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Faithful Venerate the True Cross
Myrna Rodriguez prays before the Relic of the True Cross (photo by Linda Caldwell, Florida Catholic)ORLANDO – The love of Jesus Christ radiated from Myrna Rodriguez as she prayerfully approached the altar at Good Shepherd Parish Sept. 14, 2014, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, to venerate a relic of the True Cross. Tears filled her eyes and silent prayers spilled from her lips as she kissed the reliquary, housing a small fragment of the cross Jesus died on.
"All around we have crucifixes as symbols of Jesus' sacrifice for us, but this is the True Cross. This is part of the actual cross he died on," Rodriguez said. "I am overcome with emotions when I think about what he did for me. I cannot thank him enough. This was a humbling experience." In celebration of the feast, the faithful of the parish had the opportunity to venerate a relic after the midmorning English and the evening Spanish Masses.
A Gift from Two La Salette Missionaries
Good Shepherd Parish is blessed to have four relics of the True Cross on its premises. One relic, housed in an ornate reliquary, was donated to the parish by the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, the religious order of the priests serving the parish, when the new church building was dedicated last year. The remaining relics, housed in simple reliquaries, were entrusted to La Salette Father Joseph O'Neil, pastor, by two dear friends: Brother Raymond Aubin, M.S., and Brother Peter Collins, M.S., of the religious order, upon their deaths.
Our Call to Live and Preach Peace and Justice
This is my personal testimony as an active La Salette Missionary and pastoral minister, working for Peace and Social Justice.
Struggling for Justice
Fr. Alfredo Vellarde, M.S., member of the La Salette International Peace and Justice Committee.
As I write this testimony, I remember many people who have been with me on this journey and have given me the privilege of sharing their stories, dreams, struggles and desires.
I thank those who, in particular, have experienced the painfulness of living with a broken heart because of the lack of justice in their lives and yet have had the courage to share their lives and stories with me and others. Over and above this, I am also grateful for their commitment in the struggle for truth and for a more just society.
I believe that it is in their tears and their faithful commitment to the search for justice that we find the hope that “another world is possible”. Also they help us to commit ourselves to the struggle for justice and the restoration of the relationship between God, the people of the Kingdom and the Earth.
Thinking of all these people and their precious gifts that I have received in my lifetime, I remember a poem by Pedro Casaldaliga:
At the end of the road I will be asked:
Have you lived? Have you loved?
And I, not saying anything,
will open my heart full of names.
Bishop Celebrates 40th Portuguese Pilgrimage
Bp. Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., preaches homily to 1,400 faithful attending the 40th annual Portuguese Pilgrimage at La Salette Shrine in Attleboro on Sept. 29, 2014 (photo: Kenneth J. Souza, The Anchor).Attleboro, MA. — An estimated 1,400 pilgrims filled the outdoor chapel at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro on September 28 to celebrate not only the 40th anniversary of the shrine’s annual Portuguese Pilgrimage Day, but also to catch a glimpse of newly-installed Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., who officially became the eighth bishop of the Fall River Diocese just days earlier.
Born in Nova Fatima, Bahia, Brazil and fluent in several languages, Bishop da Cunha’s native vernacular is Portuguese, so it was appropriate that one of his first public appearances was a celebration among one of the most predominant ethnic groups in the diocese at its largest shrine.
Our Newly-Installed Bishop of Fall River
“We are so blessed to have Bishop da Cunha here just a few days after his installation,” Fr. Cyriac Mattathilanickal, M.S., director at La Salette Shrine, told The Anchor. “I was totally surprised when he responded to our invitation saying he would be happy to come and join our celebration. I thought he would want more time to settle in, but he was so gracious to accept the invitation and it means a lot to the Portuguese community because this is our 40th anniversary of having the pilgrimage here at the shrine and with the bishop coming, it makes for an extra special celebration.”
Lebanon NH Parish Losing Its Priest
Lebanon — The Rev. William Kaliyadan, the Indian-born priest who has led Sacred Heart Parish for 11 years while reaching out to the broader Lebanon community, is being transferred to a larger parish on Cape Cod. When he leaves in January, he’ll especially miss how active and participatory worshippers have been during his tenure.
