CHAPTER 3 THE SPIRIT AND MISSION TO BE LIVED TOGETHER

1. AT THE ROOTS OF OUR UNITY

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As we have recalled the beginnings at Valdocco¹ we have met not only Don Bosco's pastoral heart but also his ability to involve others. Thanks to the support of ecclesiastics and lay people, a church, dormitories and playgrounds all became a reality.

This is something that invites us to renew our Oratorian heart and prompts us to deeper communion with all those who, in structured or personal ways, want to advance Don Bosco's charism. Together, we humbly place ourselves with watchful attention at the service of humanity, committing ourselves with fresh enthusiasm to give authenticity to our vocation, so that the Salesian mission may give ever more fully its contribution to the Church and to the world.

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The spirit which has been given to us

For this purpose we are called to share in the Salesian Family with all the lay people, not only in the carrying out of daily work but primarily in the Salesian spirit, to become sharers in the responsibility for the mission in our works and beyond them. This spirit, as presented by the Special General Chapter (SGC 85 ff), is an ensemble of aspects and values of the human world and Christian mystery which becomes our particular style of thought and feeling, of life and activity, centred on pastoral charity. Don Bosco attracts kindly feeling and stirs up the participation of committed lay persons. He invites us to make with them a spiritual pilgrimage which, based on the Salesian spirit shared at different levels, can reach an option of faith and a spirituality which is lived and communicated.

The communication of such a spirit belongs in the first place to those who are consecrated: "In whatever activity or ministry they are involved, consecrated persons should remember that before all else they must be expert guides in the spiritual life, and in this perspective they should cultivate the most precious gift of the spirit".²

We are aware that this is a true and proper school of holiness. One grasps at once the richness of the Salesian spirit when, in terms of practical life, it becomes a spirituality. Of the latter we must now look again at some of its principal characteristics.³

¹ Cf. BOSCO G. Memoirs of the Oratory of St Francis de Sales, Eng. Edtn. pp. 255 ff.

² VC 55

³ We can find authoritative interpretations in our main texts: cf. the Constitutions which are our principal point of reference. Cf. also the FMA Constitutions, the Regulations of Apostolic Life of the Cooperators, the Common Identity Card of the Salesian Family, and the more recent General Chapters. Cf. also Don Egidio Vigaṇ to the Salesian University (UPS, Rome, 1996, p.162-163).