Tivoli - learning about the Oblate Salesians

Today the days of ongoing formation continued with an easy timetable, which allowed all the sisters ot spend time together… and for me to get the talks in good order. After each talk there were sisters who came for confession… yesterday and today. That meant I needed to stay up later last night to make sure all was in order.

Besides the homily at Lauds and the longer homily at Eucharist, I again gave two conferences today: one in the morning at 10.00 and the other at 16.30 in the afternoon. The morning conference centered on Humility and Hope, Loving the Lord: Reflections of Francis de Sales on Prayer. This is material that I had developed earlier for other groups, but I redesigned it to work with the Sisters here and this occasion. The afternoon talk continued, looking at Characteristics of Salesian Prayer as an apostolic tradition. This allowed me to bring in some reflections of Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello, Francis de Sales, and of the Sister’s founder, “monsignor” Giuseppe Cognata.

These women know the writings of their founder very well — most of the very elderly sisters were formed by him, as a matter of fact. And this is what I have been learning mostly during these days: the life and sufferings of this Salesian bishop.

Giuseppe Cognata was named to Bova as Bishop by Pius XI in 1933 when he was 47 years old. This was one of the poorest dioceses in Italy at the time. He worked unstintingly for seven years, and during this period founded the Oblate Salesians of the Sacred Heart. He worked for education and for the social development of the people, as well as for evangelization and catechesis in that very poor area.

In working on behalf of the poorest and most exploited people of his very poor diocese, Mons. Cognata discovered how much corruption and organized crime had to do with the backwardness of the area. Even the clergy was corrupt. His heroic efforts to speak out on behalf of the poor earned him many enemies — and in 1940, false accusations were made to the Holy See against the bishop. He was immediately removed from the diocese, and went to a Salesian community in north Italy as a simple priest.

This was his situation for the duration of the pontificate of Pius XII. When John XXIII became pope, he opened the case (the accusations had been enough to suspend Bishop Cognata in 1940, and he never had a a hearing according to canon law). John XXIII re-instated Bishop Cognata in 1962. He was allowed once again to see his Sisters and, in the last ten years of his life, completed the work of foundation.

The Oblate Salesians received full pontifical recognition on 29 January 1972, formerly the feast of Francis de Sales. Bishop Giuseppe Cognata died on 22 July of that same year. He had spent his life in oblation, amid untold spiritual and human suffering… but also remained always joyful and optimistic in his own manner, offering all to the Heart of Christ.

An amazing man! An amazing life!

These Sisters remember him with great affection and simplicity. "Monsignore mio," I heard more than one exclaim, "quanto hai sofferto! Aiutami tu a rimanere fedele a Gesù Crocifisso! (O my bishop, how much you’ve suffered! Help me to keep faitful to Jesus Crucified!)"

There is so much feeling in this expression that I have not been able to find a way to translate it into English: the words I can tell you, but the feeling!!!, no, I have a hard time to convey it. What strikes me is that these Sisters live an oblative life — constantly offering their work and their lives for the good of the little people, those who suffer, those without voice, not seeking recognition but promoting those who would never have had the courage to come forward in Society and in the Church. True oblation; true evangelization; true witness.

Tivoli - on Hope for Today

Yesterday evening I spent about a half hour planning (and drinking coffee) with Mother Carmelina Mosca (mother general) and Sr Graziella Benghini (counselor for lay associations)… and as we worked through the themes of the various talks, I commented that I had prepared a lot of material but that, after the first talk, I would probably revamp things.

"What is the theme of these days of ongoing-formation," they asked me. I was a bit stumped, because the theme had been given to me by Jesús Manuel Garcia as "Hope". This was not doubt a result of his thinking of the second encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (issued 30 November). So my response to the sisters was simple "Hope".

"Yes," said Sr Carmelina, "but we need a title. Tell us again the themes of the talks."

Hmmm - I was a bit confused, so I just threw out the themes again: The Promise (la Promessa), the Covenant (L’Aleanza), Hope (la Speranza) all in the Salesian style (in chiave salesiana).

Hearing this, Sr Graziella formulated a title: La Promessa È La Speranza Che Si Realizza — The Promise Is Hope Fulfilled. Okay, that sounds good to me.

This morning, then, I gave an overview during a little homily during Morning Prayer, and after breakfast, I gave the first talk: Promise and Hope: Reflections from the Hebrew Scriptures. After the talk, we had a few minutes for discussion, and the comments of the sisters gave me an idea of how to proceed. In the afternoon (16.30), I offered the second conference on Hope in the New Testament. I got my ideas from Monica Hellwig’s article in Nuovo Dizionario di Spiritualità — the 2003 Italian edition of Michael Downey’s publication.

Two hours were not enough really to cover four columns in that article; but it made for a simple introduction. The sisters supplied the rest in a lively question and answer period after both talks. And… they related many things from this scriptural approach to the words of their own founder, Bishop Giuseppe Cognata. So… day 2 has gone very serenely and happily.

Tivoli - Old Town

Early in November, Jesús Manuel Garcia asked me to facilitate three-days of ongoing formation for the Oblate Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Tivoli.

Okay, okay - let me say that he did not ask me. Good Spaniard from Madrid that he is, he told me that I would be doing this. It was not an invitation, nor was it an order. It was more like information about my activities that I must accept just as I must accept the fact that yesterday it poured rain and today there was a sun that split the stones on the ground.

Of course, I laughed at this and told him that I had other plans for Christmas… but again on 30 Novemer he informed me that the Sisters were ready for me to come to facilitate the three-days of ongoing formation, and that I would be speaking to them on the theme of Hope. Hope, of course, is the theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s second encyclical, which was published on that very day of 30 November.

Yes, it was all set. He told the Sisters that I would be coming; he told the Sisters that I was very qualified to speak about Hope from a Salesian point of view; he told me that I was going to like it.

Well … if this approach sounds outrageous, then you have an insight, not only into the personality and administrative approach of Jesús Manuel Garcia, but also into how Isabel and Ferdinand were able to drive out the Moors; how Cortés was able to conquer México; how Generalísimo Francisco Franco was able to overcome the Communists; how president José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero today is able to rewrite the laws of Spain inspite of the protests of the opposition parties. In the case of doing the ongoing formation days for the Oblate Salesians, I realized that opposition would be useless, and so “I agreed”. More about all that later… this is only a blog.

In any case, a sister came to pick me up at 15.50 this afternoon – well, I was told it would be a sister, but there were three sisters. We made the trip to Tivoli; I met the mother general, Mother Carmelina Mosca, and together with suor Graziella we planned the time-table. Jesús had said three-days: it turns out to be four days…

The Oblate Salesians of the Sacred Heart belong to the Salesian Family. Their founder, Bishop Giuseppe Cognata, was a Salesian who had worked in southern Italy and in Rome before becoming Bishop of Bova. I have know of their existence since I was 12 years old, but this is the first time I have actually met any sisters of this Congregation.

