be truthful, and we don’t need oaths or elaborate emphases.  If our hearts are evil, does an oath make any difference?  To be a seeker and a speaker of the truth is the way to fulfill the law and the prophets, be a disciple of Jesus, and enter the kingdom.

God’s Word judges our motives and not just our actions.  We give our hearts to God, or we give him nothing at all.

Prep's Ironmen Called to Serve Like Don Bosco

Prep’s Ironmen Are Called to Serve Like Don Bosco 

Photo by Jennifer Passerino

(ANS – Ramsey, N.J. – February 6, 2023) – Don Bosco Prep HS celebrated the feast of its patron, St. John Bosco, at a school Mass on Tuesday, January 31. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of the neighboring Paterson Diocese celebrated the Mass and reminded Don Bosco’s Ironmen that they are called to serve as Don Bosco always did. The priests of the SDB community concelebrated with the bishop, who was presented with a commemorative statue of Don Bosco in honor of his visit.

Celebrating Missionary Fr. Luis Bolla

10 years after Fr. Bolla’s death, Salesians gather around his presence and mission

(ANS – Lima – February 9, 2023) – Ten years have passed since the death of Fr. Luis (Luigi) Bolla, an Italian Salesian, missionary among the indigenous people of Ecuador and Peru, now a Servant of God. Those who knew him still remain fascinated by his figure, bewitched by his style, his presence, his words, his narratives, his songs, and even more, captivated by his way of being with God.

On Feb. 6, on the 10th anniversary of his birth to Heaven, Fr. Manuelo Cayo, current provincial of Peru, Fr. Juan Pablo Alcas, appointed next provincial, and many concelebrants, members of the Salesian Family, and many faithful celebrated the anniversary in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Lima and in various places throughout Peru.

In the basilica of Mary Help of Christians, during his homily, Fr. Cayo referred to Fr. Bolla’s missionary work. He recalled his personal journey of conversion and his total dedication to missionary work, seeking to respond to God’s call in the oratory formed by his people.

During the Mass, some of Fr. Bolla’s most cherished objects were also presented, such as his tabernacle, the Chankín – the feather crown he wore on his head for celebrations – one of his journals, and boots still soiled with mud.

Fr. Jesus Jurado, vice postulator of Fr. Bolla’s cause of beatification, thanked the faithful for their presence in the basilica and asked them to share and disseminate his life as a model of missionary sanctity. “We’ve asked ourselves,” Fr. Jurado began in his brief speech, “where did he draw so much strength to be in the solitude of the woods with his Shuar and Achuar sons? An entire life in the forest! We were impressed by his stories, vivid and powerful as only he could describe them. We have no doubt, but rather the certainty that it was a Voice, and a Voice with a capital ‘V,’ which he heard and listened to. In the oratory chapel, he heard the voice of God. ‘I was entering the chapel of the oratory in Schio,’ Fr. Bolla himself narrated, ‘when I heard the Lord saying to me, “You too will be a priest and a missionary.”’”

In 2019, the Church began the process of beatification and canonization of Fr. Bolla, which is why he now qualifies as a Servant of God. “Surely, if he were alive, he would be angry: ‘Saint on the altars? Please, no!” Fr. Jurado comments further. “But holiness on the altars is not the work of human beings; it is a gift of God’s love to humanity.”

Ten years after his departure for Heaven, “Yankuam’ Jintia,” (The light of twilight, as his beloved Achuar natives called him), still continues to shine.

Aleppo Salesians Welcome Everyone

Humanitarian Catastrophe after the Earthquake

Aleppo Salesians Welcome Everyone

(ANS – Aleppo – February 9, 2023) – A nightmare scenario is gradually unfolding following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The already heavy toll in lives and destruction worsens hourly, and the needs of the survivors are innumerable. From Syria, the Middle East provincial of the Salesians, Fr. Alejandro Leon, sent a brief update on the efforts of the Salesians in Aleppo, especially to launch an appeal for prayer and solidarity with the people tried by yet another humanitarian catastrophe.

