God can surprise us and give us more than we can ever imagine
Ye ars ago, I never thought that I would one day be a
missionary in Mongolia. It was clear to me that I had
to be an engineer or, at the most, a missionary in the Czech
Republic, an atheist country in Europe. During my primary and
secondary studies, I was the only Catholic in my class. It was
not easy to be a witness to our faith before my classmates.
I met the Salesians when I started my technical studies in the
university of Prague, still in the communist period. Soon I
joined their underground activities: small summer camps,
“chaloupky” as they were called, and formation of animators
and groups for sharing the Bible. Step by step I was discovering
God's call to leave electrical engineering and follow Him, who
is invisible but much more powerful than electricity.
In 1993 I became a Salesian and in 2002 a priest. After 3 years
of service in the Salesian parish of Zlin, I received new
responsibilities: starting a missionary voluntary service in our
Czech province, a school for animators, vocational animation and the Salesian Youth Movement. They were
eleven years of total service under the protection and guidance of Mary Help of Christians. I discovered a
Salesian world greater than I could ever have imagined.
In 2014, Pope Francis, through his first encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, unexpectedly but clearly showed me my
way: "Let us go forward, then, let us go forward to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ" (EG 49). That touched
me a lot, together with the theme of the Salesian Mission Day 2015 "Lord, send me". When I translated it into the
Czech language, I began to hear to a new vocation: "Give me more and more". I shared this with our provincial
and after six months of discernment I wrote a letter to the Rector Major.
The traditional way of life of the Mongols is nomadic pastoralism. They move with their animals and their yurts
several times a year due to the limited fertility of their pastures. Even those established in cities still think and
act in a nomadic way. Understanding it is really a challenge.
Mongolian is one of the most difficult languages in the world. The basic language course lasts two years. We are
still searching for ways to express the fundamental terms of our faith in a manner understandable to a society of
shamanic and Buddhist tradition.
Becoming a missionary in this country means becoming a child again, learning things from the basics. How many
times I have reached my limits! I had to grow in humility and love.
One of my greatest joys is to watch people grow. It does not happen every day, but there are times when we can
sense that we have arrived at a better understanding within the community or that some of the children have
been touched by our service of God. The Lord has his way of working. He takes his time. It is different for each
person. It was a great moment when some students became animators in the oratory and, again, when many new
children joined us at the Don Bosco Centre. But the greatest joy is to be in the mission of God, to be a bearer of
the treasure. I discover this ever more day after day.
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts ..." (Heb 3: 7-8). I wish all of us could be more open to
God's call every day, that we deepen our relationship with Him. He can surprise us and give us more than we can
ever imagine.
Fr. Jaroslav Vracovský sdb—Missionary in Mongolia from the Czech Republic
Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity
Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
Blessed Artemide Zatti (1880-1951), Salesian brother. Thanks to his serious spiritual
commitment, a sincere process of discernment and the desire to serve God and
neighbor, he embraced the mission of Don Bosco. His vocation sprang from the read-
ing of Don Bosco's life and out of his friendship with a "magnetic" Salesian, as was
the parish priest Fr. Cavalli who was his model throughout his life. When he was
struck by tuberculosis, his superiors suggested him to profess as a Salesian coadju-
tor. Zatti did not need to think long to realize that, whether a priest or not, he
wanted to stay with Don Bosco. He stayed, living fully the original vocation of the
"coadjutor".
For the Salesian Family
Salesian Missionary Intention
at the service of Social Communication
That the Salesians and the Salesian Family may have
an evangelizing impulse and creativity in the immense
Areopagus of Social Communication.
Today more than ever social networks, and Social Communication in general, are architects of
culture. We pray that – with creativity, professionalism and intelligence – we may influence
culture through the Gospel and our educative values.