In any case, everything began with Eucharist this evening at 17.30, over which I presided and preached (feast of St John the Evangelist). Following the Mass, I met quite a number of the sisters who are participating in these four days: young and old. The youngest sister here is from Bolivia and in her early 20s; the oldest is called Sister Pia, and she is 92. We chatted until supper at 19.30…

But I have some conferences to look over for tomorrow and I’ll continue this blogging after I have delivered those.

Ghost of Christmas Past - but a happy ghost!

My cousin Michele Nuzzo, with whom I shared a playpen in my earliest infancy, sent me a great little Christmas greeting, full of family memories. I was looking for some photographs that I had scanned of our early days… but it seems that they are not on this computer. Instead I can post a photograph that I took with my own first camera in 1963, of the Nuzzo-Boenzi family together on a Sunday evening in the Nuzzo home in Westchester. The only one not in the photo is me, because I took this snapshot.

Well, back to Michele's Christmas greeting. She tells of memories of Christmas past - memories that are happy and funny for those of us who were there. They are probably useless to anyone else. Yet, these are the events that forged our identities: I am sure of it.

Having said that, and with a lot of nostalgia, I just feel that it is good to report a portion of Michele's memory-message here.

I talked to Donna and she does not remember back this far, so you are probably the only cousin with a shared memory of Christmas at Halldale.

I remember the long dining table, lobster (I always got in trouble for sucking the lemons), presents under the tree in the main living room and those pictures Nona had on the walls---Italian stillife paintings of huge flowers and pieces of fruit. These predate the lamp base with the macaroni sprayed gold (at the apartments in Gardena). That's where we had dinner with the Filipino girls, tee hee hee.

I also remember Christmas Eve dinners in Bellflower with card tables everywhere, your dad spooning out the linguini and going to hear him sing at Midnight Mass. Then there was Christmas Eve caroling around the trailer park with Sal Gray jingling his keys to "We wish you a Merry Christmas...."

Simple but striking

The pope had a great message at the Midnight Mass. I did not watch it on television this year because I was very tired after our own Night Mass of 22.30 at the UPS. However, I did see the message online this morning when I woke up. Even now, I can hear the church bells of the five surrounding parishes ringing out the masses hour-by-hour on this Christmas, so it is a very participated kind of feel to being in Rome for Christmas. I mean, the decorations are minimal, but the sounds are everywhere.

Back to Pope Benedict, the core of his message was simple but striking. He said, commenting on John's gospel, that Jesus came and his own did not accept him, but those at the stable did accept and welcome him… and so God is not discouraged, he keeps trying even if he has to come in through the stable. It was a homey way to say it all and quite beautiful…

All of this is part of the message we want to send when we say, quite simply:

Happy Christmas!

.

Vigilia

Christmas Eve: the big preparation day is upon us - the clams are no longer safe even in their shells… and this morning as I walked in the plaza outside the house where I'm staying, I could hear the Neopolitan accents of those who crowded into the fish-vendor's open shop… a real line-up! Made me think of family back in California and all that is happening today among the Nuzzo, the Kasal and the Boenzi departments. My thoughts go out to all these dear ones, that they may enjoy a very happy celebration, but especially a very blessed Christmas!

The communities here are all down in numbers. Many went to parishes to help with the holidays; a few went to spend time with they families, especially those with elder parents. We are talking here about the Europeans, of course. I presided at the morning liturgy in the Gesù Maestro Community and we were only 9 of the communities, with three women from the neighborhood joining us.

This evenng at 18.30 we have Vespers and then the evening meal anticipated to 19.00. The Night Mass for Christmas is set for 22.30.

For the rest, I spent the day catching up on e-mails also to send greetings and all such things as that… and my trip to the local delicatessan, were I bought some American whisky as a gift for the community (I'll bring that out tomorrow and place it on the gift table in the dining room).

And for spiritual thoughts this Christmas? Many little greetings and e-mails especially have brought some wonderful reflections, artwork, powerpoints… This has been very refreshing.

And so this is Christmas 2007, about to appear!

Berkeley's ISS discussed by the bocca della verità

Marc Rougeau e-mailed me from Berkeley to say that Martin Coyle took a flight to the UK yesterday and that he should be arriving today. The Berkeley community were all sad to see him go. Marc says that Martin has really been a wonderful addition to the community.

Everyone was hoping that he would stay the whole year, although from the beginning he made it clear that he was enrolled in a sabbatical program at Weston, with the Jesuits near Boston College. This is really the style of the Salesians from the UK who have come to ISS -- more than half of them do one semester with us and then a semester elsewhere, in a program that appeals to them.

This brings we to think again and ask: how do we see the ISS? Is it a sabbatical program? Is it a formative program for those who will do work in formation or with the Salesian Family on their return to their provinces? In fact, when the ISS opened way back in 1984, it was called a "directors' formation course". It was geared toward Salesians priests mainly who were between 5 and 10 years ordained and who were being destined by their provinces to roles of leadership. Participation quickly shifted to older men… and try as we might to poll provincials and redirect the program towards sabbatical, it had never really been seen as such my the provinces.

What is it seen as?

I don't know. We'll have to think of it again, I'm sure. But I am becoming convinced that the need for giving greater attention to Salesian topics is more crucial than ever. This seems to be on the mind of Fr Pascual Chavez as well. His call to "re-launch with Don Bosco" and all that he spoke to us about on his visit last week says that the congregation must really steep itself again in the founding experience and the founding purpose: to save souls and serve God alone. Can the ISS be a part of this?

Singing in Latin while in Roma

We are doing the Christmas Novena (the Lord our king is drawing near) in LATIN.

oooo! very cool. These have been a favorite Advent feature for me since I was 14 years old and first learned the melodies as a high-school freshman in Watsonville.

All three of the professors' communities join together for this celebration, with Moran Wirth leading the assembly as the cantor… Of course, Morand has the Roman pronunciation with a French inflection. Very cool!

O Adonai,
et dux domus Israël,
qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Mighty Lord,
and leader of the house of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush,
and gave the Law on Sinai,
come to deliver us with your mighty arm extended.

Rush to Christmas break

Christmas novena begins today… and tomorrow is the start of the final week of classes before the Christmas break. Many of the European Salesians are already returning to their home provinces, which means that the upcoming classes will be partially attended.

Really, I do not remember this happening when I was a student at the UPS, but then, I was so concentrated on my own studies and deadlines that I never really paid much attention to what may have been happening among my classmates in terms of travel and break time. I was aware of a general coming and going, true, but then I mainly interacted with the Latin Americans and with the one Australian on campus: Tim Costelloe.

Yes! Good old Tim! He was sooooo homesick during my first year in Rome. He was a semester ahead of me in his program (since Australians begin the academic year in January), and pursuing the Licentiate in Systematic Theology. He was also in the Don Bosco Community, whereas I was a member of the Don Rua Community. This meant that we did not automatically run into each other, but we both made it a point to touch base several times a week. He was very aware of the cultural offerings in Rome, and pushed me to participate in a number of interesting events; I was very much into cooking at that point in time, and instigated a few group parties, including Chinese New Year (never before celebrated at the UPS), St Patrick's Day, and the start of a Saturday morning "Breakfast Club"; Tim willingly became involved in organizing these ever more frequent events.

