Atlanta Salesian Cooperators

The center of our adoration today, Good Friday, is the cross, an instrument of terror and shame that has been transformed into the instrument of our salvation.   To understand such power from Jesus, we have to look at it this way.   One time a journalist asked a hospital chaplain, “You deal with human sufferings on a daily basis.   Where do you see the real power of Christ in the midst of all sufferings in the world today?”   The chaplain answered: “Come with me and I’ll show you.”   She led the journalist to the room of a young patient.   “I want you to meet Mikey.   He’s 19 and he has been bed-ridden for the past 2 years.   Mikey has a rare disease that began to show effect when he turned 16 and it’s getting worse everyday.   Now Mikey is just lying there, unable to move any muscle, unable to speak though he could see, hear and especially he could feel the pain.   Every time I come to sit with him, I witness the pain an...

The faithful usually ask each other around this time of the year: "How has your Lent been?"  I think I join many of my fellow faithful who started out on Ash Wednesday with a lot of noble plans to grow closer to God: giving up something, spending more time in prayer, picking up more spiritual reading, being more charitable, doing more self sacrifice, etc.  I think I may join many today, too, in realizing we have not been completely faithful to what we planned to do on Ash Wednesday. So here is the question: Am I meeting the objective of the Lenten practices? It depends.  Recognizing where we are spiritually, weaker than we thought we were and not as holy as we would like to be or imagine ourselves to be, it is a good starting point. At this deciding moment, we could say with the self-defeating attitude: "What's the point?  Why try anyway?"  Then we are not going anywhere. Or we could say, now I know more certainly how much I need God, even in my eff...

Here are the Scripture Readings for the Liturgy today. When I was a kid, I was really looking forward to Palm Sunday because it was the only day of the year when I could hold a palm leaf and play with it in Church, and during the long Gospel of the Passion, I got to say loudly in Church: "Crucify him," and no adult was going yell at me.   Now that I have grown, Palm Sunday continues to attract me but for a very different reason: there is something in the Liturgy that resonates with me about life experience.   If you pay close attention to the 2 Gospels, you will see they present conflicting experiences.   At the beginning of Mass, the Gospel presents a Jesus who is on top of the world: the people praised Him, admired Him, and wanted Him as their king.   But minutes later, the Gospel presents a Jesus who is at the rock bottom of human experience: everyone despised him, rejected him and wanted to get rid of him. Christ and his experience are relevant ...

Read the Salesian News this week in order to be in unity with our Salesian Family. These are the last days of Lent, make it to Confession if you have not been able to do so.  See the reflection on Reconciliation I posted on this blog yesterday, March 22. Let us begin our journey of the Holy Week.

Reflection for the Celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation Matthew 12: 22-37 Actual photo of Don Bosco hearing Confession from his students     To understand what “sin against the Holy Spirit” is, the unforgiveable sin that Jesus declared, we have to understand the context upon which the statement is made.   Jesus just cast out demons from a man.   According to the theology of the Jewish people, only God has such power and the person who can use that power has to be from God.   Of all the people, the Pharisees and the scribes knew that theology well.   They taught it and they reinforced it.   However, they just could not accept the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was sent by God.   No way!   Not an ordinary poor carpenter of Nazareth, not the one who calls them out on their hypocrisy, not the one who challenges the comfortable lifestyle of the ruling class which they belong.   Out of pride or jealousy, or both, they ...

Brothers and sisters, Our brothers and sisters, especially the little ones, are suffering greatly in Syria right now.  Please take up Pope Francis' plea and join the world-wide effort to pray for them our suffering brothers and sisters. Here is the Salesian News of the Eastern Province this week.

Fr. Tangorra shares his experience and expertise in working with youth and young adults in this 2-part article:      * Part 1      * Part 2 Young adults at St. Brigid Catholic Church, Johns Creek, GA

Each year, the Rector Major, head of the Salesian family worldwide, proposes a Gospel-based focus for the whole family to follow.  Here is the Strenna of 2018: Let Us Cultivate the Art of Listening and Accompaniment.   Download to read the presentation. This week's Salesian News . 

Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry This is a document published by the US Catholic Bishops in 1997 that charts the vision and goals for ministry to adolescents.  This document has been used as the standard framework for youth ministry in the country ever since. Youth Ministry Topic in the Certificate program of the Archdiocese of Atlanta (at Holy Vietnamese Martyrs parish, 3/9/2018)      * Slideshow of presentation      * Outlines of presentation      * Standards for Youth Ministers  

From Feb 28 to March 1, the two delegates of the Salesian Family from the Eastern Province, Sister Denise Sickinger, FMA, and Father Thomas Dunn, SDB, visited Atlanta and met with the first group of Salesian Cooperator Aspirants.  Here are some pictures taken by Ginger and Dave Brown.  We are looking forward to getting to know more members of this great family. (Left to right) Ginger, Sr. Denise, Fr. Tom, Dave, Fr. Tri  At the meeting, Fr. Tom and Sister Denise also introduced the Don Bosco Salesian Portal website, on which we can find all documents and articles related to the Salesian family.  Please note that the link to the particular page for the Cooperators is "SSCC" on the top blue bar. Please also read the Salesian News of our province this week.