LETTER OF THE REGIONAL COUNCILLOR

25 March 2006

Solemnity of the Annunciation

My dear Confreres,

Finally, on this beautiful Marian feast, when we celebrate the gift of the Incarnation and Mary’s unreserved Yes to be God’s Mother, I have been able to snatch some time to put down on paper the thoughts and emotions that have been welling up within me after the unforgettable experience of the Centenary Celebrations just concluded.

What a truly splendid celebration! It was indeed a fitting conclusion to a hundred years of Salesian presence in India and fifty years in Sri Lanka. The presence of the IX Successor of Don Bosco, Very Reverend Father Pascual Chávez, with us from the 1^st to the 9^th February 2006, was for all of us an overwhelming experience of joy, of fraternity and of the Salesian family spirit. From Sri Lanka, to Chennai, to Tiruchy, to Bangalore, to Hyderabad – all the southern provinces saw, heard, touched the Rector Major, and were deeply impressed by his words and gestures. Those were memorable days that have left sweet memories in our minds, which will last for a long time to come.

The highlight of the celebrations was the Eucharist in Thanjavur on 5 February, which closed the Centenary Year, arranged and lovingly prepared to the last detail by the province of Tiruchy and the community of Thanjavur. On that occasion, twenty-four confreres from India offered themselves to God and to the Salesian missions, and received the missionary crucifix and their assigned missionary destination at the hands of the Rector Major. After Communion, all the Salesians present and all the communities in the Region, united in spirit with the Rector Major, made an act of rededication to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Mary Help of Christians and to Don Bosco. The rich emotion experienced in those sacred moments continue to reverberate in our hearts. We lift our hearts to God in thanksgiving for the marvellous grace of the Centenary Celebrations and the gracious presence of the Rector Major in our midst.

My heartfelt thanks to all the Provincials and their teams for the wonderful work of planning, coordinating and executing the Centenary celebrations in the different provinces, and for the close attention to details that made them such a success. My specially warm thanks are extended to the Provincial and confreres of Tiruchy for rising to the occasion in giving us a splendid concluding celebration and a wonderful hospitality. The three retreats in the course of the Centenary Year were by all accounts excellent moments of renewal and rededication. For this, I am particularly grateful to Fr Loddy Pires who made himself generously available for this spiritual animation. Missionary retreats were also conducted in some provinces by Fr Joseph Puthenpurackal and his team, which deserve grateful mention. The Research Seminar hosted by the community of the Kristu Jyoti College, Bangalore, and conducted by Fr Paul Puthanangady with dedication and competence, brought together Provincials and confreres from all the provinces for 5 intense days of reflection and discussion on the role of the Salesians in India at the dawn of the Third Millennium. Its findings and conclusions, published in record time, are now available for all to make use of in pastoral planning and action. To Fr Paul Puthanangady and his team, as well as to the Rector and confreres of Kristu Jyoti College, heartiest thanks and appreciation. Thanks are also richly due to Fr Louis Kumpiluvelil, the Delegate of the Salesian Family, who, with the Cooperators, successfully conducted the Centenary Congress of Cooperators, at which the World Delegate for the Cooperators, Fr Stjepan Bolcovac, was present.

On the occasion of the Centenary Year several publications and audiovisual productions were released in the various provinces. Prominent among them is the two-volume historical work of Fr Joseph Thekkedath, A History of the Salesians of Don Bosco In India (from the beginning up to 1951-52). Honourable mention must be made also of a countrywide research on the quality and depth of the faith of young Catholics, “Lord, I Believe. Increase my Faith”. The Response of Catholic Youth to Religion. An All-India Study, sponsored by the province of Mumbai and co-authored by Fr Cyril De Souza and Mr Josanthony Joseph. So also, a video film on the Life of Brother Artemide Zatti and of the Salesian Brother, produced by Br Gregory Chinnabathuni and his team, is worthy of mention. Significant too was the issue of a postage stamp commemorating the centenary of the arrival of the Salesians in India, released by the Hon’ble Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Shri Dayanidhi Maran, a Don Bosco Past-pupil.

In fact, the Centenary Celebrations in the different parts of India and Sri Lanka would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of several friends, well wishers and lay-partners, whose deep love and attachment for Don Bosco was visibly manifested in the realization of these events. The esteem and encouragement of our Pastors, too, was palpably evident in the laudatory address of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), read out in the presence of the Rector Major, by the Secretary-General of the CBCI in New Delhi at the inauguration of the Centenary Year, and by the presence of the Bishops of the Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Conference at the concluding ceremony in Thanjavur. We are deeply grateful for their support.

In these past hundred years, some 430 Salesian missionaries came from Europe and the Americas to our shores to proclaim the Gospel, to plant the Church, and to spread the charism of Don Bosco in our land. Most of them have gone to their eternal reward, some have returned to their country of origin, and about 33 are happily still with us. These valiant men have left behind a rich legacy and a precious witness. As we remember them gratefully on this occasion, we -commit ourselves to their heritage.

Above all, it is to the living Don Bosco in our midst, his ninth Successor, Fr Pascual Chávez, that we turn with filial love and gratitude. In various places and on different occasions during his visit to our Region, he repeatedly said words to us that we had never heard expressed in such fashion before – uplifting words, which we will forever treasure. Let me quote them here again for our consolation and encouragement:

• “India is the most fruitful region of the Congregation at present, so much so, that we can truly say that the Congregation now has assumed an Indian face.”

• “The reason why there are so many vocations in India is not just because there are so many young people, nor simply because there is so much poverty around, but because of your pastoral zeal, and your fidelity to the passion of Don Bosco.”

• “You have listened to the cry of the poor. You have been sensitive to the appeals of the young, especially to those most at risk. You have responded to the needs of the young and the poor.”

• “I am very impressed. I believe that this is a miracle. I am very proud of you.”

• “So far, you have written golden pages. But the best is still to come.”

• “India is called to fulfil a historic role in the Congregation: To do for the Congregation today what the Italian confreres have done in the first hundred years, that is, to go to every part of the world where the young await us.”

• “You have the new model of religious life today: Mother Teresa of Calcutta: passion for God – passion for the poor.”

• “Take care of your vocation. It is the most precious gift you have received, better than life itself.”

• “Study deeply Don Bosco. Know better Don Bosco and his deepest convictions and options: youth – evangelization and education – the collaboration and involvement of many people.”

• “We need to recover the passion of Don Bosco for the salvation of the young, to give quality to our service of the young and to our Salesian life.”

• “Set fire in your hearts, enlighten your minds, deepen your motivations, be faithful to your Project of Life.”

Thank you, dear Fr Pascual, for these precious words, nourishment for the mind, food for the soul. We treasure them carefully. Thank you for sharing with us your personal stories:

• the story of your Salesian vocation as a young boy;

• the story of your election as Rector Major;

• the driving force of your life: the gift of your Salesian vocation, the gift of Don Bosco, the gift of the young, the gift of having studied Holy Scripture and having spent a whole year in the Holy Land.

Most of all, we thank you for giving us yourself, wholly and unreservedly, making yourself completely available to us in this Centenary Year of grace. May Our Lady and Don Bosco be your guide and ours, now and always.

Regional Councillor

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