Well, Tim returned to Australia at the end of 1991, to teach theology. I saw him again in 1993 when I went to Melbourne for an evalutation meeting by all the English-speaking provinces of the Salesians. At that time, Tim was rector at Lysterfield. He had planned to return to Rome to complete doctoral studies, but the teaching became ever more important and so completed his Doctorate at the Melbourne College of Divinity in 1999. He was part of an effort to open a theological faculty in Perth, but later returned to Melbourne.

From time to time we heard from each other, but the ocean is big and we never were in contact by e-mail. Then, during this year, news came in April that Tim Costelloe was named Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne. The first Australian Salesian to ordained bishop, and this happened last 15 June 2007.

How about that! Bishop Timothy Costello! Is that cool or what? And to think I knew him when he was this homesick kid struggling through studies at the UPS. Good on ya, Tim!

But how did I get on this topic? Oh year! Students absenting themselves for the holidays… Hmmm, as I recall, Tim did not do that… but then, we made holidays happen right here, among the group. That was back in the 20th Century, however.

Death of Cardinal Stickler

Last evening Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler died. A Salesian from Austria, he taught Latin at the UPS when it was still the PAS. In fact, he was the rector of the atheneum when it was upgraded by Paul VI to the status of University. After serving as rector magnificus of the UPS, he became librarian and archivist of the Vatican Library (1966), and was appointed archbishop in 1983 and created cardinal in 1985. He was born in 1910, and this year celebrated 70 years of priesthood… He died yesterday at age 97.

The pope sent a telegram of condolences to Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, Salesian rector major. The Vatican information service published the text of the telegram. Benedict XVI called Cardinal Stickler a "sincere and strenuous collaborator of the Holy See" who, in every circumstance, offered "a well-appreciated witness of fervant fidelity to Christ and to the Church," as well as a precious "cultural and ecclesial contribution."

Alfons Stickler, the third Salesian cardinal to die this year, after Cardinal Javiere and Cardinal Castillo y Lara. Interestingly enough, at the end of the 1980s and through the 1990s, these three cardinals shared an apartment in Rome as their residence. All three worked in the curia of John Paul II, but all three desired to continue to live in a Salesian community. As it became impractical for them to live in one of the regular houses of the Roman province, or at the UPS, they had their own Salesian community, the three of them, on a side street close to the Vatican. On the doorbell they had their surnames printed simply: "Stickler, Castillo, Javiere" (I remember seeing the building and the doorbell when I was a student here). It was an example to me that they all three wanted to continue to live the family spirit of Don Bosco even though, as bishops, they were no longer legally bound to the Salesian Society. Powerful witness this was.

Riconoscente

Today we had the visit of Cardinal Raffaele Farina, accompanied by Cardinal Bertone. I had thought there would be a conference or gathering or something in that line (which seems to the the ordinary practice on such occasions). Instead it was a special dinner reception for invited guests (read the directors and deans, and University leadership). Happily, those of us left in the community dining rooms shared the same menu, even if we were not at the reception.

Don Farina (we are still calling him that) came to our community during the meal. He greeted people individually with much affection. The director of the Gesù Maestro community, Jozef Struz', had words of welcome that were just as spontaneous as the new cardinal's appearance in your community space. With sincere joy, don Strus' said: “We are all very happy for you — happy for all that you do and happy that you are now cardinal.”

To this, don Farina responded: “Oh, thanks: just let us all hope that I don’t mess up!”

As soon as our laughter subsided, don Strus' invited “his eminence” to come back to celebrate a liturgy with us, and have a meal with our group alone… seeing also that for many years, don Farina had been himself a member of the Gesù Maestro community. To all of this, the new eminence promised: “As soon as everything calms down, I will certainly come and be with you.”

It was a happy moment and one that was moving as well. Raffaele Farina was taking time to move from person to person, to shake hands, or hug, or kiss on both cheeks, as Italians are wont to do, in a very warm and affectionate way. I do not know what happened in the main dining room during the reception banquet (pranzo contemplato), but my experience was that I found Cardinal Farina to be his regular self: simple, modest, gentle, affectionate, and somehow gratefully attentive to his friends and confreres. The italian word is riconoscente, I would think.

Looking at new ways to live the Salesian Vocation

This evening Fr Pascual Chavez came to speak to the communities of the UPS, giving a panorama of the Salesian Society and the Salesian Family after visiting every country and province where the Salesians are operative during his 5 years as rector major. The only country that he was unable to visit was Miramar - Burma. They rejected his application for a visa 3 times over the past 3 years.

In his talk, the Rector Major stressed the need for a new paradigm for consecrated life in the 21st Century. No longer are religious to be the worker-bees of the Church. This was so important during the 19th Century and up until the end of reconstruction following World War II. However, the agencies of the state and the private sector have stepped in, now, to fulfil their duties to the people. Religious must become a prophetic and contemplative presence in the Church if they are to become the signs and bearers of God’s love to the present and future generations.

Don Bosco’s motto — Da mihi animas coetera tolle — is not a plan for social action, but a prayer on the lips of a community consecrated for apostolic life.

Feast of Mary Immaculate amid sunshine and rain

Rome is enjoying rainy weather these days, but every so often the wind blows the clouds out to sea and this gives the Eternal City a couple of hours of respite.

That was the story this morning. I awoke to a brilliantly blue sky, but clouds were moving in to cover the heavens as I moved to the university church for the 11.45 feast-day liturgy… and by the time we came out of the services at 13.00, it was raining.

All the communities at the UPS, of Salesians and the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, came together to celebrate. Even those from the infirmary joined in the one Eucharist. Presiding at the concelebrated mass was Fr José Luis Placencia, director of the deacon's community San Tommaso. His homily linked the scriptures with the concerns of youth today in a way that invited me to reflect more deeply on contemporary situations and their significance. Fr Mario Llanos directed the music and singing - there was good participation throughout.

After the mass there was a reception for all the communities in the hallways leading to the dining facilities. The fare was simple but nicely presented, and the whole point of this was to get the Salesians of the different communities to mingle and chat a bit. The festive dinner came next, with each community celebrating in its own dining room as usual. Almost everyone dressed up for the occasion, and the meal went slowly allowing for good conversation. All told, there was a family feel to this feast of Mary Immaculate.

Rome was not built in a day

That is an old proverb that I heard quoted to me often when I was an impatient child. The Italian equivalent is Roma non fu fatta in un giorno. I suspect that the proverb comes from a Latin maxim [nec uno die condita est Roma, nec uno cecidit die] since the phrase seems to be a longstanding saying used in all Western languages. Apart from its educative message, today I have reflected on its practical meaning. Something close to home brought this proverb to mind…

After nearly four years of construction and after we had given up all hope, the Comune di Roma today had workers taking down the barriers around the perimeter of Piazza dell’Ateneo Salesiano and open it for the public.

