Priesthood

  

Prayers for Priests

You came from among us
to be, for us, one who serves.
We thank you for ministering Christ to us
and helping us minister Christ to each other.

We are grateful for the many gifts you bring to our community:
for drawing us together in worship,
for visiting us in our homes,
for comforting us in sickness,
for showing us compassion,
for blessing our marriage,
for baptising our children,
for confirming us in our calling,
for supporting us in bereavement,
for helping us to grow in faith,
for encouraging us to take the initiative,
for helping the whole community realise God's presence among us.

For our part, we pray that we may always be attentive to your needs
and never take you for granted.
You, like us, need friendship and love,
welcome and a sense of belonging,
kind words and acts of thoughtfulness.

We pray, also, for the priests who have wounded priesthood.
May we be willing to forgive
and may they be open to healing.
Let us support one another during times of crisis.

God our Father, we ask you to bless our priests
and confirm them in their calling.
Give them the gifts they need
to respond with generosity and a joyful heart.

We offer this prayer for our priest,
Who is our brother and friend,

Amen

Young and Alive

 21. DON BOSCO OUR MODEL

The Salesian spirit finds The Lord has given us Don Bosco as father and teacher.

We study and imitate him, admiring in him a splendid blending of nature and grace.  He was deeply human, rich in the qualities of his people, open to the realities of this earth; and he was just as deeply the man of God, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and living "as seeing him who is invisible".
  

These two aspects combined to create a closely-knit life project, the service of the young.  He realized his aim with firmness, constancy and the sensitivity of a generous heart, in the midst of difficulties and fatigue.  "He took no step, he said no word, he took up no task that was not directed to the saving of the young... Truly the only concern of his heart was for souls."

10. Pastoral charity the centre of our spirit

Under the inspiration of God, Don Bosco lived and handed on to us an original style of life and action: the Salesian spirit.

It is summed up and centred in pastoral charity, characterized by that youthful dynamism which was revealed so strongly in our Founder and at the beginnings of our Society.  It is an apostolic impetus that makes us seek souls and serve God alone.

* Our Salesian call When we think of our call to the Salesian life, how many of us can say: “I decided to be a Salesian after going through a deep study of the Preventive System and the Salesian Spirituality”?  How many of us can rather say: “If I am a Salesian it is because of father or brother so and so … My vocational journey

Since this second alternative has been my experience I tend to think that the majority of the Salesians could say the same.

Models play an important role in the life of a person, especially at the early stages. 

A Spontaneous Expression

C 20: The Preventive System and Salesian spirit

Under the guidance of Mary his teacher, Don Bosco lived with the boys of the first Oratory a spiritual and educational experi­ence which he called the "Preventive Sys­tem".  For him this was a spontaneous ex­pression of love inspired by the love of a God who provides in advance for all his creatures, is ever present at their side, and freely gives his life to save them.

Don Bosco passes this on to us as a way of living and of handing on the gospel message, and of working with and through the young for their salvation. it permeates our ap­proach to God, our personal relationships and our manner of living in community through the exercise of a charity that knows how to make itself loved.

Many of us are familiar with the famous paint of Rembrandt reproducing the encounter of the Prodigal Son with his merciful father. Many of us did read the comment made by Henry Nouwen   in his best seller some years ago. In the introduction to the text he described how he discovered in that picture so many meaningful details just “contemplating” it day after day.

The same happened during these days. Several times I have read, studied and reflected on our Constitutions in personal meditation or in community meetings. Nevertheless in these days, while “contemplating” some articles, I found out a kind of newness, freshness and richness that filled my heart with gratitude and joy.

We are rich, we are very rich. We are children of a great rich spiritual family. And like children of rich families, we run the risk of not appreciating enough our richness, the precious heritage that was laid down for us. We do not explore it any more, we are satisfied for what we have learnt, and we think we have reached the saturation proverbial for a conceited lecturer.

The title of Art 20 “The Preventive System and Salesian Spirit” matches together two fundamental topics that usually are developed in separated books. Here they become two parts of a same book interweaving each other.

I can trace back the time in which the Preventive System was presented to us - young Salesians - as a “method of education”. Following the short outlines laid down by Don Bosco - “The Preventive System in the education of the young” - we learned about the difference between repressive and preventive system, “in what the preventive system consists”, its application and advantages. It was an approach that helped us to revisit the previous periods of our education in Salesian environments and find out many good examples of its application in the style of life of our educators. By expanding a little into psychological and pedagogical areas of studies we presumed to be fully equipped for the task of our practical training in the communities. Wonderful juvenile enthusiasm!

