A Son of Don Bosco Indeed

This blog features an interview with Deacon Michael Eguino. As he prepares for his ordination, we took the time to speak to this Salesian High Alum on his vocation journey at this special point. Deacon Mike will be ordained a Salesian priest by His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan on Saturday, June 27, 2015 in Bronx, New York.

What is symbolized in the image of your ordination prayer card? How does that image characterize for you what the sacrament of Holy Orders is all about?
When searching for an image for my prayer card, I was looking for something unique. The image is of a priest's hands offering mass. It shows the symbolism of the sacrifice of the mass; that it is truly Christ’s body and blood that we receive in the Eucharist. What impresses me is that I will taking and offering what is bread and wine and it will become the body and blood of the Lord. The image overall spoke powerfully to me.

Why did you choose Joshua 1:9 as the quote for your prayer card?
Again, I wanted something unique, a phrase which I haven’t heard too often. I think the quote relates to my vocational call because as a Salesian I will not know necessary where I will go, or what I will be doing. Nevertheless, I'm going to have to not fear because the Lord will be with me. I know the Lord will accompany me. I may go far from family, home, my culture, but I know the Lord will be there for me, with me, and will act through me, and will meet me through those I meet.

What is the most important grace for you to ask for as a newly ordained Salesian priest?

I don’t know? Because this will be such an impactful part of my journey, I can only ask God to be with me and keep me.  I do plan on keeping the following personal prayer in my heart during the ordination:
    "Lord you created me, you know me, you know my      
      heart, you’ve walked with me on this journey. You
      know my needs, I ask that you fill me with the grace
      that will  most benefit me, even if I may not be aware
      of it."

Vocations Festival, Everyone!!!

In my recent travels all around to different Salesian works, I have noticed two messages resonated throughout them all. One is that when the Salesian Family comes together, we do so in amazing ways to celebrate being Salesian, honor Don Bosco, and give glory to God. The second message, which has fueled my work as the director of vocations, has been that everyone in the Salesian family values vocations and helping those who have a call from God explore and follow that journey. Fr. Gus Baek organized a Vocation Festival for the Korean community on Sunday April 26 at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point, NY.  There were about five hundred youth, youth ministers, parents, religious and clergy in attendance from parishes in the tri-state area.  The day consisted of a youth music rally, a mass, a Korean food festival in the picnic area, and vocation talks. The audience was filled with joy and excitement about being together in fellowship and supporting vocations in our world.

 

The homily drew from Pope Francis’ words on World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  A Christian vocation is meant to draw us out of ourselves so that we have a greater capacity and yearning to serve and find God’s presence revealed to us in new ways.  We gain forward movement in our vocation when we leave our egos behind and place Christ at the center.  If we live our Christian vocations as an “Exodus journey,” by leaving behind what is not needed, we can then recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd. I can’t wait to see where else my travels take me next on my own Exodus Journey!

New York Catholic Youth Day 2015

As Salesians, we often say that faith and fun can happen as one to many of the young people that we work with and pray with daily. That was certainly the case this past weekend when 1,600 young people gathered together for prayer, music, fun, games, breakout sessions, a holy hour, and reconciliation service at the New York Catholic Youth Day hosted by the Dunwoody Seminary in Yonkers, NY.  Deacon Mike Eguino and I worked the vocation booth which was flanked by the Salesian Office of Youth Ministry Office booth and the Salesian Sisters Vocation Office. This created a welcoming presence to all of the participants to stop by and get to know the Salesian Family and what we do. Needless to say, there was a steady flow of participants that checked out the Salesian booths all day. It was reenergizing to see young people on fire for Christ and willing to spend their Saturday in learning and growing in their faith. Deacon Mike served as a great Salesian that day, speaking to everyone who stopped by and teaching them about Don Bosco with enthusiasm.

The Keynote speaker, Mr. Doug Took from the Diocese of Helena, spoke about how everyone was broken in some way and that God desires that we deal with that brokenness so that we can give more of ourselves to the saving plan of God. 

