for the Young:

St. John BoscoDon Bosco is remembered

as a man who dedicated his life to the

service of abandoned young people. He was born in a village called ‘Becchi’ in 1815. When he was only two years of age, he lost his father and was brought up by his mother Margaret. When he was very

young, he had a dream. A man and a Lady, both of great majesty instructed him to prepare himself for a great battle. The battle appeared to be on behalf of a multitude of poor, unruly and neglected children. He as told in his dream that he had the traits and skills to conquer the

unruliness of these children, and make them his friends.

This powerful dream continued to be a guiding force throughout his adolescence. He learned to become a leader for the young people he grew up with, many of whom were very badly

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behaved. In order to relate to them, he needed to develop certain skills. He learned that by combining entertainment with teaching and praying he could achieve positive results. Entertained by his magical balancing act, they young people would gladly listen to a lesson or pray with John Bosco. His experience with the boys and his dream inspired to become a priest. In 1841, just short of his 26th birthday, he was ordained a priest in Italy. Priests are called ‘Don’ followed by their family name, so John Bosco became Don Bosco as we refer to him today.

Upon becoming a priest, Don Bosco realized how he needed to live out his vocation. The Industrial Revolution was spreading into Northern Italy; there was a great deal of poverty, desolation, turmoil on the streets of the city. Young people had been abandoned and lived in hopelessness. They lived their awful lives whatever the cost to themselves or others. Don Bosco was shocked at the condition they endured and the things they did to enable them to eat, and to survive.

This was the cost of the Industrial ‘improvement’ that would bring us all the high standards we have enjoyed this century. The cost of this progress in human terms was unbearable.Don Bosco, the young priest, became completely focused on his vocation when he entered the prison. He wrote: “To see so many children 12-18 years of age, all healthy, strong, intelligent, lacking spiritual and material food was something that horrified me.” In the face of such a situation he made his decision: “I must, by any available means, prevent children ending up here.” Don Bosco now saw how his dream and the guidance he received were needed. He knew a new approach was required. He needed to show there were better ways for these healthy and intelligent young people to lead their lives. It has been over 150 years since he showed the world that love can do miracles in the lives of the young.

Don Bosco was more than a dreamer. He knew that education was the key to helping young people. He sought to teach them and

to get fairer treatment for them with their employers. He looked to help other young people who still slept under bridges and on the streets by building oratories. Even when they stole from him, as some did, he never gave up hope; he never lost his confidence in the young.

Don Bosco’s followers became numerous, and many were inspired just like Don Bosco to serve God through the young. Therefore he created the Salesian Religious Order. The Salesians are to be found working throughout the world, in every continent, thousands of Priest and Brothers who in turn have inspire huge numbers of people just like us to work at the service of the young. You’d be surprised at the effect Don Bosco has had throughout the world.

After a life of achieving so much for young people, Don Bosco died at the dawn of January 31, 1888 at the age of 73. When others talked to him of his fantastic achievements, he would always interrupt and say ‘I have done nothing. It is Our Lady who has done everything.’

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Before there were video games, DVDs, and iPods, there were other forms of entertain-ment. Basically, people loved to have fun. The

young John Bosco knew this as he was growing up in the Piedmont region in Northern Italy. He used to wait for travelling performers and he would study their every move. He wanted to be as good at acrobatics and even better so that he could at-tract a crowd. Once he had a crowd, he seized the moment to teach a lesson, share faith, pass on a homily he heard. As he grew into manhood, he be-lieved his call from God was to continue his efforts to reach out to poor youth. He would always ap-peal to their interests and do everything he could do to attract and keep their attention—even doing magic—so that he could introduce them to his best friend, Jesus Christ! In 2000, Pope Benedict pro-claimed Don Bosco as patron saint of magicians!

Don BoscoMagician

Take note catechists, teachers, and youth ministers! Magic can be employed to reach young people about their faith. The proper use of story and the right routine can reinforce a lesson or a bible story in a fun and unforgettable way. The following trick is a great one for reconciliation. The minister begins this trick by asking two volunteers to come forward. The minister asks the two volunteers to hold one end of a length of rope and to extend the length between them. The ministers explains that one end of the rope represents the beginning of our lives. The other end represents the end of our lives. Taking the rope from the volunteers, but asking them to stay in those positions, the minister says, “And we all know that God holds our lives from the beginning to the end in His hands.”

Taking the ends, the minister puts them under his left thumb and shows the audience the middle of the rope (Figure 1). The minister says something like, “I guess I’m in about the middle of my journey, so I will take the middle up and put it between the two ends. As he pulls up the center, he actually grabs the left side of the rope behind his hand and pulls that up instead of the center as in Figures 2 and 3. But the

rope will hang down as though the center has been placed between the two ends. The thumb may then conceal the actual loop from the

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left side of the string, as shown in Figure 2.