Even while I was a student at the UPS in the early 1990s, there was serious talk about the City of Rome making plans to excavate beneath the plaza to build parking garages there. Our quarter of the city had become more populated that first projected, and the use of cars had multiplied exponentially since the quarter went into construction in the late 1960s following the construction of the Salesian University in this spot. The building of a parking garage underground seemed logical, straightforward, easily accomplished…

However, once construction began, so did the politics. Many citizens (and the university itself) had believed that there would be underground parking and that the four lanes of traffic through Piazza dell’Ateneo would be restored. Others (the green party of the quarter) had other ideas, and so, in October of 2005, they pushed for public hearings, and demanded that a giardino pubblico (aka, a park) be built into the Piazza, curtailing traffic into two narrow lanes, with now parking above ground. Such a move would mean that the gate of the University would no longer open on to a roadway, but that the piazza itself would never again be filled with automobiles, all parked and hampering traffic anyway. The two carved lanes would permit a constant, if slow, flow of traffic and this would be an improvement.

That was the reasoning to ease the traffic congestion and the danger of racing cars. The park-piazza would also englarge the green footprint in our part of the town (although the University itself has three parks within its perimeter).

Don Mario Toso, rector of the University, protested the arrangement at the time, for he said that this would make it impossible for buses to enter the university grounds. However, his arguments were not heeded and the park project was approved. This, of course, mean a restructuring of the ground level after the garage was completed. According to the original plan, the ground level would be paved over and appear as it had before… a wide piazza with two lanes of traffic in either direction. Instead, the park had to be sculpted into place, and this is what added two more years to the construction job.

But today it is open finally - just in time for the feast of Mary Immaculate (there are festive lights decorating the sidewalks for the Marian celebrations already) and for the Christmas holidays. It is a nice holiday present to the neighborhood. As for the access to the university gate? Well it will not matter now. The piazza has been blocked off for four years already, so no students will remember the easy bus access of years past… nor will they experience the gridlock of the blocked piazza that was the reality of the 1990s.

So, this makes me think that there is a lot of truth to the proverb Rome was not built in a day. It is a lucky thing too. Taking so long to build around here makes people forget the conveniences of the past and welcome new arrangements for the future, because they have had to live with the inconvenient arrangements of construction projects that blocked and bothered for what seemed like a lifetime. Not only do you learn to deal with the waiting, but in the end you are ready for a shift that you might not have welcomed had it come quickly.

This might be kept in mind by liturgists too… but that would take us into another discourse. Nec uno die condita est Roma, nec uno cecidit die… but now that they finished another angle of Rome, it is a wonderful feeling!

St Ambrose Day

In Milan (we were saying at breakfast) this is the day when the Winter Season begins. For some that means skiing, but what it really means is that the Opera Lirica opens its season at the Teatro alla Scala, and the social and political life of Milano and Lombardia move into their most engaging time.

How interesting that in sophisticated, post-modern, post-industrial Milano, everything wonderful about the city's life and culture is still gauged to have its yearly beginning on the feast of St Ambrose!

It just occured to me that our Salesian parish in Berkeley, which is under the patronage of St Ambrose, can increase the celebrating by engineering a piazza in front of the church, building a habitat for morning doves, and endorsing the arts (oh, but this last element is something that they already do).

As for beginnings at the UPS: this morning the latest issue of the "Salesian Spirituality Notebooks" (Quaderni di Spiritualità Salesiana) hit the shelves of the bookstore. This is a kind of popular journal developed by the Institute of Spiritual Theology here at the UPS. The theme of this issue is "Da Mihi Animas": Pastori dei giovani (Give me souls: Shepherds of young people).

This edition of the Quaderni is a contribution in the reflections for the next General Chapter, and was edited by Aldo Giraudo. We actually discussed the theme for this issue back in May 2006, and Aldo has put a lot of work into this.

Along with others of our Institute, I too offer an article in this issue on the spiritual heritage of St Francis de Sales. It is an article that I worked on while at the UPS last Spring, and then made it into my presentation for last summer's symposium on the Da Mihi Animas motto of Don Bosco that we held at the ISS in Berkeley. That presentation was well received, and afterwards I reworked my intervention for publication in the Fall 2007 issue for the Journal of Salesian Studies. So far the Fall issue has not been printed.

My plan is to take the article that I have developed in the Quaderni and include it in the Italian version of my class notes (which I am developing for publication as a book). I will do the same with my Journal article for the English version. That is a project that has been on my agenda for two years already, but I cannot quite pull it all together. Maybe I need to have Aldo act as an editor for me too, as he has done for the Quaderni and for Arthur Lenti (hmmm… this is a thought!).

Still, it is all very exciting… and of course, we don't do it for the feast of St Ambrose, but for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which begins this evening!

Observing the feast of St Jane de Chantal

In the last few days I have been asked about whether we will celebrate the feast of St Jane Frances de Chantal in class. Actually, the feast of Jane de Chantal in the USA is observed on August 18th. You can find this in the local ordo.

Now, as of 3 years ago, the Church universal celebrates the memory of Jane de Chantal on August 12th. The assigning of her feast seems complicated, but it is not really hard to understand (he laughs).

Jane de Chantal actually died on December 13, 1641 - but this was the feast of St Lucy, an martyr from Sicily during the Roman Imperial period. St Lucy remains a very popular figure throughout Europe, so there was no way of moving her to place Jane de Chantal at the time of
her canonization. Thus her feast was observed on August 21st (the birthday of Francis de Sales and the day of her own Canonization in 1767).

When the Roman Calendar was simplified and revised in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, August 21st became the feast of Pius X (who died on that day in 1914, and who was canonized in 1954…). Since Jane de Chantal was already on that day, Pius' feast was placed on September 3rd… But the 1970 revision attempted to put the saints on dates that had something to do with their lives. Thus, Pius went to August 21, and Jane to the closest free day near the day of her "dies natalis" (birthday to eternal life): December 12.

For the Americas the day was a problem. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe was strongly observed on that day throughout the continent. So, the Visitandines asked the Holy See to have the feast brought back to August, and the closest possible day was August 18.

When the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe became popular also in Europe, thanks to the efforts of John Paul II, then the universal calendar moved Jane's feast (as I have said) to August 12.

SO… will we ever have one day for Jane de Chantal?

I have it on the authority of several liturgists here in Rome that a new revision of calendar, lectionaries, and sacramentaries is already underway. Perhaps some day soon we will see this resolved. But for now, the day is August 18 for the USA and August 12th for the rest of the world. St Jane de Chantal, therefore, is not forgotten.

This is not to say that you should not party on anyway on December 13th. I think you can celebrate her memory more joyous now that you know that she is not neglected :)

Death of Joe Lucey: Note from Salesian leadership in Ireland

Today I received an e-mail from Fr John Horan, the provincial superior of the Salesians in Ireland, in response to the condolences that I (and a host of others) sent at the death of Joe Lucey. I think it is well just to include it word for word here.

Many thanks to you all for your condolences and prayers expressed at the time of Joe Lucey's death. They were very much appreciated. Joe's very sudden death, at such a young age, stunned us all. Though we knew Joe was doing great work with young people in all sorts of difficulty in inner city Dublin, it was only after his death that we realised the breath of his influence. The number of people he touched was truly remarkable. Joe was also Vice-Provincial and his death was a huge blow to the Irish Province, but God's ways are not ours and his death may paradoxically lead to new life. Again, many thanks for your support and solidarity.

