BOGOR 23 August
2012 --
After 26 years in Indonesia, the Salesians of Don Bosco in
the
Indonesia Delegation are making history. Forty-two Confreres
(both
perpetually and temporarily professed) from all the Salesian
centres
gather together in a retreat house in Gadok, Bogor, West Java,
not to
make a retreat but to hold their First General Assembly, which
is
running from 20 to 25 August 2012.
After experiencing the growth of the Congregation and the
progress of
Don Bosco’s mission in the largest Muslim country in the
world, as the
Provincial, Fr. João Paulino Guterres said in his
good-night talk on
the first night, “At this historical moment, the Lord wants us
to have
a clear vision and mission statement, and make our strategic
planning.
This will surely benefit all of us in the Delegation. The
results of
this Assembly, of course, will have to be approved first by
the coming
Provincial Chapter (10-13 April 2013), and the Superiors in
Rome. This
will also be the foundation and preparation for the future,
when
perhaps the Delegation of Indonesia will become a
Vice-Province,
(God-willing). In three or six years time, Indonesia will then
perhaps
be one of the main projects of the Congregation in Asia, a
doorstep to
enter other countries like Singapore and Malaysia.”
The General Assembly of Confreres officially started on the
21st of
August. The day began with a recollection preached by Fr. Noel
Villafuerte, Parish Priest of St. Michael Parish in Surabaya.
The
questions asked by Fr. Noel for the confreres’ reflection
were: Where
are we right now? And where are we going to? Are we ready to
leave our
COMFORT ZONE (where we are now, where perhaps we cannot grow)
and
proceed to our COURAGE ZONE (where we can grow in spite of the
challenges and difficulties? When we stop growing, we die!).
But we
must always remain in our CORE ZONE (Our Salesian identity;
the Dream
of the Ten Diamonds, the authoritative identikit of the true
Salesian).
The Provincial opened officially the General Assembly of the
Confreres,
on the 21st of August. During the Mass, besides preaching on
the gospel
reading of the day, he read some parts of the Rector Majors’
letter to
him and the confreres after Fr. Wong’s extra-ordinary
visitation. “Our
service in the world is not exhausted by the service we do,
unless it
also becomes a sign of the presence of God and His Kingdom.
For this we
need to be visible witnesses to the centrality of God and
become
mystics, prophets and servants. This involves personal
holiness,
prophetic communities and humble service. It calls for a
radical way of
life according to the Gospel!”
It is also very encouraging for the participants of the
General
Assembly of Confreres that precisely in this month of August
the
Salesian Missionary Intention is to pray for Salesians working
in
Islamic Contexts, especially in the Delegation of Indonesia,
that “they
may discern the possibilities of the mission of witness and
patient
educational commitment.” (Cagliero 11, August 2012)
