Saint Margaret Mary & Me

Saint Margaret Mary and me... have nothing in common!  She was a Visitation nun, living in a cloistered community, in a small town in rural France.  I am an Oblate priest, working in an active seminary, across the street from the fifth largest city in the USA.  She prayed late into the night.  At my age, I’m fast asleep before the late-night news.  She was a mystic.  Let’s just say I’m not.

Why, then, is the celebration of her feast day (October 16) so important to me?  Because she is the “apostle of the Sacred Heart” – that humble and gentle heart (Mt 11:29) which gives rise to the tradition of Salesian Spirituality.  

She was invited, literally, to “behold this Heart” when the Lord appeared to her in three apparitions between 1673 and 1675.  He also called her to make adoration of His heart universal, which eventually led to the annual solemnity each June.

Saint Margaret Mary saw the Sacred Heart with her own eyes.  You and I are not that fortunate.  Our “beholding” of the heart of Jesus has to happen imaginatively.  That’s not to say it’s fake, but that it works through the power of images.  Here, too, the saint is not like me, because she could draw!

She sketched the image above for veneration by Visitation novices in 1686.  It shows an interconnection of the heart, the cross, and the crown of thorns, all united around that “charity” that is God’s love, that love that God is.

David Morgan calls this an “ideogram” – not a picture of an actual human heart, but a depiction that conveys the meaning of Jesus’s own heart.  As the saint, herself, explains, from the time it was formed in the Incarnation, Jesus’s heart leads to the Cross and to all the suffering He would endure for our salvation.

Saint Margaret Mary shared this image with other Visitation monasteries, so that the Sisters could gaze contemplatively upon it and be reminded of the “passionate” love of the Savior.  Appreciating that divine love, so easily and often forgotten amid the throes of this life, is what Jesus wanted to reignite through Margaret Mary.  As she recounts, the Lord promised that “wherever this sacred image would be exposed for veneration He would pour forth His graces and blessings.”

The imagery has evolved through the centuries – in paintings and pictures and statues and monuments.  But its spiritual power remains the same.  Gazing upon an image of the crucified heart draws us intimately toward it.  Considering it prayerfully transports us into the vital center of Jesus himself and the grand mystery of God’s sacrificial love for us.  

That spiritual perception is the saint’s gift to us.  When we truly “see” the Heart of Jesus, the image has a way of acting upon us.  In a certain sense, it looks back at us, does something to us, and even challenges us to become what we perceive. In simple Salesian terms, it inspires us to “Live Jesus.”

That’s what Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque did, in a heroic way.  That’s why she’s a saint, quite different from me.  But with gratitude for the gift of her devotion to the Sacred Heart, I’ll keep gazing, in the hope that one day, God-willing, we’ll share that sacred sight in common.

Fr. Thomas Dailey, OSFS

John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics & Social Communications

Why Worry?

“Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall a soul, except sin. God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry.” - Saint Francis de Sales

Who can’t worry? You worry when you see a massive hurricane named Ian barreling down on your home.  You worry when you hear Putin say that he’s considering using the most destructive weapon in his arsenal to get his way with Ukraine.  Who can’t worry? 

But, there are those things we can shrug off our shoulders.  Those things that make us disappointed in ourselves, embarrassed, and feeling small.  You know, things like dropping your grandmother’s heirloom soup tureen and breaking it into tiny pieces, or forgetting to bring ice to the family reunion when it was your only responsibility.  (I’ve never done something like that, but I know other people who have.)

There are a ton of things that create anxiety and diminish us that we regretfully and unintentionally do.  Well, get over it.  It’s done and nothing can undo it.  So, as is said in my home state, New York, FUHGEDDABOUTIT!  Saint Francis agrees and wrote, “Have patience with all things - but first with yourself.  Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being.”

I have found a great remedy for those silly things I’ve done that goes pretty far in getting me off the “shame” hook.  I’m not talking about sins I’ve committed, but the things that are accidental and simple mistakes.  This is my remedy: you know how children often have imaginary friends?  Well, I have an imaginary son.  He doesn’t have a name, he’s just - the kid.  More often than not, he’s that “darn kid.” 

A few years ago I was shopping at the local grocery store and accidentally left a bag of groceries behind at the self-checkout.  I got home and, as I was putting things away, realized my mistake.  I quickly drove back to the store hoping that someone had turned it in and I could recover the items without paying twice for them. 

When I spoke to the woman in charge of that checkout area, she said that she had just come on shift and knew nothing about it, but she would call the woman who just left the position.  A few seconds later, as I was standing next to this woman with the microphone in her hand, I heard her say to the entire store, “There’s a gentleman at self-checkout who says his son left a bag of groceries here.  Does anyone know anything about it?”

Honestly, I never said my son did the deed, but immediately felt the embarrassment and disappointment in myself lift.  What a great idea, blame someone else who will never disagree with me.  My groceries were not found, and I had to go through the store picking up and paying once again for what I had just previously bought.  But it wasn’t my fault, it was my “darn kid’s” fault. 

I’m so grateful for that occurrence.  My “darn kid” has lost my keys, made me late for appointments, forgotten names, made me drop a dozen eggs, and more.  What a relief!  I no longer have to feel bad about my mistakes, my silly mistakes.  My “darn kid” is always there to blame.  “Darn kid.”  Ya gotta love him!

Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS

Provincial

Toledo-Detroit Province

Francis, Francis, & Me

Artwork by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS.

Earlier in the week the Church observed the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.  This simple friar from a little town in Italy has inspired Christians from every continent and almost every denomination for almost 800 years.  Saint Francis understood his personal vocation to be a call to imitate Jesus Christ by being poor, chaste, and obedient.  His desire to “observe the Gospel” led him to start a religious community that was centered on Christ, faithful to the Church, dedicated to prayer, and committed to upholding the dignity of all creation. 

In the Middle Ages, there were many religious orders that were already established when Saint Francis of Assisi began his spiritual conversion.  Yet his unique approach and path to following Christ led other people to urge Saint Francis to start his own community.  It was these same men and women who eventually joined Saint Francis on his journey to spread the Gospel all over Italy and ultimately, the whole world.  

This community created a special charism that today is known as “Franciscan Spirituality.”  The Franciscan family has slight variations and ways of living the same spirituality.  Having over one million Franciscan friars and sisters around the world has created an abundance of paths to live the Franciscan life.  There is an old joke told in religious circles that illustrates this diversity in following the Franciscan journey: “There are three things that even God does not know – what the Jesuits are doing, what Dominicans are thinking, and just how many variations of Franciscans there are!”  

