2622 ITM-Indonesia 25 years
austraLasia #2622
 

Giù dai Colli - in bamboo

JAKARTA: 10 April 2010 -- The Silver Jubilee Salesian celebration in Indonesia, now at its high point with the presence of the Rector Major, has many fascinating features, but one mark of Salesian inculturation was highlighted on 8 April, at the solemn concelebrated Mass in Indonesian at St John Bosco Parish; 'Giù dai colli' accompanied by the anklung, the typical bamboo instrument in the archipelago - and for that matter beyond.
    The Rector Major concelebrated with the Provincial, Fr Calleja, the Regional Fr Andy Wong, the founder of the Salesian presence in Indonesia, Fr Carbonnell and some 30 other priests.
    Besides his visits to Salesian settings both SDB and FMA, and encounters with the Salesian Family generally, a particular note for these Jubilee celebrations has been the recognition of the wider Church in Indonesia.  On 7 April, the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, himself a Salesian 'past pupil' in that he attended the Salesian oratory in his youth, invited the Rector Major and a number of professed confreres to a grand supper at the Nunciature in downtown Jakarta, as an expression of esteem, in the name of the Pope and the Church in Indonesia, for the Salesian work over 25 years.  For his part the Rector Major expressed his joy that the Salesians have been able to work for young people and the poor through their various institutions in Indonesia.  He presented the Nuncio with a medal of gratitude.
    Following the Mass on 8 April, other representatives of the wider Church joined the Salesians in a celebration in the Mazzarello Hall, with Indonesian music and dances to accompany the festivities.  The Bishop of Banjarmantin, South Kalimantan, joined the lsit of Bishops requesting the Salesians to come to their Diocese. The personal secretary of Cardinal Julius
Darmaatmadja, Archbishop of Jakarta, extended the congratulations of the Indonesian Church, especially in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, to the Salesians.  The Rector Major, acknowledging all of this said that the best gift of the evening, however, was the letter of application he had received from ten young Indonesian Salesians to go to the missions.
    The Rector Major's visit has included a half day of Recollection preached for confreres from both Indonesia and East Timor - a number of Rectors and members of the Provincial Council had come across from East Timor for the occasion. Speaking to confreres, the Rector Major highlighted the key events of this 'happy time' in Salesian history when we have been celebrating the 150th of the birth of the Congregation, now the centenary of the death of Blessed Michael Rua and we are already on the way to the bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth in 2015.  Commenting on the current centenary, Fr Chávez said "The more I know Don Rua, the more I admire Don Bosco. The Congregation would not have existed without Don Rua".
    In all of these celebrations, the Patron of the Province was not forgotten. At the postnovitiate chapel, where the recollection was held, the Salesians gathered around the altar to honour St Callistus Caravario and at the same time continue celebration of the Resurrection which, for
Fr Chávez is, as he put it "the feast which is the source of our Salesian vocation....we believe in the Risen Lord; only the one who loves Jesus and follows him in the way of the cross will rise with him, as in the case of Callistus Caravario.  When a Salesian dies working for souls, the Congregation has earned a great triumph".

  _________________
 AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there.  Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org