With every best wish,
John Horan

Vocation of the Brother is not dead but times have changed

My friend, Bro. Joe Lockwood, has been sharing with me some concerns about the upcoming General Chapter of the Salesian Society (GC26), and pointed me in the direction of hte working documents for that chapter. He speaks of two articles that strock him particularly: §49 and §53.

The first passage says, among other things:

At the beginning and in the tradition of our charism it was Don Bosco's wish that the Congregation should be distinguished by the complimentary presence of consecrated Salesian priests and lay men. Therefore we are called to make visable through our life the primacy of God, demonstrating that Salesian communites are composed of consecrated persons, before priests and laymen.
[…]
Aware that the Congregation is putting its identity at risk if it loses its consecrated lay component, we are called to make the effort to re-discover the identity of the Salesian brother, to propose to young people his originality, to give him greater prominence and to provide him with a sound formation programme.

In the other paragraph, §53, there is the affirmation that young people are normally attracted to Salesian life rather than immediately to priesthood. Formation has a lot to do with their choice for one or other form of Salesian consecration.

Often young people want to become Salesians in order to follow Don Bosco, but they don't always ask themselves what sort of consecrated Salesian vocation they want to choose, that of the priest or that of the brother. In this a vital role is played by the way the Salesian brother is presented in the aspirantate, the prenovitiate and the novitiate.

A little lower in the same paragraph, there is this telling statement:

It is not always easy to present the Salesian brother in an effective manner; that makes it difficult for young people to identify with this vocation. The fundamental reason is the weakening of the identity and the visibility of consecrated life and a state of life, in our communities.

I've read attentively the two passages in questions, and really I do not see that there any question. Without the vocation of the "salesiano laico" (the brother), we cease to be the Salesian Society. The articles do not call into question either the vocation nor Don Bosco's will to offer such a role as vital to our life, consecration and mission. What is questioned is the limited vision of many provinces that have not understood and have not promoted the vocation.

Note also that it says that the majority of young people who join the Salesians do not have a strong feeling for priesthood or brotherhood. They simply want to become Salesians. Thus (the articles point out) it is vital to present this vocation to those in initial discernment.

In no place does the document suggest (much less conclude) that the brother's vocation is dead. The crisis arises in that few today understand the nature of consecrated life. They confuse priesthood with consecrated life… and priesthood is seen in terms of ministry and leadership, so assumed to be the summit of Christian life… notions that are very confused and mistaken, but indications of a cultural crisis as well as of a religious crisis.

We cannot take for granted, then, that young people will understand religious vocation. They may be opting for priesthood but not for religious life, even though they say they want to be Salesians. Much work must be done in the area of educating the Catholic community, young and old, as to the nature of baptismal consecration and personal calling. In doing this, we can once again bring the ideals of the Brother's vocation to light and encourage many more to follow Christ with Don Bosco in this way of life that leads to the love of God and the love of neighbor.

This is not dogma. Simply, my thoughts, on reading these articles

Sacrofano - Community on Retreat

The whole community of Gesù Maestro (or at least 40 of us) left the university campus this morning and headed out to the country, about 30 minutes away, to a retreat center called Fraterna Domus. This is located in Sacrofano.

The timetable was easy-going. We left the UPS at 8.15 and arrived at the Fraterna Domus at 9.00 or so. Each of us had a room with bed and shower, but the grounds are stupendous. It is more like a national park than a retreat center. At 9.15 we had Lauds and the introductory talk of the retreat day, offered by Jesús Manuel Garcia. The theme was "Hope", which is the theme of Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical issued yesterday (and each of us received a copy).

The rest of the day was given to quiet and reflection, although there was the opportunity to join in a group discussion before dinner, which was at 13.00.

Dinner was festive. I found it to be an opportunity to share with some of the professors whom I do not really know, since we all work in different faculties. It was a lot of fun and very interesting to hear of people's projects and perspectives. After dinner, after we paused for a group photo, D. Giorgio Zevini, dean of the theology faculty, cornered me (again) to invite me to say good-bye to Berkeley and come to Rome definitively. The proposal is very interesting, and I see the need in the congregation for teachers of the Salesian spirit and spirituality is great. But is this the path for me?

This all needs reflection (or else I am just putting off a decision).

With those thoughts churning around in my head, I spent the afternoon reflection period walking through the forests of the Fraterna Domus. The afternoon went quickly then, with Mass at 16.00 and the return to the UPS at 17.00. Of course, we hit a lot of traffic on the way home, and what took 30 minutes in the morning, took 90 minutes for the return. All and all, a very wonderful day in the country, with time for prayer and community building… good food and challenging invitations.

Death of Joe Lucey

Got news this morning of the death, yesterday, of Salesian Fr Joe Lucey, in Ireland. He was an important figure of the Irish province, and very active in the European region of the Salesians in areas of youth-at-risk and initial formation. Joe was 47 years old, and was struck down by a heart attack.

It was in 1993 that I first met Joe -- at a weeklong meeting of the Salesian province teams of the English-speaking region. At the time I was the delegate for youth ministry for the Salesians in California, and Joe filled the same role for the Salesians in Ireland. We worked on some committees together during that time, and I had occasion to meet his several other times in following years when I visited Ireland or when I was part of some European initiatives. He was always on-fire, if I can put it that way: lots of enthusiasm; a strong sense of justice; compassion for the young in trouble; demanding of himself and others for a coherent Gospel witness.

My strongest memory is of him at work with the poor and gang-banger kids of Sean McDermott Street in Dublin. They were a hardend lot, but he had their confidence and did great things with them. Sometimes he expected all the young Salesians to have his same talent among kids-at-risk, but this was not so. Sean McDermott Street scares a lot of people, after all; if some of the young Salesians felt intimidated, it is very understandable. Joe Lucey, however, was not to be intimidated. He ploughed right into that work, and had some success.

The following verse, written by Joe, has been found to be especially poignant:

Master, I need you to find me. The hide-and-seek game is over. I need you to find me again and again. Come, hound me, sniff me out. Come free me from dependencies of sore-filled wounds -- the kind that fester with volcano strength. Come, break my breath, and breathe in me again, and fill me with an emptiness which has given all, for the love of you.

Funeral arrangements will begin with prayers tomorrow evening at 17.00 at Milford, in Limerick - and then a fewing at Sean McDermott Street Church in Dublin on Wednesday, with an evening mass there at 18.00. Thursday, the 12.00 noon funeral mass at Milford, with burial at Pallaskenry.

This is a great loss, I repeat, for the Salesians of Ireland. We can only pray that Joe Lucey's Gospel fire will inspire young people to take up the calling.

Ring Mass

All the Catholic high schools in California that I know (and perhaps in the USA for that matter), celebrate "ring mass" - the day when the juniors (grade 11) get their class rings. Usually there is a mass and a blessing in the Catholic schools…

So the Vatican holds its own "ring mass" on the day after the consistory: when the pope blesses the golden rings of the new cardinals, and then gives the ring to each of them. It is yet another encounter between the pope and the new cardinals -- a moment of reassurances and of shared joy.

