NEW ORLEANS: PLANNING SALESIAN YOUTH MINISTRY ON THE “BEST BANK”

by Fr. Abe Feliciano, SDB

(New Rochelle, N.Y. – May 14) – Members of the Salesian Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry spent a busy weekend May 11-13. Guilherme Lopes, the province’s Salesian Youth Movement coordinator, and Fr. Abraham Feliciano, province youth ministry delegate, traveled to the “Best Bank” of the New Orleans Metro Area, i.e., the West Bank, home of the Salesian presence in the area since 1933, to offer some animation and participate in a graduation.

On Friday, May 11, Gui Lopes facilitated a meeting of the leaders of the Gospel Roads I program that will take place in July on the campus of Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero. In attendance were Genia Roper, director of GR:NOLA and faculty member of Academy of Our Lady; Bro. Jerry Meegan, liaison between the SDB community and GR:NOLA; Fr. Abe Feliciano, chaplain of GR:NOLA; and Mr. Lopes. During the meeting the proposed schedule, service sites, and composition of the core team were discussed, and some new revisions to the Gospel Roads program were introduced.

On Saturday, May 12, representatives from various Salesian ministries on the West Bank gathered with Mr. Lopes and Fr. Abe in Don Bosco Hall at Shaw to discern ways that the Salesian Family could foster and accompany the Salesian Youth Movement. In attendance were Sr. Michelle Geiger, FMA, principal, and Genia Roper, campus minister, from Academy of Our Lady; Kim DeMarco, principal of Immaculate Conception Parish School; Bro. Jerry Meegan, Shaw’s CYM; Chris Maiolo and Emily Hamilton, members of the youth ministry team at St. Rosalie’s Youth Center; and several members of the Salesian Youth Movement from the West Bank: Matthew Collins, Dylan Chesterman, Megan Dang, Gabrielle Dauzat, Dylan Mitchell, and Tony Sepulvado. (Ms. Dauzat and Mr. Mitchell are in formation to become Salesian Cooperators.) Building upon the Salesian Family celebration on the West Bank in April and an SYM gathering animated by Bro. Jerry Meegan in February, the group reflected on the needs of the young people on the West Bank and discussed creative responses to these needs.

 Gui Lopes Graduates from Loyola with Master’s in YM

Between these productive pastoral moments, a significant event took place on Saturday morning in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Gui Lopes graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a master’s degree in pastoral theology with a concentration in youth ministry. His second master’s, this accomplishment is a great gift to the ministry of the Salesian YM Office. The graduation was attended by two of the founding members of the Salesian Youth Movement in NOLA (Megan Dang and Tony Sepulvado), Gui’s girlfriend Natalia Ruggiero, and Fr. Abe. In the evening, a surprise dinner was held in Gui’s honor that included several young adults from Shaw and Academy of Our Lady as well as faculty members from both schools. It was a lovely celebration and fitting conclusion to a blessed weekend and three years of hard work by Gui. We look forward to the many blessings that are sure to come.