Even though the Oblates have not yet reached the “million mark” as a religious community, we know that there are millions of people who follow the spirituality of the other Saint Francis, Saint Francis de Sales.  Salesian Spirituality is based on the teachings, experience, and the path given to us by the gentle bishop of Geneva.  Like his personal patron, Saint Francis de Sales calls us to put the Gospel into practice.  De Sales doesn’t just remind us to imitate Jesus, he calls us to “live Jesus” – to be Jesus in the world today.  This spiritual path has attracted Christians for over four hundred years and is needed more than ever in our world today!

Whether Franciscan, Salesian, Ignatian, or Dominican, each religious order and each spirituality lifts up and assists the entire Church.  Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, himself a Cistercian monk, said that all religious orders contribute to the treasures of the Church.  He wrote, “I admire them all.  I belong to one of them by observance but to all of them by charity.  We all need one another.  The spiritual good which I do not own and possess, I receive from others.”

The attitude of Saint Bernard is good advice for all of us in our own spiritual life and journey. May we learn from one another and lift one another up as we strive to follow the Gospel, to “live Jesus.”   

This is our call as Franciscans, our call as Salesians, our vocation as Christians.

Rev. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS

Provincial

Wilmington-Philadelphia Province

Founders' Day! October 12th

Celebrating Blessed Louis Brisson

On October 12, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales celebrate Founders’ Day, a day in which we remember the first Oblates beginning their novitiate. On this day in 1873, Bishop Ravinet of Troyes, France, presented the Oblate religious habit to Fathers Brisson, Gilbert, Rollin, Lambert, Lambey, and Perrot as they began their novitiate. This day is also the Feast of Father Brisson since his Beatification. Of course, the two go hand in hand!

When he was a diocesan priest, Father Brisson was assigned as chaplain to the monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Troyes. Mother Marie de Sales Chappuis, Superior, was convinced that it was the will of God that their humble chaplain start a religious congregation of men to follow the spiritual legacy of Saint Francis de Sales. Brisson responded and founded the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, a congregation dedicated to spreading the optimistic, inspired-common-sense wisdom of Saint Francis de Sales in a variety of ministries and apostolates in 1875. Father Brisson was beatified, at the authorization of Pope Benedict XVI, in 2012, in Troyes, France. The cause for his canonization remains active.

Oblates share their quotes from Blessed Louis Brisson, OSFS

• Father Barry R. Strong, OSFS, Superior General

  • “The Congregation of the Oblates today is you. Within ten years, the Congregation will still be you... in a hundred years, in two hundred years, if it still exists, it will be you, yourselves. Understand that well. It is a heritage that you have received and that you will pass along to others: let it not deteriorate in your hands!” (First Instruction, General Retreat 1894)

    This is what Blessed Brisson told the early Oblates to make sure we would all understand our shared responsibility!

• Father Paul Colloton, OSFS, Superior, Oblate Retirement Center

  • “If we should love those who love us, how much more we should love those who come from other countries.” (Chapter 1896: 57)

  • “Let us always be polite. Let us give everyone great respect because the proper respect for our neighbor is the basic rule of love.” (Chapter 1888: 38)

  • “Let us remain with one another bound with a bond of love. Be of one heart and soul.” (Chapter 1891: 4)

  • “Let us love one another! Let us be considerate toward another’s personality, toward the circumstances in which he lives, toward those who work with you whom you find repugnant. Put all that into the refining oven, into the chemical retort as Saint Francis de Sales stressed.” (Chapter 1897: 48-50)

• Father Thomas Dailey, OSFS, John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics & Social Communication, Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary

  • “‘Cheer up.' For us (Oblates), this expression should carry great weight because in the mind of Saint Francis de Sales it really meant something - it meant a lot. 'Cheer up.' After all, it's courage, the right kind of courage that will be your prop always and in every circumstance, and it's a real test of strength of mind. It takes a lot of courage to keep up a solid front, hard work, and good judgment on an even keel... Just as yesterday I told you that we must do our work passionately well, so today, I would tell you to 'cheer up' in every phase of your life. And this sort of courage will be proof that you are a real Oblate of St. Francis de Sales." (Retreat Instruction, August 19, 1890)

• Father Mike Newman, OSFS, Assistant Provincial, Toledo-Detroit Province

  • "It is never what we do that obtains grace, it is the disposition with which we do it." (Chapter to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales December 28, 1887)

    This saying is a reminder to me that nearly anything we do can be done for the glory of God, or done in the presence of God. Brisson reminds me that any action, when I do it for love of God, is a holy action; that is, an action 'that obtains grace.' When I have the disposition to remember God is with me at all times then all parts of our days can be holy and lived in the presence of God.

  • My second favorite quotes are on prayer. I like them because they are so practical!

    "We define prayer as a conversation of the soul with God, an intimate talk with God about our needs, about our personal affairs, and about the affairs of others when we have them in our care. This type of prayer unites us intimately with God." (Chapter to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales May 16, 1894)

    "To pray or meditate is to treat of our own affairs with God; it is we talking simply and affectionately about them. And not only about spiritual affairs -about everything." (Chapter to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales May 16, 1894)

• Father Dave Whalen, OSFS, Priest-Assistant, St. Pius X Parish

  • “If God graces you from His great abundance, then profit from it.  But if you remain dry, dry as a piece of wood, then just say, ‘Lord, here is a piece of wood, please wrap your arms around it.’”  

Another “Special” Prayer

Blessed Father Louis Brisson, OSFS

A phrase that pops up rather frequently in the conferences Blessed Father Louis Brisson, OSFS, gave to the first Oblates is “ayez bon courage” or “ayez grand courage.” This is one of those phrases which does not translate easily into English even though the words themselves are understandable. The phrase means more than don't give up no matter what, hold on even when the times are rough.  In some ways, it is a paraphrase of the Salesian motto Tenui nec dimmitam - I have taken hold and I will not let go. 

Father Brisson was very much aware that times were rough at the beginning of the congregation.  They were only to get rougher.  They were a young group, some transitioning from diocesan priesthood to religious life, discovering what it meant, feeling the weight of the religious obligations, the vowed life, the communal life, and the ministry.  Father Brisson himself was both a “novice” and the Superior General at the same time, while also transitioning from diocesan priesthood to religious life and discovering that the path was not as easy as he thought it would be.  So frequently, both to the new men, and I suspect to himself, he would say “ayez bon courage.” Don’t give up no matter what.  Be strong.  

One area where this “bon courage” was needed and is still needed is in the area of prayer.   There was no question that the success of their new venture, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, would be, and need to be, grounded in prayer.  No prayer, No Oblate.  It was as plain and simple as that.  But what happens when even with all the aids to prayer are present (time for silence, time for reflection, power of the Scripture, power of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, etc.), nothing seems to be fruitful?  Some of the early Oblates were very much aware of this and brought this to Father Brisson. 