It began raining -- strike that: POURING this morning by 9.00, and so I decided that I would not use my ticket to go to the Piazza for that celebration. However, I did follow it in the media… and and it was another festive/solemn happy-kind-of-day.

There is nothing in the USA websites about our Cardinal Farina, except for some lamenting about there being still some curial cardinals by some American commentators who want to insist that the new cardinals are not representative enough of the people… (cf. John Allen of NCR). However, I did manage to find some enthusiastic reports from the newspaper of Benevento. It seems that a huge delegation from don Raffaele's hometown of Buonalbergo came to Rome to attend the two-days of consistory and celebration, and that their wild, noisey, affectionate endorsement of their hometown boy more than make up for the silence of the world press.

Representative of the people of God? Hmmm … the American critics may be sour on it, but the people of Buonalbergo are very happy that Raffaele Farina, Salesian and their own priest, is now cardinal. They have loved him and have always found him to be approachable and simple -- one of them. Sounds like a good representation to me!

At St Peter's Square for the new cardinals

This morning I went down to St Peter's to assist at the public consistory for the creation of 23 new cardinals. Among the new cardinals is the Salesian Raffaele Farina, whom I can claim as a personal friend from my student days at the UPS (1990-1994), but also from several years earlier when he spent his sabbatical year (1984) in California and was a guest for a day at De Sales Hall. Of course, I already knew him in the sense that, as rector magnificus of the UPS, he had overseen my theology studies at the Crocetta and signed the diploma for my bachelor degree in theology. As a matter of fact, his signature is on all three of my degress from the UPS - Bachelor, Licentiate and Doctorate.

When the nominations came out a little over a month ago I was very happy to learn that (finalmente) Don Raffaele had been named to the cardinalate. So when tickets were offered, I immediately asked for one.

Tickets were to St Peter's Square, but the consistory took place inside the basilica. Those of us who were outside watched and heard all on giant screen televisions that were set up in the piazza. At first I was disappointed (of course) that I was not right there, but the sense of being seated in the crowd in the square and seeing all on the giant screens - things taking place a few hundred meters ahead of us -- well I was soon swept into it. There was a great feeling of participation by all in the piazza. We were really "there" after all.

Before the ceremony began, the big screens displayed a steady camera shot on the nave of the basilica. As the bells of St Peter's began to sound at 10.15, there was a zoom and a fade, and I recognized the camera techniques of RAI, and realized we would see what was being broadcast through Italy. The tremendous camera work made it all so close for us in the piazza, as we joined also in the responsory singing with the Sistine Choir (what a tremenous sound from that choir today! real improvement over how they sounded at the start of the 1990s!!!). And then I had a real surprise - a very pleasant one. The camera focused on don Pascual Chavez at least 5 times during the ceremony, including for an extended time during Pope Benedict's homily. I noted that there were no other shots on individuals in the church other than cardinals. Even though a Jesuit and a Franciscan were also receiving the red hat, there were not closeups on the Jesuit Superior General nor on the Franciscan Minister General. Just the Salesian rector major.

And there was a big enough Salesian contingent in the crowd too - for every time Don Chavez was seen and every time Cardinal Farina was named, there was a cheer. Big cheers also went for the former bishop of Loreto, Giovanni Lajolo, for the archbishop of Monterrey, Francisco Robles Ortega, and for the archbishop of Houston, Daniel di Nardo. There were drum beats and enthusiastic cheers for the archbishop of Dakar (Senegal) Theodore Adrien Sarr, and for the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon (Bagdad) Emmanuel III Delly. These seem to figure in the news releases of the world press (or at least the USA press), but the television spotted Farina and Chavez. How cool is that?!

The exit from the basilica was solemn and festive at the same time, but I left and hurried to the metro to get home for dinner. I was starving. As I traveled home I noticed that it started to rain, and was caught in a downpour when I left the 80 express bus to make my way up Piazza dell'Ateneo Salesiano… I missed the soup, but made it for the main course… And there were chestnuts and barolo wine!!! Another treat on a very happy Roman day!

Tomorrow the cardinals will receive their cardinal's ring from Pope Benedict… that takes place at a mass, again in St Peter's. I have tickets for that too, but am not sure I will be able to go (and again, my tickets are for the square, not for the basilica).

Welcome News for Don Bosco Hall

The good news from Berkeley is that Jorge Santiago from Puerto Rico, who came for one semester, will now stay for two years!! At the same time, a letter came to Tom Prendiville from the Stanley Foundation with a 25,000. check for scholarships for Salesians from mission territories. It is a repeat of last year when with the help of Katie Calvert from the development office of the Western Dominican Province, helped us (ISS and DSPT) to apply for a grant. That work began way back in the Summer of 2005, and Katie succeeded in getting a grant for our students in 2006, and now again in 2007.

It seems that Katie is no longer working for the Western Dominicans. However, Tom Prendiville tells me that he will invite Gael Sullivan, as new director of the ISS, to speak with Michael Sweeney (DSPT president) and contact Katie to let her know that all her efforts have yielded good results.

And the timing is perfect: Jorge was refused a place in Chile but is accepted to DSPT: the grant can offset his tuition and living expenses so that his province is not going to lose and we get to keep him on board. Ah, if only DBH could hire Katie to do some grant writing proposals for our international students! This would take the edge out of things, economically … and that is a big part of our problem in bringing in Salesians for our programs.

Well, it is not the time to worry about this. It is time to rejoice with Jorge, with the DBH community, and to thank Katie and the Dominicans for all their efforts to help us to flourish. All this fits with my comments from yesterday. How important it is that we get the word out (PR, advertise, whatever…) about the ISS and our Salesian programs.

Continuing the series

The satisfaction on the face of Aldo Giraudo (pictured above) speaks volumes, don't you think? Oh … well, I think so.

Today Aldo presented me with a copy of volume 2 of Arthur Lenti's series, Don Bosco, Life and Spirit. He is sending 24 copies of the book to Arthur in Berkeley. The project continues, then, at a good pace.

The volume was delivered to the LAS last Wednesday, 14 November, thanks largely to the efforts of Aldo and of the Centro Studi Don Bosco here at the University. However, it was only yesterday that the LAS put Arthur’s second volume out for sale. Both Aldo and I have already communicated with Arthur via e-mail. I have not heard back from him, but Aldo tells me that he received an enthusiastic reply.

Arthur Lenti offers an extraordinary resource in this series… and I am hearing from a number of quarters how much his work is appreciated. Aldo tells me that there is already a move to translate the series into Spanish. Aldo Giraudo, by the way, remains the most enthusiastic supporter of Arthur Lenti's efforts and of the work of the ISS. Others in Rome seem to think that our Berkeley initiative has run its course. We need more "good PR" and less aggravation, I feel… but that is another story. For now, we bask in the sunshine-joy of Arthur's series.

