GREETINGS FROM THE SUPERIOR GENERAL OF THE FMA

TO THE 26th general chapter of the Salesians

I cordially greet the Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal Franc Rodè, the distinguished ecclesiasics, guests and members of the Salesian Family who with their presence are honouring this important event of the Salesian Congregation.

With particular affection I greet the ninth Successor of Don Bosco, the Rector Major Fr Pascual Chávez, and our Salesian Brothers who are taking part in the GC 26; a greeting that I also offer on behalf of the Sisters of the General Council and of all the FMA in the world.

By reflecting on the theme Da mihi animas cetera tolle, the General Chapter proposes the return of the Salesians to Don Bosco, underlining the path of the primacy of God that makes them focus on the essentials in personal and community life, more attentive in identifying the new frontiers of the mission of education. They are looking to the Salesian charism to translate the passion for God into com-passion for the young, so as to serve them in their need for life, for love, for guidance/accompaniment in the traditional places where they are present and also in those non places in which nowadays it is possible to encounter them.

Returning to Don Bosco is to visit again the roots that nourish the tree of the Salesian Family and to make its mission fruitful once more. May the GC 26 make all the groups of the Salesian Family more aware that the more authentic the return to Don Bosco is, the deeper will be the communion with Jesus and the greater the joy in proclaiming him in a credible way to the young.

In a few months time our Institute too will be celebrating the XXII General Chapter during which we shall concentrate on the central nucleus of our charismatic identity which calls us to be today, the sign and expression of the anticipatory love of God. The emphasis is being placed on the value of the intelligible witness to be offered to today’s world. The prominence that the two Chapters are giving to the foundational dimension of the Salesian mission, in its roots and in its expression, is a cause for hope in the surprising convergence that the Spirit is producing in our religious Families.

The primacy of God and of his love on which together we want to place the emphasis recalls the commitment to be evangelised communities, gathered around the Word in order to be believing and credible disciples, men and women who are living in a new way the passion for education among the young people the Lord entrusts to us.

We feel in harmony with the universal Church which, in celebrating the Synod of Bishops on The Word of God in the life and in the mission of the Church (5-26/10/08), intends «to encourage the rediscovery of the wonder of the Word of God » and proposes Mary of Nazareth as teacher, mother and living model of every personal and community encounter with the Word, in so far as She listened to it, meditated on it, and put it into practice in the service of charity in everyday life. Listening to the Word with Mary helps us not to be afraid of the margins of the world, to rediscover the thrill of the commitment to the explicit proclamation of Jesus and of his message of salvation.

In your Working Document these margins are continually presented as the new frontiers for the carrying out of the Salesian mission at a time of a preoccupying educational emergency, also evidenced by UNESCO. The commentary on the Strenna of the Rector Major for 2008 describes different situations that call for the Salesian charism: from the lack of meaning in the lives of so many young people to emigration, abandonment, exploitation, the trafficking of human beings which particularly affects the poorest and defenceless young people.

The commitment of the Salesian Family in this area can represent a significant way of returning to Don Bosco, to his passion for the education of youth, especially the poorest, a path on which to put into effect his plan to form good Christians and honest citizens.

We are with you in this commitment which is at the heart of the charism, with you in the mission of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to the young, promoting the recognition of their human and Christian dignity and involving them as protagonists in becoming witnesses to the Lord Jesus.

Our common vocation as consecrated persons in the Salesian Family for the education of the young urges us to follow with conviction the path of the promotion of the human rights of the young; a path that allows us to implement and inculturate the preventive system at the new frontiers of the mission. We want to do so with joy and hope.

We find ourselves/are at a favourable time precisely because it is difficult. From our poverties – reduction in the number of vocation, an increase in the average age, the frailties and limitations of individuals and of communities – there arises a prayer of invocation that the Spirit may purify us, may make us sensitive and open to the needy, so as to multiply our forces for the mission.

«In this hope we were saved» (Rom 8,24), Benedict XVI reminds us in his second encyclical. May the presence of the Spirit renew us in hope and make us convinced and effective witnesses to the anticipatory love of the Father.

I cannot conclude without expressing sincere sentiments of gratitude to the Rector Major for his rich and wise teaching, for the solicitude/concern with which he accompanies and encourages us, for the availability of so many Salesians in their priestly ministry and spiritual guidance, for the help and the fraternal support offered by them in different circumstances: through their lives and their words they point out the paths of fidelity to our vocation in the Salesian Family and in the Church.

Thank you for your attention. Our prayers and our affection accompany you, certain as we already are that the GC 26 will be a Pentecostal event from which the whole Salesian Family will benefit.

Sister Antonia Colombo