Don Bosco's Relics Tour, Take Three: St. Patrick's Cathedral

A portion of the crowd last night at St. Pat's (photo by Joe Gast)

Without getting too caught up in the small details of all that went wrong with the trip, like the buses getting to the Parish 45 minutes late, and the bus driver not knowing how to get out of Elizabeth nor the proper geographical coordinates of the Island of Manhattan in relation to New Jersey, I'll just say I was sweating a bit.  The natives were getting a bit restless, and I was fearing a confrontation once the drivers showed up.  But there was no such thing, and peace and love ruled the day as we piled on the cheese buses and off we went. 

Once they figured out where the Turnpike was and that New York is north, the real fun began.  The traffic getting to the Lincoln Tunnel was just a disaster.  I didn't bother looking at my cell phone, because checking the time would have just frustrated me more than I already was.  The time flew, in that way you don't want it to. 

Well, we got into Manhattan, dodged some pedestrians, almost  hit a traffic scooter and rolled up to the north side of the Cathedral and in, just in time to see the prosession stroll by in all it's glory.  So I found a seat and enjoyed.  Providence allowed me to say Mass in the morning with the school children, so I didn't miss saying Mass, just I didn't participate in this one, which was a bit heartbreaking enough.

As I looked around, and the cathedral was filled, I was reminded of the article I linked to when I wrote about the Pope.  The author described the crowd at Hyde Park, and how it was so diverse that it left no doubt to why it's called the "Catholic" Church. It was the same way here, people of every race, language age social status and ethnic group gathered in union with Christ and brought here by Don Bosco.  There were men in suits, women in dresses along side a man with the Miraculous Medal  tattooed  to the back of his shaved head.  There were nuns in full habit and kids in jeans, high church seminarians in starched cuffs and collars processing to charismatically tinged music that made you clap your hands (courtesy of the Holy Rosary Choir, Port Chester). 

This is the Body of Christ; not always neat and clean, not always what you'd expect, not always what would be accepted in polite society.  It's where the real drama of life is, where the story of Salvation is lived out everyday in the lives of men and women, young and old, trying to find meaning in a world that more and more is telling them that there is none.  So they come to venerate the relics of Don Bosco, not because they have any magic, but because they remind us that God takes the poor and the marginalized and puts them at the center.  This is what He did with Don Bosco, the son of a tenant farmer from the sticks.  We can be close to that, to touch that and gain inspiration from it.  Oh yeah, and since the Saints are alive, not dead, in that great Communion we are all a part of, ask their help on our dramatic journey toward heaven.  

The Archbishop was again outstanding, hitting on and expanding the themes from the day before.  We were challenged to dream, to reach out as the Church to the poor, the unborn, the immigrant, all the marginalized.  Then he reiterated the three great devotions of Don Bosco: devotion to the Eucharist, to Mary, and loyalty to the Pope. 

As Mass was ending I went to the back to meet up with the procession and a couple from Argentina asked me what was going on, since they couldn't speak English.  I told them about the relic and the tour, and the woman was amazed at the singing and clapping and the applause from the crowd at the words of the Archbishop.  "We would never do this when I was a child.  The Masses back home are solemn.  Knowing people from Argentina I found that hard to believe, but I went with it.  All I could say was, "We're Salesians, we celebrate."  She wasn't disapproving, by any means, just taken aback. 

As the procession went by I greeted my confreres in line.  As with Stony Point the day before, I ran into people I knew (one always does at things like this)  So another Latin American tourist standing nearby turned, and in all seriousness said, "you are famous? all these priests, and the others know you." I said "No, I'm just late."

Like I wrote, I would have much rather concelebrated the Mass, but maybe there was a reason for being late. These are the first raw reflections.  I'll offer something a little more "cleaned up" this week.

Don Bosco's Relics Tour, Take Two Point One: St. Patrick's Cathedral

Literally just got off the bus and grabbed some leftovers out of the fridge, and am about to collapse.  But I did want to get a few preliminary thoughts on the nights events down.

It was the second straight day where what could go wrong did go wrong and it didn't really matter.  Mostly it was the buses.  The good thing is we filled two of them. The bad news is they were 45 minutes late getting to the parish.  Then the lead driver couldn't find her way out of Elizabeth, and then wasn't sure which direction Manhattan was, north or south (no, I'm not making this up).  Then the traffic to  the Lincoln Tunnel was what one would expect on a Friday night during rush hour.  So yeah, it took close to 2 hours to get to the Cathedral.  We walked in the doors as the procession was starting, so no I didn't get to concelebrate the Mass, which was a loss, but opened up some amusing observations I could only have made on "ground level," which I'll share in more detail in the next post.

