Frontpage for Friends %28 FfF%29 Issue 31.12. 11 mailnews Salesian Mission Day 1


Frontpage for Friends %28 FfF%29 Issue 31.12. 11 mailnews Salesian Mission Day 1

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(cf. “Psalm 2:7)
Dear Friends,
With hearts full of Christmas joy and peace, we offer
you that most excellent gift- the God made man! In every
year we greet each other by keeping alive that truth, “God
loved the world so much, he gave his only Son, that all who
believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life
(John 3:16).
s every year, the Rector Major presents a theme for every Salesian Mission Day
which expresses the missionary dimension of our vocation, keeps alive our
missionary commitment and implements God’s marvelous plan. During this year 2012
the theme is “telling the story of Jesus”.
We can learn from a little story-teller who on every Sunday afternoon used to
repeat the sermon and entertain his companions with daring tricks. That story-teller
was Don Bosco. He trained his boys tell bible stories and gives moral and doctrinal
lessons.
Growing in a culture of oral tradition which explained the
meaning of life and the great values of faith through stories, they
discovered their identities in the lives of the saints. Don Bosco
effectively portrayed the different characters, presented their
moods and highlighted their contrasts. Soon Don Bosco discovered
the power of a good story and he made this art in order to
enlighten the minds and touch the hearts. In this way he leads his
listeners to value the things he loves.
As a little boy, Don Bosco enjoyed delighting his friends at Becchi with his stories, as read in
the Memoirs of the Oratory: “But it was to hear my stories that they flocked round me. They loved
them to the point of folly.”

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As a priest, Don Bosco continued to make use of story-telling in order
to carry out his mission effectively- catechism lessons, sermons, bible stories,
lives of saints and especially the “Good nights”. The lives of the boys that grew
at the oratory (Dominic Savio, Michael Magone and Francis Besucco) are his
more successful and effective writings.
Don Bosco was a great story-teller, his followers and mission partners
continue to fascinate the listeners with these simple stories that the last 150
years can tell us.
Imagine if this child cannot go to school because schools are far from home. This is a
reality in some villages in rural Cambodia- no schools, no teachers, no rights,
nothing…..they even have NO FUTURE! Our Don Bosco Children Fund’s slogan “education
for all, all for education” has been going on since 25th January 1992. Please help us to
protect and promote the rights of children to a life befitting the human dignity and to
work toward their basic education, skills training and wholesome integration into society.
With thanks and gratitude,
The Don Bosco Children Fund Management