Inculturation of the Salesian Charism

A short essay offered by Savio HON for the discussion among the provincials of EAO

September 8 – 10, 2003

It all starts with yearning. It is the yearning of the young for life and love in their growth just like the deer that yearns for the fresh water. It is through the mystery of incarnation that Christ comes to this world and gives the living water to all those who yearn for it. Salesian Charism forms part of the stream of this living water and the Inculturation is the continuation of the mystery of incarnation. As the way Christ comes to the world through self-emptying enhances the way He gives the living water, so does the inculturation carried out by the Church.

Salesian Charism is of the same living water. It is Don Bosco who first finds a concrete way to give it to the yearning youth. That concrete way is often called the “Valdocco experience” which took place in a specific cultural setting. In the same way the children of Don Bosco endeavours to offer the same stream of water to the young by design an effective way proper to their cultures.

This essay does not pretend to be exhaustive. It offers only a simple reflection along the line of the operation in view of the Mission of Don Bosco. The reflection draws its inspiration mostly from the materials furnished by Fr. Vaclav Klement[1].

  1. Terminology
  2. Salesian Charism

Within the framework of the consecrated life, by “charism” we mean the gift of the Holy Spirit endowed to the Church for the benefit of the humanity. The Church as mystery, communion and mission is the instrument and embodiment of the Holy Spirit who is at work in the world to continue the salvific mission of Christ by moving people to the building of the Kingdom of God. Salesian charism points to the gifts of Holy Spirit to Don Bosco for the mission of promoting the integral growth of the young, especially, those who are poor and needy. It is through Don Bosco that the Holy Spirit instills with the same gifts the people who are called to share the same mission of Don Bosco. These gifts came to be known and experienced in Valdocco founded by Don Bosco and his youth. The expressions of these gifts are: love, joy, optimism, creativity, flexibility, duty, family spirit, religion … of which all can be named, for simplicity’s sake, under the term “preventive system”. Salesian Charism understood in this sense has several imports. First it is the Holy Spirit who is the principal agent at work and moves people to the salvation achieved by Christ. Secondly the experience of Don Bosco with his youth is a proof of the work of the Holy Spirit authenticated by the Church (through some ecclesial recognition: approval of the constitutions, canonization of saints etc.). Thirdly the expression of the Salesian Charism has a lot to do with the preventive system of Don Bosco. Whatever is contained in this term is not intended to be a closed system but indicates the free action of the Holy Spirit who shapes the world of youth towards an ever growing harmony in conformity to the Kingdom preached by Christ. It is the “free” nature of the action of the Holy Spirit that demands pluralistic expressions from peoples of different cultures which, in a positive sense, are also of the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Oneness of the Holy Spirit that maintains the unity. Of course care must be taken that the variety of expressions of the Salesian Charism should not lead to obfuscation of the gifts endowed by the Holy Spirit.

1.2Inculturation

To the Salesian Charism we give much importance of the gifts “from above”, whereas to the Inculturation we want to emphasize the human efforts. The advantage of doing so is to maintain the unity in plurality throughout the process of inculturation. While putting into practice of the preventive system we can uphold the Salesian Charism as the unquestionable belief or something absolute that “unifies” and look upon inculturation as concrete ways of taking up cultural expressions or something relative that “diversifies”. Putting it this way I would like to borrow the functional idea of inculturatio from Fr. Baclig, namely, inculturation through values and value-systems. Values are universal but always embodied in particular value-systems. The Salesian Charism can be seen as value while Valdocco a concrete value-system distinguishing itself as the founding experience from other ones.

The inculturation here is meant to be the process of bringing together the two value-systems (Valdocco and the work of the SDB of a specific cultural setting). Each value-system has its own way of prioritizing and expressing values that shape people’s attitudes, behaviour-patterns, customs, languages, symbols, artifacts and traditions etc. Conflicts often arise from the encounter of two value-systems and seldom at the level of values. These conflicts could appear in a subtle way. Sometimes the cry for Asian values, for example, comes in handy as a bit of propaganda against the Western (colonial) powers. The promotion of inculturation sometimes could be distorted as bearing grudges against the Italian way of doing things. At times the saying “Don Bosco non farebbe cosi’” becomes a mock or ridicule of one group against another.

In EAO region each province has a number of works quite well defined, like schools, youth centers and parishes and so on. They are somewhat concrete value-systems that should embody both values emerging from the Salesian Charism and the values of the specific cultural setting, hopefully in a harmonious way. Inculturation is not to re-produce many Valdocco facsimiles in this and that schools run by the SDB but to let the Salesian Charism – the work of the Holy Spirit - be embodied in the school concerned in an enriching way. The enrichment is mutual. On the one hand, the Salesian Charism becomes more tangible and relevant to life in line with the purpose of “da mihi animas” (positive elements of education and evangelization). On the other hand the value-system related becomes more purified and powerful to the young in line with the availability of “coetera tolles” (preventive measures of removing hindrances). Our new Ratio stresses on the fact that formation requires the creation of “good atmosphere” which, in turn, is a matter of an inculturation aiming at a harmonious blending of values in a particular setting.

  1. Some Areas of Interest

The inculturation of the Salesian Charism understood in this way could be quite restrictive in concept, but certainly is conducive to new insights at the operative level. Here I would like to propose some areas of interest.

