SALESIANS AND LAITY: COMMUNION AND SHARING IN THE SPIRIT AND IN THE MISSION OF DON BOSCO

INTRODUCTION

THE EVENT OF GRACE OF 12 APRIL 1846

"There was a shed there, belonging to Joseph Pinardi. Come and we will draw up a contract.

On the following Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, all the church furniture and the equipment for recreation were brought there, and we went to take possession of our new place".¹

[1]

A happy anniversary

The happy event of the 150th anniversary of Don Bosco's arrival at Valdocco, celebrated during the General Chapter, made us more attentive to our origins.

Don Bosco describes them in moving fashion. He reveals his heart, so similar to that of the Good Shepherd: his zeal for education, his apostolic temerity, his sufferings under trial, the uncertainty of the future, his abandonment to Providence, his joy at unexpected help.

We are struck with wonder at the marvels of the Spirit, but provoked by them as well. It seems almost as if Don Bosco is inviting us to enter the world he himself created, which then developed around him: a world of communion in spirit and mission.

There he is, surrounded by a huge crowd of youngsters, in the middle of a meadow which he must leave without any idea of where to go or what to do. And then suddenly arrives a certain Pancrazio Soave, with a suggestion from a Mr. Giuseppe Pinardi: there is a place where he can gather the boys together, a modest shed which can become a chapel and around it a strip of land for a playground. On the following Sunday two women will come forward with the first donations to help him. Later Mamma Margaret will arrive,,.. and there will be others as well.

It is the story of a love which is contagious and spreads, drawing many people into its light and strength, a Family, a Movement!

We Salesians, the successors of those first boys who wanted to stay with Don Bosco for ever, find ourselves in the company of many lay people, men and women of our time, who feel the same kind of call and ask to be able to work with the heart and manner of the Father and Teacher of youth.

To enter that circle of light and strength is what we propose to do through our Chapter reflections:

- starting from the present situation of the relationship between SDBs and Laity (first part);

- proposing a rich dynamism stemming from Don Bosco's charism (second part);

- which projects us towards the future through concrete commitments for sharing in his spirit and mission (third part).

We want to celebrate the memory of that event with grateful praise:

[2]

To you, Father, our praise is due

for Don Bosco

the dream that inspired him

the trials that tempered him

and the signs that guided him;

for those who have shared

his indomitable zeal

men and women, religious and lay,

in every time and place;

for the humble beginnings at Valdocco

and for every educative environment

called to be a revelation

and gift of your love;

for the immense ranks of young people

who invade our life

and disturb our heart

prompting it to imitate that of the Good Shepherd.

 

To you, Father, our praise is due:

 

With Mary

our powerful Helper

in the Holy Spirit

through the Risen Christ.

Amen.

¹ John Bosco, Memoirs of the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales from 1815 to 1855, Don Bosco Publications, New Rochelle, pp. 256-7