InTouch 4.19.12


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
InTouch    3 4.19.12

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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.