WWW (a blog): 30th January 2010 - "Publicado por Albeiro Rodas
en 30/01/2010"
"Undoubtedly our 'Salesian' year begins on 31st January. On a day like
this our Father Don Bosco left this world for the 'Father's Home', as
we are accustomed to say. Thus concluded the life of one of the most
marvellous human beings of the 19th Century, but he also left his stamp
on the 20th century and lives on still in this sense, one decade into
the 21st.
I would like to carry out an exercise that probably
has its limitations but might serve as an aid for what I would really
like to explore: the fact that Don Bosco was a man of vision.
So let's interview Don Bosco, on this 31st January
2010, at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century.
Don Bosco, how do you see the beginning of the 21st century?
It has been a pretty much active decade, for sure. Wars have kept
humanity on ternterhooks, such as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan; the
threat of religious fundamentalism has grown, along with ambitions of
power, ecological degradation with greater consequences, huge natural
disasters like the one in the Indian Ocean 2004 and now most recently
the huge and massively destructive earthquake in Haiti. It has been a
time of great trial for humankind.
However, there have also been signs of great hope: the death of our
late-lamented Pope John Paul II led to consideration of this man in
terms of great human values like peace, unity, tolerance. Pope John
Paul led the Church to be open to a new century. Pope Benedict XVI is
an active apostle of dialogue with cultures today. and although the
nations cannot come to agreement on just how to confront the threat of
global warming, they have taken some steps. My Salesians are at work in
131 nations around the world, The financial crisis in 2009 has led many
to consider how greed and ambition can lead to ruin; and you know one
of the things that has pleased me most? New technologies are being put
more and more at the service of developing nations, opening up huge
possibilities.
Father, how do you see young people today?
I look on them with enormous love, as always. They are the reason for
my apostolate, for my wanting to be holy, still, from heaven! Yung
people today are rather more complex than they were in my time on
earth. Many things have changed but many things have also turned them
into victims for reasons and by processes that are difficult to
explain. I am deeply concerned for children, young people generally who
have been 'used' in conflict and war, young people who themselves
exercise violence in our large cities, young people who have been
wronged thorugh drugs and prostitution, young people involved in human
trafficking, young people who live amidst loneliness and depression,
products of a society of consumerist and utilitarian indifference.
But even here there are signs of hope. Technologies like the Internet
are offering new possibilities to the young and I believe we need to go
and meet them there as soon as we can. And what youthful talent there
is in the 131 nations we find ourselves in! There are simply wonderful
young people, brimming with values, overflowing with hope and they lead
us to declare that the world holds a future for humanity.
What has been your greatest sorrow at the beginning of this century?
There have been many sorrows, but the greatest and most recent one for
sure has been the earthquake in Haiti where so many people died and
many continue to suffer. In the midst of this suffering my ddear
Salesian Family mourns its losses, including the loss of as many as 500
of our students in the Ecole Nationale des Arts et Mestieres.
this has been an enormous trial for our apostolate.
I recall that many of our boys at the first Oratory died and at times
it was given to me to know the day and the hour, which inspired me to
often speak of the exercise for a happy death. Unfortunately it is a
beautiful spiritual practice that has been overlooked by some of my
Salesians. It seems at times that the world today spurns this moment of
death for what it might be. It is a natural process we all have to
confront – something I experienced and was a witness to in my lifetime.
But if we fill the expectation of death with the sacramental hope of
Christ, then it becomes a moment of grace and God's fullness. Whoever
keeps in mind the finitude of our lives, lives each moment more
profoundly, more happily. That seems to be a contradiction, does it
not? But it is not, because he or she who knows they are going to die,
lives life to the full and if they are Christian and believe in Christ,
well, death becomes a passage to something else and is experienced in
Christ. My children in Haiti are with me. They are angels looking over
us and they help us to keep sowing the earth with flowers of peace,
justice and love.
And what has been your greatest moment of happiness?
There have been as many joys as sorrows. Let's move from Golgotha to
Tabor. What makes me happy daily is the good work of each Salesian,
each Daughter of Mary Help, each Salesian Cooperator, each student,
each seminarian, each past pupil, each volunteer, each benefactor… If
you were to put all of this together, you become aware of millions of
people and each is a joy for me, so I become ever happier and sorrow
transforms into hope.
What thoughts do you have, Father, about your Casket, your relics as
they move around the world?
My first thoughts are of gratitude to my sons for this dedicated act of
love. But it is not simple and many cultures cannot quite understand
it. But I know that it is a great act of love for their father. It is
what they have done, what you are doing, all of you, my Salesian
children and the Salesian Family. So thank you. But remember that I
live through each of you. Wherever there is a Salesian, a Sister, a
Cooperator… I am there and in their hearts. and where there is love,
commitment and happiness, our Salesian Constitutions, our Preventive
System, then I am there too. Thus as I said to my son Cagliero as he
was leaving for Argentina: if you have loved me in the past, continue
to love me in the future through the exact observance of the
Constitutions… I would like to be going with you, but since I cannot,
these Constitutions take my place… look to them as a precious treasure.
I would like you to bring the Casket with my relics to every country
and for the people to identify with me, as if I were there in person in
each place. You can say that I was and, better still am in each of
these 131 countries and I hope to keep on going. I will live amongst
you as long as the Lord so desires.
Would you have any predictions for the 21st Century?
Now that of course is a difficult question! Obviously from heaven one
can see things..... but I say to you that no one can determine the
future, predict it, except to deduce that God shows us that His grace
is ever more useful for our journey to salvation, for the conversion of
sinners and to ready us for life in our future world.
For sure it will be a century of immense change, more than was the case
for the 19th and 20th centuries. The 21st will see the complete
transformation of western societies, while the Church will more and
more play a role as a spiritual oasis amidst a disastrous loss of
values. But do not be afraid, remember that Christ overcame the world.
remember that those who remain firm in faith, will receive a crown that
will not fade. This is why I want my Salesians, Sisters, Cooperators,
everyone, to pay attention to two things in particular: to Christ, as
Mary did and to the young for whom you bear great responsibility. I
entrust you with the boys and girls of the 21st Century, since they
face terrible trials, trials they will not be able to face without your
hand; with your hand in theirs they will not doubt, will not be afraid.
You need to win over the digital world, keep publishing the Salesian
Bulletin (including on the Internet), build up Salesian sites not only
for adults like now, but for the young. And do not be afraid since I
will accompany you.
We have been celebrating 150 years of the Salesian Congregation and
in 2015 it will be 200 years since your birth...
Yes, and I am happy about this. But it means so many things. It means
you have to renew our presence more and more. this century, as I said
earlier, will be one of great change, a 'tsunami' of its own that will
thunder across our coastlines. So you have to keep building on solid
rock. You need to educate more, study more, get to know the features of
this century, and build in such a way that youngsters can find shelter
in our hearts, without fear. These moments must lead to deep
reflection, much prayer, much dedication to the Word, much dialogue
with cultures and the world of young people today. This way you will
make me new, make me Don Bosco of the 21st century.
What do you think of Fr Pascual Chávez, your successor today?
I love him, I love him deeply. I am by his side each moment, inspiring
him constantly, allowing him to feel moments that I experienced at
Valdocco with those in my time there. You can tell him I will never
abandon him. Tell him, Don Bosco is with him. _________________ AustraLasia is an
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