Homily for 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the 
26th Sunday of Ordinary TimeSept. 27, 2009
Num 11: 25-29
Christian Brothers, Iona College
Ursulines, Willow Drive, N.R.

“Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” (Num 11: 29).

Moses needs to share the burden of leadership. Guided by the Lord, he chooses 70 elders to work with him as leaders in Israel. The Spirit of God descends on those 70, including 2 who had inadvertently missed their official installation rite, as it were.

Joshua, young and relatively inexperienced in the ways of the Lord, is jealous for the prerogatives of Moses, as he’ll be zealous later to carry out whatever the Lord tells him when he leads Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. But at this point he still has a good deal to learn about the ways of the Lord.

I suppose it’s useful to pause and note that. This future great leader served an apprenticeship under Moses, learning how to relate to Yahweh, learning how to lead. It wasn’t all inborn. So we shouldn’t be surprised that we, too, have to grow in the ways of the Lord, and our learning goes on, or should go on, all our lives regardless of our chronological age.

The 1st lesson in the experience of the 70 elders is that there’s no limiting the Lord; he’s not constrained by human beings, by time, by space. He’ll bestow his Holy Spirit on whomever he wishes, wherever he wishes, however he wishes.

The 2d lesson is that the Lord does choose to work within some human framework. It was Yahweh who instructed Moses to “assemble for me 70 of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. . . . I will take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you” (9:16-17). The Lord didn’t choose the 70; he left that to Moses and to the established institutions of Israel, the existing system of tribal leadership. Altho God sometimes breaks from established institutions—calling shepherds to become kings or prophets, inviting a maiden to become a virgin mother, for instance—he also works in a partnership with men and women, using the gifts and the limitations of them, their society, their culture.

The 3d lesson flows from Moses’ wish “that all the people of the Lord were prophets! that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!” (9:29). The Lord heard his plea, if not in Moses’ time, if not under the Old Covenant, certainly in the New Covenant, when, as Peter announced on Pentecost morning, quoting from the prophet Joel:

It will come to pass in the last days, God says,
“that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
your old men shall dream dreams.
Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids
I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days,
and they shall prophesy.”

And Peter went on to link the fulfillment of this prophecy, and implicitly of Moses’ wish, to Jesus of Nazareth, risen from the dead, “exalted at the right hand of God, who received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you both see and hear” (Acts 2:17-18,33).

God has anointed all of Jesus’ followers with the Holy Spirit, made all of us prophets (as well as priests and rulers). All of us are given the Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, and sometimes, like Eldad and Medad, some are chosen for a special share of the Spirit, some special charism, some special prophetic work in the Church and for the Church (the institutional, establishment side of things) but not necessarily in a manner that the institutional Church right away recognizes and accepts (the Spirit blows where he wills, when, how, and on whom). The Spirit inspires a Pope to call an ecumenical council, inspires an [Irish widower[1]/Italian orphan girl[2]] or an Italian farm boy[3] or an Albanian missionary sister[4] to found a great religious family.

The Holy Spirit works more quietly in most of us, enabling us to prophesy by how we live out our vocations [as religious or as married people]: in such wise that we testify to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior when we teach, when we converse, when we lead, when we act, when we serve one another, when we make sacrifices of ourselves—“whether eating or drinking or whatever we do, doing everything for the glory of God” (cf. 1 Cor 10:31) for all the world to see, not that we be seen but that Jesus Christ be seen; “performing mighty deeds in his name” (Mark 9:39) or simply “giving a cup of water to drink” to one of Jesus’ people (9:41). We testify to Jesus Christ by bringing the Gospel and Gospel values to our public as well as our private lives, using whatever influence and power we might have to advance justice and peace, human life and human dignity, the common good, the preservation of God’s creation, the sharing of goods and opportunities by all.

[1] Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers.[2] St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursulines.[3] St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesian Family.[4] Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

How Close to Manhattan?

How Close to Manhattan?

Outside the New York metro area, many people have never heard of New Rochelle (I guess they weren't Dick Van Dyke-Mary Tyler Moore fans), and even many of those who have--vaguely, sort of--have no clue where "The Queen City of the Sound" (Long Island Sound) is located. Well, from that remark you can tell it's on Long Island Sound!

On a sunny summer weekend (such as this one, Sept. 19), Long Island Sound fills up with sailboats. Too bad I can't shoot panoramically with my camera, because the whole horizon was full of sails (plus the occasional freighter, kayak, and paddle boat). This was shot from the east end of Pine Island, New Rochelle.

In 1906 George M. Cohan produced a musical called Forty-five Minutes from Broadway that was set in our fair city. Later in the century many of the country's top illustrators lived here because of its proximity to Manhattan, including Norman Rockwell (24 Lord Kitchener Rd.). So did baseball's greatest-ever first baseman, Lou Gehrig (4 Meadow La./Lou Gehrig Way), across the street from the College of New Rochelle. So did TV producer Carl Reiner, whose home at 48 Bonnie Meadow Rd. in the city's far north end was the setting for fictitious Rob and Laura Petry's fictitious address of 448 Bonnie Meadow Rd.

Nowadays MetroNorth, the commuter railroad, will get you to Grand Central Terminal in half an hour. If it takes you 15 minutes to get out of the terminal and walk to Broadway, there's your 45 minutes!

How's this for visual evidence of how close New Rochelle is to Manhattan?

This shot was taken on Pine Island, just outside our city's harbor, looking toward Glen Island, where Glenn Miller used to play in the late '30s, tho not in that building at the left, which is much more recent. But the tall, spiked building in the center of the photo isn't in New Rochelle or even in Westchester County. It's the Empire State Building. That's how close we are to Manhattan. (It's even better if you click on the pic and enlarge it.)

Another stunner is this, shot from the same spot at the west end of Pine Island, just turning slightly southward, relative to the previous shot:
It's the Whitestone Bridge, which crosses the East River and connects the borough of The Bronx with the borough of Queens. The East River is wide enuf at that point that it's on the verge of becoming the Sound.

Homily for 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the 
25th Sunday of Ordinary TimeSept. 20, 2009
Mark 9: 30-37
Provincial House, New Rochelle

“Whoever receives one child such as this…” (Mark 9: 37).

This passage has a particular appeal to Salesians because we see Jesus welcoming a child and encouraging his disciples to welcome children. Don Bosco liked to cite another passage where Jesus prevents the apostles from chasing away little children and in fact embraces them and blesses them (Mark 10:13-16).

Here at least the focus is not on children per se. Rather, it’s on the least important in society. In Jesus’ time, children qualified as among the least important. For starters, high infant mortality rates meant there was much less emotional investment in small children than we’re used to. Second, society’s emphasis on the maturity and wisdom of elders placed a premium on being older rather than younger—all very different from our society, which goes ga-ga over babies (once they’re born), goes to great lengths to maintain youthfulness (or at least the appearance of it), and puts elders aside.

In Jesus’ Palestine, a child can’t contribute to the family by working; until he or she grows, it’s just another mouth to feed, and whatever attention is requires is a distraction from the serious business of earning a living, cooking, baking, drawing water, washing. At best, a child is an investment in the future—a future worker on the land, in the shop, or in the household.