Christine Gillis (right), a licensed nursing assistant reacts to the news that the Rev. William Kaliyadan (middle) will transfer in January, 2015 (Valley News - James M. Patterson) After the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester appoints a new pastor, Kaliyadan hopes that laymen will take over his initiatives, such as Catholics Come Home, a national program to reconcile and bring back “un-churched” parishioners. “I empowered the laity to take leadership,” the 49-year-old Kaliyadan said.It’s too early to say whether the priest’s replacement will work full-time at Sacred Heart, since the Diocese of Manchester only recently heard about Kaliyadan’s reassignment, spokesman Patrick McGee said in a telephone interview Thursday. But “we’re not anticipating any major changes,” McGee said.
When Kaliyadan moves to Brewster, Mass., he’ll also leave behind St. Helena Parish and the La Salette Shrine in Enfield. St. Helena serves about 275 families in the Enfield area, while the congregation at Sacred Heart numbers about 1,000.
Kaliyadan’s departure is part of a national redistribution of his order, the Missionaries of La Salette, toward the southern United States, stemming from an ever-present shortage of priests. The personnel problem has also led to the recently announced closure of the La Salette shrine in Enfield.
Alive Day for Fr. Phil Salois, M.S.
Phil Salois in his early days in Vietnam. His spiritual impact in the lives of so many is palpable and lasting—and thank God for that.When I spoke with Father Philip Salois on February 28, I did not realize the very next day—March 1—would mark the 44th anniversary of the day he carried out a rescue under fire in South Vietnam.“March 1 is my ‘Alive Day,’ ” Father Salois said. “That’s what the young vets call the day when you survive but it’s a close call. You celebrate your Alive Day more than your birthday.”
Philip Salois (widely known as “Father Phil”), VVA’s national chaplain and president of James M. Ray Memorial Chapter 818 in Rhode Island, is the 2014 recipient of the United Veterans Council of Woonsocket, Rhode Island’s Veteran of the Year Award. But that distinction is only one of many for a man whose combat experience fueled a remarkable life devoted to the pastoral care of people like himself: war veterans struggling with battered psyches and postwar lives.
Salois was twenty years old when he was drafted. “I was an 11 Bravo—a grunt—in short order.” He was soon humping the jungles of South Vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.
A Day to Remember
Late in the day of February 28, 1970, Salois’s platoon came upon an NVA bunker complex. The platoon withdrew and set up a defensive perimeter. The next morning, March 1, an inexperienced young commander sent the troops back down the same road and straight into an ambush.
La Salette Laity Movement in Brazil
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| Three Leaders of Brazilian La Salette Laity, attending the 2011 La Salette International Lay Encounter in France |
Several years ago, in November of 2008, the participants in the International Encounter of La Salette Missionaries in Brazil met at the La Salette Institute in Curitiba, Brazil. These included Brazilian La Salette Laity who explained and discussed their desired involvement in La Salette ministry in the spirit of Our Lady of La Salette.
Who are the La Salette Laity in Brazil?
Since 2003, according to their agreement with the members of the La Salette Province in Brazil, laity have developed their group of La Salette Laity, including their charter with the Province, and have published a booklet of principles of La Salette spirituality and a common La Salette hymn. A member of the La Salette Laity said: "We want to be a missionary movement involved in concrete action for solidarity, reconciliation and peace. And we desire to be an arm of (or connected to) the La Salette Province in Brazil.
"Our present ministry is most often related to the La Salette MIssionaries by sharing in giving Shrine or Parish Missions (retreats). The La Salette Laity have felt the need to organize themselves together and be, as Catholic laity, a vibrant part of the La Salette Family and their common mission of reconciliation.