Presiding at the closing Easter liturgy for Divine Mercy Sunday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan addressed the recent heroic martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded in Egypt because they would not renounce their Christian faith.  Each prayed with the same words “God save me” before they were slain by the jihadists.  In the aftermath, the jihadists snickered among themselves “Where was God to save them”.   Cardinal Dolan pointed out that God saved them through the blood of the Lamb in Jesus Christ.  In closing, everyone was encouraged to heed the psalmist’s words, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his mercy endures forever” (Ps 118: 1).  As the day came to a close, it was a great reminder that the work that we do as Salesians is done in the name of our founding father, but also through Christ who gives us strength!

15,037 Worldwide, We are Salesians!

The latest statistics have recently been published that paint the picture of who the Salesians are all around the world.  As of the end of 2014, there are 15,037  Salesians serving in 131 countries on six continents around the world. The Salesians still remain the 3^rd largest religious missionary organization in the world, dedicated to continuing the work of St. John Bosco to bring the love of Christ to the young and the poor. 

The number of the Salesians included 426 novices, 2,620 seminarians,  1,742 coadjutor brothers, 18 permanent deacons, 10,231 priests,  and 122 bishops. The greatest concentration of Salesians can currently be found in the Mediterranean Region, while the smallest region is made up of the areas of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay . In our own North American provinces, the numbers helped to highlight the work that we do around the US and Canada. The two American provinces counted 166 men in U.S. East and Canada and 95 men as a part of U.S. West.

We join together to continue to pray that God and Mary Help of Christians will continue to guide the works of Salesians around the world. We also pray for a continued increase in vocations; that those who are discerning a vocation with the Salesians will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and understand God’s call in their lives to be like St. John Bosco.  Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!

Come To The House Of The Lord

    March 13^th and 14th marked the fourth annual Eucharistic Congress in the Diocese of St. Augustine held at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville, Florida.  This event generated nearly 7000 participants who were all there to learn, grow, praise, and celebrate the Catholic faith and our love of Christ.  With the central theme of “Come To The House of the Lord”, the full house was influenced by the presence of Dr. Scott Hahn and also Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Cardinal Dolan, who was the keynote speaker and homilist on Saturday, left the crowd with many fruits of wisdom and faith to think about, as well as reminded us of the importance to always want to be near God. 

 
Br. Jhoni Chamorro and I ran a vocation booth that offered plenty of information about who we are as Salesians as well as a chance to play a few games which drew in the crowds, especially families and young people.  Novice Josh Sciullo’s parents, Mark and Jodi, and siblings Steven and Celine provided all the comforts of home to us while we were in Jacksonville, and for that we were extremely grateful. Still the greatest reward of our time with the Sciullos was to watch how engaged they were in helping us to promote vocational culture as they shared in the day and their experiences with others who stopped by the booth. They were able to share their witness of having a loved one who is discerning his vocation in our community to the many young men who came in contact with our Salesian contingent at the Congress.

          In the keynote address on Saturday morning, Cardinal Dolan spoke about the Mass as a meal, a family meal that we should really crave.  He shared a poignant story of a priest visited an ailing Alfred Hitchcock, the English film maker who was Catholic, as he approached his final days.  Cardinal Dolan shared how toward the end of the visit as they had finished sharing in their conversation, Mr. Hitchcock asked the priest, “Well did you bring me Holy Communion”? The crowd chuckled as Cardinal Dolan shared this story.  He would go on to illustrate that the craving that Mr. Hitchcock had is one that we should all have for the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. We should always remain hungry for Christ in our lives.   Cardinal Dolan also made the reference to Luke’s passage of the Emmaus disciples, who having recognized Jesus when breaking of bread, craved his presence so much that they ventured back to Jerusalem in order to inform the community of Jesus’ presence as their “bread and life”.  
As we meet Jesus by emptying ourselves of false cravings in the Lenten dance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, may we crave to meet Jesus in the Eucharist, who in this life-giving sacrament will bring us to partake in the meal-made-mystery that brings us life in the here and hereafter.  

          All in all, it was another successful and God-filled experience on the road. Being at the Eucharistic Congress was a great affirmation to the truth of the passage from Matthew’s gospel that says “wherever two or more are gathered in My name,  I am there among them.”