ROME: 26 March 2014 -- It would appear that the
election of the Vicar was not as straightforward as it might
have initially seemed, but the Holy Spirit has never
promised it would be easy!
The Vicar of the Rector Major is:
Fr Francis Cereda
Meanwhile, the Rector Major, Fr Artime, has given his first
homily, and given that it is the first homily, (and a brief
one) it is worth offering the substance of it here.
The show moves on - the next lot of elections is for the
Sector Councils, in order of C. 133: Formation (has to be a
new person), youth ministry, social communication, missions,
economer general ---------------------- It
has
been a day of surprises - perhaps for many yesterday was also
a day of surprises! The Holy Spirit has really been asked to
step in and blow where he wills, and quite possibly the
day to come will bring other surprises. Since everything is
done by way of secret ballot and scrutiny it is obviously not
possible to deal with all the ins and outs. The Chapter's
voice is a powerful one and when it speaks, having called in
the Holy Spirit to guide and be with it - it speaks!
The Vicar of the Rector Major is:
We congratulate him.
RM's homily
“So
now Israel, give heed...
...so that you may live to enter and occupy
the land that the Lord,
the God of your ancestors...” (Dt 4:1)
My dear confreres,
I have been invited to preside at this Mass at the beginning
of my service as Rector Major. I renew my thanks to the
Chapter members for the great trust you have placed in me and
to all of you for your affection and support.
As I said last night in the Goodnight, this is not the time
for a programmatic presentation. I want to continue with the
sharing of the heart, taking up the dialogue once more
between God who loves us so much, and ourselves.
1.
I feel that the Lord is saying to me yet again: “So now, my
son give heed...”
He is asking me to listen attentively, give heed to all of
you, the entire Salesian Family, the cry of the young...
And he is asking me to listen together with my brothers,
together with you and never without you. Just like in
our Chapter work, first of all, listening...
How could a pastor, a shepherd walk on ahead, amidst or either
behind his sheep without listening? His Word and His presence
amongst us is an evident sign of His love.
Don Bosco was a man who listened: he knew how to interpret the
needs of his most abandoned boys. When he was a young priest,
he attended courses at the Pastoral Institute (Convitto), then
later he visited prisons and heard the cry of the young there
and began to think of a more appropriate way to respond:
“On such occasions I found
out how quite a few were brought back to that place; it was
because they were abandoned to their own resources. "Who
knows?" I thought to myself, "if these youngsters had a
friend outside who would take care of them, help them, teach
them religion on feast days ... Who knows but they could be
steered away from ruin, or at least the number of those who
return to prison could be lessened? I talked this idea over
with Fr Caffasso. With his encouragement and inspiration I
began to work out in my mind how to put the idea into
practice, leaving to the Lord's grace what the outcome would
be. Without God's grace, all human effort is vain”
2. Invited to listen so we will
live.
Is this not the keen desire that each of us has? The keen
desire of every young person? The reason for their cry? To
live fully, live a high standard of Christian life, live as
holy people. True men and true men of God: holiness together,
community holiness because it is in the light of the
Trinitarian experience.
During our pilgrimage to Don Bosco’s places at the beginning
of the Chapter, we recalled Don Bosco’s first circular to the
Salesians (9 June 1867):
“The first aim of our
Society is the sanctification of its members. Therefore let
each one as he enters strip himself of any thought, any
other concern”.
Our way of living out our holiness is by offering a vital and
significant response to the needs of the young, especially
those who are loneliest, most disadvantaged, most at risk
because no one cares about them.
And certainly this is a response we experience together, as
brothers at their service, as consecrated and lay, members of
a vast movement of people5 who go about witnessing to the
radical approach of the Gospel of this part of the Church: the
Salesian Family.
3.
Finally, listening and living so we can enter and take
possession of the land the Lord gives us: the land of the
world of the young in all its different aspects, in the new
digital world and also in the ancient and traditional places
where we find them.
The land of the global playground where our Congregation
dwells and expresses itself today. Entering into possession of
the land does not mean being its owners but being servants, as
Moses was on Sinai, taking off our sandals because the life of
the young is sacred, indeed the life of the young is
really the burning bush from which the Lord speaks to us in
our hearts and awaits us to encounter Him.
Listen, live, enter into the land pointed out by the Lord.
Only with the power of the Spirit manifested through us in
these days, in our discernment and Chapter work can we listen
with the heart, live as the Gospel wants – radically, and
serve the young, our holy land, as God’s humble farmers.
May Mary our Help and our Mother accompany us along every
step.
Reminder of the next steps
According to deliberation 8 of GC27 regarding the election of
the Sector councillors now varies from how it was done
earlier. A reminder of deliberation 8: The 27th General
Chapter,
in reference to article 141 of the Constitutions and 126, 127
and 128 of the Regulations, regarding the way of electing the
Rector Major and General Council members, considering that, in
the discernment phase for electing the sector Councillors,
there is a need:
- to identify the most appropriate candidates for their
abilities and skills;
- encourage shared responsibility and participation by all the
Regions “in choosing those responsible for government” (C.
123) at the world level;
- to involve Chapter members, meeting by regions, in a
discernment process that matures through dialogue and common
research;
- bring about convergence on some candidates,
decides that the election of Sector Councillors will be
preceded by a discernment by Chapter members divided by
Region, on the principle challenges of the sector and the
profile of the candidate. This discernment process will
conclude by proposing to the Assembly a candidate from one’s
own Region and one from outside that Region, identified by
secret vote and scrutiny. Article 127 of the Regulations will
be modified accordingly.
So it will happen in the following way:
1. In regions, they begin by reading the articles of the
Constitutions regarding the Sector councillor. These are: 135,
136, 137, 138, 139.
2. Then those taking part in the meeting will be asked to
speak up, propose some names of people from the Region for
individual sectors; and likewise, some names of confreres from
other Regions. The names of current General Councillors – who
may be re-elected – can be amongst the names indicated for
that Region or another: this is the case for all General
Councillors except the Councillor for Formation, Fr Francesco
Cereda.
3. The coordinator proposes two scrutineers and a secretary.
At this point they continue with a straw vote by secret
scrutiny for each of the five sector councillors with names
from the Region. They try to arrive at a broad consensus. Then
they move to a final vote again by secret ballot. In the straw
and final ballot each member of the Region should indicate but
one name only.
4. After concluding the final ballot for names of sector
councillors for the Region, they then begin the same process
for indicating names of confreres from other Regions for
sector councillor, following step 3.
5. At the end of the Regional meeting they give Fr
José, who is guiding the overall discernment, the list
with the name of the confrere from the Region who has received
most votes for each sector. The same goes for the name of the
confrere from other Regions for each sector who has received
most votes. For each confrere indicated on that list handed
over, the number of votes obtained and the number who voted is
indicated.
6. It is up to the discernment guide, in agreement with the
Rector Major, to choose how to indicate the result of the
discernment by Regions. In this case deliberation 8 of GC27,
approved last week is applied.
