December 5, 2023

Dear Salesian Family, Salesian Young People, and Friends:

It has been a while since I have officially written to you on InTouch, but I want to assure you that I am well.  Let me start by greeting you a Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and by welcoming all of you to the season of Advent, the sacred time before the coming and birth of our Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas. Our Advent readings these days are full of promises, of hope and of joyful longing and anticipation for the coming of Emmanuel, ‘God with us’.  May we be alert and awake as both the Scriptures and the Advent liturgies call us to listen and to recognize and welcome ‘God with us’ in our daily lives.

It was St. Augustine who said: “I fear the Lord who passes by…that is, I fear that He will pass by and I will not recognize Him.”  There are so many distractions, most of them secular, in the world around us, that we may miss the opportunity for prayer, for reflection and for repentance. What has been preoccupying me these last few months are the following:

• the Province strategic planning process and the growth mindset it has brought to the Province community for the past 15 months;
• the preparation for the Extraordinary Visitation of Fr. Hugo Orozco (November 5-10 2023 and April 1-May 19 2024);
• the preparation and the process for our 2024 Provincial Chapter (June 17-21 2024);
• the child abuse cases the Province continues to face and the ramifications and challenges we have moving forward.

I do recognize and acknowledge that God continues to be present and to bless us.  Last week, on the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of our Province, we celebrated the Jubilee of some of our Salesian confreres.  They are:

• Fr. John Itzaina, 60 years of profession
• Fr. Paul Tran, 60 years of profession
• Fr. Ted Montemayor, 40 years of ordination
• Fr. Luis Oyarzo, 25 years of ordination
• Fr. Chinh Nguyen, 25 years of profession
• And other confreres

I thank God for the service and dedication of the Salesians listed above on behalf of young people. I also want to thank so many of you for your commitment to the Salesian mission.  The ministry to the young and to the people of God are constant and ever-growing. We are truly blessed!

I wish all of you a Blessed Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and a blessed Advent season. You and your loved ones are in my thoughts and prayers. May Mary, the Mother of God, and St. John Bosco, inspire us to say our daily Yes to God’s call.

Sincerely in Christ,