It is such an insignificant person whom Jesus presents to his disciples as someone to be received and welcomed in his name. He’s giving a value to the child by identifying himself with the child—a precious Salesian theme—but in the context of the disciples’ arguments over their own importance, he’s emphasizing what it means to serve, to attend to the least significant people, to count them as precious in God’s eyes, to look to their needs. Whoever receives a refugee, an immigrant, a leper, someone with AIDS, the poor, the homeless, the uneducated, someone who counts for nothing in society, is receiving Christ.

Most of us received a copy of Frank Moloney's commentary on Mark's Gospel[1] on our retreat in 2003. His remarks on this passage highlight the word receive, being receptive.The disciples’ idea of leadership, of greatness, is to exercise power and influence. Jesus says it’s being innocent and powerless like a child; it’s being wide-eyed and open to the world around you, ready to take it all in as it is, being eager for new experiences.

To receive Jesus, and the One who sent him, means we have to look at the world in a fresh way—like the vintner who uses new wineskins rather than old (Mark 2:22). Jesus demands a fresh approach to our understanding of God, of our relationship with God, of our relationships with one another. In his own time, Jesus was calling Israel to aggiornamento, and in our time he calls us to keep looking at the world like children to figure out what it means, how God’s speaking to us today, how do we receive God today—thru society, culture, events, science, the Scriptures, everything and everyone. What is God speaking to us thru such contemporary issues as the women’s movement, the environmental movement, globalization, any number of movements, issues, happenings that we’re all familiar with? What is God telling us thru movements in the Church, like the dynamic lay movements Focolare, Communion and Liberation, St. Egidio, and others; thru the call to ressourcement (the return to the sources of the Scriptures, the Fathers, the ancient liturgy, and so on)?

Tuning in to God—it’s a radio term, isn’t it? It means seeking him and having our reception set ready to listen to him with all the openness, innocence, and wonder of a child seeing, hearing, smelling, touching the world. “Disciples,” says Frank Moloney, “are called to be receptive to one another, and also to the design of God … [and] … to all that Jesus asks of them….”[2]

[1] Francis J. Moloney, SDB, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2002), pp. 188-189.
[2] Ibid., p. 189.

Homily for 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the 
24th Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 13, 2009
Isaiah 50: 4-9
Mark 8: 27-35
Christian Brothers, Iona College

“The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear” (Is 50: 4).

The 2nd part of the book of the prophet Isaiah contains 4 poems about the Servant of the Lord. Our 1st reading was 6 verses from the 3rd of these poems.

It’s not at all clear who this Servant of the Lord is: some unknown individual of Isaiah’s time, some future individual, or Israel collectively. Different parts of the poems make it seem like now one, now another of those possibilities.

What is clear thruout these poems is that the Lord has chosen this Servant of his: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit…” (42:1); “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. You are my servant, he said to me…” (49:1,3); “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I may know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear” (50:4).

It’s also clear that the Servant suffers a great deal: “I gave my back to those who beat me” (50:6), and similar passages; and the Servant remains unshakably loyal to God: “I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I have set my face like flint” (50:5,7), and so on.

Finally, it’s clear that God saves or vindicates his Servant: “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; [I know] I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right” (50:7-8).
Whomever the prophet may have meant by these poems, from the beginning the Church has seen in them an image, a figure, of our Savior. He is the Lord’s true servant, intent entirely on doing the Father’s will. There are echoes of these poems at Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration and in the details of his passion. The Father has chosen him to be the Christ, as Peter recognizes (Mark 8:29), but—as we considered last week in reference with the “messianic secret” (cf. 7:36), and which Jesus exercises again this evening: “he warned them not to tell anyone about him” (8:30)—that role doesn’t promise national liberation and political power. Jesus makes clear today that it means rejection and suffering (8:31,34). The fate of Jesus mirrors that of the Servant of the Lord. But God will also vindicate Jesus; he will rise (8:31) so that he’s not shamed (cf. Is 50:7), but glorified instead. The Lord God proves to be his help, and no one will be able to deny it on the day of judgment: “Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?” (50:8-9).

Peter was reluctant to believe that the Son of Man “must suffer greatly and be rejected… and be killed” (Mark 8:31). He didn’t grasp the identity of the Son of Man with the Servant of the Lord. As events proved, Peter and the rest of the 12 were even more reluctant to identify themselves with the Son of Man, to see that they also might have to suffer and be rejected, be put on trial and condemned. It’s one of the indications of the truth of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus that they were so convinced after Jesus’ crucifixion; convinced not only in mind but even in their total commitment. St. John Chrysostom, whose memorial we ordinarily observe on Sept. 13, writes in a homily on 1 Corinthians:

How [do you] account for the fact that these men [the apostles], who in Christ’s lifetime did not stand up to the attacks by the Jews, set forth to do battle with the whole world once Christ was dead—if…Christ did not rise and speak to them and rouse their courage? Did they perhaps say to themselves: “…He could not save himself but he will protect us? He did not help himself when he was alive, but now that he is dead he will extend a helping hand to us? . . .” Would it not be wholly irrational even to think such thoughts, much less to act upon them? (Homily 4, 3.4, in LOH 4:1345-46)

Evidently Peter and the rest had also come to see themselves as the servants of the Lord, chosen, destined for rejection in this world, redeemed and vindicated by Jesus—who is not John the Baptist, who is not Elijah, who is not a prophet, who is the Messiah for the world to come.

That identity between the Christ and his disciples Jesus spells out with terrifying clarity when Peter objects to the prediction of suffering and death (8:32): Peter is a satan, an “adversary,” a “tempter,” for thinking to mislead Jesus from his true role as the Father’s servant; moreover, if we wish to be with Jesus, we must walk the same road that he does, the way of the cross (8:34). The Christian way of life makes us, also, servants of the Lord who have been chosen, who will be rejected for identifying ourselves as Christ’s people—sometimes openly persecuted, as is happening now in Pakistan, India, and elsewhere; sometimes more subtly persecuted, as when defenders of human rights are harassed, threatened, and assassinated (as happened to a priest in the Philippines last Sunday); sometimes just pushed aside as irrelevant.

Jesus promises to those who are unshakably loyal final vindication: “whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it” (8:35). On the last day his disciples will not be shamed but raised up with him.

Remembering

Remembering

Most of us kept a somber remembrance of some kind yesterday, September 11, perhaps reliving the emotions of the day, perhaps mourning someone we lost.

Loss was definitely on the mind of the Scouts and Scouters of Troop Forty from Mt. Vernon, N.Y., although none of the boys now in the troop were there eight years ago. One of the more than 2,700 who died in New York was our Scoutmaster, Michael Andrew Boccardi.

Credit: Ed Maselli

Mike, just 30 years old, had grown up in Troop Forty, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, then becoming an assistant scoutmaster and finally in the mid-90s Scoutmaster. He was practically married to the troop, giving loads and loads of time and attention, and not a little bit of his own money, to every detail of the program and to the Scouts and Scouters. For more than one Scout, Mike was the only father in their lives.

He also served young people through Rockland County Child Protective Services.


