Come and See Canada, A Discernment Weekend Experience

    The work of Salesian vocations is alive and well in Canada, and we could not be more overjoyed. The Salesians of St. Benedict Community recently hosted five young adults on a Come and See Discernment Weekend at Etobicoke, Canada from October 16-18.  The participants included Myrick Rodrigues, David Andrews, Avery Burrows, Steve Polo, and Ivan Skokos.  Fr. Jim Zettel and Fr. Jim Berning facilitated the weekend program as they worked together to accompany these young men into understanding Salesian religious life and their own vocation callings. 

    The activities of the weekend took place both at the parish setting where the Youth Group was in operation and at Don Bosco Residence where many of the presentations and discussions occurred.  A discernment journal was used throughout the days so that the participants could understand how God’s presence was threaded throughout their entire lives and how God has been calling them to discern His plan for their future         

    A true beauty of the weekend was how welcoming and encouraging the parishioners of St. Benedict were as they hosted us and even prepared the meals for the occasion.  The St. Benedict community created an environment of familiarity, welcome, and home that brought the participants to feel a real attraction to Salesian life.  In the weeks ahead, let’s include these vocations in our intentions so that they continue to be seekers, and that they have the courage to surrender themselves to God’s plan.  

Working to grow the Church’s Deepest Vocation

Pope Paul VI said, “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church. She exists in order to evangelize…to preach and teach…” Franciscan University graciously lived those words during their recent annual vocations fest event. The school opened their doors on October 9 for the event held in Steubenville, Ohio to a sizeable crowd of religious, students, and welcomed guests; all of whom gathered in fellowship and love of our Faith and our Church.  The University brought together 55 religious institutes that provided participants with the opportunity of discovering many religious charisms in our Faith, and an opportunity to accompany discerners who have heard God’s call in their lives.  Since many of the students at the university are double majors with either theology or catechetics, they are often interested in religious life or to serve as lay missioner.  Thus having events like this help to offer many of the students an opportunity to work towards their future endeavors and discernment.

 

Br. Josh Sciullo and Fr. Jim Berning invited participants to discover more about the charisms of Don Bosco at the Salesian booth through interactive games and engaging conversation.  The day concluded with a joyful celebration of the liturgy and a large group lunch. The sentiment that was most shared  and discussed by everyone in attendance was a sense of purpose. Whether you were an exhibitor, a participant, or an organizer it was very clear to see that we had all gathered there that day for the extreme importance of working together to grow our Church. God said that “where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there”, but gather we must!

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?”

We Are a Family Fully Alive

    As I am now at the conclusion of all of the events from the World Meeting of Families convention and the Papal visitation, I am left with enlightened reflections and a recharged spirit. It was a very packed week of events for the Salesian family in attendance for the WMF.  Our men and women in formation joined me and Sr. Theresa Lee for much of the week’s festivities, and while there were intense schedules to keep to it was an enriching experience for us as religious and as Catholics.

 As I began to physically feel the demands of the schedule, I could not help but think of the Holy Father.  Given the Papal events in Philadelphia, I was amazed that although Pope Francis faced a heavy schedule, his presence was inspiring in the informal encounters with groups and individuals.   He certainly had a plethora of formal meetings, gatherings, and liturgies  to attend to during his visit; and while those moments were filled with awe as we watched Pope Francis, it was in the informal encounters with those who were sidelined during the festivities that made the entirety of the events resonate the glory of God’s love.  As he entered the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul prior to celebrating the Eucharist, he embraced a person in a wheelchair.  As he continued walking, there was another person in a wheelchair that was somewhat excluded, but Pope Francis becoming aware of the other, quickly went back and embraced him as well. Although he had a schedule to maintain, His Holiness made even the smallest of time for those who sometimes are too forgotten by society.  It was from watching his presence and the overwhelming response to his visit that I drew my energy to keep going.

Much of Pope Francis’ visit included many messages about caring for one another, caring for those who are sidelined in life, and most of all bringing change about through sincere love. During the Festival of Families celebration along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, as he was speaking about how the need to challenge and be with young people in their journey of life, he strayed from the script for as long as a minute.   In this time he was most alive and passionate giving the impression of a prophetic voice in our midst.

For sure, Pope Francis has continued to illustrate, from the time he was elected to the papacy, to the days he set foot in Philadelphia, that God is God of mercy and a God of love.  In a short video that recorded Francis’ greeting prior to his arrival he said, “I want to be there because you are there.”  Pope Francis’ presence in Philadelphia has made it clear that he lives as the agent of God’s mercy and invites everyone to partake in it.  He has demonstrated so well who God is, a God of mercy and that mercy is available to all. More than anything, his Papal visit has reiterated for our Church the need to be fully alive and fully present to one another and for those left fortunate and marginalized as one family. So as the Pope has departed from his time with is us in the U.S., it is my hope that we will all continue to come together as one in love, hope, and mercy.

When An Invitation Is Answered...

As Salesians, we often encourage young people to come to know about who we are and our spirituality by joining us in our works, prayers, celebrations, etc. This invitation was most recently accepted by three remarkable young men as they joined us for a Young Adult Discernment Weekend. These young men, Anthony Pinto of Miami, FL-  Ivan Gemio of Port Chester, NY-  and Namir Warmack of  Orange, NJ- participated in the Come & See weekend on September 18^th to 20th as a part of their discernment journey.  The entire community of the Don Bosco Residence was on hand to welcome these guests which helped to give this discernment retreat a warm familial feeling.

The weekend was faith-filled and fun-filled opportunity for the participants to experience a bit about Salesian life through many experiences. Thankfully due to his early arrival from Miami, Fr. Dennis Hartigan and Br. Rafael Vargas were gracious enough to show Anthony what a day at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey held for the students and Salesians there. He was able to see the importance of fraternity amongst the students and the Salesian community which he had come to learn about when he first met Fr. Matt DeGance at camp this past summer. Later on, when the remaining participants joined the program, they were able to participate fully in the Friday activities of the community which included sharing their initial vocation story, enjoying a pizza dinner, and joining in with members of Seton Hall University’s DOVE program who volunteer at the youth center at Our Lady of the Valley.

 On Saturday, the participants were further welcomed by the larger Salesian family at the Jubilee Celebrations at Stony Point honoring those Salesians who have devoted themselves for significant years to the service of the Lord in the spirit of St. John Bosco. I believe that getting to share in the camaraderie and joy of this special celebration helped our young adult discerners to see how being called to be a Salesian is not a solo event, but rather that it means being part of a great and beautiful family every step of the way. The remainder of the weekend went on to include some recreational time with the community in a game of soccer, discussions and reflections on vocations, and an opportunity to spend time journaling in the hopes of helping them to discover, understand and map out their vocation.

Our Come and See weekend drew to a close with Liturgy with the parish community at Our Lady of the Valley wherein Fr. Steve Dumais’ homily highlighted for our participants and the church community that we’re all called to hold on to the innocence of faith  that is often modeled by children and believe in God’s awe and wonder with unabashed virtuousness as they do.  All in all, this past Come and See weekend provided the young men with a comprehensive understanding of the Salesian way, the lived community experience, and a chance to see how they fit into all of it.  They will continue to be accompanied to find if this is where they are being called to give their lives to the Lord.  Let’s pray with them and for them that they may find their path to discipleship in the Lord Jesus.