Six Lay Missioners Commissioned at Salesian Retreat

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

(Stony Point, NY – August 18) – During their weeklong retreat, toward the end of three weeks of orientation, six Salesian Lay Missioners (SLMs) were commissioned in St. Joseph’s Chapel at the Don Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, NY.

Provincial Fr. Dominic Tran presided over the rite, which took place within a celebration of Evening Prayer II of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. He was assisted by Mr. Adam Rudin, director of the SLM program.

The six new SLMs and their destinations are Marjorie Baldenweck (Poipet, Cambodia), Genaro Cantú (Colima, Mexico), Jocelyn Escudero (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Jerome Pederson (Tampa), David Ramirez (Colima, Mexico), and Antonia Soave (Ulan Bator, Mongolia). A seventh candidate, Benigno Monteverde (Dili, East Timor) was sick in his room at the retreat house. Yet another SLM, Alexandra Bendixen, is doing a short mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and receiving orientation on-site from SLM Mara Fenn.

Fr. Tran took as the keynote of his homily Mary’s Magnificat, which was part of the gospel reading at Mass in the morning and which the congregation was to sing shortly during Evening Prayer. Mary proclaimed that God had recognized his lowly servant, who was blessed by God.

Fr. Tran stated that Mary was blessed because she had become the God-bearer. What God gave to her, he has given to all of us; we are blessed, and we are God-bearers through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.

He continued: What we celebrate in Mary’s Assumption will be ours one day. We are already with God through His presence within us, and we are charged to bear Christ to the world. The SLMs have the dignity of bringing Christ to others as missionaries. They’ll help the people they go to, to recognize God in their lives; and those people will also help the SLMs more deeply discover God in their own lives.

Finally, Fr. Tran affirmed that the Mother of God is with us. What a treasure! The Mother of God accompanies us as we bring Christ to the world.

Explore photos from the day on Shutterfly!