An Extraordinary Situation: Fr. Tim's Homily

Homily made by Provincial Fr. Tim Zak during the Eucharist of First Profession of Brs. John Castonguay and Kevin White on Saturday, August 15, 2020, at the Marian Shrine, Stony Point, NY

I had the chance to visit with John and Kevin earlier in the week, and I asked them about their experience in the novitiate. They both chuckled. A year ago, at this time, Fr. Joe Nguyen and Fr. John Puntino welcomed these men to the novitiate. Fr. Joe told them how happy he was that it was going to be “regular year.” Now Fr. Joe could have been speaking from a canonical perspective in that they would follow the rules and have 365 days in the novitiate in preparation for the first profession as a Salesian of Don Bosco. Or Fr. Joe, since he is a relatively new director of novices, might have been thinking, “I’ve figured out more or less what to do in the novitiate, so this will be a regular year.” John and Kevin chuckle when they remember those words; God must have been chuckling a year ago when Fr. Joe spoke them. Yes, the novitiate lasted the required amount of day, and they followed all the rules, and Fr. Joe was more experienced in his role as director of novices, but we could say the one thing this year has not been is a “regular year.”

There are certainly a number of profound messages God wants Kevin and John to realize as they finally make their religious profession. They take on a particular nuance in this very irregular year. What they are about to do in making their religious profession as Salesians of Don Bosco is not regular in the sense of being ordinary. It is really quite extraordinary. Constitution 23 states that religious profession “is one of the most lofty choices a believer can consciously make, an act which recalls and endorses the mystery of his baptismal covenant by giving it a deeper and fuller expression. By publicly binding himself in the eyes of the Church, through whose ministry he is more intimately consecrated to the service of God, the Salesian begins a new life, which is lived out in a service of permanent dedication to the young.” This is quite extraordinary: one of the loftiest choices, a new life, permanent dedication…It wasn’t because of the pandemic that these men had an extraordinary year; it was because they listened in the depths of their heart to God’s call and are responding to the covenant that God established with them at Baptism. They are ready to follow the living rule, Jesus Christ, on a way that leads to love. This is quite extraordinary!

It is very appropriate that we have this rite of religious profession on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She might have started out her early adolescence in the way Fr. Joe started the novitiate, thinking it would quite regular. After all, Mary was an unknown woman betrothed to an unknown man living in an unknown town. What good can come from Nazareth? Maybe God chuckled on the day he sent the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, knowing that the Angel’s conversation with Mary would upset her regular day. She is a model of faith for us all in finding the hand of God in unexpected circumstances. The beautiful hymn that we hear in the Gospel on this Solemnity, the Magnificat, shows that Mary not only grasped but also cooperated with the surprising ways of God: casting down the mighty, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry, sending the rich away empty. From her own experience, she could testify God had done these great things, but not only for her. From her own experience, she knew this is the surprising, “irregular” way God often acts. Mary could feel herself one with the People of Israel whose history manifests the greatness of the Lord. Both John and Kevin have been reflecting on Mary’s “yes” in the light of their own “yes” today. With Mary, they can sing of the greatness of the Lord, and tell of the great things the Almighty has done for them.

But this is the Solemnity of the Assumption, not the Annunciation! We are celebrating the truth of our faith that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” That’s the way Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption 70 years ago. What has religious profession got to do with the Assumption?

In the Assumption, we can see how precious the human person is in the eyes of God. Created in the image and likeness of God, the human person, body and soul, has inestimable value. The Assumption of Mary manifests God’s desire for the human person to be fully united to the Creator, through Jesus Christ.  This is a celebration of God’s victory: God’s plan of salvation has not been thwarted by sin or death, but through Christ’s own death and resurrection, God is victorious. Mary shares in that victory. This is a celebration of hope: the fulness of life and grace given to Mary is promised to us all. It is our hope to be with Mary one day, body and soul, singing of the mighty deeds of the Lord.

The trouble is so many people today, especially young people, they don’t feel valued, they live without hope. The human is seen as an object to use, not a person who is precious. When the person has no more use in society or no more use to me, he or she can be discarded. Pope Francis sees this “throwaway” attitude of society closely related to the attitude of indifference. It can feel like no one cares. Here we see the connection between the Solemnity of the Assumption and this celebration of the religious profession of John and Kevin. It is the mission of these newly professes Salesians to be signs and bearers of God’s love to the young, especially those most at risk, those who feel like no one cares, those whom society would throw away. Kevin and John make their profession today as Salesians of Don Bosco to give joyful witness that God cares, that each person is precious in God’s sight, that the little ones and the poor have a special place in the eternal Kingdom. The religious profession of Kevin and John, like the Assumption, is a celebration of the victory of God and it gives us hope!

For many young people today, it is a regular experience for them to feel rejection or isolation; it is ordinary for them to live with anxiety and hostility. Kevin and John, you know from the novitiate what God can do to regular situations and ordinary experiences; God has a history of turning these situations upside down. As Mary was willing to cooperate with God’s unexpected plan, so you are putting your lives at God’s disposal. You can count on plenty of surprises because of divine intervention. In some ways, we can say you are willing to even be divine intervention which will surprise the young. Your consecration to the service of God can give the young renewed hope because they will know how much they are loved.