Certainly, when the sun shines, the warmth of the morning air surrounds me, the aftermath of a magnificent retreat or special celebration lingers, the power of a well-planned and celebrated liturgy invigorates me, the sacred silence of the Blessed Sacrament overwhelms me, and I feel the presence of God as close as the very skin that holds me together, it is no chore at all to pray.  Just try and stop me!

But what about the other days?

This was Father Brisson’s answer:

“If God graces you from His great abundance, then profit from it.  But if you remain dry, dry as a piece of wood,  then just say, ‘Lord, here is a piece of wood, please wrap your arms around it.’”  

And we could add, “Yes and I will be of good courage because the beauty of the temple of God is built with one little piece of wood placed on another.”

Thank you, Father Brisson!

Fr. David Whalen OSFS

Priest-Assistant

St. Pius X Parish, Toledo, OH

Honoring Father Steve Wetzel, OSFS: Memorial Plaque Dedication

The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 honored the memory of beloved FOP Chaplain, Father Steve Wetzel, OSFS, with a Memorial Plaque Dedication last week.  Father Steve, who passed away in April, served as Chaplain of Michael the Archangel Ministry Program supporting active and retired Philadelphia Police Officers and their families.  His legacy of service will never be forgotten.

Held in the Heroes Ballroom at the FOP Lodge #5, the Plaque Dedication Ceremony was attended by over 200 Philadelphia Police Officers and their families.  From the highest ranking to the newest officers, all gathered to celebrate the man who was so much more than Chaplain to them.  Many consider Father Steve one of their dearest friends. They have countless stories of how much Father Steve meant to them and the deep gratitude they had for all he did for them.

John McNesby, President of the FOP Lodge #5, shared remarks about the impact Father Steve had upon the entire FOP family. McNesby said that he didn’t realize how many people Father Steve had touched until after he died. “People were coming from everywhere to tell me what he meant to them.” That is one reason why having a plaque in Father Steve’s honor was important. “We want him (Father Steve) in our building forever so that we can tell people years from now who Father was and everything he did for us,” McNesby said.

Father Steve’s mom, Caroline (DiPretoro) Wetzel, was joined by her daughters Donna Lebresco and Deborah Wetzel. Also present were Father Steve’s brother Oblates, Fathers Bob Bazzoli, Jim MacNew, and Joe Campellone. 

His ministry as Chaplain of the Michael the Archangel Ministry Program brought great joy to Father Steve.  He felt very connected to the men and women in blue. Father Steve truly journeyed beside them in their service to the City of Philadelphia as he joined them in ride-alongs, held Mass at the end of their shifts, counseled them after shootings, and celebrated their family moments.  His life of faith and ministry led him to his last and special ministry.

Father Steve attended St. Timothy Grade School and graduated from Father Judge High School (Philadelphia, PA).  Following graduation, he joined the Oblates and made his first profession of vows as a brother in 1980.  He began his ministry as an Oblate brother and in 2003 was ordained an Oblate priest.

Prior to establishing the Michael the Archangel Ministry Program, Father Steve served in parishes, schools, and as Chaplain.  He was Chaplain at Sacred Heart Hospital (Allentown, PA), Holy Redeemer Health System's St. Joseph Manor (Philadelphia, PA), and for the Upper Saucon Fire Department (Center Valley, PA) where he was certified as a Level- I Firefighter.

Father Steve ministered as a Deacon at St. Cecilia Parish (Fort Myers, FL), Pastoral Associate at St. Thomas More Parish (Allentown, PA), Parochial Vicar at Our Mother of Consolation Parish (Philadelphia, PA), Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish (Vienna, VA), and Vice Principal at St. Thomas More Parochial School.

Throughout his ministry, he served at St. Joachim Parish (Philadelphia, PA) as Deacon and later as Pastor.  During his time there, Father Steve became involved with the Police-Clergy Program in both the 2nd and 15th Districts of the Philadelphia Police Department, where he served as local President for two years. With the closing of St. Joachim, he was able to refocus his ministry with the Philadelphia Police. In January of 2014, Father Steve helped to establish the Michael the Archangel Ministry Program FOP Lodge #5, serving as full-time Chaplain to 14,000 active and retired Philadelphia Police and their families.

Father Steve is greatly missed by his family, fellow Oblates, the Philadelphia Police Department, friends, the Custodes Pacis community, and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Sons and Daughters of Italy.  This absence was felt as the ceremony closed with the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums playing “Amazing Grace.”  

The plaque for Fr. Steve reads as follows:

 Rev. Steven P. Wetzel, OSFS March 15, 1958 -April 27, 2022

 Fr. Steve Wetzel, affectionately known as "Fr. Steve" was born and raised in Philadelphia. He was committed to service and was a professed member of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales for 41 years serving in a variety of service focused roles in Delaware, Florida, and throughout Pennsylvania. In 2014 he found his true calling when Fr. Steve helped create the Michael the Archangel Ministry Program at FOP Lodge#5. He assumed the role of full-time Chaplain to 14,000 active and retired Philadelphia Police Officers and their families.

The mission of the program was to provide multi­ denominational pastoral care, crisis ministry, and spiritual enrichment. In fulfilling this mission Father Steve became more than a Pastor, he became part of our family as in addition to his Ministry he presided over countless Police weddings, baptisms, and funerals. He will be greatly missed but we remember his favorite quote from Padre Pio:

"Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry"

 View Plaque Dedication Ceremony Program Here

Stories Featuring Father Steve and Michael the Archangel Ministry

Beloved chaplain's mass card saved police officer

Police rally for beloved chaplain in the hospital

Police ministry shows ‘behind the badge, there’s a human being,’ says archbishop

Blood drive honors fallen officers while meeting critical need

Beloved saint's legacy lives on through local police, religious order

Hope in Eternal Life

Last week I was visiting my soon-to-be 99-year-old mother. Of course, like people around the globe, the two of us spent way too many hours watching Queen Elizabeth’s extended funeral in all its pageantry. At one point, my mother turned to me and asked me to contact our local funeral director to begin planning her funeral. I looked at her and said, “I don’t think we can get all those horses, the Beefeaters, and bands here in our little village on the Niagara River.” She responded, “I know, but wouldn’t it be something if we did.”

After laughing together for a few moments, she told me she was serious. Always practical, my mother wanted to ensure she had enough savings to cover the cost of her funeral. I shook my head and did as I was requested.