Let's just say, the Cathedral of St. Patrick was the Oratory of Don Bosco on this night, and it's not over.  There are programs going on all night.  For those who know what I mean by oratory will understand what went on.  And again, I'll put  more flesh on this tomorrow.  But for now, all I have to say is; VIVA DON BOSCO!

Don Bosco's Relics Tour, Take Two: Stony Point

Archbishop Dolan and Fr. Steve Ryan at the Marian Shrine with the Relic of Don Bosco today
(Photo by Mary Kate Havranek)

I packed the monks into the Hyundai this morning around 9:15 and headed north up the Garden State to get to the Marian Shrine for the youth rally and Mass with Archbishop Dolan.  The trip was fraught with delays due to the rain and construction on 78.  When we did get to the Parkway the traffic was only a little better through the Newark exits, with the rain going from a drizzle to a deluge then back to a drizzle the whole way.  After almost and hour and a half we got to the Shrine and I had to negotiate with a fireman over where to park.   After a brief misunderstanding he let me park a lot closer than I expected.  I must say I felt up, despite the rain and the uncertainty over where this Mass would be, since it was obvious that doing it out doors was not going to happen.

There were students from Salesian High, Don Bosco Prep as well as a slew of other schools present, and various pilgrims from far and wide.  My guess is there were in the neighborhood of two thousand people, but I'm not good with estimating these things.

I ran into a few teachers from New Rochelle, and then a ton of students over the course of  the day.  It's only a few months, but I didn't realize how much I miss the Salesian High Boys.  I'm happy here in Elizabeth, to be sure, but it was the first time, seeing the teachers and students, that I felt a bit nostalgic. It was a blessing to get to work with and for them the past three years.  One of the many blessings I've received as a Salesian.

I found my way to Fr.  Lamagna Hall, where priests usually vest for Mass and found the Archbishop holding court amidst the priests gathered.  Fr. Jim Mulloy, the pride of Merrillville, Indiana, let me know that Mass was canceled and that they'd bring the various school groups into the new church in shifts to venerate the relic and hear the Archbishop speak.  

Archbishop Dolan was great, as usual.  He was very enthusiastic in a way that can't be faked.  This is the second time I've seen him with a gathering of young people, and he just has a natural way with them.  He tells it straight, but always with a positive, life affirming message.  He challenged us, young and not so young alike, to "dare to dream" and to put God at the center of our lives.  He spoke of his devotion to Don Bosco, that goes back to his grade school days in the 1950's and his teacher Sr. Mary Bosco, who was actually present at the event.


After we exited to allow the next shift into the church, there was more reminiscing with old friends and then I gathered the monks back and we retreated to a local diner for a quick bite in a dry place before heading back to New Jersey.
 

Obviously it was disappointing that the Mass had to be canceled, but the rain was something beyond any one's control.  Logistically, we (the Salesian Province) simply don't have an indoor space big enough to move an event like this in case the weather doesn't cooperate.  Three years ago it was the heat when the Rector Major visited, this time around it was the rain.  At this point I have no great pearl of wisdom to offer, other than this was promoted as a pilgrimage, and it is in that spirit it should be taken.  Pilgrimages involve sacrifice and a certain amount of inconvenience to be put up with by the traveler making the journey.  They aren't meant to be pleasure trips, or in this case an entertainment event.  In light of all this I think the organizers did what they could to make lemonade from the lemons they got, visa vi the weather.

So, these are my first raw impressions of the Relic Tour.  More on the Cathedral leg of the tour and a more thought out reflection in the days to come.

Don Bosco's Relics Tour, Take One

The next two days are going to be pretty busy, with the relics of Don Bosco arriving and the events at Stony Point and St. Patrick’s Cathedral tomorrow and Friday.  I’ll have my reflections on these days of prayer and pilgrimage over the weekend.  

My first thought is that it’s hard to believe that the day is finally here.  I know that many people have been working hard to make this a reality, and there are some who wonder if this is all going to be worth the time and expense in making the relics tour a reality.  Without questioning anyone’s sincerity, because I don’t, we need to have a bigger vision than just worrying about the material concerns connected with this event.  This is a time of grace, and it needs to be taken advantage of.

Don Bosco is one of the giants of the Faith that no one has heard of here in the USA (at least it seems that way sometimes).  He founded what has become the second largest religious community in the Church, and fathered a wider movement of lay people and diocesan clergy who cooperate with the Salesian mission to the young.  In some cases people have heard of Don Bosco or have heard of the Salesians but don’t know the connection between the two.  This is a time to connect the dots for them, sort of speak.