The death toll from the extremely violent earthquake, which struck the border region of Syria and Turkey, continues upward. [Ed. note: It is over 21,000 as of the morning of Feb. 10.] In addition to the dead, the earthquake has caused tens of thousands of injuries, 63,000 in Turkey alone. Rescuers meanwhile are working day and night to search for possible survivors under the rubble. The situation in Syria is complicated because many of the collapsed houses in the north of the country are out of the control of the government army and data provided by authorities do not include several northern areas.

To inform us about the situation and the efforts of the Salesians at this juncture, the Communications Department of the Middle East Province released a short video message from Fr. Leon, filmed on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 8; it can be seen in its original version on ANSChannel, the ANS YouTube channel.

It contains the touching testimony and a calm but firm appeal for prayer and solidarity. Here are Fr. Leon's words:

"Dear Salesian Family, greetings from Aleppo, an Aleppo that is going through an extremely difficult time, but that never loses hope. People are fighting for their lives; they are fighting for a better future. It's been 3 very difficult days: talking a little bit about numbers, on the first night 300 people were here to sleep; the second night it was 420; and now, as of nine o'clock in the evening, more than 500 people are seeking asylum. To everyone we are saying, 'Welcome,' this is the house of the Salesians, the Church is the house of God and it is everyone’s house.

It is certainly very difficult to manage all this movement of people, and with so many, truly many needs, that really risks being a humanitarian tragedy.

We really ask, to the extent that we can, that there be your solidarity, especially in prayer and affection for these brothers and sisters of ours of the Syrian people, who have been suffering for 12 years already: from wars, persecution, looting, the coronavirus, a devaluation of the currency to incredible levels, and now this terrible earthquake.

They are wonderful people, they are beautiful people, who carry on with a smile despite all the difficulties, and with so many gestures of internal solidarity. We truly believe in your support and help, and we ask Mary Help of Christians and Don Bosco to bless tormented Syria."

All over the world, meanwhile, the relief machine has come into full swing and is arriving from many countries. The same thing is also happening throughout the Salesian Family, where entire provinces, Salesian mission offices, Salesian planning and development offices, and Salesian NGOs are working on planning aid and fundraising campaigns.

Salesian Missions of New Rochelle is accepting aid donations: 2023 Turkey and Syria Earthquake - Salesian Missions

Salesian Students Remember Salesians Killed by Nazis

On Holocaust Remembrance Day,
Salesian Students Remember Salesians Killed by Nazis

by SDB Southern Italy Press Office

(ANS – Caserta, Italy – February 3, 2023) – On the occasion of Holocaust Victims Remembrance Day, secondary school students of the Salesian institute Sacred Heart of Mary in Caserta engaged in research activities on the Shoah. In addition, the final year students carried out specific work on the historical reconstruction of the events that led three Salesian priests and a Salesian coadjutor from Caserta, along with three other civilians, to lose their lives at the hands of Nazi soldiers on Sept. 28, 1943, at the Villa Santoro, located on Garzano Hill.

The province of Caserta at that time was prey to bombing following the armistice that led Italy to abandon its baleful alliance with the Third Reich. The Caserta work was also badly hit by bombing, and the senior priests were displaced to the hills. There, following the killing of a German soldier by a partisan, the Nazis decided to retaliate with a reprisal in which Fr. Tommaso Chiapello, Fr. Francesco Coratella, Fr. Domenico Borgiattino, Salesian coadjutor Bro. Giuseppe Di Gennaro, civilians Agostino Brandi, Donato Rucci, and young soldier Antonio Caricato lost their lives.

This massacre was commemorated in 1944 first with a plaque, later replaced in 1966 by a funerary stele. On March 15, 1997, the Salesian Rector Major Fr. Juan Edmundo Vecchi also went to the hill in prayer to remember his Salesian brethren. Thus, on Saturday, January 28, the students of the Salesian institute went with the teachers to Garzano and were able to see with their own eyes the site of the incident, experiencing a moment of meaningful remembrance.