Mike was one of five Mt. Vernon citizens who perished on 9/11. When the city decided to memorialize them with a plaque at city hall this year and invited Troop Forty to participate in the memorial service on the evening of September 11, 2009, we eagerly accepted. In particular, during the service five Scouts lit candles in honor of the five who died: Michael A. Boccardi, Johnathan Eric Briley, Sandra Patricia Campbell, Katie Marie McCloskey, and Rochelle Monique Snell

The ceremony honored all the first responders of Mt. Vernon as well as remembering those who lost their lives. A substantial number of city officials, police officers, firemen, and others attended, in addition to the Scouts, Scouters, and parents.


Mike Boccardi wasn't a 9/11 hero. He was just at work on the 92nd floor of the North Tower, as usual. But he was a hero every day with the young people of Troop Forty. I witnessed that for six years as I served alongside him with the troop, and I saw it again at Mt. Vernon City Hall in the tears of one of those boys, now a young adult.

Blue Dot Special

Blue Dot Special
On Sunday afternoon Fr. Jim Mulloy and I undertook an overnite backpacking trip into Harriman State Park. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we knew there wasn't any chance of landing one of the dozen hikers' shelters scattered thru the park, and even finding a place to park a car overnite would be a challenge. I suggested the parking area at the end of Johnsontown Rd. in Sloatsburg, and he agreed.

Then we picked out route: the Blue Disc Trail (white blaze with blue dot), which starts there and goes 2.8 miles up a couple of strenuous climbs and then down to an end at Tri-Trail Corner, where it runs into the the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail (at 21 miles, the 2d-longest in the park, I think) and the trailhead for the Victory Trail. There's water there, running out of Black Ash Swamp into a creek, and I remembered some likely camping spots around there. (My memory was better than the reality in this case. But at least we had no competition for a site.)

As it turned out, there were exactly 2 parking spots available when we got there, and about 20 cars parked. We ran into lots and lots of day hikers on our route, and other trails (e.g., the White Bar and the Kakiat) are easily accessed from Johnsontown Rd. This morning, as we drove by the Reeves Meadow Visitors Center on our way home--it's on Seven Lakes Dr. not far from where we parked--cars lined the highway for at least a quarter mile on either side of the visitors center, indicating what the main parking lots were like, just for hiking areas (not to mention those that also serve picnickers).

There are a lot of things to remember about hiking, some of them essential to your safety, others just to your convenience. One that falls in between is "pay attention to the trail blazes" on your chosen route. In the photo above, the Blue Disc Trail (bet you can figure out which one that is!) is turning right, indicated by a double blaze with the top one to the right of the lower. The Kakiat Trail, which had joined the Blue Disc for a very short distance, is forking off to the left. In Harriman there are numerous unmarked side trails and woods roads. Miss a trail marker, and you'll soon get lost!


The trail map indicates a spot called "Almost Perpendicular." That sounds not just challenging but a little scary. (Someone I was backpacking with once let it scare him, and therefore me, from attempting it.) The Harriman Trails guidebook (very valuable) gives a fair description of a pretty steep climb--that's it in the photo above, which doesn't quite do justice to it, but it is manageable. In fact, we encountered several dogs along the route, a mom and dad each toting a tot (on their way down the climb pictured), one or two bigger kids, and many other hikers. The views make it worthwhile.

From the top of Almost Perpendicular, this is one view: that's the Reeves Meadow Visitors Center parking lot and Seven Lakes Dr. If you're able to enlarge the photo, you'll see what I meant above about parking. This shot gives you an idea of how much climbing we'd done just to get to this point.

When we got back into some woods, Fr. Jim saw this orange fungus growing at the base of a large tree and got excited. He called it "sulphur shelf" and said it was edible. For a minute I thought he was going to grab a handful and eat it, but he didn't. I sure wasn't going to!

Eventually, after some hard hiking we got to the large cliff where Claudius Smith Den is located (he was a notorious outlaw in the 1770s). The Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy Trail crosses the Blue Disc here, and we considered cutting short our original design and heading along the TMI to the Dutch Doctor shelter, where there's usually water in a nearby creek and quite a few camping spots if the shelter's already taken. But Fr. Jim wanted to check out the view from the cliffs, which we found at least 7 hikers and a dog already doing: grand westward views toward Tuxedo.

Once up that high, on top of Claudius Smith Rock, we decided we might as well continue on the Blue Disc (not having noted that there was still one big climb to come). There's nice woods up on that ridge, including a lot of birch.

When we reached Big Pine Hill, the highest point on the trail, we had a fine view to the north. Here you see Black Ash Mt., and in the center, Black Ash Swamp, whose west end was our destination.

It took us almost 3 hours to do the 2.8 miles of the Blue Disc Trail, with several pauses to enjoy views or catch our breath.

The available water at Tri-Trails Corner was less than we'd expected, but it was usable (with a water filter). We found 2 camp sites flanking the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail just above the "corner," with existing fire rings; neither had been used for a while. I picked the slightly larger of the two and set up my little home for the nite:

This, with the rain fly, weighs just over 2 pounds and is roomy enuf for me and a tiny bit of gear (mainly whatever nite wear plus the change of clothes for the morrow). This shot was before I put in 2 sleeping pads (which still leaves quite a hard bed to sleep on, but not as hard as bare ground!) and my sleeping bag. The sleeping bag's stuff sack plus some extra clothing, e.g. a quilted jacket, makes for an adequate pillow.

Fr. Jim and I have a nice arrangement: he fetches the water, I fetch the firewood. That wasn't hard here: there was a superabundance of it, almost all very dry. After we ate our freeze-dried suppers (beef teriyaki and chicken teriyaki) plus a few other morsels, we got a little fire going around 8:00 p.m.--one match required, plus a bit of paper and one of Fr. Jim's unpatented firestarters (lint and parafin in a section of egg carton) and the ample kindling wood. We kept the fire going for an hour while we talked or listened to a radio (Fr. Jim) or read (me). He was disappointed there weren't many stars out--lots of clouds instead. We could just barely hear traffic from the Thruway, there were lots of cicadas, and otherwise it was very, very quiet. We turned in at 9:00 p.m., Fr. Jim in sleeping bag under what stars there were, I in my tent.

Monday morning, after rising between 6:45 (me) and 7:15 (Fr. Jim), we prayed and celebrated Mass. Fr. Jim's a light breakfast eater--a little bit of bread and cheese. I went for a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and coffee (see above, with water almost boiling on my Pocket Rocket stove), plus some bread and cheese.

At 9:00 we got onto the trail. With no desire for serious climbing, we took a longer--3.7 miles--but easier route: the Victory Trail toward Lake Skenonto, but picking up the White Bar Trail about halfway to the lake and following that south to the Dutch Doctor shelter, thence west back to Johnsontown Rd.

Along the White Bar Trail we had a little bit of uphill, especially as we went over a shoulder of Blauvelt Mt., and a lot of downhill. There were already signs of autumn. If you look behind me in the photo above, you'll see a tree already turned red. Most of the trail is quite pretty with fairly open woods. There was one vista with a good view toward Tuxedo.

When we got to Dutch Doctor, we took a good rest. The shelter had indeed been used Sunday nite; in fact, the users had left their campfire still smouldering in the fire ring! That's a big no-no! We didn't have enuf water to douse it well, but we at least made sure all the remaining wood was removed. From there the White Bar Trail pursues pretty much a straight run down a woods road to within a quarter mile of the Johnsontown Rd. parking area; that last stretch is a narrow footpath.

