Cagliero 11 Ottobre 2011-ing


Cagliero 11 Ottobre 2011-ing

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Titolo notiziario
Nome società
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
D ear Salesian missionaries
and friends of the Sale-
sian missions!
A cordial greeting during the
month of missions and of the Holy
Rosary!
On the occasion of the 142nd mis-
sionary expedition 74 missionar-
ies of the Salesian Family de-
parted from Valdocco. It is a
small number that becomes a
great sign of the missionary char-
acter of all. We know that the
missionary vocation expresses our
faith in Jesus Christ. I share the
words of Mother Teresa of Cal-
cutta written 16 years ago to a
young Salesian lay brother: “'I'm
sure that it is the love of God,
that pushes you to spread His
Word to all nations. He himself
will make your missionary voca-
tion bear fruit. But never forget:
your first vocation is to belong to
Jesus! No matter where you are,
what work you do. You renderthe
best service to the Lord when you
do your best to belong to Jesus!”
We welcome into our hearts the
words of Jesus given by Benedict
XVI in 2011: “As the Father has
sent me, so I send you!'“ (Jn
20:23). We offer our holy Rosary
in October 2011 for Salesian mis-
sionary vocations!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
Councilor for the Missions
Faithfully Inculturate the charism of Don Bosco
“… And you dear new missionaries, to carry
out this mission of evangelisation and the
change of heart of people and through that
of the world, you cannot have a better
model than Jesus as he is presented to us by
Paul in his letter to the Philippians (2, 6-11).
In fact, the Apostle invited us to make our
own the sentiments which were in Christ
Jesus, in other words to serve our neighbour
with great humility. To succeed in overcom-
ing our egoism, which leads us to proclaim the Gospel with a spirit of
competition or conceit, there is no other way than the imitation of
Christ... This is the model of true inculturation, indispensible for
evangelisation and touching the heart of the culture of peoples and
transforming them. Going on the missio ad gentes means emptying
oneself of everything that can separate us from the people to
whom we are sent, of our presumptions, our knowhow, our qualifi-
cations, our economic means, etc., and to begin in humility like a
child to learn their language, to know their culture, to appreciate
all that they have that is good, true, beautiful, in a word to love
them as Christ has loved them giving himself for them.
This imitation of Christ will be easier and more faithful if you manage
to unite commitment to the mission with the Eucharist. This is the
path of your sanctification, so that you can live what you celebrate
and celebrate what you live. In this way the Eucharist will become the
source of your mission and spirituality, and the mission will be an ex-
tension of the celebration of the Eucharist, completing in you body
what is lacking in the passion of Christ.
In this first year of preparation for the bicentenary of the birth of Don
Bosco, I invite you to study him in order to be able to faithfully incul-
turate his charism in the different places where you will be sent…”
Don Pascual Chávez Villanueva
Homily for the 142nd Salesian Missionary Expedition
Valdocco, 25 September 2011
(for the full text see http://tinyurl.com/693gk3e)

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Volunteering made me think : “What is God’s call for me? ”
I am a Frenchman and an engineer by profession. During my final year in
1999, I decided to be volunteer. Providence would have it, that I was
assigned as a teacher in a salesian presence in the Ivory Coast! In fact, I had
given a thought to the consecrated life. But my search was still on-going. The
impression on arriving among the Salesians of Korhogo is that of being wel-
comed as a brother. We shared everything: reflections, work, joys and sor-
rows ... After two years, I began to think seriously about my future: what is
God’s call for me ? What good could I do for the world? How can I serve? In
reading the life of Don Bosco, I realised that it as a kind of a pedagogical par-
able to help us find solutions to today's youth. This allowed me to synthesize my many personal aspirations: to
form, accompany, evangelise the poorest youth. But the love of Jesus is also central to my call. True love is to
follow Him for life. Thus, I decided to begin my novitiate in 2001. The civil war in Ivory Coast in 2002-2003
made a deep impression on me. Did not God call me to become a missionary to be an agent of peace in this
continent? It was then that I applied to the Rector Major and I was sent to Chad in 2009 after my priestly ordi-
nation.
In France and in Europe, Salesian vocations are scarce. To become a missionary "ad extra" is not easy given the
needs of our European countries. However, it is not the number of confreres at the local level that determines
the quality of our presence. In this world on has to be on the crossroads with a significant proposal while re-
maining at the heart of the problems of people. This is what it means to be missionary! The Congregation has
understood this by sending us to where there young people are in greatest need.
I have learnt a lot from the Orientation Course for New Missionaries. It provided us with missiological and an-
thropological foundations which are of utmost importance. It also forewarned us about possible illusions and
challenges in our missionary life: cultural shock, adjustment to a sometimes poorer context, distance from our
family. Indeed being a missionary "ad vitam" requires a serious discernment both on the part of the missionary
and of the congregation.
In this great country in the heart of Africa that is Chad, I found the climate and many other problems quite
challenging. Many of these are meant for the Salesians: preventing the spiral of poverty, preparation of youth
for work, inculturation in an inter-religious context with a strong islamic presence. Good will is often not
enough to fight discouragement that comes. Thus, a missionary in Chad must be rooted in prayer and the sac-
raments to bear fruit. The Congregation has given a lot of attention to the countries in the Sahel region which
are living in insecurity and poverty. But we need more confreres to make a contribution in the light of our
charism! The many young people remind us of this. Two points seem particularly important: to adapt the pre-
ventive system to the African context and work together in well-focused projects. May the Lord call among our
confreres enthusiastic missionaries to Chad!
Fr. Xavier de Verchére
French, missionary in Ciad
Salesian Missionary Intention
Delegates for Missionary Animation in all Provinces Worldover
That there may be Salesians in all the 90 Provinces who zealously foster missionary animation among confreres,
in the communities, and among young people, lay collaborators with their teams.
The availability of confreres for missionary animation is needed to keep
alive the missionary flame in each Province. A book by Fr. Anthony Roy,
"Salesian Missionary Vision 1923-1967", published in Shillong, India in Au-
gust 2010, and the magazine "Gioventù Missionaria" from Don Rinaldi
until Vatican II shows the dynamics of missionary animation through mis-
sionary groups. We can take inspiration from this charismatic dynamism
by organising missionary groups in every Salesian work, sending anima-
tion materials with regular frequency, prayer for missionary vocations ad
gentes, sharing of experiences of the missionaries
Send your suggestions and contributions to cagliero11@gmail.com