Don Bosco Returns to Turin's Boys Prison

Don Bosco Returns to Turin’s Boys Prison 

Photo ©: La Voce e il Tempo

(ANS – Turin – February 3, 2023) – A historical event, a work of mercy, a powerfully evocative gesture, an act of love in the full style of Don Bosco: the visit made on the morning of Wednesday, February 1, by Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime to the Ferrante Aporti Juvenile Penitentiary Institute (IPM) in Turin, has so many connotations; it was once the Generala penitentiary so many times visited by Don Bosco, the place that inspired him to create oratories as an antidote to juvenile delinquency (and  presenting one of the more dramatic sequences in the 1935 movie on the Saint).

“When are you coming back?” One of the 34 boys detained at Ferrante Aporti has teary eyes as he greets the 10th successor of Don Bosco, who wanted to conclude the celebrations of the Saint of young people precisely at the IPM. And there is no more meaningful place than the Ferrante to understand the charism of Don Bosco, who said, “It is enough for me that you are young for me to love you very much,” as the Rector Major recalled while greeting the boys one by one and inquiring about their history and origin: “I am Romanian,” “I am Egyptian,” “I am from Tangier.”

“I have been to your beautiful countries to visit our communities and our young people. I know a few words of your languages: I am Spanish, I was born in Galicia, son of a fisherman. I studied theology and philosophy, but I know much more about fishing than my dad taught me.” This is how the Rector Major introduced himself to the boys gathered in the recreation hall, after some “bans” and a skit about Don Bosco led by the Salesian novices of Colle Don Bosco, who every Friday, accompanied by their teacher, Fr. Enrico Ponte, animate “the playground behind bars.”

“That’s why I chose to become a Salesian, 43 years ago,” the Rector Major continued, “I wanted to be a doctor, but then I understood that Don Bosco called me to care for the souls of the youngest, because there are no good and bad boys and girls, but young people who have had less, and, as our saint said, ‘In every young person, even the most wretched, there is a point accessible to good, and the first duty of the educator is to seek this point, this sensitive cord of the heart and to profit from it.’ That is why we Salesians love young people. We can all make mistakes, but if you believe in yourselves, trust your educators, you will come out better. My dream is to meet you all in Valdocco with the young people I greeted yesterday on the feast of our Saint.”

Fr. Fernandez’s visit is historic because never after Don Bosco had one of his successors entered the Ferrante. The encounter with the boys detained first at the Carceri Senatorie Prisons of Turin in 1841, then at the Generala in 1855 (that was the name of the IPM, then a reformatory for minors) was the spark that drove the Turin saint to devise “preventive” solutions to the disarray in which thousands of adolescents in the Turin peripheries found themselves in. It was during repeated visits to the Generala, invited by his spiritual father, Fr. Joseph Cafasso, that the Preventive System was born, a pillar of the educational system that would make Don Bosco the “Saint of the Oratories.”

Don Bosco sensed that if there was a solid family, a welcoming community, and a school with meaningful, caring adults, there would be no prisons. And it was from those afternoons spent with the “naughty, and dangerous youngsters” that the saint invented the oratory. Indeed, as the Rector Major recalled, Don Bosco even asked permission to take the boys with him on an outing: “The director of the Generala agreed, but on one condition: if only one young man did not return, Don Bosco would end up in jail. Yet, everyone returned to his cell.” Words that struck a chord with the boys, who listened to Fr. Fernandez without uttering a word, something not usual here, educators and officers commented at the end of the meeting.

The presence of Don Bosco’s charism at the Ferrante has never failed or faded: a plaque in the oldest wing of the Institute commemorates his visits to the Generala, and it is a tradition for chaplains to be Salesians. Among the “historic” chaplains is the beloved Fr. Domenico Ricca, who retired last year after more than 40 years of service. His baton has been taken over by his confrere Fr. Silvano Oni, who organized the visit of the Rector Major with the collaboration of Deputy Director Gabriella Picco, trainers, teachers, and educators.

