How do you look at the new task as Councilor for the Missions?
This six-year period (2020-2026) will be marked by the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian
missionary expedition (1875). My wish to the 1500 Salesians of our EAO region is that each one
may have the courage to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts as he wills, when he wills
and where he wills, so that, animated by Don Bosco’s missionary spirit, we may have the courage
to get out of our comfort zones and go forth. Thanks to this missionary spirit, Don Bosco’s
charism is now deeply rooted in EAO. It’s about time that every Province in EAO, rich and poor in
personnel, actively participate in our Congregation’s missionary activity. Ironically, only such
missionary generosity will keep our Provinces vibrantly alive to serve the poor and marginalised
youth in our countries.
“Are you happy in your heart?” (Ma sa' lach'ool)?
S ince the day I participated in the 141st Salesian missionary expedition, I
have kept in a drawer of my desk a small sheet of paper with a simple
project for my missionary life. One of the points says: "May Don Bosco's
missionary heart be the magnet of your life." This would be the simple advice I
would share with anyone who may be reflecting on his missionary vocation. For
a little over 9 years I have been working in Guatemala among the indigenous
Maya Q'eqchi, in a missionary parish with 250,000 inhabitants, scattered over
more than 400 villages.
To be brief, what I learned in my missionary life among the Q'eqchi were 3
things: observe, listen and wait. The missionary comes as a guest to be with
them and share their lives. There is this beautiful expression attributed to
Francis of Assisi: "Preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use
words.” The Q'eqchi are a wonderful people but, unfortunately, they resonate very little in the world. They
have an expression to greet each other that is a jewel. When they meet anywhere, they ask each other, "Are
you happy in your heart" (Ma sa' lach'ool)? After a few years of missionary life, I feel that this happiness fills
my heart and that being a missionary is a great gift that God has given me.
Vittorio Castagna sdb, Italian Missionary in Guatemala, San Pedro Carchá
Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity
Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
The Venerable Dorothea De Chopitea (1816-1891), wife, and mother of six children.
She was the first Salesian Cooperator whose Cause of Beatification was launched. She was
one of the very few people Don Bosco gave the loving title, ‘mother’. And she was truly a
mother for everyone; always ready to intervene where there was a need. A list has been
compiled of no less than thirty-one foundations that owe their existence to her generosity.
The virtue that shone in her the most was charity. "God's almsgiver" sacrificed an entire
fortune like no other person did in Barcelona in her time. On her scale of values, she put
love for the poor first, "The poor will be my first thought.”
OMary Help of Christians,
just as our father Don Bosco
did with the boys of the Valdocco
oratory, on the occasion of cholera,
Salesian Missionary Intention
we too, in a world affected by the Coronavirus epidemic,
we want, as a Salesian Family,
to express our filial entrustment to your Motherly Heart
Comfort the sick and their families.
Support doctors and healthcare professionals.
Help all members of society and its governors.
Welcome everyone who died from this epidemic.
Above all, renew in each of us,
in our communities and families faith in your Son Jesus dead and risen,
Making Don Bosco's words our own, we say to you:
O Mary, powerful Virgin, great and illustrious rampart of the Church,
wonderful Help of Christian, terrible as an army deployed in battle;
you alone overcome every heresy in the world;
in anxieties, in struggles, in hardship
defend us from the enemy and at the hour of our death receive our souls into Heaven.
Amen.
