Gospel Roads: New Orleans was a beautiful Salesian Service Retreat. I call it that because what we experienced during Thanksgiving Week was much more than a mission trip. For the 22 people that attended, the trip presented them three distinct opportunities. First, they grew spiritually through prayer in daily Mass, the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, group sharing and journaling. Second, they built a community of formed friendships within the Salesian Youth Movement, which I hope will last a very long time. Third, and perhaps most importantly, they served the poorest of the poor of New Orleans by helping to rebuild homes that had been destroyed over three years ago and serving a Thanksgiving dinner to many who either could not afford to have one in their own homes or did not even have a home to go to.

The trip was led by Ryan Phelan, Meg Fraino, and Lia Canavan. Ryan is the Associate Director of Youth Ministry for the Province. Meg Fraino is an alumnus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, where she now works as the director of student activities. Lia is a student at Caldwell College in New Jersey and a part recipient of the Salesian Youth Ministry scholarship. Participants in the trip included alumni and current students of Salesian high schools and youth groups as well as friends and family members of past participants in Salesian Youth Ministry programs.

Ryan, Meg, and Lia organized the trip, taking care of logistics including setting up work sites and transportation for the week. We are grateful to the Salesians Sisters at the Academy of Our Lady for providing us with vans for the week. Many members of the Salesian family, including many Shaw alumni, provided us with dinner each night, so we’re also really grateful to them.

Our home for the week was Hope Haven, a former orphanage which is now vacant. The Salesian community at Archbishop Shaw was very welcoming to us, allowing us to use the school for prayer services, Mass, and some of our meals.

During the week, we worked with Catholic Charities and ACORN. On Tuesday, we participated in a Thanksgiving prayer service with the students at Archbishop Shaw before they went home for the break. One of our participants, Joe Taravella, a Shaw alumnus, spoke to the students about the importance of a Salesian education and the call to service. Joe, along with the other participants, put these words into action by working very hard throughout the week.

Working with Catholic Charities, we participated in projects that included replacing sheet-rock ceilings, insulating two homes, painting another home, and completely stripping another. They also cleared a lot which had been untouched since the hurricane struck in 2005. We were amazed at the amount of devastation that still existed in the area, even now, more than three years later. In areas such as Chalmette and Gentilly, only one in five homes was actually livable.

Thanksgiving Day was very special. After celebrating Mass in the Chapel at Archbishop Shaw, we traveled over to the Community Center in St. Bernard Parish to serve Thanksgiving dinner. Over 300 people came by, including a couple that was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. After singing to them, we danced and spread out throughout the center talking to many of the people there.

We returned home very exhausted at the end of the week, but it was well worth it!

Adapted from Fr. Steve Ryan's article in the December 4, 2008 edition of E-Service.