We Believe....

“Blessed is she who believed”

It is interesting how sometimes discoveries or insights happen because of an accident or mistake.  This is what happened to me; I once had such an insight which really came about more through a mistake on my part.

A number of years ago I formed part of our Community in Tunisia, where we Salesians run  a school for seven hundred children all of whom are Muslims, including the teaching staff. Being in a Muslim country, there was no possibility of even mentioning the name of Jesus. Therefore a title like Mary Help of Christians may seem out of place in such a context. Tunis is also a French speaking country and the title Mary Help of Christians is translated as Marie Secours des Chrétiens.

Now here is where my ignorance in French came in. The word Chrétiens, sounds very much like the word Credenti in Italian which means believers. I used to say to myself what a wonderful idea to express the title Mary Help of Christians as  Mary Help of Believers. For indeed we are all believers, Muslims and Christian alike, in the one true God and Mary helps us to deepen our faith.  The challenge in today’s world is not so much as the clash of civilizations or struggle between different faiths, but rather the struggle against the systematic onslaught  by atheistic secularism seeking to obliterate any reference to God.

So Mary is truly a Help to those who believe. So many of our young people, when they encounter this secular and materialistic environment, are taken over. In the gospels, we see Mary being greeted by Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord has said will come true.” Lk1:45 She is the first one to believe, to ponder these things in her heart.     It is because of his disbelief that Zechariah was struck dumb. Our lack of faith also makes us unable to express ourselves, strikes us dumb and we find ourselves limited in expressing and communicating ourselves. We on our part very often have to struggle in our faith, a struggle so well expressed in the Gospel “Yes Lord I do believe; help my unbelief.” Mk9:24

But if we do have faith, we can with Mary let our souls sore high and proclaim with her: “My soul magnifies the Lord”. Lk1:46

Company Motto

Many companies and businesses nowadays have a mission statement, a short phrase that captures what the company is all about. The phrase is usually short and catchy, easy to memorize. In its simplicity it communicates to all, both consumers as well as workers, reminding them what their purpose is all about.

I would like to suggest that Don Bosco has given us such a mission statement and we may not realize it. It has been staring us in the face. What is this statement? Some identify it as ‘Honest citizens good Christians’. This is indeed very true but it talks of what we want to achieve in our students, and does not touch on what we ourselves are called to be.

No, our mission statement given to us by Don Bosco  is a phrase that has been staring us in the face. And this is Help of Christians. Yes Mary Help of Christians is a personification of our Salesian Charism, our Salesian vocation, of our Salesian identity. In Mary we see what are called to be and do. We are called to be a help to all the young people that we meet to grow in their faith. This would involve sharing our faith journey, at times our own struggles and doubts.

General Chapter XXIII was dedicated to this theme – Educating young people to the Faith. Mary is the Help; she cannot but not be actively involved. Her immediate and spontaneous reaction has been to set out in haste to help Elizabeth in her need. At Cana she cannot but observe that they lacked wine and she could not but intervene.  

We too are called to be a help, and in Mary we find a model. Devotion to Mary help of Christians will help us to grow and be affirmed in our vocation. As the Immaculate one she reminds of our consecration giving ourselves totally to God. As Help of Christians she reminds of the zeal we have to have for souls. Da Mihi Animas.  

Easter People

Our spirituality is an Easter spirituality! It is marked by joy and optimism permeated by the peace of the Risen Lord.

It was Easter Sunday, 12^th April of 1846 when Don Bosco moved with his young people to the Pinardi shed. This was to be their permanent home after five years of  wandering from one place to another.

For Don Bosco this was a truly Easter experience; only the week before he was desperate;

• < I said nothing at all, but everybody knew how troubled and worried I was… I withdrew to one side, and as I walked alone I began to cry, perhaps for the first time. As I walked I looked up to heaven and cried out, "My God, why don't you show me where you want me to gather these children? Oh, let me know! Oh, show me what I must do!" > 

When all seemed hopeless, God provided, and by the following Sunday, which was Easter, they were settled in their new place. It was fitting therefore for Don Bosco to be canonized on Easter Sunday 1934.

Our reflections this month help us to enter more fully into this Easter spirit of joy in action.  Mary Magdalene highlights the feminine role in proclaiming the Easter joy, a joy reflected in that of Mary Mazzarello in Mornese.