“In these days we will send a letter to Pope Francis,” Fr. Silvano announced, “with photos of the Nativity scene we set up at Christmas with the boys, most of whom are non-Christians: that is why it is a nativity in which the characters have no faces. Toward the hut, a boat at sea is approaching with many young migrants like some of our boys who have left their land and here are alone and prey to lawlessness. Their life preserver, for now, is us. And the request to the Rector Major to return among them is a sign that Don Bosco still speaks to the hearts of today’s most fragile boys.”

Salesian Testimony on Syrian Earthquake

Salesian Testimony on Syrian Earthquake

(ANS – Aleppo, Syria – February 7, 2023) – As the death toll and damage caused by the terrible earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on Monday worsens, there are numerous testimonies from those who, like the Salesians, are already on the front lines providing necessary aid.

A detailed account of what is happening during these hours comes from the Middle East Province’s communications delegate, Fr. Pier Jabloyan. “The earthquake lasted a very long time, almost a minute,” he explains. “In Syria, the most serious consequences have mainly affected the city of Aleppo. From the information reaching us, we have learned that hundreds of buildings have collapsed and the number of dead continues to rise steadily.”

Also growing is the number of injured and missing people still under the rubble. The population is desperate and terrified that new, strong aftershocks may occur. Many, then, have had to leave their homes, made unsafe by the cracks and heavy damage caused by the earthquake. In Aleppo hundreds and hundreds of people have nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep.

“In this dramatic situation, we Salesians have opened our doors,” continues Fr. Jabloyan. “We have promptly taken in all those in need. Already more than 300 people have been welcomed and helped by the Salesians, collaborators, and the entire Salesian Family in Aleppo. We are trying to do what we can, despite the challenges and difficulties. This, in Syria, is a particularly cold time, and the winter is harsh. It is snowing, and there’s a lack of power and of fuel. The population is really having a difficult time.”

Syria, it should be remembered, is exhausted by a long and fierce war, and this devastating earthquake is adding to an already extremely precarious situation. For many, in fact, the earthquake has extinguished what little hope remained. “We hope that the Lord, with the help of so many people of goodwill, can lift the weight of so much destruction and so much poverty that has been in Syria for years now,” Fr. Jabloyan concludes.

The Salesians are ready to mobilize in any way they can to support the many people hard hit by the earthquake as best they can, with basic necessities.

In the meantime, it is already possible to make a bank transfer or deposit to make your contribution to helping the Salesians in Syria. The coordinates are available in the attached pdf.

Download attachments: 

• Conto_Direzione_Generale_Emergenza_Terremoto_Siria.pdf (74 Downloads) 
• Per_bonifici_e_trasferimenti_in_supporto_del_lavoro_dei_Salesiani_in_Siria_per_lYemergenza_terremoto_1.pdf (75 Downloads)

Two Province Observances

Two Province Observances

Fr. Tim Zak, provincial, and Fr. Hugo Orozco, regional councilor

On Saturday, February 4, two province observances occurred at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y. The 1st was the annual celebration of Province Day, moved up from its customary date in May in order to accommodate the 2d occurrence, one of 4 province meetings aimed at helping the Rector Major discern the appointment of a new provincial.

Fr. Hugo Orozco, the general councilor for our Interamerica Region, presided at both Mass in the Shrine chapel and the assembly of the confreres in Fr. Tae-Seok Lee Hall. Confreres from the New York metro area and Boston took part.

The Eucharistic celebration was a votive Mass of Mary Help of Christians with the weekday readings. It began on time at 9:00 a.m. and lasted just 40 minutes. The congregation included 34 concelebrating priests, 2 deacons, 19 brothers, a prenovice, 4 candidates from Orange, and 2 other priests—a total of 52 confreres.

