Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on the Solemnity of MHC & Perpetual Profession of Cl. Jhon Robert Andales, SDB 24 May 2023, Ratisbonne, Jerusalem

Allow me to begin with a story that happened in Cebu.  Some years ago while we were having the midnight Mass for Christmas fire broke out in one village less than a kilometer away from our Formation Center in Cebu.  Immediately after the Mass one of our novices was shocked when someone told him that their house was among those hit by the raging fire.  And so we told him to rush quickly and respond to the emergency. Some of the novices accompanied him to offer some help.  But when they got to the disaster scene, the fire fighters were still working hard to control the fire and they could not succeed to get in through the narrow streets and alleys of their village.  The good news however is this: after the fire was extinguished and put under control, he was happily surprised to find out that their house was still standing, and all his family members were safe and sound.  Their house was in fact the only one left untouched by the fire while all the other houses nearby have been reduced to ashes. When he got inside their house the first thing that caught his attention was the calendar with the image of Mary Help of Christians still hanging on the wall.  It was no doubt our Blessed Mother who miraculously saved their house and his family from the consuming fire.

Dear brothers and sisters today we celebrate the solemn feast of Mary Help of Christians.  We already know from our study of Sacred Scriptures and Theology about the great role that our Blessed Mother has played in the history of our salvation.  And we also know how powerful Mary’s intercession is and has always been in the history of the Church, from the wedding at Cana, to the battle of Lepanto in 1571 up to modern times.   And for this we Catholics are proud to express and manifest our strong devotion to her both in the liturgy and in popular piety with the confidence of sons and daughters. 

Back in my own country the Philippines we too have experienced the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother not only once but several times.  But allow me to share just one historic event.  As some of you might already know, the Catholic Faith was brought to our land in 1521 by a Spanish priest, chaplain of the expedition led by the famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Around 800 natives were baptized while they rested in the island of Cebu on their way to the Moluccas.  Then forty-four years later (1565) the first group of Augustinian missionaries came to try to evangelize our people more systematically. Unfortunately in 1646, naval forces coming all the way from the Dutch Republic started to make several repeated attempts to conquer the Philippines in a bid to control trade in Asia. At first five Dutch warships came, then seven, then fifteen. The good news is every time the enemy warships came at close range they would be repelled by the two cargo ships improvised by the Spaniards to defend our land backed up by our people who kept praying the Holy Rosary. For this it can be said that the Catholic Church won another decisive victory this time in the naval battle of Manila.  And this victory could be attributed to the powerful and miraculous intervention of our Blessed Mother who was eventually venerated with a new title, Our Lady of La Naval de Manila. 

Brothers and sisters on this same day that we as a congregation together with the whole Salesian Family are honoring our Blessed Mother, Help of Christians, we are also blessed to celebrate the Perpetual Profession of Cleric Jhon Robert Andales and the renewal of two other confreres. Brother Robert entered our aspirantate in Cebu together with twenty-two other batchmates.  He made his Prenovitiate and Novitiate also there in Cebu.  And we thank God that he has persevered all these years despite the difficult trials along the way of his discernment, formation and apostolic work. We can truly feel his heart burning with the fire of God’s love.

On a personal note I feel happy to preside this solemn Mass since I have journeyed with Br Robert during his earlier formation years when I was still in Lawaan.  And I thank Fr Rector for his invitation.  So on behalf of my provincial, Fr Fidel Orendain, and of the FIS Province of Cebu I congratulate you Br Robert for taking this step and leap of faith to offer yourself entirely to the Lord and to Don Bosco’s mission for poor youth in communion of spirit and action with your confreres. I also thank Fr Stan and his team of formators for patiently guiding and carefully forming our confrere these past two years and in the years ahead. We can never thank you enough.

The gospel we have heard today presents to us the visit of the Bl. Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.   She, the virgin of Nazareth, was the first disciple who offered her total and generous YES to God calling her to become the mother of the Divine Redeemer. And amazingly instead of boasting among her neighbours of the singular grace and highest honor she has received, as many young people would do today using social media, she opted to go silently in haste to see her elderly cousin Elizabeth who, like her, had been blessed with a child after long years of waiting. We all know what happened next when she arrived and greeted Elizabeth. Their meeting became a wonderful exchange of blessing and an explosion of pure joy.

Before coming here I was in Colle Don Bosco to attend a very enriching course on Salesian Spiritual Accompaniment. And in one of the inputs I learned that this visit of Mary to Elizabeth can be a good model for spiritual accompaniment. Mary went to Ain Karim not to boast of her new role as Mother of God. Neither did she go there to complain about the burden of responsibility she was carrying in her womb.  She went in order to share her God-experience to an elderly woman who also had her own God-experience.  In that encounter Mary began to speak from her heart while Elizabeth tried to listen with her heart.  At the end both of them recognized the grace-filled presence of the Lord acting in their lives. Elizabeth responded to Mary’s greeting with a blessing after which Mary explodes with a beautiful hymn of joy blessing and thanking God with her “Magnificat.”

Our congregation has been blessed with a rich tradition of spiritual accompaniment inspired by many saints but most especially by St Francis de Sales. And we believe that recovering and reliving this tradition is the way forward to promote and preserve many vocations.   We were taught in the past that Don Bosco was guided spiritually by many priests starting with Don Calosso and Don Cafasso.  However during the course I recently attended, I learned that Johnny Bosco, when he found work at the Moglia farm, was already going to confession on his own free will at the parish church of Moncucco every Sunday, so that he could receive Holy Communion during the Mass.  This means that Don Bosco, at thirteen years old even before meeting Don Calosso, was already allowing himself to be guided by Don Cottino, the Parish priest of Moncucco.  And much later as a priest, no matter how much work he had to do for hundreds of oratory boys, he would never fail to make his daily meditation and his annual retreat at Lanzo under the guidance and accompaniment of Don Cafasso.

Therefore, Br Robert, while the offering you made of yourself during your first profession is now about to reach its fullness with your perpetual vows, I strongly recommend that you continue to deepen your spiritual life by allowing yourself to be accompanied by your Rector and your spiritual guide so that you may keep growing in holiness, being fruitful in your Salesian pastoral ministry hopefully as a priest very soon, and thus become a good spiritual guide to many young people to whom God will send you.

May our Eucharistic celebration today bring us to a greater understanding and appreciation of the great role of Mary in our lives and in our Salesian vocation.  May it lead us also to grow in our Marian devotion at the same time being more open to be accompanied spiritually by the guides chosen for us by God.

Finally may our Blessed Mother the Help of Christians accompany us and keep us under the mantle of her powerful protection so that we may always remain untouched by the fires of temptation while the fires of devotion and pastoral charity are kept burning alive in our hearts for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls. God is good…sss!

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