While that was a light moment in our viewing of the Queen’s funeral, watching it invited both of us, and I assume many others, to reflect on the stark reality that the fate of every human is to leave this world and all we love in it. The always practical Saint Francis de Sales wrote, “The world is only peopled to people heaven.” (Letters to Persons in the World, II 33)

While much was made of Queen Elizabeth’s longevity as Queen and her many accomplishments, her fate, like ours, is to leave all that behind and begin a new life, which our faith promises is more - much more!

Saint Francis de Sales encouraged people to ponder and reflect on life beyond the one we have on earth. He encouraged this not to create fear or anxiety but to stir up hope in eternal life, allowing our confidence in eternal life to assist us in the challenges of this life. In doing so, no matter what our challenges are, we can walk with heads high and hearts full of joy. To quote Francis once again, “We should live in this world as though our spirit were already in heaven.” (The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, IV, 6)

Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS

Provincial

Toledo-Detroit Province

Direction of Intention

The Direction of Intention is a special prayer inspired by Saint Francis de Sales.  There are different versions of the Direction of Intention depending on where you hear it prayed. I use the one that is used at Salesianum School:

"My God give me the grace to perform this action with you and through love for you.  In advance, I offer to you all the good that I may do and accept all the difficulty I may meet therein, Amen.”

None of our actions occur in a vacuum; all have an impact on our wider community.  Through a “right intending” of our deeds, God becomes not only the constant companion in our everyday actions but also His plan for our world and our human community becomes more explicitly the end goal of everything in which we are engaged.  Our personal transformation in terms of a closer union with God in prayer and in awareness of God’s presence in each action is joined to the potential of these deeds to achieve a transformation of human society and the creation of a more just and peaceful human community.

I have been in the Oblates for 41 + years doing maintenance work at Salesianum School, DeSales University Facilities Department, and now the Oblate Retirement Center in Childs, MD.  Maintenance tasks can have good and bad associated with them.  This is where the Direction of Intention can come into play.  Over the years, people ask why I do what I do.  My response is that it is my responsibility; it needs to be done and someone must do it.  I have the Direction of Intention printed out and posted on my bulletin board over my office desk to remind me that things can go right or wrong.  For many of our tasks, we have no control.  I cannot determine how much snow will fall, however, I can decide how I want to look at the attitude that I want to have when I plow the snow.  

Salesian Spirituality says that the way we approach our work gives praise specifically to God the Creator.  We are also called to be “co-creators” with God.  So, it's in a real sense, allowing us to realize the Good Mother Mary de Sales Chappuis’ wish that we be “other Christs walking the face of the Earth once again.”  Our work, our labor, and our ministry allow us to do this.  Offering all we do through such a powerful and prayerful means as the Direction of Intention allows all we do to become a sacrament, to change the ordinary to extraordinary.  So powerful is this prayer that every Oblate is instructed with teaching it to all with whom they come into contact.  Over and above our “personal advancement in holiness,” each of our actions also involves us in God’s creative and salvific purpose for humankind and for the universe.

Brother Joseph Schodowski, OSFS

Assistant Superior/Facilities Manager

Oblate Retirement Center, Childs, MD

Meet Brother Dan Wisniewski, OSFS, Director of Oblate Education

A member of the Provincial Council of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province, Brother Dan Wisniewski, OSFS, Ph.D., has dedicated his ministry to education.

Brother Dan Wisniewski, OSFS

After Brother Dan first professed his vows as a religious brother of the Oblates in 1996, he taught mathematics at Northeast Catholic High School (Philadelphia, PA) and served as the faculty moderator of the Community Service Corps (CSC).  He then went on to serve at DeSales University for over two decades, most recently as Provost and a tenured Associate Professor of Mathematics.

Leveraging this extensive education experience, Brother Dan is currently ministering as Director of Oblate Education for the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province.  In this capacity, he supports the faculty, staff, and administration of educational institutions staffed by or associated with the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. “I hope I will be a resource to cultivate and care for our charism and the dissemination of Salesian Spirituality,” he said.  As an extension of this, Brother Dan will examine how the charism is linked to the mission of the schools.  He will gather best processes and share with those serving in educational settings.  

As this is a newly created role, Brother Dan is spending these first few months meeting with the faculty and administration of the schools to listen and learn.  He wants to understand their mission and how he can be a supportive presence to those communities.  Brother Dan’s new position is another illustration that education remains an essential component of the mission of the Oblates.  “I want to make sure that the Oblates’ presence is felt in the school communities,” he explained.

Supporting internal education is another important aspect of Brother Dan’s role.  He will become a resource and coordinator of personal, academic, and professional development opportunities for his fellow Oblates, from those in formation to men in retirement.  Brother Dan looks forward to working closely with his Oblate confreres. “Ministering as an Oblate to the Oblates is especially rejuvenating for me,” he said.  Brother Dan will also be supporting his fellow Oblates as Superior of the Salesianum Oblate Residence (Wilmington, DE) where 17 Oblates reside.

Prior to being Provost at DeSales University, Brother Dan served as Head of the Division of Sciences & Mathematics and Chair of the Department of Mathematics/Computer Science.  An alumnus of Father Judge High School, Brother Dan earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College, an M.A. in mathematics from Villanova University, an M.A. in Christian Spirituality from The Washington Theological Union, an M.Ed. in Academic Standards & Reform from DeSales University, and a B.S. in mathematics (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from The Catholic University of America.  He has been published in multiple journals and his research interests include number theory, mathematics education, the preparation of future teachers, and a variety of Salesian topics such as friendship and grief.

Brother Dan has previously served on the Provincial Council and was a board member for the National Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM). He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Salesianum School in Wilmington (DE). Brother Dan looks forward to serving other Oblate-affiliated schools as a board member and in other capacities.  He enjoys visiting his mother who lives in Northeast Philadelphia and spending time with family and friends.  A fan of popular culture, Brother Dan delights in music, movies, and concerts.

 If you would like to contact Brother Dan, you can reach him at dwisniewski@oblates.org.

An Unexpected Visitor

I was shaking hands outside after Mass one Saturday evening when I was pleasantly surprised to see my old friend Reese walking out of our church doors.  He is a 27-year-old gentleman who came from China to study at Father Judge High School.  From there, he graduated from St. Joseph’s University and is currently working at Cooper Hospital doing data analytics.  I met him about two years ago when after Mass, he shared his story and told me he just wanted to be in the company of an Oblate.  Reese is not Catholic, he just wanted the relationship and, hopefully, that Salesian connection.  We became friends and when I told him of my recent transfer to Our Mother of Consolation Parish,  he assured me that he would visit.  Promise kept!

