M28Oct08 newslettr


M28Oct08 newslettr

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SALESIAN MISSIONS ANIMATION OFFICE (FIN)
ISSUE NO. # 20
OCTOBER 2008
MARY THE MISSIONER
“Thy Kingdom Come”
We don’t build the kingdom of God,
the kingdom comes as a Gift.
In the seventy’s at the PICC, at a
children’s choir contest, Don Bosco Tondo
(DBT) choir was pitted against Ateneo,
Assumption, and other Catholic schools.
DBT won.
The judges ruled “This is a children’s
choir contest.
The other schools had cultured voices
similar to that of adults
While the DBT voices are nurtured as a
child.
Our Lady and the Mission
Four major interventions of our Lady
in the Mission
1. In the Annunciation, our Lady in her
nothingness acknowledges and welcomes
the GIFT.
In the Visitation itinerary, she brought
the GIFT to Elizabeth and John the
Baptizer to be leapt for joy in the womb.
GC 26 states that “Mary, the first to
welcome and carry the message of
salvation teaches us to create
evangelized
and
evangelizing
communities.”
4. She, standing near the cross of an
unrequited gift broken into smithereens
reveals Mary’s staying power. At the
Pentecost, she stayed with the apostles.
In the cross we find that the Greatest
Passion is Compassion – Divine Mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows drives us to outgrow
our passions of anger, lust, pride, sloth,
avarice, envy, jealousy, greed and
gluttony with the GIFT of mercy and
compassion.
MISEREOR – “I have mercy” the
driving passion of the mission.
Nurturing acknowledges that the voice is
a GIFT and
Respects the timing of the giver (GIFTER)
And the aging of the recipient (GIFTED).
First and foremost Evangelization is
NURTURANCE
The Good News is a Gift.
2. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
gifted Mary: the MISSION is DIVINE.
“My Father’s Business”
3. In the Wedding at Cana – Mary links
the Mission to human development.
“They have no wine” – a gift of wine to a
family. The MISSION is HUMAN.
Compassion (to suffer with) drives us, to
sail into the deep waters, to go into the
wild, to go to the gentiles, “to all
nations,”
Mary, the merciful, beckons us to
payback the gift of Christification: The
Christianity brought to us by the
Missionaries.
S I M P L E H I N T S: M A R Y THE M I S S I O N E R
1. What you receive as a gift, give as a gift.
2. Be transformed by the amazing grace not mutate to a monstrous Hydra Complex,
different from the founding parents.
3. Get down from your ivory tower, break down your comfort zones
and structures, step down from your pedestal.
4. Return to the Fathers, back to the founder. Then GO!
5. Go into the deep, into the wild, Ride the winds, to the frontiers! To Gentile lands.
6. Compassion is the Innate Power, the Driving Power, and the Staying Power of the Missioners.
7. Have mercy on the poor. Set parameter to your greed. Have compassion.
8. In your anger, remember compassion.
9. Remember the SECOND COMING.
MISSIONARY SONG
Set sail into the deep waters
Be not afraid
Christ goes before you
Have no fear
Courage young missioners
Seek gentile lands
Cross over seas and oceans
Seek frontier land
Don Bosco’s there before you
Stand brave and tall.

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SALESIAN MISSIONARY IN FOCUS
MY FIRST STEP AS A MISSIONARY
__________
The pioneer
Salesian
missionaries
were there
learning our
language,
being
available to
our needs
both
spiritually
and
materially
and offering
their total
self-giving
love …
_____________
BRO. KEMISO ADDIS GEBREKIDAN SDB
T
he pioneer Salesian
missionaries whom
I had encountered
in my town, Zway
months I lived in the village of
Lariau. It is in the Gulf
province situated in the
remotest area. Afterwards, in
Ethiopia , played a great role the remaining eight months, I
in my missionary vocation. My was assigned in Port Moresby
vocation and inspiration to be - Savio House Community as
some day a good missionary an assistant to the young
priest emerged from their candidates who want to be
presence among us poorest of Salesians. Both places had
the poor youngsters. They given me a chance to
were there learning our appreciate the beauty of the
language, being available to culture of this country.
our needs both spiritually and
materially and offering their
total self-giving love. Looking
As a young missionary,
apart from my different outlook
on the culture Melanesia, I
relationships with many people
and to be a friend to all. I
believe that through these I
can speak the spirituality of
our beloved founder, Don
Bosco: “Da mihi animas
coetera tolle - give me souls
and take away the rest.” This
is the translation of the Gospel
in my everyday life. So, the
challenges and the difficulties I
experienced should be taken
as water for the plants for me
to grow into a good Salesian
missionary.
All of us have a history of
back on those days, I can’t
help but feel deep happiness
which I would find in a mission
land too. There I will live with
the poor youngsters whom I
didn’t know before. I love to
be with them, to lead them to
Jesus, to implant in them the
seed of loving kindness, and
to make them good citizens.
God has been good to me
for He answered my prayer
when I was assigned to Papua
New Guinea (PNG). I spent
my second practical training
there for a year as a
missionary. The first four
also had some shocks and
had to face some challenges
or difficulties. These were
homesickness, got to eat sea
and local foods, attacked by
malaria, and language and
culture barrier which made me
surrender
to
misunderstandings.
My reaction to these
challenges was to make
myself clear and to gain focus
to be able to cope with my
loneliness and solitude. I
decided to have strong and
regular sacramental and
prayer
life,
healthy
formation or an experience
that has been built up over the
years. Of course, the older
ones have more experiences
one will have to claim.
Nevertheless, no matter what I
have been in the past, no
matter what my experience
was, or my qualifications are, I
have to begin again as a
novice. With the grace of
humility and patience, I try to
become a learner, not a
teacher in my new ambience.
Eventually, I will be a teacher
more by having a good
attitude in learning.