This morning at first we met almost no one: a trio of hikers going up the RD Trail before we left our camp, another trio on the Victory Trail coming, apparently, from overnite camping at Lake Skenonto. But there was more traffic once we got to Dutch Doctor, two pairs of day hikers and a trio of overnite backpackers (one a small lad) heading toward Tuxedo's train station.

We got back to our pickup truck about 11:15: a longer route in mileage, but a shorter one in time and energy expended. The parking area was nearly full. Since we hadn't seen that many people, I guess a lot of hikers were heading up the Blue Disc Trail....

Homily for 23d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the 
23d Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 6, 2009
Mark 7: 31-37
Collect
Christian Brothers, Iona College, N.R.
Willow Towers, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it” (Mark 7: 36).

In our gospel story tonite, we have one of several examples of Jesus telling people not to talk about his wondrous deeds. This is a feature of Mark’s gospel in particular and has the name “messianic secret”: here’s Jesus healing the sick, expelling demons, feeding thousands, being transfigured before the eyes of his chosen apostles—and not least, announcing the presence of the kingdom of God—and he doesn’t want people to talk about it!

Why?

Of course there’s been an abundance of speculation about that. Most often, it seems to me, the answer proposed is that people didn’t understand Jesus’ role as Messiah, so he didn’t want them proclaiming him as the Messiah. For most of the Jews, Messiah was a political role: a liberator and just ruler; for the Romans, he would be a rebel, an insurrectionist—and in the end, that was the charge brought against Jesus before Pontius Pilate, who executed him as “King of the Jews.”

Jesus’ wondrous deeds and his teaching, instead, are signs of God’s desire to love and to heal humanity, to make people whole, to restore a family relationship between God and men. It’s a whole different idea of redemption and restoration, one that even his closest followers were extremely slow to grasp. Hence, lots of caution about publicity.

What kind of salvation Jesus has come to offer us—that relates to our prayer this evening. We begged God to “redeem us, make us [his] children in Christ, give us true freedom, and bring us to the inheritance [he] promised.” The inheritance isn’t any earthly kingdom. True freedom is neither national security nor the agenda of the ACLU; it’s not even physical or mental health. Redemption isn’t economic recovery nor the restoration of our forests, clean water, and clear skies. The inheritance is divine life; true freedom is casting off the chains of sin and practicing virtue without inhibition; redemption is returning to God’s family as “his children in Christ.”

“He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.”

There’s another way we could view this “messianic secret.” In the 2d half of the 1st century, when Mark wrote his gospel, Christianity was outlawed and Christians were being harassed, exiled, put to death. Later on, when they had collections of sacred writings, those writings were burned when found by the public authorities. Those public authorities, like the Sanhedrin in the Acts of the Apostles (4:18; 5:28), forbade any teaching about Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah), about the coming of the kingdom of God. Those public authorities, both Jewish and imperial, wanted Christianity not only kept a secret but suppressed entirely—as do various regimes and movements today: Communists in China and North Korea, Muslim jihadists, Hindu radicals, militant atheists and secularists in Western society, the ACLU, the abortion industry, the homosexual marriage lobby.

But there’s no suppressing the word of God, no stifling the Good News of the kingdom. The more these oppressors order the Church to shut up and disperse, or to keep our opinion to ourselves—you can believe whatever you want in your heart; just don’t talk about it, don’t let it affect what you do in public life—the more does the word of God spread. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” Tertullian wrote early in the 3d century, and it’s still true.

Human ears and human hearts remain open to the truth—indeed, hunger for it; and Christian tongues continue to speak the truth plainly (cf. Mark 7:34-34)—because God created us for truth, which is to say, for himself, as St. Augustine confessed so many centuries ago on the basis of his own experience:

O eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see…. I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…. He was calling me and saying: I am the way of truth, I am the life. . . .
Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. . . . You touched me, and I burned for your peace. (Confessions, Book 7, ch. 10, in Liturgy of the Hours 4:1356-57)

And in his most famous passage, Augustine proclaims to God, “You have created us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Book 1). The powers of this world can no more keep Jesus a secret than they can keep us from hungering for the truth, for freedom from evil, for love, for an eternal inheritance.

A Walk in he Woods

A Walk in the Woods

Bill Bryson wrote a well known and highly entertaining book called A Walk in the Woods about his hiking of part of the Appalachian Trail.

Bro. Tom taking a breather. The woods

are lush after all the rain we've had

this summer.

Today (Sunday, Aug. 30) Bro. Tom and I did a little hiking--near the AT, as a matter of fact. Specifically, we started at the lower end of the Camp Smith Trail and headed up toward Anthony's Nose, which is at the eastern end of the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River. The AT crosses the river via the bridge, then climbs up the back end of the ridge that Anthony's Nose is part of.

It was a perfect day for hiking, after a couple of rainy days related to the passing by of tropical storm Danny. But the Camp Smith Trail, which runs uphill from an old toll house (now a visitors' center) parallel to U.S. Route 6 (along the edge of the N.Y. National Guard's Camp Smith--hence the name!), is a tough trail, narrow in spots, with many steep spots, clambering up rocks; so we made it only about halfway to Anthony's Nose. We're not in the best of shape. After two and a half hours, lunch and various scenic views included, we turned around.

One of the scenic views, looking down the Hudson as a large barge comes upriver, against the current of course, pushed along by a tug. You can see other river traffic, pleasure boats. At the left is the city of Peekskill, at right center Indian Point nuclear power plant. Beyond the power plant, where the river is in view again above the trees, is Haverstraw Bay, with High Tor visible in the distance.

We were surprised to meet very few hikers (unlike my previous excursions on this trail)--just 5 in all, not counting a dog. Here are 3 of them, with dog, and Bro. Tom. It was their first time on the trail, and they were glad of a little guidance, like how to read the trail blazes and the identities of some of the things they were seeing.

This is where we turned around, with Bear Mountain in full view (the big thing on the left side of the photo--maybe you can spot the Perkins Tower on top of it), rocky Popolopen Torne in the center (tho not as high as Bear Mt., a rigorous climb in its own right), and the top of the piers of the Bear Mountain Bridge at the right. Anthony's Nose is the mountain at the right.

Besides our being out of shape, the other disappointment of the hike was the lack of blackberries and blueberries. They were rife the last time I was up there, also in August.

The Camp Smith Trail is part of Hudson Highlands State Park.

Homily for 22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
22d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Aug. 30, 2009
Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Collect
Christian Brothers, Iona College, New Rochelle

“This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7: 6).

After our long meditation upon John 6 and the bread of life, we return to St. Mark. To refresh our memories: Jesus has sent the apostles out on mission, and they’ve returned to him. In the meantime, Herod has killed John the Baptist (yesterday’s liturgical memorial, incidentally). Jesus has taken the 12 aside for some rest and reflection, only to be pursued by the crowds, whom he has then fed miraculously.

Now Jesus re-enters the public arena, so to speak. As the state authorities have opposed the word of God—Herod vs. John the Baptist—so do the temple authorities oppose it: “When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of the disciples ate their meals with unclean…hands. So they questioned him…” (7:1-2,5).

