SDBs Celebrate Province Day

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

(New Rochelle, NY – May 6) – On Saturday, May 2, members of the province of St. Philip the Apostle gathered around provincial Fr. Dominic Tran to celebrate the feast of our patron saint. Since St. Philip’s feast day falls on a Sunday this year, it was anticipated. Mass was celebrated in the chapel of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Haverstraw, N.Y., followed by a buffet lunch in Lee Hall adjacent to the chapel.

Thirty-three priests concelebrated with Fr. Dominic, and they were joined by five confreres in formation from Orange, five coadjutor brothers from the Stony Point-Haverstraw and New Rochelle communities, three candidates from Orange, and Salesian Lay Missioners serving in Haverstraw and Ramsey.

Fr. Eddie Chincha, CYM at St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, brought altar servers and their parents to the celebration.

By coincidence the Scripture readings for Saturday of the fourth week of Easter included the dialog between Jesus and the apostle Philip (John 14:7-14). Fr. Dominic took his homiletic cue from that. Although Philip shows an incomplete understanding of Jesus, he shows a desire to know the Father and finds it “enough” if he can know the Father.

Fr. Dominic contrasted the amount of time we spend online and reading newspapers with our interest in finding the Father enough for us. He said that if God were truly enough, we wouldn’t have to be encouraged to be more passionate for Jesus Christ and would more powerfully seek souls and turn everything else aside.

Then he used the example of people in the Scriptures: Mary placing herself completely at God’s disposal, Simeon taking baby Jesus in his arms and proclaiming himself ready then for God — noting that we take Jesus into our hands daily — and Philip finding Jesus to be enough for him, so much so, that he would go forth to preach the Gospel in foreign lands and die for him.

Closer to ourselves, Fr. Dominic pointed to St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who as a child lost her immediate family, was disfigured by smallpox, and was pressured to accommodate herself to her tribal culture by marrying; instead, she chose Jesus as her spouse. He pointed to the Vietnamese Bishop Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who had ambitious plans for ministry but was arrested by the Communists and forced to put his plans aside; instead, he had surrendered to God’s plans: to choose God and not his own work.

Concluding, Fr. Dominic invited us to pray to the saints that we draw closer to God every day and come to the moment when we can say God is enough for us.

At the end of Mass, noting our nation’s 250th anniversary this year, Fr. Dominic in the name of the province honored three confreres present who have served in the country’s armed forces: Fr. Ken Shaw, Bro. Sal Sammarco, and Fr. Lou Konopelski. (There are several other confreres who also served but weren’t present; the confreres were mindful also of them.)

Fr. Franco Pinto, vice provincial, spoke on behalf of all the confreres to thank Fr. Dominic for his leadership service —fostering unity and trust in Divine Providence and caring for each member of the province “with grace and integrity.”

To conclude the Mass, Fr. Dominic thanked Fr. Franco and spoke briefly of “our beautiful vocation” to continue Don Bosco’s mission, “journeying with the Lord and one another.”

An ample buffet lunch was prepared and served by William Diaz and his staff from New Rochelle. Everyone enjoyed the food and one another’s company.

Peruse photos on Shutterfly.