InTouch 4.19.12 :: Newsletters

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InTouch 4.19.12

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InTouch 4.19.12

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Bosco Hall. Our Province Organic

Plan (POP) in the section called

Fundamental Options for Specific

Works and Presences, Houses of

Formation, # 7 on page 21 gives a

context.

of Philosophy and Theology

described above. Don Bosco Hall

in Berkeley will now become one of

the few locations in all of California

where youth ministers may receive

this national certification.

April 19, 2012

Dear Brother and Sister Salesians:

I would like to bring everyone up

to date on some new and exciting

developments at Don Bosco

Hall in Berkeley. Fr. John Roche

reported on these at the directors

and pastors meeting the day after

Province Day.

It has become increasingly clearer

as the years go on that our

traditional year long Institute of

Salesian Spirituality (ISS) program

was becoming quite difficult

if not impossible to sustain in

that form. The English speaking

provinces of the Salesian world

found it an excellent program, but

too long for confreres to be away,

too expensive, too complicated

and demanding to secure student

visas. So under the leadership

of Fr. John Roche and his team,

as well as with the constant and

practical support both from the

formation department in Rome

and from the Rector Major himself,

a new array of offerings and

courses are on the table. I list

them here in brief. There is so

much more that could and should

be said about each of them. So

consider what I write here just a

basic introduction to the new Don

Three Month Experiences

Fall: Don Bosco and

Salesian Spirituality

Foundations

Winter: Scripture and the

Person of Christ in Salesian

Spirituality

Summer: Salesian

Educational Methodology

Towards a Masters Degree

in Theology with Salesian

Concentrations

With further courses

taken at the Dominican School

of Philosophy and Theology, the

traditional year long ISS program,

as well as the three month

experiences mentioned above,

will offer students a path towards

obtaining a Masters Degree with

those courses comprising a fully

accredited Salesian concentration.

National Certification in Youth

Ministry

The Center for Ministry

Development is collaborating

with us to offer the National

Certification in Youth Ministry

over two summer sessions. The

credit for these courses may also

be applied to the Masters Degree

through the Dominican School

InTouch 1 4.19.12

As I mentioned, this is a

very brief survey. Much more

information is available from Don

Bosco Hall and Fr. John Roche

(jrochesdb@gmail.com). These

developments are really something

to be proud of. I believe they

will position Don Bosco Hall

to continue offering excellent

programs of spirituality, study, and

ongoing formation for the entire

English speaking Salesian world

long into the future.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Timothy C. Ploch, SDB

Provincial

Provincial’s Calendar

April 2012

19 Office Day

20 St John Bosco High

School Braves Gala

21-25 Travel and Office Days

26 Meeting with Bishop

Garcia, Monterey

27-30 Visitation, Sts. Peter and

Paul, San Francisco

May 2012

1 Visitation, Sts. Peter and

Paul, San Francisco

2 Provincial Council Meet-

ing, San Francisco

3 Office Day

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Movimiento Juvenil Salesiano

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What is MJS? Well, this question and how we

are part of a worldwide movement were some

of the questions that the youth leaders at St.

Mary’s were trying to understand. Fortunately,

a Salesian in Berkeley provided the answer. I

met Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez two years ago and

just recently we started talking about the need

to educate our youth to a global perspective

of what it means to be part of the MJS (SYM).

To tell you the least, this weekend was an aha

moment for us!

The twenty most important youth and adult

leaders in our parish started on Friday by

going back to our roots, getting to know Don

Bosco, his thinking, his values and his method

and finally his mission. We really saw Don

Bosco with new eyes.

On Saturday our task was to go back to the

basic but most important five elements of

what it is to be Salesian and what it is to

think and do like Don Bosco. After analyzing

our work, finding what we needed to adjust

and planning, we learned that we have to

go back and start from the fundamentals,

re-structuring our work with the young and

promoting the Salesian Youth Movement.

This weekend was a new learning experience,

thanks to Fr. Alex, who took the time to come

and teach us like Don Bosco.

InTouch 2 4.19.12

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Salesians of St. John Bosco

1100 Franklin Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

Phone: (626) 280-8 622 #35

E- m ail: 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.

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A Retreat to Review Don Bosco Net

By Julieta Contreras

This past weekend,

April 14th and 15th, the

many willing hands to

help balance the weight

province Young Adult

Communications Team went

of the project and people

with different skill sets

for a short retreat in the

San Bernardino mountains

that can contribute to the

various tasks. For example,

to reflect on the prayer blog

they helped create: Don

Bosco Net. The members

of the team present were

Christian Alvarez, Chris

Chris Beltran is a great

organizer and has moved

and directed many students

to contribute content, and

Marc Meehan, who is good

Beltran, Julieta Contreras,

Armando Garcia, Marc

with computers, is lending

a hand with the more

Meehan, Xochil Perez and

Isabelle Plascencia. Judy

technical aspects.

Alvarez, Province Delegate

for Social Communication,

facilitated the retreat along

with her husband, Mike

Alvarez, as guest presenter.

