InTouchOctober25 2012


InTouchOctober25 2012

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USA West Province Newsletter
Building Bridges Between Communities
Oct. 18
2012
Provincial’s
Letter
““Don Bosco is a
man of today, who
responded not only
to the events of the
historical period
in which he lived,
but also those
of the present
day. One of the
things in which
he showed himself
a forerunner
was the ability to
understand the
importance of
the education of
young people, and
to see that this
be offered with
care, affection,
hospitality,
and close
relationships.”
Bishop José Manuel
Lorca of Cartagena
October 25, 2012
Dear Brother and Sister
Salesians:
I write this letter to you
at the midway point of
the InterAmerica Region
provincials’ meeting. This
gathering has been amaz-
ing!
First of all it is our privi-
lege as the Salesian Fam-
ily in Don Bosco West
to host the meeting of
provincials this year. We
hold the meetings at the
St. Joseph Renewal Center
as well as our prayers and
Masses. The provincials
are housed in the local
Doubletree Hotel, carried
back and forth by van.
The hearty ones walk.
Our meals have really spe-
cial moments of commu-
nity. Each day the midday
meal, served at 1:00PM,
is prepared and served
by a different group of
the Salesian Family. Each
day for supper, served at
7:30PM, we are hosted
by one of the local com-
munities nearby. The first
night the novices them-
selves prepared a typically
American hamburger bar
with all the fixings.
A special feature of these
meetings is to have with us
the presence of the Rector
Major’s Vicar, Fr. Adriano
Bregolin. He personally
represents Don Bosco’s
successor among us. He
has kept us up to date on
Fr. Pascual’s health and
arranged a moment when
by Skype we could all give
a greeting to the Rector
Major and receive a mes-
sage from him. Bro. Jean
Paul Mueller, Economer
General, was also to be
with us here in the prov-
ince, but at the last mo-
ment had to remain in
Rome to attend to some
pressing legal problems.
Our first day was a full day
of retreat, led by Bishop
Alex Salazar, auxiliary of
the Los Angeles Archdio-
cese. He opened the eyes
of my brother American
provincials to the real sit-
uation of Hispanic immi-
grants here in the US. He
spoke from the heart, cel-
ebrated a penitential ser-
vice with us, presided at
our Eucharist, and stayed
the whole day, enjoying a
“California Burger” at the
novices’ burger bar.
With Fr. Adriano we re-
flected on the Synod of
Bishops in this Year of
Faith. We have studied
the Letter on the Charis-
matic Identity of the Sale-
sian Family. We reviewed
the question of religious
discipline as a fruit of be-
ing Christ’s disciples in
this region. And there is
so much more the come
before the week ends.
I will stop here with a
heartfelt expression of
gratitude to the groups
who prepared our main
meals, to the communi-
ties that hosted us for
supper, to the St. Joseph’s
community who opened
their doors to us for the
meeting. Most of all,
though, I want to thank
the planning commit-
tee: JC Montenegro, Fr.
Joseph Matthew, Miri-
am Rodriguez, Bro. Al
Vu. They thought of
and planned every detail
to make this visit of the
provincials of our region
to our province a won-
derful experience. I am
so thankful to them for
making my job as host so
much easier. And I am
so proud to showcase to
my brother provincials
this great province of San
Francisco.
Sincerely,
Rev. Timothy Ploch, SDB
Provincial

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PROVINCIAL’S
CALENDAR
Year
of Faith
alw“aRyesjo. Iicweiilnl stahyeitLoargdain:
Rejoice!”
