$SULO
86 $:HVW3URYLQFH1HZVOHWWHUએ%XLOGLQJ%ULGJHV%HWZHHQ&RPPXQLWLHV
April 26, 2012
Dear Brother and Sister Salesians:
This weekend’s Fourth Sunday
of Easter is commonly known as
Good Shepherd Sunday because in
each cycle the image of Jesus the
Good Shepherd is proclaimed in
the Gospel. World Day of Prayer
for Vocations coincides then with
Good Shepherd Sunday.
The purpose of a World Day of
Prayer for Vocations is to give
public witness of the community
at prayer in obedience to the
Lord’s command, “Pray the Lord
of the harvest to send laborers
into his harvest” (Mt 9:38). It is a
high point in what ought to be our
ongoing, year long, daily prayer
for a real vocation culture in the
whole Church, but especially
for special vocations to the
priesthood and consecrated life.
Pope Benedict XVI has written
a reflective message to mark
this year’s World Day of Prayer
for Vocations. He entitles it
“Vocations, Gift of the Love of
God.” You can access the Pope’s
message simply by browsing for
Message for World Day of Prayer
for Vocations 2012. Whether we
download it and print it out from
the internet or get it through some
other source, we should all be
reading it.
One passage particularly caught
my eye: “Dear brother bishops,
priests, deacons, consecrated men
and women, catechists, pastoral
workers and all of you who are
engaged in the field of educating
young people: I fervently exhort
you to pay close attention to those
members of parish communities,
associations and ecclesial
movements who sense a call to
the priesthood or to a special
consecration. It is important for the
Church to create the conditions that
will permit many young people to
say ‘yes’ in generous response to
God’s loving call.”
As Salesians we recognize how
“it is important for the Church
to create the conditions.” As
members of the Church we
Salesians also recognize how
urgent it is, how important, how
charismatic for us, to create those
conditions especially among young
people. We call that CREATING
A VOCATION CULTURE. Since
the last General Chapter (GC
26) the whole Salesian Family is
challenged to change our attitudes
and structures so that we see
ever more clearly the unbreakable
link between evangelization and
vocations. Never again can we
decouple them or assign them
to different people. We are all
evangelizers of the young and
therefore we are all promoters of
the vocation to follow Christ with
one’s life.
And does not the next General
Chapter (GC 27) already confirm
that challenge when it calls us
to the work and temperance of a
new evangelical radicality? In our
daily work and activities, getting
to know and imitate Don Bosco
better can only mean organizing
our preferences, our priorities,
our everyday choices in order to
give greater, more transparent,
and, yes, radical witness to the life
of the Gospel that Jesus calls us
to. This way, besides our prayer,
our work and temperance will
also attract new vocations to stay
with Don Bosco. Do we need to be
convinced how much the young
of our day and in our area of the
country need such compelling and
attractive witness?
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Timothy C. Ploch, SDB
Provincial
Pro
v
incial’s Calendar
April 2012
26 Meeting with Bishop
Garcia, Monterey
27-30 Visitation, Sts. Peter and
Paul, San Francisco
May 2012
1 Visitation, Sts. Peter and
Paul, San Francisco
2 Provincial Council Meet-
ing, San Francisco
3-9 Office Days
10 Salesian Boys & Girls
Club Board Retreat, Los
Angeles
InTouch 1 4.26.12