Thank God for Fridays

How many of us actually thank God on Fridays?

     This is my question for today. The week has all of its ups and downs, its lefts and rights. Sometimes it just plain throws us for a loop! But, at the end of the day (or at the end of the week), we have to hand it all to God. For there is no possible way we could've made it through without Him. Remember that red light you ran through? Remember driving in that bad weather? Remember when you almost forgot something really important? Remember when you were patient and calm but don't know how? Remember that time you woke up? Yeah. That was Him. So let's thank Him!

     As Candidates and post-novices, we have the wonderful opportunity of not having school at Seton Hall on Fridays. This gives us more time to catch up on work, prepare ourselves for weekend ministries, and to really reflect on the week and on our continually forming vocations. We have no vocations without God; thus, we thank Him for His presence and His overwhelming love among us. What a God!

     Today, in whatever you do, in whatever you think, in whatever you say, let it be done out of praise for God; for He gave us the freedom to let it be done in the first place. May our lives be filled with thanksgiving--that true thanksgiving that only comes from receiving our God in the Holy Eucharist.

    Be joyful!    Be a lover!   Praise God with your life!

Let's Get Thankful

Whether you had a good, great, excellent, horrible, beautiful, wonderful, excruciating, ok, perfect, or downright miserable Thanksgiving experience, there is yet so much to be thankful for. 


I think one thing we do not thank the Lord for enough is His calling in our lives--our vocations. Whether that be married or single or consecrated or clergy, doctor or lawyer or teacher or cashier--whatever He has called us to, He has done so for a reason. And such gratitude we should have at such a thought...that He would love us so intimately and personally that He would let us know what He wants of us, what He wants for our lives.


May this video be a blessing to you this day, however belated it may be from Thanksgiving.

"Lift up your hearts!"

On behalf of all of the seminarians here at the Don Bosco Residence, I'd like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. You may be saying, "Well, certainly this is coming quite early..." But for us Sons of Mary (Candidates and Pre-novices), Thanksgiving break begins today! Today is our last day of classes. Thus, we are let go to journey back home to our families that love and support us so much.

The blog may be continued by some of the post-novice brothers, who remain here at the house through this academic break. So keep tuning in for their wise words.

We thank you for your support via prayers, offerings, etc. We need you, we recognize that, and we are very grateful. May your Thanksgiving be filled with great blessings and joy, unified around one table as a family.

St. Cecilia, pray for us.

Give thanks!

Be thankful. Today be thankful for all of the wonderful blessings that you have in your life. Be thankful to God who has made it all possible. Be thankful to your parents, relatives, friends, neighbors or strangers who have helped you along the way at some point to allow you to be able to receive those blessings.

Last night I was at Mary Help of Christians Academy for adoration. There was a talk given by a student on the theme of being thankful. She had been in a serious car accident the month prior to this talk and one point that she spoke on was in particular striking to me. Be thankful now. You don't always know if you'll have tomorrow to be thankful for.

With today being Veteran’s day as well as the feast of St. Martin of Tours, we celebrate and remember our soldiers. St. Martin was a soldier himself. When St. Martin was riding on his horse he came upon a poor man. The man was cold and shivering. St. Martin took his sword and cut his heavy military cloak in two and gave the poor man one part of his cloak. A few days later St. Martin had a dream. It was Jesus. He told St. Martin that whatever he did to the least of his brethren you do for me.

Today we can thank our service men and women for their sacrifice. Because of them we have certain freedoms that allow us to, among other things, practice our faith. Our faith is a God send, literally. Because of these brave men and women we are able to practice faith openly, freely, and with great joy.

The joyous occasion to pray for and give thanks to the wonderful men and women who sacrifice so much, and sometimes give the ultimate sacrifice is a truly wonderful grace and a very happy obligation for us. I wish to offer every man and woman who has ever or will someday wear a uniform of our Armed Services a heartfelt thank you and I will be praying for you and your safety. May God Bless all of you!

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”


--John 15:12-13

Officially Pre-Novices!!!

Yesterday morning, during our daily mass as a community, six of us were formally inducted into the pre-novitiate. It was a time of great joy for us, to make the formal profession of our desire to study more about the Salesian spirituality, and dedicate this upcoming year towards our spiritual growth towards Christ, and discernment of our vocations.

The pre-novitiate is a special year in formation, described as follows in our Salesian Constitutions (our rules as Salesians):

“To anyone who is thinking of becoming a Salesian, an environment and suitable conditions are offered to enable him to discern his own vocation and to mature as a man and a Christian…A period of special preparation is required immediately prior to the novitiate to deepen the candidate’s vocational choice, and verify his suitability for beginning the novitiate. This preparation is made through an experience of Salesian community and apostolic life.” (Constitution 109)

This upcoming year is sure to be filled with many graces. I myself am blessed to have lived in our house in Orange for the past two years as a candidate, and am now very eager to see what this year has in store. Aside from being able to continue our experience in community life, community prayer, apostolic work, teaching catechism and running youth centers, we also take classes in Salesian spirituality and history, as well as theology. These classes are taught by Salesians, who are living examples of Salesianity.

In addition to all of this, we are blessed to go on weekly outings (mostly on Wednesdays) as a group, many times to visit Salesian works in the province. Most recently we visited Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ. We spent the day giving vocation talks in theology classes, eating lunch with the students, having a faith sharing with the students that attended the October Leadership Retreat, and shared in prayer and meal with these men and the Salesian community. Every Thursday the blog will be dedicated to a reflection on our most recent outing, or on another part of our pre-novitiate year, so BE ON THE LOOKOUT!

As we prepare to embark on this journey, we ask all of you for your prayers. We pray for you always. Know that your prayers make an impact on our discernment, and for that we are eternally grateful.

(From L-R) Lenny Carlino, Mark O'Dea, Matt Marchand,

Fr. Steve Leake, SDB (Director), Greg McClung,

Craig Spence, Stephen Eguino

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.