In the Salesian Family we have a dynamic combination of missionary outreach and Catholic spirituality, the active and the contemplative aspects of our Faith directed toward the salvation of the young.  It’s time to stop keeping our lamps lit under a bushel basket and shout it from the roof tops (excuse me for mixing my scriptural metaphors).  This tour of Don Bosco’s relics is a perfect opportunity to do that.

Ok, off the soap box for now.  I’m off to do a memorial Mass.  More on the relic tour soon. 

Spiritual Direction

This week’s first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, asks how we can know God’s will without the gift of wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit. Our human worries, concerns and temptations to sin can blind us from seeing God’s will for us. Therefore it’s important to seek the wisdom from above to be our guide. St. Francis de Sales knew this, and told anyone who was serious about spiritual perfection to seek out a spiritual director, a trustworthy person with experience in the spiritual life to guide them. Once they found him or her, they should trust and follow, being obedient to the advice given. Of course we do need one very important condition: no one ever has the right to tell us to do something sinful or contrary to the teachings of Scripture and the Church. We should be open to the challenges presented to us and not expect the road to be easy, but at the same time if what is being asked of us or taught to us is not in keeping with the Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition we know we have the wrong spiritual director.

I wrote “him or her,” because a spiritual director can be a priest, religious brother or sister. But even if our spiritual director is not a priest, the first step on the path is to make a good confession. St. Francis recommends that we first make a general confession of our life, though this is not absolutely necessary. Again, I have to give a warning here. I knew a deacon (in another parish, in a different diocese) who made this recommendation and left the people very confused. Once we make an honest confession of our sins to a priest and receive absolution, our sins are forgiven. We do not have to keep on going back over the sins of our past life. This general confession St. Francis recommends is a way to examine our lives, to see where God has been working in us and how we haven’t cooperated with His will as we should. It helps to show us where our weaknesses are, and what sins we may still struggle with. It can also make us appreciate the mercy God has shown us in the past. If we do choose to do this it is a once or maybe twice in a lifetime event. While it is important to regret our sins, and yes even feel a healthy sense of shame, it is unhealthy to constantly relive the faults of the past. Instead we need to make a firm resolution to not sin in the future and trust in God’s mercy and forgiveness.

At this delicate stage of the spiritual journey we must avoid two extremes; one is to look back at our sins and become discouraged, thinking that progress is impossible, or that what we have done is so bad God could never forgive us. Because of this discouragement we either standstill, or worse yet, go back to our old life. The other temptation is to think that this purification will be quick and painless; that our sins are few and that we have little or no need to change. This can lead to pride, and keep us from really examining ourselves thoroughly. Our serious sins may be few, but conversion of life, as we shall see, involves more than eliminating sin. This is only the first step, and unless we are honest and open now, the future steps will be much harder to make. Next time we’ll discuss how to make a good examination of conscience.

Salesian Spirituality: What is Devotion?

We continue with our look at Salesian spirituality by looking at the most well known work by Francis de Sales, “The Introduction to the Devout Life.” St. Francis wrote a great deal, and today is the patron saint of authors and of the press. He wrote many topical pamphlets addressing controversies of his day that are not read much today. But he also wrote masterpieces that have endured for centuries, and the “Introduction” is one of them. So popular was this work that the Protestant King James I of England carried a jewel encrusted edition of the book, with all the “Catholic errors” removed, of course.

As we saw in the past a key to Salesian spirituality is that it is universal in nature. All people are called to be saints, but how they do it is going to depend on their state of life. The married person and the vowed religious have different responsibilities to fulfill, and so need to follow paths that will lead to holiness while also helping them fulfill their duties.

St. Francis first question is what is the devout life? While some associate the devout life with praying or fasting, he tells us that these are part of the devout life, but that these things by themselves don’t make us devout. He writes of people who fast, but have hatred in their hearts, or pray a lot, but then gossips and speaks badly about and among their friends and family. Some people may give money to the poor but then won’t forgive their neighbors. This type of devotion is really hypocrisy and possibly superstition. On the other hand St. Francis writes:

But, in fact, all true and living devotion presupposes the love of God;—and indeed it is neither more nor less than a very real love of God…Love while shining on the soul we call grace, which makes us acceptable to His Divine Majesty;—when it strengthens us to do well, it is called Charity;—but when it attains its fullest perfection, in which it not only leads us to do well, but to act carefully, diligently, and promptly, then it is called Devotion.