When he visited, he told me that he was offered an exciting new job that would take him to the Barnes Museum, one of his favorite places, but he declined the offer because he just had his Visa renewed through his present employer and felt a sense of duty to them.  Honor, integrity, goodness.  Who cannot appreciate this?  After his visit, and upon my insistence that it was not an imposition (as I was headed that way to see my nephew), I drove him to his apartment.  On the way there, Reese told me about events he was looking forward to and work that interested him.   As we approached his apartment complex, he pointed out a corner where a couple of days ago, a few kids were beating up another kid.  He was horrified that people simply passed by without doing anything.  Then, he told me he shouted at them to stop and they ran away. What a risk! What goodness! 

I admire the gifts and qualities different people present.  I am in awe of what others can do that I cannot imagine doing.  In my life, I have met many very talented and gifted people.  But goodness is the gift I most admire.  Maybe it’s synonymous with character and quality.  Reese is a man of much simplicity and goodness.  So, that night, he was a welcomed, unexpected visitor who reaffirmed my conviction that goodness is essential.

Sister Catherine McAuley, who founded the Mercy Sisters, wrote “Do good today and better tomorrow.”  This dovetails perfectly with Saint Francis de Sales’, “Be who you are and be that well.”   There are a thousand other mantras like this to inspire us to “be the best version of ourselves” as is the writer, Matthew Kelly’s mantra.  They are all needed to help us “do the will of God for the world” (what I believe is Sister Joan Chittister’s mantra), to be faithful to whom God is calling us to be, “the presence of Christ for the world” (OMC tagline of our Mission Statement) or simply put, to “Live Jesus”, V+J, Vive Jesu, the Oblate mantra.  Goodness, living Jesus Christ, is our call. 

It is our imperative, in the pews and in the marketplace, when people are looking and not.  Goodness, character, integrity, presence, relationship, recognizing the beauty and letting it seep within our very core to invigorate us to do likewise.  When bombarded with violence, hatred, disdain, greed, self-interest, or self-promotion, let’s awaken our goodness; that is, the image and likeness of Christ, and share it with others to make the world a bit more kind, gentle, forgiving, and welcoming.  Who are the Reeses in our orbit, those unexpected visitors, who show us what life is supposed to be?

Fr. John J. Fisher, OSFS

Pastor

Our Mother of Consolation Parish

Philadelphia, PA

Mourning the Queen - Secular and Sacred

For the last two weeks, the people of Great Britain, and much of the world, have been mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II.  The impressive display of flowers, tributes, and memorials outside Buckingham Palace, churches, neighborhoods, homes, shops, and throughout England has been touching. Millions of people have come to London to honor the Queen and show their loyalty and love.  Even with these large crowds, the lines were quiet, calm, and respectful.  

Mourners outside Buckingham Palace

As I saw the crowds, the shrines, and the prayers being offered over the last few weeks, I was reminded of a medieval pilgrimage.  History tells us that these pilgrimages could be long, overcrowded, and often rowdy, but the travelers were always aware that God was with them.  

One mourner commented that even though the crowds were outdoors and in the streets, the atmosphere was like being in church.  A merchant who set up a tribute in his shop window near the palace said it was his attempt to “transform secular space into sacred space.”

For more than a week, merchants, military, politicians, and ordinary people have been doing this throughout the United Kingdom - transforming the “secular” into the “sacred.” 

Our modern world has created a spiritual-secular divide.  Most people recognize that there is a place for God and religion but usually only for an hour during the weekend and in a designated space.  The rest of our lives are often considered separate from spirituality.

Yet during times of national tragedy or mourning (in the U.S., I think of the aftermath of 9/11), these divisions become blurred.  The ‘‘mix and match” of contemporary spirituality becomes evident.  In England, while “secular spaces” like the gardens outside Buckingham Palace were converted to “sacred space,” people also flocked to the nation’s cathedrals to light candles and say prayers.  

Christianity has always rejected the artificial separation between the secular and the sacred.  Our faith should be all-encompassing and influence every dimension of our lives:  at home, at work, in our communities, and in our churches.  The Kingdom of God permeates our whole world. 

Saint Francis de Sales understood this and taught this throughout his life.  Salesian Spirituality reminds us that everything is sacred and everyone is called to the devout life. 

The Spiritual Directory that he gave to the Visitation Sisters (and handed down to the Oblates) is a reminder that all of our actions and activities are ways to make the everyday holy and to transform the secular into the sacred.  In this way, the Salesian way of life echoes the teaching of Saint Paul, 

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).”

Rev. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS

Provincial

Wilmington-Philadelphia Providence

God's Patience

Waiting is not something we Americans do well! The long lines at an airport security checkpoint are an excellent example. If the person before us is slow getting laptops prepared, shoes removed, emptying pockets, or packing their container for the x-ray inspection, he can send the people waiting behind into a tailspin. This is especially true if the next person in line is running late. If you relate to this description, waiting patiently is not one of your strong points!

Yet, waiting in long lines for water, food, or vaccines is fast becoming a staple of American life in many communities.  Indeed, people need to learn again just how to be patient with each other, especially in difficult waiting situations. Sister Rita, a seventh-grade teacher, insisted patience is about attitude, “Patience is not simply the ability to wait, but how we behave while we wait.”

Saint Francis de Sales gently reminds us we must be patient with everyone, but most especially with ourselves.  De Sales asks us to consider how often in our lives we have made Jesus wait for us.

De Sales’ references the long wait Jesus experiences before we stop a bad habit and spend the time replacing it with some good action. For instance, Jesus waits to see a prayer life begin, our showing of more gratitude for good things received, or thinking of others before fulfilling our own needs.

It can also be the day we realize that our gifts are not meant to be kept hidden, but rather shared. And when we do, we make the lives around us better, happier, or just plain easier.  Meanwhile, God waits patiently for these things to happen, because when they do, God’s kingdom grows with them.

Why does God show us so much patience?  Because God knows, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are quietly working 24-7, nudging us to grow and change. And God loves us too much to get discouraged and walk away.  He simply awaits patiently for the Spirit and his son to do their work.

While God waits, our spiritual side gradually awakens, revealing the intended image God has in mind for each of us. And God lingers hopefully for everyone to, sooner or later, choose and become that imagined person.

Jesus gazes at the divine spark glistening within our sacred self, signaling that we belong to the Lord, and that we qualify to choose his goodness as our own. He reminds us that we can still become the person God created us to become.  Jesus wants us to embrace this likeness because God already has destined us for his divine household.

What God desires for every creation is that we catch-up to God’s expectations. More important is Jesus’ wish that we are so moved by his father’s expectations that we make them happen.  In this way, God’s grace will help us overcome our hurdles and stubborn moments.

After considering the depth of God’s faith and trust, we promise not to give up on ourselves. Difficult as that may be, we remember that God, our Father, loves us the same whether we make progress today, or fall a few feet behind.  God always sees the whole picture and eagerly awaits the completed portrait.