It’s not that washing one’s hands before meals is a bad idea. The Centers for Disease Control and other public authorities are encouraging us to do lots of hand-washing. Nor is it that careful observance of all the commandments of the Lord is a bad idea; God explicitly commands it, as we heard in the 1st reading (Deut 4:1-2,6-8).

Rather, the issue is that the religion of Jesus’ critics is focused on externals: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Their hands may be clean; their cups and dishes may be clean; but their hearts, their souls—that’s another question altogether. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God…is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27 [2d reading]). Elsewhere Jesus faults the Pharisees for their greed and love of money (Luke 16:14-15), faults the rich for making a show of their contributions to the Temple (Luke 21:1-4), damns the rich for ignoring the poor at their doorstep (Luke 16:19-31). The religious leaders of Israel who were concerned about their social and political status, who resented Jesus’ assault on their financial arrangements in the Temple (Mark 11:15-18), persecuted Jesus and finally handed him over to the Romans for execution. In one of his best known parables (15:11-32), Jesus presents the pathetic figure of a son who meticulously obeys every command of his father—the parable is aimed at the Pharisees and scribes (Luke 15:1-3)—but whose obedience is empty and loveless and whose place at the heavenly banquet is left open to question.

“Pure and undefiled religion before God” has its external practices, to be sure: simplicity of life, lack of ambition for wealth and power (“unstained by the world”), care for the poor, the sick, the foreigner, the widow. But such external practices flow from hearts “pure and undefiled,” from hearts “close to the Lord our God” (cf. Deut 4:7). Real uncleanness isn’t an unwashed cup or unwashed hands but hearts full of “evil thoughts,” full of the capital sins (Mark 7:21-23).

Our self-examination at the start of each Mass, at the end of the day, and the sacrament of Reconciliation includes specific external behaviors. It also needs to look at our hearts, at the thoughts and motives (cf. Heb 4:12) for what we do and say. Some of our thoughts and motives need purification, and some are “pure and undefiled before God.”

Hence our Opening Prayer today included a prayer that our hearts be filled with love for God (1st form), with desires to please God (alternate form). The Responsorial Psalm sanctifies the person “who thinks the truth in his heart” (15:2), who therefore demonstrates external piety by respecting the reputations, lives, and property of others (15:3-5). St. Paul advises the Christians of Philippi to concentrate their thoughts on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise” (4:8).

May the Lord “fill our minds with insight into love, so that every thought may grow in wisdom, and all our efforts be filled with [his] peace” (Collect).

Troop Forty Goes to Camp

Troop Forty Goes to Camp

Troop Forty, Mount Vernon, N.Y., took their annual trip to Camp Yawgoog (http://www.yawgoog.com/)in Rockville, R.I., from August 9 to 16. They seem to have had their customary excellent time. Asst. Scoutmaster Ed Maselli shared some photos from the week with the troop chaplain, who was unable to be with them.

Homily for 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
21st Sunday of Ordinary TimeAug. 23, 2009
Collect; Eph 5: 21-32
Christian Brothers, Iona College
Ursulines, Willow Drive

“Father, help us to seek the values that will bring us lasting joy in this changing world. In our desire for what you promise, make us one in mind and heart” (Collect).

The world is changing faster than ever, and the older we get, the faster it seems to be changing: politics, science, technology, pop culture, slang, fashion, the climate, etc., etc., etc.

Amid all that, our Collect or Opening Prayer speaks of “lasting joy”—“lasting joy in this changing world.” Is there something that lasts amid all the change, and the turmoil and confusion linked with change, amid the faster and faster pace of life? Our faith is based, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, on Jesus Christ, “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (13:8). The prayer speaks of “values that will bring us lasting joy,” suggesting they’re within our reach, attainable, but perhaps not readily evident. They’re the values of Jesus Christ, of course, those values we pursue and treasure as his disciples. They’re the values we “desire,” quoting the prayer again, the values that are related to God’s promises.

The prayer links all this—values, lasting joy, our desires—to oneness in mind and heart. So does St. Paul in today’s second reading.

I opted for the longer, politically incorrect form of that reading. We don’t serve our discipleship well or grow in our relationships with God and one another by dodging passages that are difficult, especially when the difficulty is so superficial.

Unity, love, reverence are the keys to that reading. Nothing superficial.

Of course it’s true that Paul refers to the cultural mores of his time. Those are superficial. Our cultural mores are different, and they too are superficial. The essence of Paul’s message is the same now as it was when he wrote it: a lasting value. Spouses are to love each other as Christ loves the Church, to give themselves for each other as Christ gave himself, to serve each other as Christ serves the Church. There’s a reason why marriage is a sacrament: it’s a sign of the relationship between Christ and the Church. “This is a great mystery” (Eph 5:32), and mystery is another word for sacrament. In fact, sacramentum is the Latin translation of Paul’s mysterion, which signifies the deep or hidden meaning of certain realities, in this case the realities of our life in Jesus Christ.

To be one with Christ, to act with and in Christ, is the goal of all of us, not only of married couples, of course. For several weeks we’ve been reading from John 6 on Sundays: the Johannine version of the institution of the greatest mysterion of our faith, the Eucharist. (You’re well aware that John’s account of the Last Supper takes up 5 chapters, including the washing of the apostles’ feet and Jesus’ long discourse on the great commandment, union with him, the Advocate, and more, but without any reference to the Eucharist. We suppose that’s because he gives so much attention to the Eucharist here.) The emphasis in John 6 is not on the memorial nature of the sacrament, as it is in the Synoptics (“Do this in memory of me.”), but on becoming one with Christ so that we might live with him. Our becoming one with the Body and Blood of Jesus is a step toward becoming “one in mind and heart” with one another and with the Holy Trinity.

Fortified by the Body and Blood of Christ, we religious also become sacramenta or sacred mysteries. Religious profession isn’t one of the 7 sacraments, as you know. Yet it is truly sacramental. Our lives are signs. By our lives in community, in our apostolates, in our chastity, obedience, and poverty, we give testimony to our union with Christ, to the primacy of Christ in the life of the Church and in our own lives. We religious also are to love each other as Christ loves the Church, to give ourselves for each other as Christ gave himself, to serve each other as Christ serves the Church. Built up by the Body of Christ, we too build up the Body of Christ—as do married couples, according to their own vocation.

The married with their families create “a domestic Church,” in that priceless phrasing of Vatican II (Lumen gentium, n. 11; cf. Gaudium et spes, n. 48). The two who become one flesh (Eph 5:31) are generative of life both physical and spiritual. The religious also is generative, perhaps in a social manner thru his or her educational or other apostolate, but especially in a spiritual manner by fostering in people a desire for the promises of God, for lasting joys that have no material basis but a basis solely in God’s own life, shared with us so that we “might be holy and without blemish … because we are members of his body” (Eph 5:27,30).

Two Salesians Make First Vows

Two Salesians Make First Vows
The Salesians of the Eastern Province of the United States welcomed two new members on August 16 when they made their first profession of the religious vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty.

Brothers Minh Duc Dang, SDB, and Paul Phuoc Trong Chu, SDB, professed their vows during the 10:15 a.m. parish Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Port Chester, N.Y. Fr. Tom Dunne, SDB, the provincial, presided and preached. A large number of Salesian priests and brothers, other clergy, family, friends, and parishioners filled the church so that there was standing room only.