Young Adult Communications Team: (Front Row, L to R) Marc

Meehan, Chris Beltran; (Back Row, L to R) Xochil Perez, Armando

Garcia, Christian Alvarez, Julieta Contreras, Isabelle Plascencia,

One of the most important

things that took place

at the retreat was the

Judy Alvarez. (Unable to attend: Giovanni Fernandez, Carlos Sousa, recommitment to the project

Teresa Alvarez and Joey Zarate)

that each of us vowed. We

Each of us have worked on

this project hoping to be like

Don Bosco, meeting the young

where they spend their time,

which these days is often on the

internet. We hoped to provide

a place where they can grow in

their faith and also contribute in

to help others discover that in

their lives. If the internet is like

the world: busy and cluttered

with misleading information being

thrusted at you, then a blog where

there is peace, unity and the word

of God, is the heaven on earth of

the internet.

all said we are passionate

about reaching youth and know

that this is a great avenue through

which to do it. Though many of

us are busy beyond belief with

work and school, we each agreed

we would do our part to help this

web space flourish.

a very unique way to the project.

In fact, a main purpose of the

blog was to include the voices of

youth from different schools and

parishes.

The retreat focused on the

progress of the blog so far,

thinking of what could be changed

or made better. The blog has been

in the pilot stage throughout this

Pope Benedict urges us to

occupy social media and use

it to evangelize. We are only

doing what we can to follow his

directive.

The theme of the retreat was

“Heaven on Earth,” and the goal

was to consider what heaven

looks like on earth and how best

Lent and although it has been

great, we are still learning and

working with what we know about

the expectations of youth for the

websites they visit and how to

You can visit Don Bosco Net at

http://donbosconet.tumblr.com/

adapt and make the best impact

in the media culture.

One of our biggest problems

is that social media takes up

enormous amounts of time and

energy to manage effectively

and to produce good content,

both hard to achieve with the

hectiness of life. What works

in our favor is that we have

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Prayer and Spiritual Direction

April 22-26, 2012

A Salesian Family Event | Sponsored by the Salesian Vocation Office

Do You…

Need time out from your busy schedule?

Desire an opportunity to reflect on your life and where you are going?

Want to grow in your prayer life?

If you identify with any of these statements then this retreat is for you.

The Retreat format will include:

o 30 minutes of daily meditation (mandatory for the experience)

o 30 minutes of daily spiritual direction (mandatory for the

experience)

o 30 minutes of daily celebration of mass (if your schedule permits)

o Since this is a “retreat” for those with a “busy” schedule, you can

arrange your daily appointment with your spiritual director / directress

when we gather to begin on Sunday evening. Appointments will be

available at St. Dominic Savio and St. Joseph’s Retreat Center.

St. Dominic Savio Church

Sunday, April 22 @ 5:30 pm (mandatory gathering) through

Thursday, April 26 @ 6:30 p.m. (a concluding mass and light supper)

This event is free of charge but donation is accepted.

For more information or to make a reservation, contact Fr. Chinh Nguyen, SDB:

Email: info@salesianvocation.org | Phone: (626) 688-2939 or

St. Joseph Retreat Center:(626) 280-8622

InTouch 4 4.19.12

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Sewer Line Replacement

By Bro. Joseph Lockwood, SDB

The sewer pipe for the

residence building at De Sales

Hall is being replaced, because

the tree roots broke the terra

cotta sewer pipe and raw

sewage was leaking into the

ground.

The 7 feet deep sewer pipe

trench was dug by hand.

Thank God that the soil is

sandy and easy to dig. But it is

still a big job. The plumbers,

Guarantee Services from La

Mirada, followed the old terra

cotta sewer pipe from where it

entered the house and ended

at the City lateral (main sewer

line) on Bellflower Blvd. One

of the obstacles in the way

was the planter with the light

pole in the front of the house.

The men tunneled under it to

run the new ABS (Acrylonitrile

butadiene styrene) sewer

pipe. By the City’s lateral, the

plumbers installed a sewer

clean out so that the sewer line

can be snaked out in case of a

sewage blockage.

fine and no root problems are

found, the pipe will be left as is.

But if there are problems, the

plumbers will replace the pipe

and provide for another sewer

cleanout.

During the Province Days, I

heard the mumbling: “When

will we get out of the elevator

pit?” Well, last week the

contractor poured elevator pit

walls and the elevator footing

using 4 yards of concrete.

The footing will connect the

elevator structure to the

existing hall building. The

concrete forms will be stripped

and the dirt back filled and

compacted. Once this happens

the drilling auger will be able

to drill the cylinder plunger.

This past week the Los County

Fire Department approved

the plan for the fire alarms

and smoke detectors. The

fire alarm contractor, United

Systems, began to rough in

the electrical boxes for the

detectors and the fire alarm

pull boxes.

All of the existing interior

doors have been refinished and

are ready to be re-hung.

The plumber tunneling under the planter.

While this sewer pipe was

being replaced, the question

came up about the soundness

of the sewer pipe from the

hall building. It was decided

that that sewer line needed to

be investigated for tree roots,

etc. This will be done by

opening the sewer line in front

of the building and running

a camera through the pipe

taking pictures of the interior

of the pipe. If everything is

The broken sewer pipe from the house

Pouring the elevator pit walls and

footings

InTouch 5 4.19.12

Carpenter tying the steel footing dowels

for the steel columns canopy.