Province Holds 3 Days of Assemblies

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

(New Rochelle, NY – May 14) – From Thursday, May 1, to Saturday, May 3, the SUE province held three days of province assemblies at the Don Bosco Retreat Center-Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, NY.

May 1 was dedicated to two topics: General Chapter 29 and the results of a recent survey of the confreres of the province. Forty SDBs participated in person, meeting in the Paul VI Room of the retreat house; another two dozen or more participated online.

The topic on May 2 was vocations. The presenter was Fr. David Ruchinski of the diocese of St. Augustine, former campus minister at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The campus program has given the Church about 50 priestly and religious vocations in a ten-year period, as well as numerous Catholic marriages and new members of the Church through RCIA.

Province Celebrates St. Philip the Apostle

On May 3, feast of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James the Less, the province observed Province Day; its patron is St. Philip.

Fr. Dominic Tran, provincial, presided and preached at Mass in the Shrine chapel at 10:30 a.m. He was assisted by 33 concelebrants and 12 coadjutor and seminarian brothers, the province’s 2 prenovices, and some province staff, joined also by some of the faithful who frequent the Marian Shrine. The Shrine’s musician, Catherine Ramirez, led the music.

Fr. Dominic said in his homily that when Philip asked Jesus at the Last Supper to “show us the Father,” he showed that he didn’t understand the relationship between Jesus and his Father. But he showed the right attitude: he desired to know the Father.

“Is the Father enough for us?” Fr. Dominic asked. Then he observed that Philip had asked on behalf of the others; he said “us.” He wanted God not only for himself but for the others as well. This concern for others, the preacher continued, was a characteristic of Philip, as we see elsewhere in the Gospels. Several times he leads others to Jesus.

Another of his characteristics was practicality. For example, in John 6, he asks Jesus where they could possibly buy enough food for the great crowd who were listening to Jesus.

Going beyond Philip’s practical nature, Fr. Dominic pointed out that God desires for us greater things than we can desire for ourselves. Jesus came that we might have life in abundance. In these days of assembly, we’ve been considering what God desires of young people and of our province, namely, abundant life for ourselves and the young entrusted to us. This, Fr. Dominic insisted, will be enough for us.

Fr. Dominic voiced our common prayer: that we continue to desire God. We know that he desires us. Desiring God, he stated, must be our motivation as we plan the future of the province. We have shortcomings, and we’ll make mistakes; these remind us that we need God. If Jesus will show us the Father, that will be enough for us.

At the end of Mass, Fr. Franco Pinto, vice provincial, expressed the province’s thanks to Fr. Dominic for his leadership. He also thanked the past provincials who were present, and all the confreres of the province, who work so hard even when they grow tired.

Fr. Dominic, in turn, thanked Fr. Franco and everyone else involved in planning the days of assembly and the Province Day festivities in particular, and all the confreres who took part.

An ample buffet luncheon followed in Lee Hall, prepared and served by William Diaz and his team from New Rochelle. The celebration included observance of Fr. Luc Lantagne’s birthday.

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