CONFORT

The Resurrection stories of these Easter days come from the early communities that are proclaiming the Good News with joy and thanks. They have had this intimate transforming   encounter with the Lord whose tomb is empty as is every tomb who tries to claim us in death because love is stronger than death.  The tomb henceforth becomes the womb of new and eternal life

This awareness and understanding for them as for us gradually unfolds.  The cloud of unknowing is slowly and patiently lifted and stranger is recognized as friend.In this context   he reveals himself in word and gesture. Familiarity occurs as bread is broken,  names are called in love,  empty tombs are searched, burning hearts are felt,   nets are cast again, lakeside breakfast served,  peace breath is felt and wounds are touched. All is the same yet everything is totally changed. His appearances empowered and transformed them. As Easter people they understood themselves and embraced their birthright and new identity as Children of the Living God, free to be witnesses and proclaimers of Gods life-giving love for all.

These Easter days are our Emmaus journey. Just as we grapple with the reality of death we also struggle with the mystery and reality of life after death.

Holiness & Community

Our constitutions affirms that: To live and work together is for us Salesians a fundamental requirement and a sure way of fulfilling our vocation… c49

Indeed community life is one of our richest dimensions which Don Bosco cherished so much and yet one of the most challenging aspects of our vocation to live out. Very often basic skills of interaction, together with a nourishment from our rich Christian and Salesian traditions  can be a source of transformation of our life together.

Here we offer some reflections and quotes on community life and prayer which hopefully will be helpful to trigger off a process of dialogue and reflection.

“Dear Salesians, …be saints!
As you well know, holiness is your principal task.” JP II

Holiness is the demanding way that together we want to follow in our communities; 

it is “the most precious gift we can offer to the young” (C 25);

 it is the highest goal that, with courage, we can set for all. 

Pascual Chaves

The community expresses in a visible manner
the mystery of the Church…  

In praying, the Salesian community responds to this call… 

making its own Don Bosco’s prayer:  

“Da mihi animas, cetera tolle”.   C85

Prayer as the Language of the Community

Prayer is the language of the Christian community. By prayer, community is created as well as expressed. Prayer is first of all the realization of God's presence in the midst of God's people and, therefore, the realization of the community itself. Most clear and most noticeable are the words, the gestures, and the silence through which the community is formed. When we listen to the word, we not only receive insight into God's saving work, but we also experience a new mutual bond. When we stand around the altar, eat bread and drink wine, kneel in meditation, or walk in procession, we not only remember God's work in human history, but we also become aware of God's creative presence here and now. When we sit together in silent prayer, we create a space where we sense that the One we are waiting for is already touching us, as that One touched Elijah standing in front of the cave (1 Kings 19:13).

Our Salesian Roots

January is a special month for us Salesians for  we celebrate the feasts of our Founder St John Bosco as well as that of our Patron St Francis of Sales, whom Don Bosco took as his model. These two great saints lived out that Salesian spirituality which was forged in their daily life as pastors. 

Both saints used writing as a means of reaching all categories of people to guide them in their spiritual life and help them live a more authentic Christian life.

These Animation Notes are an initiative of CONFORT, (CIVAM Ongoing Formation Team) with the  aim of helping in the on-going formation process of confreres and Communities. We know how very often the demands of the apostolate take up so much of our time. We hope that these Notes will help you remain in touch with the spiritual dimension of our active involvement in the apostolate.

We have taken Philip Rinaldi’s simple but profound insight into the spirituality of D Bosco – Union with God amidst so much business –as the mission statement of this initiative. 

CONFORT 

John Bosco and Francis of Sales

Vital ‘Salesian' affinities. Don Bosco tells us that he was attracted by two essential aspects of the moral and spiritual characteristics of Francis de Sales:

·  his apostolic energy, his zeal for the salvation of souls, his defence of the truth, his fidelity to the Church; and

·  the Christ-like gentleness that imbued his zeal: his charming manner, his patience, his extraordinary sensitivity.

The vital source of both these qualities is a deep, solid and decisive conviction, namely, that love is the totality of God and the totality of man. Thus it is possible to group the affinities found in our two saints under the three following aspects.

Staunch pastoral character. The first characteristic that both saints shared was their pastoral nature… Francis was an intellectual, a writer, a theologian - but first and foremost he was a bishop…. He was a man of many talents, and consecrated himself heart and soul to his duties and responsibilities as bishop. He was utterly selfless and never failed to give his all to his flock… As befitted a good shepherd he dedicated himself tirelessly to celebrate, sanctify and govern always for the good of his people, regardless of their social standing. All his writings were inspired by his episcopal activities. It was as a bishop that he guided so many Philotheas and Theotimuses along the path of devotion, and founded the Congregation of the Visitation. He wore himself out in his total dedication to this active apostolate, in accordance with his episcopal motto: Chosen by God, assigned to his people.