2.1Friendship with Jesus

It should be always kept in mind that Christ is the One who gives the living water to the young. It is the firm belief of the Church in the world that Jesus is the foundation upon which all the answers to the ultimate queries of humanity to be made. “No individual, no nation, no culture is impervious to the appeal of Jesus” (EA14). It is the primary task of our work “to present the mystery of Christ to their peoples according to their cultural patterns and ways of thinking” (EA 20). To make Jesus known is of paramount importance in our work. Friendship is a cultural (perhaps trans-cultural) channel to approach Jesus. The Salesian Charism with which we work is meant to allow our young to be friends of Jesus.

2.2Fellowship and Participation

This binomial term has been the catchword ever since GC24 “Salesians and lay people: communion and sharing in the spirit and mission of Don Bosco”. It has kept moving the Salesian family and making alive the Salesian movement. In whatever form it be, GC24 urges an inculturation in view of guaranteeing the charismatic identity and prompting the lay to share in Don Bosco’s spirit and mission. Hence inculturation is not a matter of few SDB experts but of the entire Salesian Family in its broadest sense.

2.3Commitment for the Kingdom of God

Every cultural setting reveals certain yearnings of the people. To these yearnings Christ brings about the “living water” which can be termed otherwise the “beatitudes”. They go beyond the mere observance of the Decalogue and offer the thirsting world love, harmony, solidarity, righteousness, peace, unity and so on. Care must be taken that any process of inculturation should find proper expressions for the “beatitudes” through the rich varieties of the culture in question so as to allow the beatitudes to animate, unify, purify, transform and regenerate the culture.

2.4Salesian Spirituality in daily life and work

Daily life constituted for Don Bosco the natural setting for the perfecting of all men, the place of response to human and Christian vocation. Spirituality helps people to draw strength from God through constant prayers, ascetics and self-discipline. The spirituality fed by the Salesian spirit certainly creates links with evangelization, preferential love for the young, human promotion, sensibility of adaptation and creativity, simple practice of piety, catechetical interest, appreciation of popular cultures, evangelical optimism, gentleness in giving advice, sympathy with common people and so on.

  1. Touching the heart

The model of the inculturation chosen by the EA is certainly not that of confrontation but that of complementarity and harmony through proclamation, dialogue and witness of life. Education, according to Don Bosco, is a question of heart. While Don Vigano’ was talking about the Valdocco experience, he loved to use the expression “cuore oratoriano” to stress the importance of the heart as the center, source and power of re-inventing the same experience in different communities. When the heart is touched, it touches also many other aspects of life, among which, I’d like to mention the following:

3.1Participative Pedagogy

The term is not intended to replace the preventive system of Don Bosco but to emphasize the importance giving it a better cultural look, in other words, let the preventive be more participative in a local way. Regarding the methodology in EAO context, it suggests several dimensions: evocative in presenting values, narrative in style, cultivation of virtues, family spirit, human warmth, personal contact, relationship, creative in community-building, ecological care of the environment … with the purpose of getting more people involved.

3.2Witness of life

This is certainly an excellent means of communicating values – eloquent in every sense, everywhere and every time. The world is in need of good examples and success stories. They are always the best bridge to reach the heart of any sincere searcher of life-meaning.

3.3Use of mass-media

When we have certain values or success stories to transmit, then the use of modern mass-media becomes non-negotiable. People are getting more aware of the cultural aspects of the products of the media. It certainly deserves greater attention of ours.

  1. A way of Summing-up

When there is a fusion of different cultural settings or value-system, harmony is the key to success. The Valdocco experience is, par excellence, one that has matured in a faith community and at the same time managed to develop itself into a powerful educative and evangelizing community. Thus developing similar communities, inspired by “cuore oratoriano”, will gradually able to express the Salesian Charism in original ways and forms in consonance with their cultural traditions. The “cuore oratoriano” gradually forms the “sensus fidei” of the SDB. To this end of developing communities, some areas of interest are proposed (friendship with Jesus, fellowship, kingdom, and daily spirituality). These areas have been somehow recalled in GC 25.

Inculturalion should involve more people who take the “cuore oratoriano” as their instinct of belief (similar to sensus fidei). “Da mihi animas, cetera tolle” should be considered its guiding principle, namely, compatibility with the Church mission with special reference to the objective requirements of preventive system of Don Bosco. As a matter of fact preventive system has become the trade-mark of our world-wide services to the young. We have confidence that the Salesian Charism would heal, ennoble, perfect the cultures of those whom we serve. Inculturation of the Salesian Charism becomes the daily commitment of each community (of the Salesian Family) in constant search of better expressions that affect the manner in which the “living water” is given by Christ to the young.

1

[1] There are several good interventions among which I’d to mention some. Menamparampil’s reflection is centered on a peaceful, harmonious, whispering way of sharing the gifts (positive values) of different cultures. Maravilla is keen on explaining terms and concepts and his insight is good for groups mixed with multi-cultural settings. M.Ko is synthetic and concise in presenting the inculturation in Ecclesian in Asia and her style is inspiring. M.Baclig gives a very short and useful presentation on the inculturation at a practical level by using the ideas of value and value-system. Francis Vincent Anthony’s suggestion contains a lot of practical wisdom.