1965 – New Mission in Argentina
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| (L to R) Rev. James M. Weeks, M.S., Rev. John P. Bradford, M.S., Rev. Stephen J. Krisanda, M.S., preparing to leave for their new mission in Argentina. |
Editor: In the Spring of 1965, Fr. Jack Toner, M.S., Director of the La Salette Mission Office in Hartford, CT, announced in his monthly newsletter about the La Salettes from North America formally taking their place in the mission of Argentina. North American La Salettes had already volunteered in the missions of
Burma (Myanmar), Magadascar, the Philippines and assisted informally in Argentina. In his article we see the first steps made by our first three La Salettes from North America in embracing their new mission in “the Argentine,” as he described it.
New Mission Challenge for
La Salettes from North America
God’s Presence to the Homeless
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| Fr. Emery DesRochers, M.S. |
What does the homeless person have to do with reconciliation? I think we can safely say that the general definition of Christian reconciliation is the bringing of God to human beings as well as bringing humanity back to God. To the homeless person, the caring stranger brings God’s love, God’s abiding presence.
God’s Ongoing Concern for the Poor and Homeless
The Old Testament taught the importance of concern for the poor and the homeless. From Isaiah we hear:
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own (Isaiah 58:6-7).
St. Paul reminds us of the source of his message and mission:
Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:11-12).
La Salette and L’Arche
My husband, Richard, and I have been members of the La Salette Faith Community since 1970. From that time until 1996 when the property was finally sold, we celebrated Liturgy each Sunday at the La Salette Shrine in Ipswich, Massachusetts with our family.
Small Steps at First
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| La Salette Shrine Church, Ipswich MA.: (left, façade; right interior) |
In 1981, at a meal in our home one evening, Fr. Tom Reilly, MS, who was Superior of the La Salette Shrine, spoke to us about a woman, named Elizabeth Buckley, who was coming to look at an empty house on the Shrine property in order to establish a home for adults with developmental disabilities. He then related that she had been the founder and director of a L’Arche home in Inverness, Scotland. This information, at the time, meant little to us because we had never heard of L’Arche. I asked him to let me know if she decided to accept the offer from the La Salettes because I would certainly want to welcome her to this area.
Later I learned more about L’Arche. Jean Vanier, a Canadian by birth, is the founder of the L’Arche movement which was established in Trosly-Breuil, France in 1964. The community began when Jean invited two men with developmental disabilities, who had been living in an institution, to come and live with him in his home. His name for their home, L’Arche, has its origin in the book of Genesis — L’Arche being French for ark. Just as Noah invited all God’s creatures into the ark, L’Arche likewise became a symbol for refuge and hope for those with developmental disabilities.
Part of a Worldwide Family
The Federation of L’Arche has grown to over 135 communities in 20 countries throughout the world—spread through Europe, the United States, Canada, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Australia. There is usually more than one home in a community and in each home, the core members live with assistants in a family-like environment.
Twinning Parishes – Georgia and Argentina
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| Fr. Alfredo Velarde, M.S., with a young parishioner |
My name is Jenifer Truitt, and I am the Coordinator of Religious Education for St. Oliver Plunkett Catholic Church, a La Salette parish in Snellville, Georgia. In June of 2007, which was the middle of winter in South America, I had the privilege of joining the St. Oliver’s mission team on a two-week trip to Las Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina to visit our sister parish, Nuestra Señora de Perpetuo Socorro at the invitation of Fr. Alfredo Velarde, M.S., the pastor.
It is in the north central part of Argentina, popular with tourists for its thermal springs. Our parish consists of mostly poor people and includes about 27,000 parishioners; that is, the entire city and its surrounding barrios. The purpose of our trip was to visit our sister parish to learn more about the parishioners, how they live, and with what needs we might be able to help them.
To Twin or Not to Twin
In 2003, our pastor, Fr. Jim Henault, M.S., entered into an agreement on behalf of our parishioners with Fr. Alfredo. It is not uncommon for parishes to “twin” like this, and it was something our parish community was interested in pursuing. We chose the church in Las Termas because Fr. Jim had spent approximately two months living there, immersing himself learning Spanish and getting to know the people and their customs. He saw their financial needs and he felt our parish could help them. The agreement was initially a five-year commitment and we have just renewed it for another five years.