Devotion in the highest sense of the word, then, is love of God, and of neighbor, or charity, which has become a habit, or virtue. This means that we do good without having to think about it, so much have we conformed ourselves to God’s will. This level of devotion is not arrived at overnight. It takes time and the purification of our desires and actions. In the end it is God’s grace working in us that will make this happen. But we also need to open ourselves and cooperate with God. This begins with making an examination of conscience and making a good confession. What is the best way to make an examination of conscience? This, along with the first stages of purification will be the topics of next week’s letter.

Salesian Spirituality Continued: What is Spirituality?

As we pick up again the theme of Salesian spirituality I’d like to look at what we mean by the term “spirituality.” Today we hear the word spoken a lot, but I’m not always sure the people who use it understand what they are talking about. How many times do we read or hear of actors and other celebrities who call themselves spiritual, or who have adopted some form of Eastern spirituality that no one has heard of and doesn’t seem to be connected to any concrete belief system. The aim quite often is the improvement of their emotional or psychological well being and not necessarily finding better ways to guide their actions and moral choices. In the contemporary world spirituality often gets reduced to achieving a feeling of peace through some type of meditation or prayer routine. As Catholics, when we speak of spirituality we are talking about something very concrete and practical. Spirituality is how we live out our faith in Jesus Christ in our everyday lives. Prayer and meditation are a part of this, but the goal is not simply to have our anxieties and stresses relieved. The ultimate goal is union with God.

True spirituality takes into account our moral lives. We achieve union with God by purifying our actions and desires so that they are in conformity with God’s will for us. Then, when we come to a knowledge of God’s will, to go about doing it. It sounds simple, and in truth it is. But, as we all know, actually doing it can be difficult. This purification entails eliminating mortal sin from our lives, and then working on the venial sins that, while not completely breaking our relationship with God, keep us from truly soaring to the heights we were created for. This is not just a matter of not sinning, but of purifying our desires, to eliminate the attachment to sin. Catholic spirituality seeks to grant us inner peace, true, but it also seeks to make us moral people attentive to the needs of our brothers and sisters. We are to become like Christ, united to Him in a deep, intimate way.

One of the great beauties of the Catholic Church is that we have been given many different roads by which to reach this goal. These gifts of the Holy Spirit, also known as charisms, are represented by the various spiritual families that have grown up in the Church over the centuries. Benedictine, Franciscan and Jesuit schools are three of the major spiritual traditions that have enriched the Church. They along with a myriad of others offer unique perspectives how to unite our selves with God and fulfill His will in our lives. Salesian Spirituality was developed by St. Francis de Sales and adopted by Don Bosco, and is followed by a variety religious orders, congregations and lay groups including, of course the Salesians of Don Bosco. It is this brand of Catholic spirituality we will be exploring in the coming weeks.

St. Francis de Sales and Salesian Spirituality II

This week we continue our look as St. Francis de Sales and Salesian spirituality. Last time we saw that all Christians have the call to be saints, but how we go about it is going to depend on the state of life we live in. As St. Francis wrote in his most well known book, Introduction to the Devout Life, the housewife in her kitchen is going to live the devout life differently than a contemplative nun, and a lawyer can’t spend hours in church like a monk in a monastery. Each has their own place, and own way to pray. Instead of spending long periods of time in prayer, active people need to find the little moments throughout the day to raise their minds and hearts to God.

In practical ways this can mean making sure we start the day with a Hail Mary or Our Father as soon as we wake up or praying before meals, even the when we eat in public (you’d be surprised at the positive witness this gives). Some of us commute to work, so playing a CD of holy music or of a spiritual talk in the car, or bringing a holy book to read on the bus or train can be a way of filling otherwise empty time. The church here is open until about four in the afternoon, so stopping by to pay a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament as you’re walking to the store or driving by is a way to make the day holy. And, of course, ending the day with prayer before bed is a must. Don Bosco always recommended three Hail Marys for the salvation of our souls.

Prayer is only the first step in the devout life. For life in Christ to be truly alive it must be lived out in action. Prayer allows us to transform our minds to be more like Jesus. The more we read and reflect on Sacred Scripture and read the lives of the saints and their writings the more we are to let them challenge us to be better, more faithful disciples no matter where we find ourselves in life.

