Cagliero 11 novembre 2016 - ING


Cagliero 11 novembre 2016 - ING

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Nome società
Titolo n otiziario
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
A Publication of the Missions Sector for the Salesian Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
Rome, November 11, 2016
To the elderly and sick confreres,
and to confreres who for various reasons are unable to be involved
in direct educative-pastoral activity
Dear confrere,
Cordial greetings from the Generalate, the house of the Successor of
Don
Bosco.
I want to say to you, also on behalf of the Rector Major, a sincere thank you for your
closeness and for your affection, but above all, for your fraternal prayer for Fr Ángel Fer-
nández, for the whole Congregation and in particular, for all the missions and all the mis-
sionaries of the world.
Since GC27 chose me to be Councillor for the Missions, I have relied frequently on the
prayers of so many confreres who are elderly, sick or who are unable to be involved in
direct educational missionary work. You know that our Con-
stitutions ask the Councillor for the Missions “to promote
throughout the Society the missionary spirit and commit-
ment” (C 138). This also requires much prayer! […]
The seventh successor of Don Bosco taught us in his
beautiful letter “Martyrdom and passion” (Fr Egidio
Viganò, in ACS 308):
“Sick confreres were for Don Bosco, a kind of ‘paschal
mediation’, for obtaining the blessings of the Lord on the
apostolic activities of the community. Sufferings accepted in the spirit of the ‘da mihi
animas’, do not exclude the confrere from the pastoral campaign; in fact they place him
in the very front trenches and invest him with a distinctive role. […]”.
Dear confrere, with these few words and powerful thoughts, finally with all my
heart I wanted to tell you two things: a big thank you and also, that we count on you!
A big thank you for your fidelity and for your testimony, for your patience and for your
generous daily contribution to the Congregation and its mission, for all the souls whom
you have helped and still help to save.
And at the same time, to tell you that we rely so much on you, on your prayers and on
your patient daily offering, especially with Jesus in the Eucharist. Through your prayer
and offering I entrust to you this year two special intentions:
♦ First, for all the novices of the Congregation , […] so that they may not be afraid to
give themselves to the Lord once and for all and to place themselves at the dispos-
al of the Rector Major to go as missionaries ;
♦ and then for our missionary presence in the Americas, especially among the indige-
nous peoples who are the poorest and most abandoned. […]
May Mary's maternal consolation be your inspiration and your support every day of your
Salesian life. Thank you!
The complete text of this letter is sent as attachment
to this issue of “Cagliero 11”
Fr. Guillermo Basañes SDB
Councillor for Missions

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I Continue to be a Missionary through Prayer and Suffering
Immediately after my novitiate in Mis-
saglia (Italy) in 1962, I and another
companion were sent to the, then,
newly established Philippine Province. But first
we were sent to do our postnovitiate in
Hong Kong in the, then, international
studentate of philosophy for East Asia. I
arrived when everything was at its be-
ginning and we were just starting to
have the first local vocations. Today we
have 2 vibrant Provinces which have
given birth already to 2 other new Pro-
vinces! When the new missionary pre-
sence in Papua New Guinea was opened
and entrusted to the Philippines I made
myself available. I worked there for 16
years until I was called back.
Parkinson disease entered my
life only 4 years ago without much noti-
ce, just a few weeks after celebrating my 50
years of very active Salesian and missionary life
dedicated to the youth of the Philippines and Pa-
pua New Guinea. Now I’m trying to discover what
our good Lord wants from me!
I was always in a hurry and never had time
to rest, always trying to develop some pastoral
activities for I had never time for myself: my life
was totally spent for the young. Today I depend
on others even the most ordinary things of daily
life. My wheelchair is a symbol of my non-
activity. It is hard to accept this situation but I
try as much as I can to be of help to my communi-
ty, to our youth in Confession and with
my presence in different activities of
my community. As is my habit, I look at
my life with the eyes of God and this
makes my days full of the smile of God.
In Italian my name is Felice (meaning
‘happy’). Indeed, I am happy to serve
the Lord especially in this specific mo-
ment of my life as I approach its final
stage.
I think that my situation is actually a
special invitation of the Lord to serve
Him, his Church, our Congregation and
the young through my prayer and suffe-
rings as a means of salvation and purifi-
cation from my sins. It seems that the good Lord
wants to entrust me with this special mission
which is fitting to my age and my situation!
With your prayers help me to make my life
a felice (happy) gift to the Lord by offering my
sufferings for His Church, our Congregation and
for the young !
Fr. Felix Furlan
Italian, missionary in the Philippines
Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity
Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
Blessed Luigi Variara (1875-1923), apostle of the lepers and founder of the Daughters of
the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, wrote to his spiritual daughters shortly before he
died: “Let us sanctify the moments of life that we still have, because the harvest will last
forever. Ah, how much I enjoy thinking about heaven! There we will all be together and
happy forever. For now we live together in the spirit: obedient, humble, pure, mortified,
but only for love ... I will not leave you orphans, because my prayers are incessant for you
with the desire to see you all holy” .
Salesian Missionary Intention
That the South Cone Region may recognise in popular piety in the parishes where we
work as the evangelising force that comes from the Holy Spirit, in order to be closer to
the poor and the lowly.
In Evangelii Gaudium (122-129), Pope Francis recognises in popular piety the force to
evangelise the people, where the Holy Spirit is the protagonist. Popular piety is a legiti-
mate way of living the faith, a way of feeling part of the Church and of being missionar-
ies.