Therefore, it’s good to keep moving forward with hope, because Jesus accompanies us and stays at our side cheering!

It is never too late to become who we might have been. 

Father Richard DeLillio, OSFS

For more reflections by Father DeLillio, visit his webpage Live Well Today

The Foundation of Formation

Deacon Joe Katarsky, OSFS

Last week this newsletter published a few photos of Deacon Joe Katarsky, OSFS, beginning his temporary ministerial experience with the Jesuits in Alaska. Joe is spending a year as a transitional deacon preparing for ordination as an Oblate priest. Following a few months in Alaska, Joe will finish his diaconate placement at Our Lady of Good Counsel, an Oblate parish in Vienna, VA.

The transitional diaconate provides the deacon with a well-rounded ministerial background in preparation for his ministry as a priest. The year follows other “on-the-job” training experiences which occur during the formation of an Oblate.

I learned a lot during my ministerial experiences in formation. Following a few years working at Camp de Sales in Michigan, I branched out, looking more for challenging experiences in ministry.

I began with a summer in an impoverished section of South Philadelphia. It was violent, dirty, and foreign to me, but I met some great people of faith and had my first immersive experience with an African American Catholic Parish. The irony was the priests at the parish were from a Dutch community working in what they considered mission territory.

Following Philly, there was a summer in Eastern Kentucky ministering in rural hollers that were the actual homes of the Hatfield and McCoys, a summer as a student chaplain in a large hospital in Toronto, and a summer at an Oblate parish in the lake country of Michigan. All of these preceded my year-long experience as a deacon in an impoverished parish in Detroit. As I approached my ordination as a priest, I felt well prepared with all these experiences under my belt.

If anything, these varied experiences taught me the truth of the Salesian principle that the human heart has a yearning for God, and God yearns to reside in the human heart. No matter how different our lives are, all people seek goodness, peace, and love. Saint Francis wrote volumes on this search.

I hope Joe’s experiences this year provide him with a healthy foundation as a minister. More importantly, I hope Joe gains an appreciation for the goodness of people and how invaluable every person is, despite how unique or different they may be. In a world seemingly torn apart by violence, war, acrimony, and indifference, Salesian optimism and gentleness are indispensable virtues for unity and healing.

Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS

Provincial

Toledo-Detroit Province

Our Family, the Church

Growing up in a very Catholic neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA, in the 1970s, my family belonged to the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  “Nativity,” as we called the parish, was more than where you attended mass once a week.  Nativity was a home.  It was a place to worship, pray, go to school, attend basketball games, socialize at dances, have fun at carnivals and hang out with friends. Like my immigrant ancestors at the turn of the last century, I was lucky to have experienced the parish church as an extension of my own family.

The church, like any family, had its share of characters.  There were the old-timers and the pillars of the parish.  There were the priests, nuns, and teachers, along with my classmates and friends.  There were the families who went to church regularly and those who only showed up at certain times of the year.  Like any family, we had good times and challenging times, but we always walked together on the journey of life.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This feast is a reminder that Jesus came from a real, human family.  God could have had his Son come to Earth in many ways.  Greek, Roman, and other religious mythologies give us many examples of how the ancient gods came to earth. But God chose his Son to come to us through Mary.  The Christian Scriptures explain that “in the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).”  

The Gospel chosen for this feast is the genealogy of Jesus from the writings of Saint Matthew.  The list of ancestors of Our Lord includes saints and sinners, humble people and proud people, lowly folks, famous folks, and unknown believers.  No matter who was in his family tree, Jesus was able to break away from prejudice and bias and to do something new.   

Matthew uses this list to show us that the story before and after the birth of Jesus is the same.  Like the family of Jesus, the story of the Church is made up of the great and the small, the sinner and the saint, the ordinary and the extraordinary.  The Church has a family tree that encompasses thousands of years and millions of people.  Over time and into eternity, we are all striving for perfection and trying to follow the Lord.

As we recall the birth of the Mother of Jesus, we can reflect on our own family and our own story.  We all come from a “mixed bag” of many different people, many different experiences.  But, like Mary, God chooses the lowly to do great things and calls us all to walk and work together.

In the preface to the Introduction to the Devout Life, Saint Francis de Sales tells us that we are all called to live a holy life:  “My purpose is to instruct those who live in cities, within families, and at court, and whose situation obliges them to live an ordinary life as far as externals are concerned.”

Wherever we are, wherever we came from, we are all invited to live a devout life.  We are all invited to share our story, to share in the life of the Church.

Rev. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS

Provincial

Wilmington-Philadelphia Province

A Field of Honor

They call it “A common field one day, a field of honor forever.”

Flight 93 Memorial Gate

This past week, as I was traveling through western Pennsylvania, I made a stop that has been on my list for a long time.  I journeyed to a field in a remote area outside the town of Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania at what is now the site of the Flight 93 National Memorial operated and maintained by the National Park Service.  It honors those who lost their lives there after United 93, a flight from Newark, New Jersey en route to San Francisco, California was hijacked as part of a coordinated attack by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001.  Most likely with the United States Capitol as the fourth target of the day, the terrorists on Flight 93 failed in their mission due to the heroism of those on board.  Ordinary citizens who had heard of other atrocities that morning gave their lives so that others might live.

As I entered the memorial area, it was a two-mile drive to make it to the visitor center and the overlook, and three miles to the memorial grove and crash site.  I kept thinking about the first responders on 9/11.  Those roads did not exist.  To make it to the remote crash site was, in fact, a feat in itself. When they got there, they were anxious and eager to help but there was nothing they could do.  There was total devastation; everyone was gone.

As I approached the overlook, I walked over three markers etched into the pavement.  These name the times and crash sites of the first three planes on 9/11.  After I looked down on the third, noting American Airlines Flight 77 at the Pentagon, I looked up and my eyes set upon a field, a beautiful meadow.  It brought me to tears as I thought about the culmination of the tragedy of that day.

Twenty-one years ago, that ordinary field in the middle of nowhere became the site of tragedy.  In a place of quiet tranquility where it seems like you could literally reach up and touch the clouds, the earth was literally shaken.  Making my way down to the meadow and the crash site, I looked at each of the names on the memorial wall and then came to a gate, beyond which is an area visible but closed to visitors, the final resting place of those on board.  I began my prayers for those heroes, for their families, for the first responders, for peace, and for hope.

Flight 93 Memorial Flag

It is what is beyond the gate that has become my focus.  This was a place where evil was stopped, heroes were made, and ordinary men and women laid down their lives for others.  It reminded me of the admonition by Jesus to enter through the narrow gate, the admonition we are given to be selfless in our love and care for others. 

