REVEREND DINO VANIN, PIME was born in Cendon di Silea, Province of Treviso, Italy in 1946. He entered the PIME Seminary at Treviso at the tender age of eleven. He came to the U.S. in 1968, studying Theology at Darlington Major Seminary in New Jersey. He has an MA in Secondary School Administration from Seton Hall University. Ordained in 1972, he served as an administrator, teacher, rector and principal at the PIME High School Seminary in Newark, Ohio before being sent to the missions of Thailand, where he served for six years. On December 16, 2018 he was installed as Pastor of San Francesco Catholic Church in Clinton Township, MI. He spends some of the little time left from his mission as pastor, counselor and spiritual director doing some woodworking and trying to get his thumb a bit “greener” while caring for the plants in the Rectory’s garden and inside the Church.
Alas, I know of a few men and women who turned bitter, disenchanted, depressed and unable to trust another human being for the rest of their life because their love was not reciprocated. As we clearly see in the Book of Isaiah (5:1-7) and the Gospel...
The parable given us for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time— stings. It is very brief, to the point and, ouch! It stings because it is aimed at most of us, “the insiders.” I mean, it is directed at those who have available all the tools, the...
Here is a sobering fact: if God were to treat us with justice, we would all be wiped out, erased off the face of the earth in an instant. If you, Lord, mark iniquities, Lord who can stand? (Psalm 130) Today we are all invited to rejoice that...
The phrase that comes to my mind reflecting on the Gospel passage from Matthew (18:21-35) is the one immortalized in the book and film The Godfather: “An offer that cannot be refused.” Yes, when it comes to forgiving or unwillingness to...
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18) What is quite intriguing is the fact that Jesus gives to each one of you, lay people, the authority...
I urge you, brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) Hmmm. This is unusual. Why not our souls? Why not our hearts? First, we should try to divest ourselves of our Western mentality...
The first message we glean from our first reading (Isaiah 22:19-23) and Gospel passage (Matthew 16:13-20) on this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time is about solidity. It is conveyed by the image of a peg holding things together: “I will fix him like a...
To make some sense of the troubling gospel passage (Matthew 15: 21-28) given us for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, let me submit to you a probable scenario. It is necessary lest we certainly find Jesus’ conduct and words to that Canaanite woman...
