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Titolo n otiziario
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
A Publication of the Mission Department for the Salesian Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
D ear Salesians and
friends of the Sale-
sian mission,
The 25th Salesian Mission
Day (SMD) 2012 with the
theme “Telling the Story of
Jesus” is an opportunity of
growing in following in the
footsteps of Don Bosco the
Saint – educator, pastor,
communicator and mission-
ary. Telling the story of Jesus
to the young – we all agree
on this! There are just some
questions: How? When?
Where? We know that from a
heart full of Jesus there
naturally flow words about
our Master.
As Sons of Don Bosco, we are
called to communicate every-
where: in educational meet-
ings with the young, in small
Christian communities,
through the radio, the TV, on
the Internet, on social net-
works or through blogs, by
means of the theatre or mu-
sic. The creativity of the
great Missionaries shows us
all the typical Salesian ways
of communicating the faith to
non-Christians. The young
Churches of Asia, many of
them with a life story of
scarcely a few decades of
first evangelisation inspire us
with their dynamic approach
in telling the story of Jesus!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
Councillor for the Missions
What is Salesian Mission Day all about?
A bove all it is important to underli-
ne that the Salesian Mission Day
(GMS) is primarily directed to each
Salesian and to every local and Provicial
Salesian community.
For us Salesians the period of preparation
for the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bo-
sco is a call to rediscover his great inspi-
rations, his deepest motivations, his cou-
rageous choices, and especially his missio-
nary spirit. And thus revive and keep alive
the missionary flame that is an essential
dimension of our Salesian vocation(Const.
30).
In a time when there are great needs but
a numerical shortage of Salesians there is
a real danger that the confreres or a
Province would close itself in within its
territory because looking beyond, with a
sense of mission, would require a new en-
ergy that it does not have. But closing in would, consequently, extinguish
the apostolic zeal and enthusiasm for the Salesians life which is noticed
by young people, especially those who make their vocational discernment
with us.
Since 1988 a missionary theme has been offered to the entire Congregation,
so that all the salesian communities may get to know about a missionary
situation in a particular continent and open its eyes to new missionary si-
tuations, overcoming every temptation to shut oneself off in one’s own pla-
ce and to remember the universal outreach of the Salesian charism and live
it fully inserted in the heart of the universal Church.
That's why the celebration of the SMD is an important moment in the mis-
sionary animation of the Salesians in the Provinces and in the houses; of
those who attend our schools, vocational training centres, parishes, orato-
ries, youth groups, and of the Salesian Family, so as to rediscover the mis-
sionary zeal of Don Bosco and the dynamic vitality of the Salesian cha-
rism!
This is not about an isolated event or an occasional activity but an edu-
cative pastoral journey lasting some weeks, or a number of initiatives
throughout the year, of which the SMD is its culmination.