The language of those who gave their lives on Flight 93 is universal.   It reminds me of the words of Francis de Sales: “Heart speaks to heart.  Lips speak only to ears.”  These heroes stand there in perpetual vigil, their hearts speaking to ours about the journey through the narrow gate, a journey home to God.

Through that gate of selflessness for us is incredible possibility, the joy and peace that can only come from eternity with God.  Beyond the gate and in the field of self-sacrifice are those clouds that look like you can reach up and touch them, a reminder of the closeness of God, the promise of Heaven.

Last year, on the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy, President George W. Bush spoke at the Flight 93 Memorial.  He concluded his remarks with these words: “These Americans were brave, strong, and united in ways that shocked the terrorists – but should not surprise any of us. This is the nation we know. And whenever we need hope and inspiration, we can look to the skies and remember.”

Let us make our way through the gate.  Let us look up to the sky and remember why the promise is worth living for.  May the heroes who have gone before us inspire us not only on this anniversary but always.

Father Michael Vannicola, OSFS

Assistant Provincial, Wilmington-Philadelphia Province

New Principals & Great Plans for Oblate Schools

When Father Judge High School (Philadelphia, PA) and Nativity Preparatory School (Wilmington, DE) started the school year, students were greeted by new principals with wonderful plans for this year and beyond.

Ms. Shaquona B. Meyers

Ms. Shaquona B. Meyers, Principal at Nativity, describes her role as “not a job but a purpose and a passion.” As principal of this tuition-free Catholic middle school for boys in Wilmington, she is committed to supporting her teaching staff. She plans to focus her efforts on giving educators agency: the capacity of teaching to act purposefully and constructively to direct their professional growth and contribute to their colleagues.

“When we give teachers who are with the students the empowerment to do what is best for the children in our student-centered environment, we see a big shift,” Meyers said. She looks forward to helping teachers hone their crafts and support lesson development. “We want to diversify the scope and sequence to reach all learners.”

Ms. Meyers with students at Nativity Prep

Nativity, like many schools, welcomes a diverse community of learners. Many boys come from marginalized or disadvantaged communities, and most have African American, Latino, or multi-ethnic heritages. “What is so beautiful about Nativity is that we have students with so many diverse experiences, it allows for the true beauty and purpose of this place,” Meyers said.

She wants all her students to know that they deserve to be at Nativity, to have opportunities, and to receive every good that God offers. Salesian Spirituality is the pathway for these messages. School days begin with the Direction of Intention and end with a gratitude reflection. Prayer services highlight Saint Francis’ teaching and weekly house sessions (boys are divided into houses) explore what it means to be Salesian Gentlemen. Saint Francis’ practical spirituality is infused in all they do at Nativity. Teachers regularly challenge students to explain how they live out the Salesian virtues and what ordinary activities they do extraordinarily.

Mr. James Hozier

Fifty miles north in Philadelphia, boys at Father Judge face similar Salesian challenges. But this year, under the direction of Mr. James Hozier, Principal, one of the school’s three core goals is to increase students’ knowledge and practice of Salesian Spirituality. All teachers, in every discipline, have been tasked with incorporating one Salesian virtue into their curriculum and creating a paper assignment exploring this connection. “We want students to be able to connect Salesian virtues to all they do, in every subject, in and out of school,” Hozier said.

Other initiatives for the new school year include further development of the school’s science laboratory and technology suite with an E-sports arena, podcast studio, green screen room, and high-speed auto-CAD laboratory. This year, Judge will also extend their maker space with new 3-D printers, upgrade their TV studio, and renovate the science labs.

As Assistant Principal for Academic Affairs, Hozier designed Judge’s three-year integrated welding curriculum, the first of its kind among archdiocesan high schools and a component of the Father Brisson Academic Excellence Center, a career and technical education (CTE) initiative. The first cohort graduated in June as certified welders and were all offered full-time welding jobs. Father Judge is developing a similar program for students to graduate as certified automotive technicians and future plans include other trade programs. For Hozier, this is just the beginning, “I am very excited about all that’s happening at Judge,” he said. “We have a lot going on and it only going to get better!”

Learn more:

Nativity Preparatory School

Father Judge High School

Salesian Seasons

Today, September 1, and next Monday, Labor Day, mark the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of fall. Often this is a time in which people set new goals and begin new adventures. Students start new semesters at this time of year, some heading off to college, choosing activities and academic and social goals to guide their year. Parents face empty nests with a new slate of options, a new way of being each day. Farmers intensify their efforts in harvesting. Retail stores shift from summer merchandise to fall clothing; just last week I saw Christmas merchandise at the local Costco! Even nature joins in the transformation as leaves change color, days and nights cool down, and birds head south.

Saint Francis de Sales wrote in a letter: At the beginning of each month, ask for divine inspiration and put yourself in the presence of God. Imagine yourself to be a poor servant sent by God into this world as into His own house. Indeed, it is Him who put you here, and so we should approach Him with humility…

To enable you to obtain what he has planned for you, He has given you an intellect to know Him, a memory to keep Him in mind, a will and a heart to love Him and your neighbor, an imagination to have a picture of Him and His gifts, and all your feelings to serve Him and glorify Him.

Francis encourages following this advice monthly. September 1, like January 1, is a date that invites us to follow his advice more intentionally and comprehensively. His words are optimistic and proclaim God's grace and goodness in our lives. It is God who will complement our effort to commit our lives to love Him and our neighbor, trust in His sacred plan, and set our hearts and minds on what is good and holy.

Take five, ten, or thirty minutes today to reflect on the words of Saint Francis de Sales above. Let the beauty of his insight fill your heart with gratitude, and embrace the opportunity to enter more fully into God's plan for you with great optimism and joy.

Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS

Provincial

Toledo-Detroit Province

Pilgrimage to Mexico

Below are excerpts from Oblate Father Mike McCue’s reflection on his pilgrimage to Mexico City.  You can read the entire reflection here.

At the beginning of August, I traveled to Mexico City with Brother Rick Phillip, a Franciscan friend from Camden, to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the tomb of Blessed Miguel Pro. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is in a huge plaza, several football fields in size.  Over the acres of the shrine are seven chapels of various sizes, representing various eras and a huge catechetical center, a garden with flowing water, a way of the cross, and a bell tower.  

The centerpiece is the modern basilica built to accommodate more than 10,000 people.  Its huge doors, certainly 20 feet high, let the plaza’s sunlight and cool breezes into the church.  This 1979 building could not be more different in style than the typical churches of the city, its half-circle shape enables people to view the original image of Mary from all directions.  