Fr. Hugo gave what was probably the shortest homily in the history of our provincial feastdays. The gospel reading (Mark 6:30-34) called our attention to Jesus’ compassion for the crowds who had come to him. Fr. Hugo urged the confreres to strive to be like Jesus, to have compassionate hearts.

After a coffee break, Fr. Hugo initiated the discernment process by explaining the steps to be followed. Later he also explained the process that the Rector Major and general council would follow, probably in July, in selecting the confrere who will lead the province for the next 6 years, based in large part on the consultation of the province.

After praying, the Salesians and candidates, sitting at 10 or 12 tables, discussed strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the province; some of these were voiced for everyone to hear. Then Fr. Hugo asked the professed participants to write 3 names on slips of paper and pass these to him. Two brothers helped him compile a list of all the names put forward—about 20 of them—which were projected without any indication of the number of times they were listed.

Next, the confreres were asked to fill out an online form, partly about themselves (in order to weigh the relative value of the suggestions) and partly with 1st, 2d, and 3d choices for a provincial and their reasons for those choices. This information constitutes the heart of what Fr. Hugo will take back to Turin from this Marian Shrine assembly as well as from parallel assemblies in Tampa, Etobicoke (Ont.), and Surrey (B.C). (The general council has been meeting at the Motherhouse in Turin while Sacro Cuore in Rome undergoes renovation.)

Bro. Reegan Ledet, Fr. Dominic Tran, Fr. Tim Ploch,

Fr. Joe Vien, Fr. Miguel Suarez, Bro. Minhtu Nguyen

This consultation process took 2½ hours. By 12:30 p.m. everyone was ready to eat and did justice to the hors d’oeuvres and the buffet luncheon. Fr. Tim Zak presented a film clip about what the Salesians are doing for the suffering people in Ukraine, who will be the beneficiaries again this year of the communities’ gifts for Province Day. The confreres from Orange, under the leadership of Bro. Sal Sammarco, sang two hymns that Bro. Sal had composed. There was a surfeit of leftovers for confreres to take home; and thus closed the day’s festivities.

Photos of province day Mass and gathering: https://link.shutterfly.com/vWp9gbgW9wb

Photos of the consultation for provincial: https://link.shutterfly.com/wFTahV5V9wb

Homily for 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb. 5, 2023
Matt 5: 13-16
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth’” (Matt 5: 13).

https://www.phrases.org.uk/images/the-salt-of-the-earth.jpg?ezimgfmt=ng:webp/ngcb54

The gospel reading this week picks up where we left off last week.  We continue listening to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which—you recall—began with the beatitudes, the blessings pronounced upon those who practice the virtues that Jesus preached and practiced.

Jesus follows by calling his followers “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (5:14).

He indicates immediately that we use salt as seasoning, something to improve the taste of our food (5:13).  That’s a universal.  Think of how you use it at your dinner table for eggs or vegetables.  How addictive is a bag of potato chips or a can of nuts!

Until modern refrigeration became available, salt was also used universally as a preservative.  Meat and fish had to be salted before they could be kept more than a day or 2, e.g., to provide food for a family, for an army on the march, for sailors on a long voyage.  Thus salt was a precious commodity for daily life, even an essential one.

Salt also bears symbolic value, representing wisdom, purity, fidelity, and friendship.  One website informs us:  “Salt became a symbol of purity because it was used by an ancient civilization to ward off evil spirits, mummify bodies, and treat wounds. Salt gained its fidelity symbolism from religious folklore whereby it was used to create binding covenants usually together with other sacrifices.”[1]  If we refer to someone as “the salt of the earth,” we’re paying a high compliment, saying he or she is a person of integrity, a contributor to the welfare of society.