RFpmfatslaiaeuaubnittdaccalmtp-hanttr-ea-teuethnaaedcilrldiWtrenyolHritctiRhtnicistrceawyvoneceoieiheioscrseusownstitloumec,p,piteonrgcoaohplaovsesptaapmfoenyexetaartrglaollturcarcosnmvrorrt“ihuotrfcoeeitbdidehftnosulhwfusmisylloaopbllyneseeptioiyoniahneitctoioas’gykytheyst,sutsynri”oifatoaimfogccfeotaoouon“ihfarnercnctlrenrendilaehaotcttlawoneglyipo,nethicrcndtthppaesraaqawayturewecuahenlllouwaccilinidrxeoutehtdtearctey,uyhnabsne“titotecictipnrtgastgofcgoixieaeoeaneeope”ncritthrtssw?nsdaoiepuwovtotatdtsaoealeauowbivnot:tervrntudrleeearahtimietkhraoravlllf.ioeilyaokenaapfypSmoelvenrt,,rwohflr?ocioyaideoraowen.idwgtepitfsu,S-nraehlthamatdartoyhghp.oarto,me,eiueWeetsuwpjobrdeumlsirtcneesisternhstiovsyeitrcbhooaehensoccouterlsuiauutuolaepsro-hslnmnlslf-ey”gd-in
people?
d- If the Church finds
with the young, might
sians and the Salesian
iittsneloftuanlseoqubieptpheedctaosdeafyo,rfaScaelde-
Family today?
Fr. Pascual Chavez, SDB
STRENNA 2013
October 2012
21-28 InterAmerica Region
Provincials Meeting, Rosemead
29 Drive to San Francisco
30-31 Office Days
November 2012
1 Members Meeting,
St. Francis High School, Watsonville
2 Review Board Meeting
3-5 Office Days
6 CMSM Region 6 Meeting with
Archbishop Gomez, LA
7-9 Provincial Council Meeting,
Camp St. Francis
PLEASE PRAY FOR
OUR SICK
f
Bro. Tony Freitas, SDB
hospitalized
f
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Don Rua “the living
RuDt“lfoeooc”nr.oaRnwsueahc:rofaildeteelildfietlyi-fe
DotnimReu”.a “Successor
of Don Bosco, that is
continuer: son, disci-
ple, imitator…
Don Rua:
geliser of
“the evan-
youth”.
Don Rua “the most
faithful son of Don
DqBcewuoooxnanosalctrRmiiofkniu”peuoaldefeiraDsasornotfendhtahteBlhlefoyeisrcsot.
Almighty and merciful
God, you placed in the
footsteps of Saint John
Bosco Blessed Michael
Rua, who imitated his
example, inherited his
spirit and spread his
works; now that with his
beatification you have
raised him to the glory of
the altars, be pleased to
multiply his patronage to
those who invoke him
and to hasten his canoni-
sation.
happy feast
Blessed
Michael Rua
“Successor of
Don Bosco:
son, disciple,
apostle”
Oct. 29
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“More, that vocational
campaigns be put into
action: families, parishes,
all our schools should be
VOCATION
CULTURE able to create a pastoral mi-
croclimate where they can
grow and ripen vocations,
forming a genuine culture
of vocation
in which LIFE is
conceived and lived
as a gift,
as a vocation and mission,
13/10/2012 - Vatican - The Rector Major speaks
to the Synodal Fathers: to foster a culture of
vocations
amidst the diversity
of options.”