For my part (hey! that's me in the photo!), I am most pleased to see Arthur's work come to print. He has been the mainstay of the ISS in Berkeley since the onset, and now he is making an important contribution to the entire Salesian World. Yesterday in my class on Salesian Spirituality (TA2232) I presented a number of books to the students, and showed them Arthur's first volume. Now I will show them the two volumes together, and encourage them to delve into them.

Computer woes

The old adage says that "no news is good news", but I have come to realize that "no news is just no news"..

My laptop computer has been brought to the Apple people at Flaminia Computer to be fixed, but it is really not working right at all. It overheats quickly even with a chill pad, and the batter drains within 10 minutes of being unplugged. If I am on the internet it likes to crash the machine and I've been blocked in the middle of my powerpoint presentations too by a sudden, no-reason, shutdown of the whole machine.

So I went and purchased a computer for my working - a desktop, iMac - again from Flaminia Computer. The Theology Faculty here promised to pay, but there were all sorts of delays (which I will explain in a moment), so I used my credit card.

Flaminia Computer advertising WiFi

The total of the computer, with the three year guarantee and taxes, came to (gulp) € 1,611.00. The faculty (school of theology) assured me that they would reimburse me by check so that I could send this to you. However, things have developed differently. For one thing, since September, there have been the deaths of two brothers who worked in the financial offices of the UPS. Three days after I got  here, the head financial administrator of the UPS was rushed to hospital; after 2 weeks there, he came home and was well for a couple of days… and hten fell ill again. He is now in his native Poland for the last two weeks undergoing testing…

This would be a sad report of curiosities for you do not know these people. However, the impact is this: the new person working the finances at UPS does not have signature on all the accounts.

So, the long and the short of this is that the Faculty could not secure a check from the UPS, nor could they do a wire transfer. But yesterday the prefect of the Theology Dept came to me in my office and gave me € 1,611 in cash.

The final piece of bad news is that my laptop is still not functioning. As I said, it is crashing now all the time, which is not good for a Macintosh. I am trying to stabilize it, and hope to succeed, but I am also recuperating all my preferences and other data at this time (when I am free to do t his because my class schedule is 8 hours of class in the first three days of the week). When I return to Berkeley, I will need to get me a good desktop mac - because (already the technicians at Cal's computer place told me this :) I am using the laptop more than what it was designed for. A laptop is for travel an occasions that call for brief work, not 9 hours a day of work. It is the third time this computer has broken down, and I burned through two other laptops in the five years previous to buying this one.

So, it is not in my budget, but this is one of those necessities. I need to get a desktop computer when I get back to teach the second semester and carry on all the assignments that province, house and faculty put on me.

Whoa, that wasn’t so hard to say, now, was it?

The ever-crashing mac powerbook

It is hard to tell whether I have been busy or just worn and torn. On Friday last I went down to the Mac Store in via Flaminia, beyond the center of Rome but in an area that has been commercial since Julius Caesar was a teenager. They could not get the laptop to function and since I had a guarantee, they took it to work on. I went with a student and another professor, both of whom were interested in purchasing a mac for their office/rooms. At that point I took the plunge and purchased an iMac, having taken two weeks to get a type of a yes from the dean. It is an excpetional machine and I am working on it now, however I still missed my own little Apple Powerbook G4.

On Monday night, then, I got a call from the Flaminia Computer that my machine would be ready the next day. Accompanied by Marco Bay (who spent the summer of 2000 at Don Bosco Hall), I picked up the machine. I was very happy to see him, and the technician, Alessio, told me that the hard drive was damaged. They installed a new one and recovered my data…

But…

The data is there without the programs that were mine. Alessio installed the usual mac programs, many of which I never use, but my own particular ones are missing… I've got the original application disks at home and will install them…

And yet…

The computer really is not functioning. It crashes now frequently… but when do Macintoshes ever crash? So something is really WRONG here.

Well, I have just to get it operating so that I can use it for class presentations. My classes at the UPS are going well (from the student feedback), so that has got to be the priority of the moment. I will try to understand what is missing that is causing the crashes. And I will make sure to back up everything so that if I need to return to via Flaminia, I'll not worry about losing data.

Amusing, really. Not only am I attached to my Powerbook, but I depend on it for almost everything these days… Thank God it does not make coffee too, or I really be in bad shape!

Cielo aperto, poco nuvoloso

Thursday and no classes to teach all day, so I took it easy during the morning and did some laundry and other little tasks. The sky opened very blue this morning, and the air is fresh and sweet. How I love the scent of Rome when the wind is blowing and the ground is wet. My laundry likes it too, because it can dry in the November sunshine that is sweet and not too harsh.

At dinner today, I entered into a discussion with my table companions about the growing clericalism that we detect in the church. Is this a swing of the pendulum? Or is it a symptom of something deeper taking place, particularly among the younger generation? Whatever it is, it is happening in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as in North America, as a new strident crowd becomes more indignant within the Church, and as Society as a whole moves away from any notion of organized religion and all its trappings outside the inner circle of Western churches.

Heavy discussion, on top of pasta with a bacon and egg sauce. We switched themes and spoke of ecumenism when it was time for the second plate of chicken, potatoes and spinach. More than 2 hours later I still feel heavy!!!

It is time to prepare next weeks classes, but the first three days leave me rather exhausted and I lose my ambition. No matter. It is time to act. Still, if I do not succeed in meeting any academic deadlines, I am consoled that the afternoon sun is drying my laundry. At least I will have accomplished one deed today that has something of value.

Taking stock

So yes, it is now two weeks that I am back in Italy. The courses are going fine… what will happen for the future for me, of that I am less sure. At the end of the day it is a question of where I can offer a better contribution, I suppose. I have not yet figured out all the details of what that is supposed to look like.

After the rain

Well, life in Rome has become, I suppose, very normal for me. I really cannot account for this feeling that I have about being in Rome and in Italy, but I must admit that I breathe a lot easier once I am here.

This morning has been glorious. After several days of rain, the sky is open, the breezes are fresh and cool, the sun is a kiss of warmth on the skin and a dazzle for the eyes. Oh, but I am supposed to be here to teach!!!! Okay, that too: I am working on my class preparation as I look out my office to the Alban hills.

Roma, quanta sei bella!

All Souls Day

All Souls Day and the holidays continue. We are having a nice few days of rest and just spending some time together. After this it will be non-stop until Christmas.

This morning I took advantage to sleep a little longer. I am still not over my jetlag. But when I went to find some breakfast at 8.30, there were some other professors there as well.

During the breakfast conversation I actually fielded many questions from the UPS professors about the viability of ISS and our continuation of the Salesian Spirituality and Studies program at Berkeley. I think that our ISS needs to organize a PR tour. The up-coming General Chapter would be the perfect time for it, but would our San Francisco representatives, David and Mel, agree to become proactively vocal? Something is needed to recapture the immagination and the good will of the Congregation, not only of the few who speak English.

Festive but quiet day

Today is the feast of All Saints. I joined the Don Rua Community for early morning mass at 7.30, and then for breakfast. After doing a load of laundry, I spent some time preparing classes, e-mailing friends, and, yes, taking a nap.

