Cagliero11 and Salesian Missionary Intention - DEcember 2020

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SALESIAN MISSIONARY INTENTION

IN HE LIGHT OF THE HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER INTENTION

For the holiness of Salesians and all the members of the Salesian Family

That each one of us may grow in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer.

The secret of St John Bosco's apostolic fruitfulness was his interior spiritual depth. Let us pray that every apostle in the Salesian Family will take care of his/her inner life.

CAGLIERO11_144, DECEMBER 2020

OUR MESSAGE IS CHRIST!

The feast of Christmas brings us to the heart of our Christian faith. However, when any reference to the birth of Christ is eliminated, it isn’t Christmas anymore. Indeed, there is no Christmas without Jesus Christ!

We are often invited to start a Salesian presence in many places because they appreciate our ministry for poor and abandoned youth, our technical training in our centres or our social work in favour of refugees, marginalised youth and displaced people. This is a great blessing. However, it could also become a risk. We Salesians could risk focusing so much on our work for human promotion and development of the poor and marginalised that we could end up less as evangelisers and more as social workers or social ser-vices providers. If this happens, soon the desire to do good will fade and the joy of evangelising will no longer be felt. There is no mission without Christ! In fact, “there is no true evangelisation if the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the Kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed” (St Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 22)!

Certainly, “no believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples” (Redemptoris Missio, 3). But there are situations or contexts where we cannot even mention the name of Jesus nor display Christian symbols. In these cases, although it is not prudent to speak about Jesus, we should nev-er lose that interior desire and inner intention of doing what we do to bear witness to Jesus. The challenge is to live in such a way that our witness of life becomes a means to stir up an interest to discover the person of Jesus. Indeed “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 1).

Living Don Bosco’s missionary spirit today means renewing daily our personal encounter with Jesus Christ so that we may not preach ourselves but be credible bearers of The Message we bring: our Lord Jesus Christ!

Questions for Reflection and Sharing

• Do I take care of nourishing my faith in Jesus?
• Is my witness of life as a Christian or a consecrated person credible?

Fr. Alfred Maravilla, SDB
Councillor for the Missions

THE NEW MISSIONARIES

Here are the Salesians who have made themselves available for the good of the youth and the Church for the next missonary expedition, the 151st in the history of the Congregation. We accompany them with our prayer.

HOW DOES A CZECH VOLUNTEER FEEL IN THE JUNGLES OF ECUADOR?

Renata, how has the coronavirus affected your work and plans in the Ecuadorian jungle?

The coronavirus changed my volunteering in Ecuador a lot. The students went home and so I was left without the young people in the school and boarding. Someone may think that this is a waste of time and that there is no point in continuing here, because I do not have any more the most important thing I had come for. But this is not true. Because of the corona-virus everything was disrupted, but this too was in God's plan. He planned it that way. During this period, I was able to get to know the Salesian com-munity better and to get closer to the Salesians. I also had the opportunity to visit the indigenous communities and thus get to know the work of the missionaries. I learned a lot.

What are you most happy about this year?

This year was very special compared to the others in my life. I went through some very difficult times, but the beautiful moments were far more numerous. I have received so many gifts that it is not possible to list them. God was always with me and I could feel his closeness and pres-ence in everything I did. I found many beautiful people who now have a place in my heart and in my prayers. I also learned a lot about values. The experience of international volunteering is unforgetta-ble. I am very grateful to God that I was able to do it and that He accompanied me in everything.

What was your experience with the Salesians? What would you tell them?

I lived in a Salesian community in the Amazon rainforest and the community was very good. I felt accepted and part of the community; and I think this is very important in all Salesian houses. My dear Wasak'entsa family, thank you very much for everything! I felt very comfortable with you and I am grateful for all the time I could live with you. Thank you for accepting me and for your closeness! I keep you in my heart forever!

Renata SCHMIDTOVÁ, 24 years old, from Brno, Czech Republic. Formed and sent by the Salesian Association SADBA. Voluntary service for a year at Wasak’entsa in Ecuador

Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity

Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints

Attilio Giordani (1913-1972), Salesian Cooperator and missionary in Brazil. He went through various seasons of life as a Christian: During Fascism he sought free-dom in the oratory, in Catholic Action; in war and post-war times, when politics and political parties experienced a climate of opposition and conflict, he invented the crusade of goodness; in times of protest, when the elderly abandoned their land in frustration and young people took possession of it, he supported Operation Mato Grosso, which his sons introduced to his family. He shared all this with Noemi, his fiancée and then wife, who was drawn into her life-long involvement through the overwhelming enthusiasm of her Attilio: "Dear Noah, may the Lord help us to be good not merely to be polite, but to live in the world without being of the world, to go against the current.”