“Evangelisation and vocations are two insepa-
rable elements – said the Superior General of
Fr. Pascual Chavez, SDB
the Salesians – indeed, an authentic hallmark of
good evangelisation is its ability to arouse voca-
Wayne
Paul Garcia
tions, to bring to maturity projects of Gospel life,
to involve the whole person of those who are be-
ing evangelized to become disciples, witnesses
and Apostles”. For this the Ecclesial Ministry has
candidate
got to become vocational, thus creating a culture
of vocation, “which is a way of thinking and of
coming to grips with life as a gift received
from God for a project or a mission ac-
rrktaeepoeidtnlrwnirlSaegigaefgatpstteiyaoo.oretshatdajomuntoratiaeminshttwtdsfsabheaopie.7aloasseentilprrtfsclifsPcwoieoehheyrPaoaHtwc.nbeosgrhunmreepW toitneoerlrdehnrraeedtacfisowihtnrredasW aebttelgeahyevternlpoaciirnaanefent.uagaStuubdunjyHtLothlmplaarGerlvtneeiiioetargulnvnileeocinscpenfaaynigesweinioenPpanrldiceldgwnitscadaaydo4naxhttonuasras6apPttebfclmtltlhhli0oaceuipeeafoGncoemeutmurn@crtneeliaC.inilioiehotoetdincycrditatmyniunsncttaagoaleectnsosiuihonehaftceretuiswoofdoanha.tttsrfhotiiaghoodHcnhnaste.recohhaieasebphtaonfleoccsoaieaSmtslyoraourchhlnaitultnjsrotei.dolinnpothdcekhuaDktsrweisshiiprnosisulinneaaa-wfracahgenodntiannoneertycdlwadsugloi-patlbnaSdoantnoohrult--sdughenotoe-
cording to his plan”.
Contact Fr. Jose Lucero, sdb
Vocation Director
infor@salesianvocation.org
salesian.vocation@facebook.com
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InterAmerica Region
provincials’ visit
By: Paul Garcia
1
2
Fr. Andriano Brigolin,
Vicar of the Rector
Major with (1) Fr. Jose
Lucero, (2) Fr. Harry
Rasmussen
(3) Fr. Brigolin with Fr.
Joseph Paradayil, Juan
Carlos, Paul Garcia
(4&5) Fr. Adriano
Bregolin, Fr. Esteban
Ortiz, InterAmerica
regional councilor, the
Provincials at dinner
with Salesians and
candidates at St. John
Bosco High School
community
This year’s Inter-America Region provincials’ meeting is taking place here in
USA West! St. Joseph’s Retreat Center is the host site for this meeting. Annu-
ally, the SDB Provincials from each of the Provinces that make up the Inter-
America Region meet to discuss the realities, challenges and/or successes of each
of the Provinces. In order to give the Provincials an opportunity to meet each
of the Southern California communities, they will be visiting each community
for dinner. This is a great chance for them to see all the different works that
each Salesian Community performs. The Provincials will have the opportunity
to take part in the 10 year anniversary Mass at St. Dominic Savio Parish and will
have the choice to either visit downtown Los Angeles or the “Happiest Place on
Earth,” Disneyland, in Anaheim during their stay.
During the visit to the St. John Bosco and DeSales Hall communities, we were
given the opportunity of interacting and speaking with Fr. Adriano Brigolin,
Vicar of the Rector Major. I was seated at the same table as Fr. Brigolin and was
able to converse with him about my Salesian journey thus far. He explained how
nice it is to live in Rome and to work with Rector Major, Fr. Pascual Chavez.
Since I was seated next to Fr. Brigolin, he asked me several questions about how I
feel about being a Salesian Candidate and if I was happy. I told him that I am very
happy especially because I have the chance to interact with kids in our Oratory. I
told him about my family and about my educational journey as well.
Fr. Brigolin also expressed interest out the Province’s vocation recruitment pro-
cess and got a chance to speak to Fr. Jose Lucero about various initiatives being
implemented here in USA West.
While we only got to visit with the Provincials for a brief period of time, they
seem to be enjoying their stay with us in our Province and seem very happy with
the communities they have visited. It is an awesome experience to get to hear all
the different ways the Salesians interact with young people all over the world.
3
4
5
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REFLECTION
By Michael Howard
St. John Bosco High School,
Bellflower
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The most special and important thing that
I believe we can take away from this gospel
is the line about if the master of the house
knew the thief was coming, then he would
make sure he didn’t come in. Therefore, we
can never know when the Son of Man will
come. We must always be prepared for him
to come and it is a very hard thing to do.
This means we have to truly live our lives
in faith every single day. We have to always
know what the right thing to do is because
if Jesus came down from heaven at this very
moment, we would all wish to enter the king-
dom if God with him.