But I must admit, there is one step that I did forget to mention. Before we can do any of this we must be honest with ourselves. We need to know who we are; our strengths and our weaknesses. Before the devout life can really be lived in its fullness we should make a good examination of conscience and go to confession. More on the Sacrament of Reconciliation and it’s place in Salesian Spirituality next time

St. Francis de Sales and Salesian Spirituality I

The past few weeks we’ve been taking a look at the Saints and how they give us concrete examples to follow as we journey with Christ. Last week we saw that the saints were flesh and blood people who struggled with many of the same difficulties that we do, and overcame them with God’s grace. This should give us great hope. It is tempting to think that holiness is only open to a few, extraordinary people, but this is a deception that needs to be avoided. Holiness is not only open to all baptized Christians; it is our most basic vocation. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, states that, “…it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity (40),” and that, “all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an obligation to so strive (42).”

This teaching, that all Catholics are called to be saints, was presented by the Church clearly during Vatican II, but it was not a new doctrine. Many spiritual writers and Church documents had promoted this idea in various ways over the centuries, but the spiritual writer most connected with this teaching is St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). He was a bishop, a writer and a missionary. He came from a noble family and walked with kings, yet interacted with the “man on the street” with equal ease. He taught that holiness was the call of every Christian, but that how we became saints depended on our state of life. The monk in his monastery, the house wife, the professional person and the politician needed to go about their road to holiness in a different way. His spirituality is simple, practical and adaptable to every situation. It asks us to open ourselves to God’s will, understand our present life situation and see how the two things can come together so that His will may be done in our lives.

Because Francis de Sale’s spirituality was designed for active people living in the world St. John Bosco adopted this method of prayer for his brothers and priests. This is why we who follow Don Bosco are called Salesians. As we saw, this spirituality is not just for vowed religious, but for anyone trying to build a strong relationship with God no matter what walk of life they are in. In the weeks to come we will take a closer look at Francis de Sales and Salesian Spirituality.

The Saints II

Last week we began looking at the saints, and that they are a vital part of the Church. Far from being inactive, they assist us actively by their prayers. But there is a temptation to look at the saints as being perfect people who always did the right thing from the moment of their birth. We look at their statues and images and see serene, often expressionless faces that give the impression that they were passionless and impersonal. This could not be farther from the truth. The saints were human in the fullest sense of the word, and they give us valuable examples of how to live the Christian life.

When we look at the lives of the saints we see men and women who struggled with many of same problems that we do. Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians, struggled with his temper and as a boy was quick to use his fists if he thought a friend was being treated unfairly. St. Augustine had to deal with sexual temptations, and only learned to control them once he accepted Christ in his life. St. Vincent de Paul, who worked so tirelessly for the poor, became a priest at first because he wanted to climb the social ladder. Through openness to God’s will in their lives they learned to overcome selfishness and lived truly heroic lives.

The saints also came from different walks of life. While many who the Church recognizes for their heroic virtue were religious and priests we have other examples as well. Blesseds Louis and Marie-Azélie Martin were a married couple who had five daughters, one of whom was St. Therese, the Little Flower. St. Thomas More was a lawyer and government official, who was also a husband and father. St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother, struggled with her wandering son and unbelieving husband, and earned her sanctity by tearful prayers. St. Dominic Savio was a school boy who became a saint by fulfilling his daily duties with diligence and cheerfulness.

All the saints became holy by trusting in God and overcoming their faults by His grace. They became holy by confronting life’s challenges with faith, not by avoiding them. They give us hope that in spite of our shortcomings sanctity is open to us all. St. Francis de Sales was the great promoter of this ideal, what we call the Universal Call to Holiness, and next time we will take a look at this gentle saint and his spirituality.

The Saints I

In the last several weeks I have been settling into my new home at St. Anthony's, Elizabeth, NJ, and have been made to feel very welcome. For this I am most grateful.

As I look at our beautiful church building I see all the statues that we have, and the great devotion that our community has to the various Saints represented by them. It is a reminder to me of when I was a boy and my grandmother brought me with her to daily Mass. After the Eucharist was over she would go to the special room that the small church had, filled with statues of St. Lucy, St. Rocco, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, among others crowded into the cramped space. Most of all I remember the look of love and trust on my grandmothers face as she kneeled, asking the help of her heavenly protectors.

I see this look now in the faces of our people who put their trust in the Saints. The Saints are a gift to us, and we should value their presence in our lives. They pray for us and give us their example of heroic virtue to follow. The Saints are alive and active within the Church. They are a sign for us that the communion of persons we call the Church is greater than what we can see. As The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive] to our prayers." (962) The Church then is a reality of earth, purgatory and heaven! What a profound mystery we proclaim when we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints during the Creed every week.

The saints weren’t statues of holy cards. They were flesh and blood people who struggled and triumphed with the grace of God. Theirs is an example to imitate, a theme we will continue with in my next letter.