Am doing all the work on my classes on the borrowed laptop provided by Marco Bay. Next week I will have a chance to bring my Macintosh down to Center Rome to have it looked at by the Mac people. I have a full, 3-year guarantee so I should have luck for the machine. I just hope that I can get all of my data out of it. I recently put in a lot of photos, and I neglected to make a backup disk with them. I also bought some music off iTunes and did not have time to back them up (or felt too pressed to take the time). Well, that is my own fault. I have backed up my document files regularly (Word and PowerPoint), however, so I can present my work for my courses without fear.

There is a lesson somewhere in all this, but I am not ready to face that lesson right now.

International Mix at Salesian Pontifical University

Today is the feast of Bl. Michele Rua. There were specialties at dinner and a little reception in the dinning room lobby after dinner, but I was not able to take part due to the fact that I had to run to teach my class on Salesian Spirituality to those of the First Cycle (Bachelor's level). After a couple of little technical difficulties, we were able to get that class off to decent start, finally. Not great, but decent.


Of 37 students enrolled in that course, on 5 are Italians, and maybe 5 others are Europeans. The vast majority are Africans and Asians. This is very different from when I studied theology at the "UPS Sezione Torino" 30 years ago. At that time, I was the only non-Italian among 60 theology students. When I returned to Italy in 1990 to do advanced studies in spiritual theology, there were a good number of Latin Americans who matched the number of Europeans, with a few Indians and fewer East Asians. It was less than a year from the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and during my first year, the Soviet Union collapsed totally when Gorbachev was kidnapped by radicals (all events that I watched on Italian television). We has a good number of Polish students and a few Eastern Europeans who were the first to have the opportunity for studies in the West in nearly two generations. At that time I belonged to the student community of "Don Rua" and I have wonderful memories of those days, as I do of my "first cycle" days at Torino. I saw the Salesian congregation as youthful and ethusisastic, thanks to those attributes that I could identify in my peers.

Now, as I say, the Latin Americans are as scarce as the Europeans; the Poles have more professors than students, but the Eastern European student population has risen.

Our university population is increasingly international, with students from 115 nations... There are many eastern Europeans, Latin Americans, Indians, Africans, East Asians, and even a little colony of Filipino students. Most of the Italian students here are enrolled in the faculties of education, psychology, catechetics and social communications. The vast majority of these students are local, actually citizens of Rome itself.

And from the USA? there is only one student, Peter by name, whom I came to know two years ago. He is from California -- from Fresno to be exact. He has come here to study Latin and Greek. The UPS is off the beaten track for people from the USA who want to have a Roman experience, I suppose. Many would expect to be close to the Vatican or to the historic center of the ancient capital, caput mundi. Instead, we are on the northern rim of the expanding metropolis, in a very blue-collar district. But that is a very cool place to be, when you think of the Salesian mission.


All these are thoughts that come to mind on the feast of Michele Rua, who pushed to spread the Salesian Family to become operative on all Five Continents. Thanks, Don Rua! I hope you are happy with what you see at this Salesian Pontifical University in 2007.

Outing

Today the community of Gesù Maestro went on an outing to Subiaco. I did not tell anyone it was my birthday, but I enjoyed all the activites as such.

A card from my mom reads:

May you always have people to laugh with and be close to,
things to dream about and work hard for,
places you can go to rest and reflect
on all that is good in the world,
and especially in you …
and may you always know
how much you're loved.

These are wonderful words. I will have to remember them as a blessing.

Computer burnout!

My little powerbook MAC laptop has gone through a major crash. It happened on Wednesday after I taught my first class.

Luckily, I had made a backup disk of my documents when I arrived in Rome but I had not made a backup of my photos and music files. I attempted to go to the Mac labs yesterday, but the rain became intense. My friend, Marco Bay, lent me his extra laptop, ant that is what I am using now. After downloading my work files, I have had to scramble to find everything. My applications are for Mac, however, and do not work on the PC so a lot of material (bibliographies, bible referencing, music files, aol) is in cold storage.

Amid these trials and tribulations on Wednesday, I began teaching my courses. My 3-unit course on Francis de Sales has 25 in the class at masters level. I also have two other courses, one on foundations of Salesian spirituality for BA level, and one of leading themes of Salesian spirituality.

It is a very full program for me, and I have had little time to do other things since my arrival in the Eternal City. I have spent most of today working on getting the class notes in order to have them printed for the students in Italian and in English. I am doing all this on a borrowed PC with a keyboard that differs from what I normally use. Ai ai ai!

Arrival and re-entry

Made it to Rome this morning with some delays due to the extra security measures at Dulles airport in Washington DC. We were 45 minutes late, and it took an hour for the luggage to arrive at the pickup point, but processing through immigration went very smoothly.

Two students, Wim Collin and Fabiano Gheller, met me at the exit of customs and drove me back to the university.


This time I have been given a room in what is called the rettorato -- the wing where the provinical offices are located. My room is a guest room and rather small with no bookshelves. However, it is a quiet area and there is a laundry room, which makes things easier for me. After a quick clean-up, I went to pay my respects to directors and provincials, department chairs and deans and made it to pranzo at 13.10 in good shape.

Giorgio Zevini, dean of the Theology School, and Jesùs Manuel Garcia, director of the Insitute of Spiritual Theology, have decided to give me an office on the first floor of the theology building. This will make it easier for me with a workspace of my own. Last year I only could work out of my bedroom and had limited telephone and internet access. By tomorrow I should be given a key and will be able to move in with all my books and such.

Once the problem of an office was solved, I fought off sleep for the rest of the afternoon. This I did by dedicating my time to preparing my classes for tomorrow (three are scheduled). I have a PowerPoint and syllabus ready for my class on Francis de Sales, which takes place at second period tomorrow. My plan is to complete the syllabus for the second course tomorrow morning, as I'm to those taking the monograph on Salesian Spirituality in the afternoon between 15.00 and 16.35. Nearly the same people are taking both courses.

So I am hitting the road running, as it were.

Returning to the Eternal City

Left Berkeley this morning. Gael Sullivan brought me to SFO by 7:00, and I cleared Security by 7:50 only to find that my 8:50 flight on United Airlines has been delayed by two hours. This gives me a moment to register some thought or other while in the United Red Carpet lounge before take off.

The last few months have gone by quickly -- so quickly that I feel that I am further behind on things than when I started. Now I start another semester at UPS before finishing the semester at DSPT. This may all be too hectic for me now... but I'll pick up my musings in the blog again and try to uncover my feelings for myself and for you.

Before any of this happens, I have the weekend with my mom in beautiful Bellflower, California!

Double birthday celebration

Sunday - and we celebrated two birthdays today, with a wonderful inhouse celebration. Marylou Cordoba did the cooking, and the brothers with Duoc Le decorated the house. And who were the "festeggiati"?

Marc Rougeau (5 October 1947)

John Rasor (7 October 1944)

It was a very wonderful celebration. For Marc, it is great because he his so enjoying being part of this community of Don Bosco Hall in Berkeley. For John, because his bout with cancer has been frightening for all of us, but it seems that he is responding well to the treatments and is regaining strength, appetite, and endurance.

Happy Birthday, my brothers!