I think what Luke is trying to say is that
there is no time to make up for all the bad
things we have done when Jesus comes. He
isn’t going to come down and give us thirty
days to be good people so we can go to
heaven. Jesus will judge us on how we have
lived our entire lives. So if we wish to be with
him in Paradise, we have to always be trying
to do the right thing. Living in faith is an
everyday thing. We are not supposed choose
when we will live in faith, it has to be some-
thing we struggle to do every day. And our
struggle with living in faith will all pay off in
the end when we can be with Jesus in heaven.
This is a very challenging thing to do as
teenagers in high school. There are so many
things that appeal to us because of our cul-
ture, but those things are exactly the things
Jesus would want us to be doing. It is hard
to wake up every day and be kind to everyone
and live like Jesus did. I am by no means saying
that what Jesus wants from us is easy. I just
believe that if we have faith and wholeheart-
edly want to be with Jesus, then we can live
our lives like he wants us to. And in doing this
we may enter the kingdom of God with Jesus.
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DE SALES HALL, BELLFLOWER
little bit of
NEWS
By: Bro. Joseph Lockwood, SDB
Carpenters toping off the block
wall after removing the top
blocks.
This past week the AC equipment
for the dining room and the cha-
pel was installed and charged. The
equipment could not be tested be-
cause of the lack of electricity.
The block wall between our prop-
erty and the apartment driveway
(to the south) has been lowered to
meet the Public Works Specifica-
tions. A private gate was installed
to prevent access to that side of the
building.
The temporary construction office
was removed since it will no lon-
ger be needed. We are coming to
the end of the project. In the area
where the office had been situated,
a new fence will be installed and
a gate for SCE’s easement to the
power lines behind the visitors’
football bleachers.
A few weeks ago, the Bellflower
area received a little rain. When
that happened it was revealed that
somewhere on the north side of
the roof there was a leak. The roof
will be repaired but in the mean
time, the contractor has covered
that portion of the roof with plastic
sheets to prevent any further water
damage to those third floor rooms.
Early Tuesday (October 23, 2012)
morning there was a small cloud
burst over the Bellflower area.
Some good news, the neighbor-
hood around De Sales Hall re-
ceived a notice of a power outage
on Thursday (October 25, 2012).
The purpose of the power outage
is so SCE can connect our building
to the power grid.
The painters are touching up the
rooms, doors, baseboards, etc.
There are still a few doors that
The new gate on the south
side of the building with the
wall cut to required specifica-
tions by the City of Bellflower.
7 INTOUCH 10-18-2012
need windows to conform to the
Child Safety Regulations.
On Monday after lunch, Fr. Jerry
Bonjean and I met with Mr. John
Swick of Harold’s Key Shop to fi-
nalize the key system for the build-
ing.
Today (Tuesday, October 23, 2012)
Fr. Paul Tran (Director of De Sales
Hall) introduced Dave that has
knowledge of Wolf Ranges and
other kitchen appliances to look at
the stove, and especially the con-
trols. After inspecting the stove,
Dave said he will order the neces-
sary parts and install them. Thank
you, Fr. Paul and Dave! That is a
big savings.
fqe
A– 12 feet of the roof will be re-
paired.
B – Alex DeLeon checks out the
charging of the Chapel’s AC unit.
C – Dining room and lobby AC
units closed in by cage.
A
B
C

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MAY THEY REST IN
THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Please pray for the repose of the souls of
e
Michael Doherty
1944 - 2012
Michael was a professed Salesian:
1963 – 1969.
Michael was ordained a Permanent Deacon
for the Archdiocese of San Francisco,
June 19, 2005.
His diaconate ministry: Parochial Associate
Holy Name of Jesus Parish, San Francisco.
