15. Salesian Loving-kindness
Sent to young people by the God who is 'all charity',1 the Salesian is open and cordial, ready to make the first approach and to welcome others with unfailing kindliness, respect and patience.
His love is that of a father, brother and friend, able to draw out friendship in return; this is the loving-kindness1 so much recommended by Don Bosco.
His chastity and well-balanced attitude open his heart to spiritual fatherhood and give transparent witness to God's anticipating love.
It is interesting that among the 12 articles which explore different elements of the Salesian Spirit, it is only in this article that the word ‘Salesian’ is used in the title to describe this particular quality: Salesian loving-kindness. It seems to affirm that the secret handed over to us here is so original and characteristic of don Bosco’s spirit that it cannot but be ‘Salesian’, typically his, a charism within our charism.
It has been a great blessing for me in so many ways to journey for many years with young people aspiring to remain with don Bosco and make their first steps in our Congregation in West Africa. I always treasure the sharing which each novice makes at the beginning of the year to all the community about the spark which first ignited his interest in Salesian life: what made this very path more attractive, more appealing than many other possible options?
For the large majority of the novices, what enkindled the desire to follow don Bosco was the loving kindness of the first Salesians they ever met, “open and cordial, ready to make the first approach and to welcome with unfailing kindness, respect and patience”.