Along the years the Congregation elaborated a new inside of the Preventive System to become gradually not only a “method of education” but “a spirituality”, “the” Salesian spirituality. Therefore the GC 25 (N 57) invited the communities to give greater emphasis to the “understanding and appreciation of the preventive system as the way to Salesian holiness”.

In the art. 20, the first Oratory of Don Bosco is seen as a “spiritual and educational experience”. The preventive system is referred to as “a spontaneous expression of love inspired by the love of God”. And so “it permeates our approach to God, our personal relationships and our manner of living in community”.

As Circumstances Demand!

19.   Initiative and flexibility

 The Salesian is called to be a realist and to be attentive to the signs of the times, convinced that the lord manifests his will also through the demands of time and place.  Hence his spirit of initiative and apostolic creativity:  "in those things which are for the benefit of young people in danger or which serve to win souls for God, I push ahead even to the extent of recklessness".

Timely response to these needs requires him to keep abreast of new trends and meet them with the well-balanced creativity of the Founder; periodically he evaluates his work.

There is a  story of Don Bosco which I always find  quite powerful and challenging, just as I did  when I first heard it. Even though it belongs to that apocryphal collection of stories which inevitably tend to accumulate in the life of saints, yet I find that it really captures his spirit and drive.

It concerns  a Salesian confrere who went to lament to don Bosco when he was on a visit to one of the houses. “Ah, these young people today, they are not what they used to be”, he moaned, “they are fickle and easily get distracted with these modern day innovations.” He proceeded to tell him how the numbers of those attending the oratory had dwindled drastically.

When don Bosco asked him as to the reason why this might be so, the confrere explained: “It’s these latest inventions that are leading them astray. This thing called Bicycle – they are all getting a bike and they prefer going off to different places rather than come to the Oratory.”

“Well then,” Don Bosco promptly replied, “learn how to ride the bicycle and go run after them.”

I think it is a lovely example  of how Don Bosco got his priorities right: his heart was for the young and they were the main objective of his concern and endeavours. Everything else was a means to this end, the welfare of youth. Therefore in a situation where society and young people are always changing and developing, one has to be able not only to read the signs of the times but also to have the ability to adapt. This inevitably requires one to be flexible as well as to have a creativity in one’s pastoral outreach.

“I push ahead to the extent of recklessness” where no mere idle words and he often took many risks.  The amount of work he did was phenomenal and the different initiatives he undertook were incredible, very often breaking new ground. “ When it comes to progress”, he once said to a young visiting priest who eventually became Pope Pius XI, “I want to be in the vanguard.”

“Ecstasy of Action”

18.  Work and temperance

"Work and temperance will make the Congregation flourish",¹ whereas the seeking of an easy and comfortable life will instead bring about its death.²

The Salesian gives himself to his mission with tireless energy, taking care to do everything with simplicity and moderation.  He knows that by his work he is participating in the creative action of God and cooperating with Christ in building the Kingdom.

Temperance gives him the strength to con­trol his heart, to master himself and remain even-tempered.

He does not look for unusual penances but accepts the dally demands and renunciations of the apostolic life.  He is ready to suffer cold and heat, hunger and thirst, weariness and disdain whenever God's glory and the salvation of souls require it.³

We dedicate this day to our brother martyrs St Luigi Versiglia and St Callistus Caravario as living examples of work and temperance; indeed their martyrdom  has made “the Congregation flourish”. To remember them is to renew our missionary commitment, a commitment that is disposed of laying down our lives for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls.

These two particular qualities of work and temperance that go hand in hand are mention in the dream of the Ten Diamonds which has a particular significance for our Province. Fr Wade, the first Salesian to arrive in Nigeria , had a special devotion  for  this dream,  following the words of the young visionary in Nigeria who on being asked what advice did our Lady have for them, she replied to be faithful to the dream of the diamonds .

In the letter which the Rector Major wrote in March reflecting on the significance of the 150^th anniversary of our Congregation, he makes particular reference to the dream presenting it as a important aid in our renewal process:  “It ought to be the guideline for our life and the subject of our meditation, so as to walk in the spirit of ‘Salesian consecrated persons.’”

This is not the first time the Rector major makes reference to this dream and he  seems to attach particular importance to it.  When he preached the retreat to the Rectors around the different regions, one talk was dedicated entirely to the dream. 

It is good to see what  the Rector Major himself  had to say on these tow qualities when he gave the retreat to the Rectors.