Jesus is advising us to bring a healthy flavor to society by virtue of our being his disciples.  He’s advising us to preserve our families and friends in goodness.  He’s advising us to demonstrate faithfulness and purity in our words and behavior.  Those who associate with us—relatives, neighbors, co-workers, even complete strangers—ought to benefit from the association, even without our preaching to them explicitly.  With our immediate family, we do need to express our closeness to Jesus, e.g., by praying together, by teaching the truths of our faith to our children, by training them in virtue.

esus continues with a warning:  “If salt loses its taste … it’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out” (5:13).  Of what use for the kingdom of heaven is a disciple who doesn’t actually heed what Jesus teaches.  If a disciple is a learner—that’s what the word means—but hasn’t learned Jesus, doesn’t talk like Jesus, doesn’t act like Jesus, doesn’t think like Jesus, that so-called disciple has lost his taste.  Flavorless salt is to be thrown out.  Jesus speaks in various places about people being expelled from the kingdom, cast into the outer darkness (Matt 25:30) or into eternal fire (Matt 7:19; 18:8; 25:41).

A self-described Christian who doesn’t pray is in danger.  A self-described Christian who maintains a wicked style of life or teaches evil—think about various forms of corrupt behavior or the public policies promoted by some people who say they’re Catholic—such a person is in danger.

Jesus expects us to add a good flavor to the world, show good deeds.  It’s not that our good deeds will merit salvation for us, but that our good deeds will give the world evidence of God’s goodness:  “they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:16).  As Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount, we’ll hear what some of our good deeds must be, like patience, forgiveness, chastity, and honesty.  Stay tuned next week.  Better yet, take up your New Testament, read it, and absorb it into your heart.

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[1] https://symbolsage.com/salt-symbolism-and-meaning

Thirst for God

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR

Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, SDB

THERE’S MUCH MORE “THIRST FOR GOD”

THAN WE THINK

Today, there is a great need to listen, to dialog freely and candidly, to have personal encounters which are free of judgment and condemnation, as well as a great need for silence and presence in God.

Dear friends of Don Bosco and readers of Salesian media,

The Sermon - Eduard Lebiedzki

In harmony and communion with Don Bosco himself, I’m writing both to those who already feel at home with his charism and also to those who want to get to know St. John Bosco and learn more about what’s done in Jesus’ name, in the style of this great “Father and Teacher of Youth.”

By Divine Providence, it happens that just an hour ago I attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. One year after beginning his service as Pontiff, he wrote the magnificent encyclical Deus Caritas Est. In it, there’s this statement that seems to me to be the very essence of the magnificent fragrance of Christian thought: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”[1] Certainly, that Person is Jesus Christ.

Benedict XVI elaborates further on this thought, with other statements like these[2]:

·         Jesus Christ is the Personified Truth who attracts the world to himself.

·         The light that shines out from Jesus is the splendor of the truth. Every other truth is a fragment of the Truth that he is, and refers to him.

·         Jesus is the Pole Star of human freedom: without him freedom loses its sense of direction, for without the knowledge of the truth, freedom degenerates, becomes isolated, and is reduced to sterile arbitration.

·         With him, freedom is rediscovered, it’s recognized to have been created for our good and is expressed in charitable actions and behavior.

·         Therefore, Jesus gives men and women total familiarity with the truth and continuously invites them to live in it.

·         And nothing succeeds as well as love for the truth in impelling the human mind toward unexplored horizons.

·         Jesus Christ, who is the fullness of the truth, draws to himself the heart of each person, enlarges it, and fills it with joy.

In a few solid, profound sentences, there is an entire Christian teaching that’s far from being “moralism,” i.e., cold and rigid rules devoid of life. Christian life is above all a true encounter with God.

That is why I stated in the title of this essay that, in my opinion, a deeply-held conviction, there is much more “thirst for God” than we imagine or seems to exist. Certainly, I don’t intend to alter the statistics found in sociological studies or create a fictitious scenario. I do, however, want to make it clear that in the face-to-face encounter with the real life of so many people – fathers, mothers, families, adolescents, and young adults – what one very often finds is a life that isn’t easy and must be tended to daily.  Human relationships in which love is both desired and necessary must be cultivated in every little gesture, every little detail, and every action. Face to face like that, there’s a great need to listen, to dialog freely and candidly, to have personal encounters free of judgment and condemnation, as well as a great need for silence and presence in God.

