N. 143 - November 2020
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
Publication of the Missions Sector for SDB Communities and Friends of the Salesian Mission
IS MISSIONARY ACTIVITY STILL RELEVANT TODAY?
Father Alfred Maravilla SDB, General Councilor for Missions
It was Thursday the 11th of November 1875 in the church of Mary Help of
Christians at Valdocco. After the singing of Vespers and the Magnificat, Don
Bosco went up to the pulpit and outlined the apostolic programme of the
departing missionaries: Start with the evangelisation of Italian emigrants
and aim at the evangelisation of Patagonia. He concluded with these pro-
phetic words: “… Who knows if from this departure and from this little
seed a great plant will arise? Who knows if it be like a little grain of millet
or mustard, that will spread little by little which will produce a great
good?” Then Don Bosco embraced the ten missionaries one by one. To
each one was given a copy of the Souvenirs to the First Missionaries that
he himself had written in pencil on a notebook during one of his return
journeys. Don Bosco accompanied the missionaries as far as Genoa where
they boarded the French steamship Savoie on November 14. A witness saw
that Don Bosco’s face was all red from the effort to contain his tears.
This scene, often romanticised, has remained in our popular Salesian imagination. But today questions too remain
in many: Is missionary activity still relevant today? We do not even have enough Salesians for our own Province,
why send them out as missionaries to other countries?
Since God wills that all be saved, all have the right to know Jesus Christ. Hence, the possibility to know Jesus must
be made concretely available to all. In fact, all disciples are commanded to preach the Gospel in every time and
place (Mt 28:19-20) so that all may discover the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8). Yet, we are all aware that
even today, as in the past, many people do not know Jesus nor do they have an opportunity to come to know or
accept him. This is why more than ever, today the Church is called to “go forth”, with the same readiness to listen
to the voice of the Spirit and aflame with the same missionary ardour and courage that inspired the missionaries of
the past (Redemptoris Missio 30; Evangelii Gaudium 24).
Our Salesian vocation places us at the heart of the Church (Const 6) “which is missionary by her very nature” be-
cause she “is sent forth to the nations” (Ad Gentes 2). Don Bosco conceived his Oratory with a missionary perspec-
tive for poor and abandoned youth without a parish. Animated with missionary zeal, he launched other initiatives:
the printing press, the Catholic Readings, the Salesian Bulletin and founded the Salesian Society, the FMA, the Sa-
lesian Cooperators and the ADMA. Finally, he opened an entirely new page in the life of his young Congregation by
sending out Salesian missionaries in 1875 and the FMA in 1877. Don Bosco passed on this missionary ardour to his
religious family. Thus, the 19th and 20th SDB General Chapters underlined that Don Bosco’s example indicates that
the missionary commitment is part of our Congregation’s nature and purpose (GC19, 178; GC20, 471). Missionaries,
therefore, are not those we can spare among the many confreres in the Province. Nor are those we keep because
“we need confreres here”. The Salesian missionary is a confrere who responds to his missionary vocation within his
Salesian vocation. Indeed, our annual missionary send-off is a concrete expression of our fidelity to Don Bosco’s
missionary spirit and commitment!
Questions for Reflection and Sharing
Why is missionary activity still relevant today?
Why is the missionary vocation a call within our common Salesian vocation?
In 1920, exactly one hundred years ago, Fr Albera, Don Bosco's second successor, wrote a fervent letter to the
Salesian Provincials of Europe to exhort missionary zeal ad gentes. Already now, writes Fr Albera, the magnifi-
cent dream that Don Bosco had on 30th August 1883 seems on its way to fulfilment. The angelic young man,
Luigi Colle (who had died two years earlier in the odour of holiness) showed him, in a mysterious way, the
immense goal that the Salesians would have to achieve in the future. "There are thousands, and millions of
people who await your help, who await the faith." This was followed by other dreams in which the Saint of the
Youth gradually saw his Salesians taking care of souls all over the world. “But, unfortunately,” continues Fr
Albera, "the lament of the Divine Master comes also from the bottom of my heart: ‘Messis quidem finta,
operarii autem pauci.’" He notes the great need for evangelizing ministers in the immense harvest of Salesian
works. Then he makes his invitation to missionary generosity: "The greater the
number of Missionaries that a Province can send wherever we have Missions,
the more numerous and excellent will be the religious vocations that the Lord
will give to that Province. This is not a simple rhetorical statement; it is the
genuine thought of our Venerable Father.” It is certainly not a message from
the past. Today, more than ever, as Salesians and members of the Salesian
Family, we must believe these words and not close our hearts to the needs
of those who seem to us to be the furthest from us. “The most beautiful
monument to Don Bosco, the most worthy of his great apostolic heart –
is it not the Missionary who, with the Crucifix and the Gospel in his hand, goes
to conquer new peoples to religion and civilisation?”
(ACS 2,26-33)