INTOUCH
PROVINCIAL NEWSLETTER
GD3
Salesians of St. John Bosco
1100 Franklin Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
E-­mail: intouch@salesiansc.org
Weekly publications will be
distributed on Thursdays. Please
submit news for publication by
Friday of each week.
Send contributions to:
intouch@salesiansc.org.
Saints show people
how the Gospel is
lived, witnessed to & proclaimed
Cardinal Angelo Amato, s.d.b
In the “Lineamenta” there are about 40 references to both
sanctity, as conversion to Christ and as full reception of
his grace, and Saints as indispensable protagonists of the
new evangelization: “the key element in the work of the
new evangelization is for every Christian to answer the
call to holiness” (Instrumentum Laboris, no 158). The
theme of the sanctity of the Church in her being and
in the behaviour of her children constitutes a recurring
theme of the document.
Why this insistence? Because in the Saints the Church of-
fers the people an edifying display of the Gospel lived out,
witnessed to and proclaimed undisguised.
Indeed, the Saints evangelize with their virtuous lives,
nourished by faith, hope and charity. They personify the
evangelical beatitudes, which are a faithful reflection of
Christ: blessed are the poor in spirit, the gentle, the pure
of heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted.
They respond with extraordinary creativity to the com-
mandment to love God and neighbour: I was hungry and
thirsty and you gave me food and drink, I was a stranger
and you made me welcome, sick and in prison and you
visited me.
The saints embrace humanity with their love, rendering
coexistence better, more peaceful, more fraternal. This is
why the days of our calendars are marked with the names
of the saints. The history of the Church, in the East as well
as the West, in the North as in the South, records saints of
every age, country, race, language and culture, so that the
grace of God the Trinity might be like the morning dew.
It is found on all the plants in the garden, yet on the rose
it is red, on the leaves it is green, on the lilies it is white. It
is the same with sanctity which, though being unique as
a Divine gift, lightly penetrates and transforms the hearts
of children of the Church all around the world, in Asia
as well as Africa, in America as well as in Oceania or
Europe. There are holy martyrs, holy confessors, holy doc-
tors in the Church. All are witnesses to Christ and evan-
gelizers.
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Don Bosco Hall
Institute of Salesian Studies
1831 Arch Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
Here you will find resources such as the Don Bos-
co Study Guides, articles, books, and more.
You can also find information about the all of the
degree and certificate programs offered by the
Institute of Salesian Studies, including a Masters
of Arts in Theology with various Salesian concen-
trations, youth ministry certificate, Salesian cer-
tificate, Sabbatical programs, and more!
The new Institute of Salesian Studies website:
http://SalesianStudies.org
Fr. John Roche, SDB
Don Bosco Hall
Institute of Salesian Studies
1831 Arch Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-204-0801

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INTENSIVE
SALESIAN COURSES
SALESIAN
PEDAGOGY
Education & Evangelization:
Girls & Young Women
Education & Evangelization:
Boys & Young Men
For the Salesian Family, the entire academic year
2012-2013 is dedicated to the study of St. John
Bosco’s Educational Methodology, a Salesian
Pedagogy. Therefore, the Institute of Salesian
Studies is offering two week-long intensive
courses. The first week presents a pedagogical
approach to the education and evangelization of
girls & young women, and the second week for
boys & young men.
Although these two weeks of courses stand on
their own, the two weeks are designed to compli-
ment each other. You may register for one or two
weeks.
Week One
Sr. Ann Cassidy, FMA draws upon the research of
contemporary educators, as well as her own years
of experience, to highlight the effectiveness of
Salesian pedagogy, as well as to tailor its educa-
tional methods to the education of girls & young
women.
Week Two
Fr. John Serio, SDB, tailors his course toward the
Salesian educational and evangelical approach
for boys & young men.
Continuing Education/Graduate UNITS
If you wish to take these courses for graduate or
continuing education units, email:
info@salesianstudies.org
Or contact Fr. John Roche at 510-204-0801
salesianstudies.org/register