Bro. Paul Chu, Fr. Tom Dunne, Bro. Minh Dang

The two newly professed Salesians completed a year of novitiate at St. Joseph Novitiate under the guidance of Fr. Bill Keane, SDB, master of novices. The novitiate is based at Holy Rosary.

Music was provided by a mixed choir of parish youths and Vietnamese youths.

The parish provided a reception in the church hall after Mass.

Both of the new brothers were born in 1982 in Ho Nai, Bien Hoa province, Vietnam. But they did not know each other until they joined the Salesians.

Minh Duc Dang comes from a large family. His parents were at the profession Mass, along with other family members. He has five brothers and three sisters. Minh and most of his family were able to immigrate to the U.S. in 1992, after a year in a Philippines refugee camp—they had escaped from Vietnam by boat—with the assistance of an Amer-Asian half-brother of Minh who was already in the U.S. At this time the entire family is in America.

A family in Urbana, Ill., sponsored them, and they lived in that Midwestern city for a year before settling permanently in Burke, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Minh attended public schools, graduating from Lake Braddock High School in 2001. For college he returned to Urbana to attend the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana; he completed his B.A. in philosophy at Seton Hall University in 2007 after entering the Salesian formation program.

In 2006 Minh had the opportunity to return to Vietnam for the ordination of an uncle. There he met another uncle who is a Salesian priest. Since he had been thinking about his own possible vocation, this uncle took him to visit the Salesian house of formation at Da Lat.

On his return home, Minh contacted the Salesian vocation office in South Orange, N.J., paid a visit there and to the Salesian summer camp in New Rochelle. And he applied for the formation program immediately and was accepted.

During his two years in the formation community at Orange, N.J., and his novitiate year, Bro. Minh has been most impressed by learning that consecrated Salesian life involves more than the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty. It also involves living in community and carrying out an apostolic mission. He says that he has found wonderful examples in the men who have guided his formation, and he cites those who staff the novitiate: besides Fr. Keane they are Frs. Rich Alejunas, Phil Pascucci, and Peter Granzotto and Bro. Sal Sammarco.

Bro. Minh Dang with his parents

Now Bro. Minh will return to the formation community in Orange. Since he has already earned a B.A. in philosophy, he will work toward an M.A. in education and psychology. He thinks that he may eventually work as a guidance counselor in one of the five schools that the Salesians run in the New Rochelle Province. But he also has an interest in the foreign missions and after his eventual ordination to the priesthood may offer himself to the Rector Major for overseas service.

Whether in the house of formation, a school, or the missions, Bro. Minh expects to deepen his Christian faith and Salesian spirit.

Paul Phuoc Trong Chu writes that in Vietnam he was a mischievous boy but, still, already very attracted to the altar. He remembers: “During Mass, I was always fascinated with what happens on the altar, even though I had not a clue what it was about. I wanted to be an altar server. Often, I went to Mass early to hang out at the sacristy, hoping someone would invite me to serve Mass. Unfortunately, there was never a shortage of servers at our church, so I was never called on to serve. However, my yearning to be closer to the altar has stayed ever since.”

Sponsored by Catholic Charities, Paul and his family came to the U.S. in February 1992. Although they were already Catholic, this sponsorship by the Catholic Church made a great, positive impression on them. In addition, when they settled in Springfield, Mass., they lived for some time with a nun before getting their own home.

Paul was delighted that he was finally able to become an altar server a few weeks after arriving in the U.S. Some time later a young Vietnamese priest, Fr. Quynh, suggested to him that he might have a priestly vocation; he and his family began to think about that.

Paul attended public schools and graduated from Springfield’s High School of Science and Technology in 2001. From there he went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he double-majored in computer science and math and graduated in 2005. He took a job with a good salary near Boston. During drives back and forth to visit his family, he would pray the Rosary and other prayers. He always listened attentively to the Scripture readings and homily at Mass.

At some point Paul attended a retreat with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. “During this retreat,” he writes, “I seriously began to contemplate the meaning of my own life. Then the thought occurred to me: I want to offer myself totally to God.” [his emphasis]

The scene in Holy Rosary Church during the homily

In 2005 Paul met a Salesian for the first time, although he did not know it at the time. Paul was very active in a youth group, the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Society, which—coincidentally—has St. Dominic Savio as its patron. He was attending a camp with their leadership when Fr. Dominic Tran, SDB, came to speak to them, making a delightful impression on all.

The next year Paul visited Vietnam with his family for three weeks. Already discerning a possible priestly vocation, he went to the shrine of Our Lady of La Vang and prayed for guidance. Then he visited his mother’s native parish in Pleiku, where he met a visiting priest who had a most impressive way of interacting with young people. Paul recalls: “There was much love and compassion in the words and sound of his voice as he talked to them. I thought to myself, I want to be this kind of priest.” The priest was a Salesian, as it turned out. The pastor in Pleiku suggested to Paul that he get in touch with the Salesians.

Paul had remained involved with his youth group while in college, serving first as treasurer and then as president. Now, on his return to the U.S. from Vietnam, he felt inspired to do research on Don Bosco. He stumbled upon the Salesian Web site, which led him to the vocation office in South Orange. He visited the formation program in September 2006 and loved it. He entered the formation program at Orange the following August.

Already possessing a college degree, Paul could concentrate just on Salesian formation, getting ready to enter the novitiate in August 2008. Studying, living, working, and praying in the Salesian way has strengthened his conviction that God is calling him to be a priest and to work with the young and the poor.

At Holy Rosary Parish, Bro. Paul has been most impressed by the variety of ministries that the Salesians conduct within the parish context. He has thoroughly enjoyed his own ministry and other interactions with the parishioners. Community life is sometimes a challenge. The Salesian who has made the biggest impression on him this year is Bro. Sal Sammarco, who is deeply spiritual and always joyful, according to Bro. Paul. Bro. Paul also appreciates the guidance he has gotten from his confessor, Fr. Peter Granzotto.

Bro. Paul’s father died in 2005; his mother was present for his religious profession. He has two younger sisters.

Bro. Paul Chu with his mother

Bro. Paul will return to the house of formation in Orange and take philosophy courses at Seton Hall University. And he will continue his journey in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, bringing the Gospel to young people wherever the Salesians will ask him to do that. “The Salesian way of life encourages me to pray and live in union with Jesus Christ, ever to strive for holiness,” he says.

In his homily at the profession Mass, Fr. Tom Dunne traced the similarities in the vocation stories of the two novices about to make their vows. He saw in those stories how God had pursued them, and this religious profession is the culmination of that pursuit.

Religious profession, said Fr. Tom, fulfills the call that Brothers Paul and Minh first answered in Baptism and deepened in Penance and Confirmation; that call reaches its highest point in the Holy Eucharist, of which Jesus spoke in the day’s gospel (John 6:51-58). He said that the Lord’s promise of his presence will have to be the center of their lives. The Eucharist is a symbol of the exchange that they are making with God this day: mutual self-giving. In the last analysis, he said, that relationship of self-offering by and to Christ is the beginning and the end of our religious consecration.

Fr. Tom observed how many family members, priests, and Salesians had made their vocation journey with the two new brothers—many of them present at the Mass, including their parents.

Fr. Provincial hands one of the newly professed brothers
a copy of the Salesian Rule, which will guide his daily life from now on.

