austraLasia #1741

The 'Da mihi animas..'' returns to its origins - almost

JERUSALEM: 29th January 2007 -- According to the historian Josephus Flavius, it was in a valley leading up to Jerusalem that Abram returned not only the people but  possessions to the King of Sodom, giving rise to a line that has become Don Bosco's trademark 'Da mihi animas, cetera tolle'. In the past week, 45 Salesian confreres, drawing mainly but not only from the Salesian House of Theological Studies in Jerusalem (Ratisbonne) passed through the valleys leading away from Jerusalem to go to Galilee. On the shores of the lake, a little distance from Capernaum they remained for a week in a lonely place.
    The Ratisbonne annual Retreat lasted from 22-28 January, encompassing two Salesian commemoration sof importance - Blessed Laura Vicuña and St Francis de Sales.  No wonder, then, that the preacher chose the theme of the Da Mihi Animas and led retreatants through an exchange of 'correspondence' between Don Bosco and Francis de Sales, confronting today's world in the light of their timeless advice.
    This gathering of Salesian confreres was truly international, taking in men from Indonesia (2), Japan (1), India (10), Sri Lanka (2), Haiti (3), Dominican Republic (4), Italy (3), Ethiopia (6), DR Congo (1), Tanzania (1), Poland (4), Spain (1), Paraguay (1), United Kingdom (1), Australia (1) and a further three members of the MOR province, one from Syria by birth and two missionaries from India. The Provincial of MOR province also attended as part of the Provincial Visitation of Ratisbonne.
    Seven of the students are in proximate preparation for their priestly ordination in June, July and beyond while a further six are preparing for their diaconate ordination in June. A dozen or more are preparing for their perpetual profession.  These factors, and an unseasonable mid-winter 'summer' around the Lake of Galilee, ensured both recollection in things of the spirit and a deep, deep appreciation of the beauty that must have attracted Jesus of Nazareth to those paths in particular.  The constant recall to another Lake in distant Savoy facilitated an 'Annecy to Zebedee' reflection on Salesian call and response.
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