Cagliero11_2020_12_en


Cagliero11_2020_12_en

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N. 144 - December 2020
Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
Publication of the Missions Sector for SDB Communities and Friends of the Salesian Missions
OUR MESSAGE IS CHRIST!
Father Alfred Maravilla SDB, General Councilor for Missions
The feast of Christmas brings us to the heart of our Christian faith. However, when any reference to the birth of
Christ is eliminated, it isn’t Christmas anymore. Indeed, there is no Christmas without Jesus Christ!
We are often invited to start a Salesian presence in many places because
they appreciate our ministry for poor and abandoned youth, our technical
training in our centres or our social work in favour of refugees, marginalised
youth and displaced people. This is a great blessing. However, it could also
become a risk. We Salesians could risk focusing so much on our work for
human promotion and development of the poor and marginalised that we
could end up less as evangelisers and more as social workers or social ser-
vices providers. If this happens, soon the desire to do good will fade and
the joy of evangelising will no longer be felt. There is no mission without
Christ! In fact, “there is no true evangelisation if the name, the teaching,
the life, the promises, the Kingdom and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth,
the Son of God are not proclaimed” (St Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 22)!
Certainly, “no believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all
peoples” (Redemptoris Missio, 3). But there are situations or contexts where we cannot even mention the name of
Jesus nor display Christian symbols. In these cases, although it is not prudent to speak about Jesus, we should nev-
er lose that interior desire and inner intention of doing what we do to bear witness to Jesus. The challenge is to
live in such a way that our witness of life becomes a means to stir up an interest to discover the person of Jesus.
Indeed “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a
person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 1).
Living Don Bosco’s missionary spirit today means renewing daily our personal encounter with Jesus Christ so that
we may not preach ourselves but be credible bearers of The Message we bring: our Lord Jesus Christ!
Questions for Reflection and Sharing
Do I take care of nourishing my faith in Jesus?
Is my witness of life as a Christian or a consecrated person credible?
Here are the Salesians who have made themselves available for the good of the youth and the Church for the
next missonary expedition, the 151st in the history of the Congregation. We accompany them with our prayer.
Destination
AET
AET
ANT
ARN
ARN
CIN
CIN
CIN
COB
Name and Province
S. Didier AMINI (AFC)
S. Josip Ivan SOLDO (CRO)
P. Hervé Mwenze KAPUTA (AFC)
S. Johannes MASUMBUKO (AFC)
S. Emmanuel Mbwisha MUSA (AFC)
S. Dieudonné MULONGOY (AFC)
L. Phero Han Quang NGUYEN (VIE)
S. Giuse Van Tien TRAN (VIE)
S. Zacharie Aimable MVUYEKURE (AFC)
Destination
MEG
MEM - MIXES
Samoa
Samoa
Samoa
Sudan Del.
SUO
PGS
PGS
Name and Province
I
S. Patris CELANG (INA)
P. Ricardo Abel ESCOBAR (ARN)
L. Giuse Truong Ngoc LE (VIE)
S. Léon AKUMA (ACC)
L. Hernán MORA BARBECHO (ECU)
P. Jean Boutros KARAM (ICC)
P. Peter Ping-Fai PONG (CIN)
P. Ferdinandus Ola AMANG (INA)
S. Joël Komian ATTISSO (AFO)
COB
S. Monsing Moses PHANGCHO (ING)
GIA
S. Fidèle MANDEMBA (AFC)
GIA
L. Giuse Thanh Quang NGUYEN (VIE)
PGS
S. Mário Alberto PEDRO (ANG)
POR
S. Erik Anselme MAWANGA (ACC)
POR
S. Antonio Francisco CELSO (ANG)
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HOW DOES A CZECH VOLUNTEER FEEL IN THE JUNGLES OF ECUADOR ?
Renata, how has the coronavirus affected your work and plans in the
Ecuadorian jungle?
The coronavirus changed my volunteering in Ecuador a lot. The students
went home and so I was left without the young people in the school and
boarding. Someone may think that this is a waste of time and that there is
no point in continuing here, because I do not have any more the most
important thing I had come for. But this is not true. Because of the corona-
virus everything was disrupted, but this too was in God's plan. He planned
it that way. During this period, I was able to get to know the Salesian com-
munity better and to get closer to the Salesians. I also had the opportunity
to visit the indigenous communities and thus get to know the work of the
missionaries. I learned a lot.
What are you most happy about this year?
This year was very special compared to the others in my life. I went
through some very difficult times, but the beautiful moments were far
more numerous. I have received so many gifts that it is not possible to list
them. God was always with me and I could feel his closeness and pres-
ence in everything I did. I found many beautiful people who now have a place in my heart and in my
prayers. I also learned a lot about values. The experience of international volunteering is unforgetta-
ble. I am very grateful to God that I was able to do it and that He accompanied me in everything.
What was your experience with the Salesians? What would you tell them?
I lived in a Salesian community in the Amazon rainforest and the community was very good.
I felt accepted and part of the community; and I think this is very important in all Salesian houses.
My dear Wasak'entsa family, thank you very much for everything! I felt very comfortable with you and
I am grateful for all the time I could live with you. Thank you for accepting me and for your
closeness! I keep you in my heart forever!
Renata SCHMIDTOVÁ
24 years old, from Brno,
Czech Republic
Formed and sent by
the Salesian Association SADBA
Voluntary service for a year at
Wasak’entsa in Ecuador
Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity
Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
Attilio Giordani (1913-1972), Salesian Cooperator and missionary in Brazil. He
went through various seasons of life as a Christian: During Fascism he sought free-
dom in the oratory, in Catholic Action; in war and post-war times, when politics
and political parties experienced a climate of opposition and conflict, he invented
the crusade of goodness; in times of protest, when the elderly abandoned their
land in frustration and young people took possession of it, he supported Operation
Mato Grosso, which his sons introduced to his family. He shared all this with Noemi,
his fiancée and then wife, who was drawn into her life-long involvement through
the overwhelming enthusiasm of her Attilio: "Dear Noah, may the Lord help us to
be good not merely to be polite, but to live in the world without being of the
world, to go against the current.”
For the holiness of Salesians
and all the members of
the Salesian Family
Salesian Missionary Intention
That each one of us may grow in a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, nourished by the Word of God and
a life of prayer.
The secret of St John Bosco's apostolic fruitfulness was his interior
spiritual depth. Let us pray that every apostle in the Salesian
Family will take care of his/her inner life.