New Rochelle Province Has Two New Novices

New Rochelle Province Has Two New Novices

Fr. Tom Dunne received two young men into St. Joseph Novitiate of the Eastern Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco on the evening of August 15, 2009.

Philip (P.J.) Ehling, from Ohio, and Juan Pablo Rubio, from Mexico by way of Michigan, began their year of novitiate at a parish Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Port Chester, N.Y., where the novitiate is located.

In his homily at the Mass, their master of novices, Fr. Bill Keane, noted that in the gospel of the day (John 6:51-58), people ask a “wrong” question of Jesus. In the rite of acceptance P.J. and Juan Pablo were asked, “What are your deep desire and motives for your request” for admission? That, said Fr. Bill, is the right question. And their answer must be that they are undertaking a journey that will complete the commitment they made when they were baptized; or, as the ritual puts it, “We think that God our Father, after giving us life and the gift of faith, is now inviting us to follow his Son more closely, in Don Bosco’s spirit, through the total gift of ourselves.”

P.J. was attracted to the Salesians while visiting the Boys & Girls Club in Columbus and seeing how Salesian priests and brothers interacted with kids. Juan Pablo met the Salesians at a convention at Notre Dame and in a visit to the formation community in Orange found himself perfectly at home.

During the year of novitiate, Juan Pablo and P.J. will live in Salesian community, practice Salesian apostolic work, study the Salesian Constitutions, be instructed in the meaning of the evangelical counsels (obedience, chastity, and poverty), and continue discerning their vocation with the assistance of their master/spiritual director, their confessor, their brother Salesians, and indeed the entire parish community of Holy Rosary Church.

New novices P.J. Ehling and Juan Pablo Rubio with Fr. Tom Dunne, provincial

Homily for 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 16, 2009
John 6: 51-58
Proverbs 9: 1-6
Willow Towers, New Rochelle


“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6: 54).

At noon on Friday Fr. Mark, whom you all know, the director of our mission office, ordered out for a spectacular luncheon on the grounds for all the mission office employees, in honor of three of the Salesians who work in the office. They’re celebrating this year their 40th, 50th, or 60th anniversary of their religious vows—40, 50, or 60 years as professed Salesians of Don Bosco. And Fr. Mark made sure that all the rest of us in the community were invited, so we could come and celebrate the lives of these brothers of ours along with the people they work with every day. Fr. Mark had his meats and his salads and his anniversary cake ready, and water and soda but no wine (cf. Prov 9:2). Sort of like Lady Wisdom in today’s 1st reading, he told all his staff and the SDBs, “Come, eat of my food, and drink” (cf. Prov 9:5). And those spare ribs and chicken were good, I’ll tell you!

Our Old Testament reading today speaks of a banquet with fine meat, and wine too. Wisdom—Wisdom personified—builds a seven-columned house and sets out a huge banquet for any passer-by who wants to stop in and feast with her. Her presence, her feast, is an offer of understanding and of life. As our SDB brothers have found joy and contentment in giving their lives over to follow Jesus Christ, so Wisdom invites everyone to find truth, goodness, beauty—life!—in following Torah, the law of God, in living out the special relationship between God and his people (which is what the Old Testament means by “wisdom”).

That passage from the Book of Proverbs may remind us of one of Jesus’ parables (Matt 22:1-13), wherein a king has prepared a wedding banquet for his son. When the invited guests refuse to come, the king sends out his servants to bring in anyone they can find on the roads and in the fields. And these unexpected guests have a grand feast. That parable is one of Jesus’ parables of the kingdom of heaven, of God’s invitation to men and women to receive his gift of eternal life.

The Bible often uses the image of a feast, a banquet, for heaven, for eternal life, for deep friendship with God. Nothing symbolizes joy and contentment for people like a good party, a fine meal, as all of us know from our family lives and even here at Willow Towers.

Sometimes Scripture commentaries see in the passage from Proverbs about Wisdom a kind of foreshadowing of Jesus, Church, and sacraments. That’s not what the sacred author had in mind, but it’s an apt metaphor or symbol for us—what the commentators call an “allegorical” interpretation of the Old Testament. From earliest times, starting from St. Paul (1 Cor 1:24), Christians have considered Christ to be the Wisdom of God in person, a natural theological offshoot of his title as the Word made flesh. According to the Old Testament, including Proverbs, the Word of God is wisdom. How much more, then, is the incarnate Word of God Wisdom in person. Referring to our passage from Proverbs, we can say that Christ has built himself a house, which is the Church, and this house depends upon seven columns, the sacraments.

Wisdom invites people to come and feast at her lavish table, and so to find life. Jesus invites everyone to come to his lavish table and find life, eternal life: “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:55,54).

The Eucharist isn’t just one column of Jesus’ house, just one sacrament among seven. The entire house depends on this essential structural support. If we were using a shipbuilding metaphor, the Eucharist would be the keel. As the Second Vatican Council says, the Eucharist is the source and the summit of the entire life of the Church. It is the very Body and Blood of Christ, our Lord and Savior himself. We—the Church—come from him and we’re going to him, accompanied along the way by him.

I noted a couple of weeks ago that the people in the synagog at Capernaum begged Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always” (6:34), not realizing of course that Jesus would do exactly that: give us himself in the form of bread and wine to remain with us always, always to be available to us, so that we can absorb him into our corporeal and spiritual selves and make him, quite literally, part of our very being, be transformed into the Body of Christ. We are what we eat, as you know. And the Church is the Body of Christ, constantly nourished by this heavenly, this divine food. “Whoever feeds on me will have life because of me” (6:57).

None of us can live very long without eating and drinking. If that’s true of our physical lives, it’s also true of our spiritual lives, or if you dare say so, our divine lives. Our spiritual lives depend upon a relationship with Jesus Christ, and in the Eucharist we truly commune with him, become part of him, he part of us. If we avoid this essential food, we cut ourselves off from our source of life. That’s part of why the Church requires us to come to Mass. (Contrary to what jokesters might say, it’s not all about the collection! It’s about connecting at the deepest level with our Lord.)

And how privileged we are that God has called us to be his own by joining us to his Son, so that we might be raised to everlasting life on the last day, as Jesus has already been raised, so that we might have a seat at the eternal banquet in heaven, foreshadowed by this Eucharistic banquet on earth.

23 Lay Missionaries Commissioned

23 Lay Missionaries Commissioned

After four weeks of orientation at three sites, 18 young women and 5 young men were commissioned as Salesian Lay Missioners (SLMs) on Saturday, August 8.

Father Thomas Dunne, our provincial, presided over an early morning Mass at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw-Stony Point, New York. The Mass also marked the closing of the annual retreat for about 30 Salesians.

During the Mass the missionaries were presented with just-blessed crosses as a sign of their commitment to personal conversion and to the mission of carrying the love of Jesus Christ joyfully to their various sites.

The Salesian retreat coincided with the final week of the SLMs’ preparation, which had a retreat atmosphere and stressed Salesian spirituality, the Preventive System, and such specifics for their upcoming apostolic work. Mingling with Salesian priests and brothers at meals and recreation times, sharing the sacred liturgy with them, and listening to “good night” talks from Fr. Dunne and other Salesians, also helped the young people with their orientation toward Salesian mission.

