Faith, Family, Food, Fun, and Good Night

 A parish truly alive for Christ and in the mission of St. John Bosco will be as such through rain or shine, and that is exactly what the community at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Orange, NJ did to celebrate the 200^th birthday of St. John Bosco. OLV made the best of their annual picnic by celebrating the Bicentennial of St. John Bosco’s birth on October 4 with a festive liturgy, a carnival, and  luncheon despite having less than favorable weather to deal with. It was enriching to see so many members of the church community come out for this celebration of the parish and of Don Bosco.  Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Newark who con-celebrated the Mass, was so enthusiastic in his homily that he asked for an invitation to return for another liturgy.  Being a native of the area, he was moved by the ethnic diversity of the parish community and the number of youth that were represented.   All parishioners of OLV gathered for this Mass in order to experience as a  family the presence of Bishop Manuel and the  joy of the Salesian spirit as it was felt in celebrating the bicentennial of St. John Bosco’s birth.

                After the liturgy, the children of the parish enjoyed a carnival in the gym put on by volunteers of the parish and members of the Don Bosco Residence. To say that a good time was had by all would not be truly capturing the happiness of the day.

The day was closed with the Good Night in true Salesian fashion. The community at OLV was fortunate enough to have this particular Good Night offered by one of its own young people, Jackie Rivas. Jackie is a young adult in the parish who has spent much of her life growing up in the parish and being involved in a lot of the work with the Salesians. This past August,  Jackie was able to attend the Bicentennial Pilgrimage in Italy in celebration of St. John Bosco’s birthday. She expressed just how much her life was changed by that experience, but even moreso just how much working with the Salesians has impacted her life. As she gave her first Good Night, it was beautiful to see Don Bosco’s work and spirit alive in Jackie as she spoke. She is always the first to say how much the tradition of the Good Nights has formed and shaped her to be a follower of Jesus  since joining the OLV youth group as an eighth grader.  Those formative encounters with Jesus through the years led her to do “bang-up job” as they say in Bronx, NY as she gave her own Good Night.  For sure, the Good Night’s have brought Jackie closer to the person of Jesus, and by delivering the Good Night to her parish community, she brought them closer to Christ. She challenged us all to think about how we’re called to enjoy life and work in the service of others.  As Jackie puts it in her Good Night:

“… As a teenager I was hungry for food, but now as a young adult I’m hungry to help those in need, especially the youth. It’s what being Salesian is all about. Now let me ask, what are you hungry for?”