I say this with great conviction. Right here in Valdocco, where I am now, I’m surprised and filled with joy when a group of young people takes the initiative to invite others for an hour of presence, silence, and prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, i.e., for an hour of Eucharistic adoration, and a hundred – so many of them young – respond to the appointment. At Sacro Cuore in Rome, we’d meet on Thursday nights, and young people, young marrieds – some with their babies – and other couples would also be present because they felt that their lives needed this encounter with a Person who gives meaning to our lives.

What I’ve cited here in one or two examples, I’ve experienced in very many places and countries. For this reason, I’m inviting us in this essay to do exactly what Don Bosco would do. He didn’t hesitate for a moment to offer his boys the experience of encountering Jesus. That God who is Presence, who is God-with-us, as we just celebrated at Christmas, remains the same One who calls, who invites, who gives peace in each personal encounter, in each moment of rest in him. It’s still Jesus who wants to meet all of us, and many others, today. Could we be ashamed and afraid to walk this path? Is it perhaps the case that many of us don’t dare to invite others to experience what we live and what has been so freely given to us and offered to us? Isn’t it the case that since people say this isn’t fashionable, or is old-fashioned and obsolete, that we believe these negative messages and lack the courage to give witness that some of us, or perhaps many of us, continue to enjoy each personal encounter with him who is the Lord of Life?

Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has left us, was convinced that his life and his faith were precisely for the grand purpose of encountering his Lord. This is how Pope Francis said farewell to him, with these final words of his homily: “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”

Friends, let’s continue promoting these encounters with him who is Life, who gives us profound life – since there is more “thirst for God” than what’s spoken of, than what people would have us believe.

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[1] Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, no. 1.

[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Address To the participants of the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (February 10, 2006) | BENEDICT XVI (vatican.va).

Homily for Solemnity of St. John Bosco

Homily for the Solemnity of
St. John Bosco

Jan. 31, 2023
Phil 4: 4-9
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph Residence, New Rochelle

Brothers, your religious family and ours share similar charisms, especially the one voiced in the gospel about receiving youngsters in Christ’s name (Matt 18: 1-5).

A particular in Don Bosco’s charism is the element of joy.  St. Paul urges us, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4), a principle frequently advocated by Don Bosco to both youngsters and adults.  Joy or cheerfulness was so characteristic of his house that young Dominic Savio explained to a newcomer, “Here holiness consists in being cheerful.”

It was proverbial at the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales that when Don Bosco was most jovial, he was facing some trouble or challenge that greater than usual, whether that might have been financial, some harassment from anticlericals, or an ecclesiastical dispute.  (Ecclesiastical disputes?  Really?)  St. Paul explains how that could be so, how Christians can always be joyful even in the midst of the world’s troubles:  “The Lord is near” (Phil 4:5).

The Lord shares our humanity, and he remains with us, close to us, near us—offering his peace, his consolations, and his power to pursue “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,” all such excellent qualities (4:8); to pursue them in our own souls and to share them with the young, with one another, with a society that longs for these signs of God’s presence, his nearness.  Don Bosco shows us how to have an abiding sense of God’s presence.

During the canonical process of his canonization, the devil’s advocate alleged that he never prayed.  Those who knew him responded, “When did Don Bosco not pray?”  They attested that he always seemed to be in communion with God, no matter how busy he was.

Before holy Communion, we quote from Jesus’ words at the Last Supper. “Peace I leave you; my peace I give you.”  St. Paul reminds us, “The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (4:7).  With our hearts and minds so guarded, we can always be tranquil and joyful among our brothers and sisters and share that tranquility and that joy with them.