There is no person featured in art more than the Blessed Mother, and the icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe has to be among the most familiar and widespread.  The image could be seen in every church and chapel, in food stalls, shops, bus stations, houses, street corners, taxis, parks, clothing, jewelry, tattoos, and more.  Widespread throughout the Catholic world, no doubt, because of its beauty and because the story of its origin connects with the power of the overall Christian message.   

As the story has been handed on to us, Mary appeared to a local Nahua man, a devout new Catholic, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.  She looked like the people there and spoke their language, Nahuatl.  This communicated unmistakably that the God of Christianity was not a possession of the Europeans arriving on the wave of conquest but God is the Creator and Redeemer of all and Mary always shines God’s light into our world.  This image imprinted on Juan Diego’s cape is a sign and reminder that reflects the light of the incarnation, helping people encounter the Living God.

 Tepeyac, Mexico: Still Point in the Turning World

Brother Rick Phillip, OFM, praying with fellow pilgrims.

One high point of our visits took place on the hilltop of Tepeyac, the spot where the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego.  It rises high above the rest of the sanctuary and, standing there you could see all of Mexico City and the mountains in the distance.  The sky was full of dramatic beauty, in one direction you could see rain falling miles away, and in the other, a pure blue sky. 

Shrine of Miguel Pro, Mexico City: Pilgrim Center of Hope

Blessed Miguel Pro, a Mexican Jesuit priest, always appealed to me because he was faithful to Christ in a very difficult time. While ministering in Mexico City during a time of persecution, he was arrested and without a trial placed before a firing squad. The anti-Catholic government documented and published the event with photographs intended to deter resistance and destroy faith.  Images portray a man with dignity and strong faith in the face of an ugly fate.  You see him kneeling, praying with the bullet-scared wall in the background.  Witnesses report that when he stood up, he blessed the soldiers, and prayed out loud. Photos show him standing without the usual blindfold, arms outstretched, like Jesus on the cross, rosary in one hand, crucifix in the other.  He cried out his final words: Viva! Cristo Rey! before being executed.  

Rather than extinguish faith, the images disgusted believers and people of goodwill.  His life and death - his faithfulness to God, the one who is faithful to us, inspires people to choose a better way, to put violence and coercion away.

Travel offers a welcomed change of scenery and a break from the usual activities while letting us learn about a country and its people through authentic experiences and interactions. Through this pilgrimage, I was able to experience these benefits as well as see and feel the profound impact of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Blessed Miguel Pro.

Read Full Reflection Here

Fr. Mike McCue, OSFS

Chaplain, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital

Camden, NJ

Exceptions

Some of my musings have centered on language and the importance of language. With this musing, I’d like to look at the theme of exceptions. Many of us grew up with rules, “I” before “E” except after “C,” eat your vegetables, brush your teeth, etc. English has so many exceptions, so I’m very happy that I didn’t have to learn it except as a native speaker. In all compassion, try to explain to someone who’s learning English how to pronounce the letters OUGH. Think of the word thought, then though, then thorough, then tough. Exceptions seem to be a rule in life.

Luke is the gospel of inclusion - women play a central role from the Christmas story told from Mary’s perspective to the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth with the only recorded conversation between two women in the gospels, Martha and Mary, etc. It is the gospel of outsiders: the Samaritans (dreaded enemies), a good one who teaches us to be a neighbor, and a grateful leper who shows us the importance of that key virtue. Early this month, was an exception to Jesus in Luke. We heard from Luke 12:49-53 in which Jesus spoke of the divisions that can exist within families: father against son, etc. Jesus explains those divisions as part of the human condition and not part of God’s intended plan.

Rules and commandments are essential in life to help us guide our way through our day-to-day living. However, exceptions come up each and every day, and the challenge for us is how we are to embrace and live with those exceptions. Divisions, conflicts, and arguments are all present in life. Do we dig in our heels and stand on the principle that “I am right” is the goal, or do we look in love at the person whom we love with whom we have this disagreement? If we do the latter, the outcome might be much brighter.

Live Jesus!

Father Matthew Hillyard, OSFS

Pastor

Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Vienna, VA

Meet Father Michael Newman, OSFS, Assistant Provincial & Pastor

Father Michael Newman, OSFS

Father Mike was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. The oldest of three boys, Father Mike is one of several North American Oblates whose brother is also an Oblate priest (Father Joe Newman, OSFS). Father Mike attended St. Francis de Sales High School and then DeSales University where he majored in Spanish and was certified as a K-12 teacher. Following graduation, Father Mike entered the Oblates in 2003 and moved to Toronto where he earned a Master of Divinity degree from the University of St. Michael’s College. He was ordained a priest in 2009.

During his formation process, Father Mike spent one summer at St. Mary of Good Counsel Parish (now Holy Family Parish) in Adrian, Michigan, ministering to the local Hispanic community and to the seasonal migrant workers. Following ordination, he returned to Holy Family each weekend to celebrate the bilingual Mass and, in 2016, lived there in residence while finishing his doctoral dissertation. In 2018 he earned a Doctorate in Ministry from the Catholic University of America in Adult Spiritual Formation.

Father Mike has been the pastor of Holy Family Parish since 2019.  He is well known for his dynamic homilies, Mass on the Grass, work with the parish youth group, and support of the Hispanic community in Adrian and throughout the Diocese of Lansing. He also serves as the University Chaplain at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, and is a member of the Salesian Scholars Seminar.

In addition to his ministry in Adrian, Father Mike coordinates and leads parish missions and retreats throughout the United States that focus on living the principles and practices found in Salesian Spirituality. He has also served the Oblates as the Assistant Provincial of the Toledo-Detroit Province since 2014. In this capacity, he works in close collaboration with Rev. Jack Loughran, OSFS, Provincial, on the general oversight and governance of the Province.

When asked about his life and ministry Father Mike said, "I try to teach Salesian Spirituality regardless of the ministry I am engaged in. This spirituality of optimism, hope, gentleness toward others, and humility, or self-knowledge, has really changed my life and I enjoy being able to preach and teach it and see how it can change the lives of others. As the Assistant Provincial, I see my role as one of service to my brother Oblates. Leadership works best when it empowers others to, as St. Francis de Sales would say, 'be who you are and be that well’ so that together we can continue to spread the Gospel."

His prior ministry experience includes serving at St. Francis de Sales School as a Spanish and theology instructor and Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning (2009 – 2012), serving as Director of Novices for North American Provinces of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (2012-2021), and Vocation Director for the Toledo-Detroit Province (2011 – 2022).

Learn More about Father Mike:

Father Mike’s Publication: “Be Who You Are and Be That Well Salesian Principles and Practices for the Devout Life” Catholic University of America Press: Washington, DC.

Holy Family Parish Adrian Facebook and website.