Earlier weeks of orientation saw the future missionaries gather at Maryknoll in Ossining, New York, for training in culture, missiology, and the practicalities of going overseas, together with volunteers from Maryknoll and other groups. There was also a week of participation in the summer day camp program of the Salesian parishes in Port Chester, New York, in which the Salesian volunteers saw and practiced working with youngsters as Salesians do.

The 2009 class of SLMs come from 16 states (California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia), and from 19 dioceses (Allentown, Arlington, Boston, Camden, Dallas, Davenport, Denver, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Harrisburg, Jefferson City, Joliet, Los Angeles, Omaha, Philadelphia, Portland-Maine, Portland-Oregon, Sacramento, Santa Fe, and Tulsa).

Most of the SLMs are college graduates; one is just out of high school. Their colleges or universities include Alaska, Albion, Benedictine, Boston University, Catholic University, Coe, Dallas, Dayton, Holy Cross, Indiana, Los Angeles Valley College, Mt. St. Mary, New Hampshire, Northern Colorado, Notre Dame, Rutgers, St. Mary of the Woods, Shasta, Villanova, and Whitworth. They range in age from 18—the young woman just out of Bellflower High School in California; to 48—a woman with her own health care consulting business and experience as a college professor and hospital administrator.

Many of them also have some previous volunteer experience, including in foreign countries. One, Steve Widelski of Huntington, Indiana, will be taking part in his fourth voluntary service with the Salesians. He has previously had assignments in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Sierra Leone, as well as two and a half years in the Dominican Republic with the diocese of Orlando and six months in the state of Parana, Brazil, as part of a team from St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Fishers, Indiana. Not only does he love Don Bosco and the Salesian charism, but in 2008 he and another SLM veteran on their initiative even produced a promotional video about the program.

The SLMs this year will be missioned to five sites in Bolivia; three in India; one each in Brazil; Cambodia; Ethiopia; Mexico; Rwanda; and South Africa. They may be helping in orphanages, teaching catechism or academic courses or agriculture, doing manual work, providing medical assistance, or offering other forms of spiritual and material apostolic work. Some of the American volunteers are looking forward to collaborating with Salesian volunteers from Austria, Italy, and Poland.

The 2009 “class” of Salesian Lay Missionaries, with Fr. Tom Dunne, provincial (back row, center), Fr. Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle (far right in alb and stole), and Adam Rudin, director of the lay missionary program (next to Fr. Mark).

Bro. Matthew DeGance Makes Perpetual Profession

Bro. Matthew DeGance Makes Perpetual Profession

In an ancient, solemn ritual in the chapel of Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, N.J., Bro. Matthew Michael DeGance, SDB, professed his perpetual vows on Saturday, August 8, before about 200 Salesians, family members, and young people.

Bro. Matt, 32 years old, is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where his parents, Joseph and Jacqueline DeGance are still members of St. John the Baptist Parish. They, as well as his numerous siblings, nieces, and nephews were present at the profession rite.

Bro. Matthew with his parents, Joseph and Jacqueline.

Bro. Matt is a graduate of the University of North Florida (Jacksonville), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy. He began working as a therapist after graduation.

The DeGance family have known the Salesians for many years, having counted as friends the late Frs. Peter Lappin, SDB, and August Bosio, SDB. That friendship nurtured in Matt a love for Don Bosco and a vocational seed—the seed already having been planted in his family. Consequently, after giving some thought to the diocesan priesthood and the Franciscans, Matt decided in 1999 to enter the Salesian formation program at Orange, N.J.

After a year of novitiate at Mary Help of Christians Church in New York City, Bro. Matt made his first religious vows on August 16, 2001, in New York.

Bro. Matt lies prostrate on the floor as the Litany of the Saints is sung.

After additional postnovitiate formation, he was assigned to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey from 2005 to 2007. He taught biology and theology, directed an intramural sports program, and was an assistant coach of varsity, JV, and freshman volleyball. With Fr. Steve Leake he cofounded a faith-centered student group called Kepha that was a kind of Salesian oratory program, including prayer, service opportunities, study, and recreational outings. Although not specifically trained as a teacher, he found himself well prepared for his apostolic work in and out of the classroom at Ramsey and has grown to love the school apostolate.

Since the fall of 2007 Bro. Matt has been studying theology at the Ratisbonne in Jerusalem. He finds it fascinating to be so close to such sites as the Holy Sepulcher and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and the earliest Christians. He appreciates being able to connect the Scriptures with his daily life experience.

Another great advantage to studying at the Ratisbonne, according to Bro. Matt, is the international experience. Besides a teaching staff from around the Salesian world, the student body includes 49 Salesians from 21 countries. That offers many cultural perspectives on Salesian life.

Bro. Matt is among seminarians at the Ratisbonne installed as lectors or acolytes at a Mass in the spring of 2008.

Pastoral work in Jerusalem pays a lot of attention to the numerous Filipino workers who are there. The seminarians offer them adult catechesis, days of recollection, liturgical assistance, as well as youth ministry. In his first year, Bro. Matt also had the opportunity to help the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in their work for abandoned handicapped youngsters of all faiths.

During the last two summers Bro. Matt has served in the summer programs of St. John Bosco Parish in Chicago, whose population is mostly Hispanic.

Bro. Matt looks forward to diaconal ordination next June and priestly ordination in 2011. After that he would be pleased to return to the classroom, sports programs, and young people in general. The turnout of youngsters at his profession Mass on August 8 indicates that young people, too, would be pleased if he returned to them as Fr. Matt.

Fr. Thomas Dunne, SDB, superior of the New Rochelle Province of the Salesians, told the province earlier in the week that Bro. Matt’s “act of total self-giving and divine consecration is a powerful sign of God’s grace to the professed members of our province, to those in initial formation, to the entire Salesian Family, and to the young in our province.”

Fr. Dunne presided over the profession Mass at Ramsey. In his homily, using readings chosen by Bro. Matt (Gen 12:1-3; 2 Cor 4:7-15; Matt 16:24-27), Fr. Dunne connected this year’s 150th anniversary of the Salesians of Don Bosco with Bro. Matt DeGance’s answer to God’s call to serve God by serving the young. He noted that the self-emptying required of a professed religious as he lives the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty is an imitation of the paschal mystery of Christ, who emptied himself for sake of human salvation. He said that the earthen vessel of which St. Paul speaks is an image of the sinful frailty of human beings, including consecrated persons. The religious brings his own brokenness to his mission, to his community, and to his consecration as he tries daily to die to sin and to his human frailty.

Bro. DeGance pronounces his vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty before Fr. Tom Dunne, provincial, and the witnesses, Fr. Pat Angelucci and Bro. Jim Wiegand. He holds a lighted candle to show that his religious profession is a continuation of the commitment that he made in Baptism to follow Christ, the light of the world.

For his part, Bro. Matt finds that being a consecrated Salesian is “a great gift” from God, one that he would encourage any young person to accept without fear. The Salesian vocation is rich in peace and in the happiness of doing God’s will, and Bro. Matt cannot think of any spirituality that is more attractive than Don Bosco’s.
At a reception for Salesians, family, and friends following Mass, Bro. Matt says thank you to God, the Blessed Mother, Don Bosco, his parents, his confreres, and many others.