"Doing Good Feels Good!"

November 11, 2021

Dear Confreres,

Happy Remembrance Day and Happy Veterans Day.

This coming Sunday is World Day of the Poor. The theme of the Pope’s Message this year is, "The poor you will always have with you." Pope Francis explains that the poor among us are a concrete sign of the presence of Christ. Even as we recognize the face of Jesus in our poorer brothers and sisters and seek to serve Him in them, we realize that it is the poor who are truly evangelizing us. "The poor are a sacrament of Christ; they represent His person and point to Him." Therefore, with humility, we are moved by the Gospel to go beyond tendencies toward selfishness, indifference, and injustice, to give of ourselves for the poor and share with them in concrete ways, as we would for Christ. This type of love is credible and transforms the world.

Living as witnesses to the Gospel, our confreres and collaborators serve people living in poverty in many ways, throughout the year and with additional services at this holiday season. I would like to highlight just a few of these programs and activities in our Salesian presences. I invite you to send to Salesian News some photos and captions of ways your Salesian EPC involves adolescents and young adults in living the Gospel through sharing with those in greater need.

Archbishop Shaw High School (Shaw), Marrero, LA, in conjunction with Troy Duhon ’82, founder of the Giving Hope Foundation, has developed a service program with the Stephen F. Stumpf Westbank Food Pantry. Shaw students volunteer on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:45 am - 1:45 pm CT. While there, students deliver hundreds of baskets of groceries to the needy of our Westbank community.

At Le Salésien, Sherbrooke, QC in recent years, small groups of students (age 15) go to downtown Sherbrooke and meet leaders of certain organizations that provide support for the most disadvantaged in the form of a pilgrimage. The goal is to make them aware, attentive, and sensitive to both people and living environments where the presence of God is manifest, sometimes in a hidden way. These young people also offer volunteer help, rolling up their sleeves to do some good. Doing good feels good!

Our Lady of the Valley Parish, Orange, NJ welcomes Seton Hall University students from the Division of Volunteer Efforts (D.O.V.E.) to work with our men in initial formation and other local volunteers in the parish program for English as a Second Language (ESL) and in the Don Bosco Youth Center. Both programs are on Friday night, 6:30 - 8:30 pm ET, so parents can improve their English while young people enjoy themselves in healthy recreation.

Additionally, to more effectively serve the poor, the Orange community has made its Friday Night Oratory program free for all members of the local community this year. The Friday Night Oratory program reaches over 100 young people, providing a happy, healthy, and holy environment for several hours each week. The Orange community is also continuing its soup kitchen, which provides hot meals to members of the local community every Monday through Saturday.

Every Saturday at St. John Bosco Parish, Chicago, IL, volunteers in the parish group Cristo Resucitado come together to show the victory of God’s love over death by serving food. One Saturday morning, the volunteers prepare ample bags of food for people in the neighborhood to pick up at the youth center. The next Saturday, the volunteers bring food to men and women living on the streets of the city. Parishioners show their support for this parish program on a regular basis, leaving non-perishable food items in the collection box in the entrance of the church.

The Pope reminds us: "'The poor you will always have with you' (Mk. 14:7). This is a summons never to lose sight of every opportunity to do good." May Our Lady, comfort of the afflicted and Help of Christians, pray for us and guide us to do great good.

Fr. Tim Zak