Soon we Oblates will gather as a province to choose our next Provincial. My four-year mandate will then come to completion.
The next reflection from the Wilmington-Philadelphia Provincial will be from our new Provincial. It may take him some time to get his footing, so I know that you will be patient until you hear from him.
For the first two years or so, I wrote a reflection every week. I was, therefore, happy when my counterpart in the Toledo-Detroit Province, Father Jack Loughran, took up his pen every other week. Then we began to hear from others in the Salesian family as well.
A dear Visitation Sister used to describe these kinds of reflection as “Salesian Bread.” I was always taken by that expression. Bread is such an ordinary, everyday kind of food. And yet, Jesus chose bread as the medium for what becomes, at every Mass, his very Body. For Jesus, then, there is nothing at all ordinary about bread!
I think that is the kind of insight that Sister had in describing our reflections in De Sales Weekly. They are often on topics of everyday, ordinary life, but charged with Salesian insight and written in a manner that hopes to speak “heart speaks to the heart.” In that spirit, “Salesian Bread” can nourish the heart and fortify the daily lives of those who read these brief reflections every week.
I want to thank each of you who read what we write here, and I want to ask you to continue to pray for us Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and others in the Salesian family in support of our desire to live and share “Salesian Bread” with you, our readers and our friends, and with all those whom the Holy Spirit may lead to these pages.
From time to time, Oblates change ministries. That is what I will do now as I prepare to leave the ministry of Provincial and return to the ministry of parish life. Placements may change, but the heart remains the same, determined to do and accept whatever God wills or permits.
Now it is time to say, “Goodbye and God bless.”
Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
If you would like to send Fr. Lou a card, you can address it to:
Fr. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Our Lady of Good Counsel Church
8601 Wolftrap Rd, Vienna, VA 22182