The minister now continues by saying, “Though God holds our lives in our hands, what we make of our lives is totally up to us. Sometimes we fall short of God’s plan. Each time we do anything hurtful to ourselves or to another person, we are broken and become less.” The minister now asks a spectator to cut “the center” of the rope as is illustrated in Figure 4.

Now the minister draws down the two cut ends by puling the right two ends, the ends at the top of the thumb as seen in Figure 6. It will appear as though there is one rope cut through the center with the two lengths dangling from the minister’s hand as is illustrated in Figure 7. However, what the minister actually has is a small piece from the drawn up left side of the string. When “the center” was cut, this created this small piece as seen in Figure 8. The minister always keeps his thumb over the place where the longer rope hangs from the side piece. The minister must now get rid of the small length of rope.

Continuing the instruction, the minister might say, “Again and again we sin and again and again we are broken. With each fall, we become less and less.” And as this is explained, the minister cuts away at both “ends” right down to the concealing thumb. When nothing is remains of the side piece, the minister shoves the “cut ends” into his fist, hands one end to the volunteer sand pulls the string out whole to connect with the other volunteer, saying, “But God’s grace makes us whole!”

Firg. 3 Firg. 4 Firg. 5

Firg. 6

Firg. 7

Firg. 8

Don Bosco

Magician

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Being disciples who welcome in their heart the Word of God and apostles who with joy pass it on is the vocation

of every Christian. The life and mission of the Church consists precisely in this. Jesus himself began proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God and calling the disciples to send them out to preach. Not only the Twelve, but all the baptized are called to be disciples who make themselves familiar with the Word, identify themselves with the Lord to the extent of having His sentiments, who have the mind of Christ, they live in close union with Him, and then become convinced and zealous apostles, sent out in all areas of life to bear witness to the faith, to explain their hope, to collaborate in the transformation of culture and of society, to build a world where justice and peace reign, to be alive to solidarity among peoples and social groups and fraternity among all people.

No Christian can withdraw from the vocation and mission. All of us – not just priests, missionaries or religious – moved by the love

being disciples & apostles:

From Fr. Pascual Chavez SDB,

Rector Major of the Salesian Family

vocationour

8

that the Lord has for us and in virtue of our Baptism, are called to be evangelizers. We can respond to this mandate of the Lord in the family, at work, in our communities, with words and deeds that are with the love we put into our actions and our words, making sure that they are according to the Gospel. Evangelizing means putting in some yeast with such power as to change the way of thinking and the heart of individuals and through them the structures of society, so that they are more in harmony with God’s plan. It is not a question of an inward looking ’activity; evangelizing is launching a real social revolution, the most profound, the only effective one. This explains why it meets with so much resistance and opposition, open or hidden.

Before thinking about the ways and means of evangelizing, it is necessary to have a motive, to be, that is, “those in love” with God having experienced his friendship and closeness: «No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. » (Jn 15, 15). Between the time of the call and that of the sending out there is the time

in which the disciples “stay” with the Lord, to learn his way of life, to learn how to interpret personal and universal history as the history of salvation, to experience in their own lives the truth, the goodness and the beauty of the message which is entrusted to them and which they are called upon to proclaim.

In this regard, this is what I said in my opening remarks at the bi-annual Assembly of the Union of Superiors General, in preparation for the Synod on: “The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.” «Only the minister of the Gospel – consecrated or lay – who keeps the Gospel in his heart, making it the object of contemplation and a motivation of prayer, will succeed in keeping it on his lips as a treasure to speak about and will hold it in his hands as an inescapable duty to pass on.».

In the beautiful task of welcoming, incarnating and communicating the Word of God, Mary is our mother and teacher, because - as Saint Augustine says – She conceived the Son first in her soul then in her flesh. In fact in Luke’s gospel Mary is presented as the one who replies with

extraordinary openness to the message of the Angel,: «Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word» (Lk 1, 38). Mary is the model of the disciple who in the face of events she sees but does not manage to understand keeps all these words and meditates on them in her heart (cf. Lk 2, 19). At the beginning of her Son’s ministry, at the wedding at Cana, she invites the servants, to «do what he tells you » (Jn 2, 5), and during his ministry she is to be found among the disciples who «hear the word of God and keep it » (Lk 11, 27-28). When the time of the passion arrives, Mary is at the foot of the cross, sharing, to the bitter end, the abandonment, the rejection, and the suffering of the Son, and carefully safeguarding his will and testament: «Women, this is your son » (Jn 19, 25-27). And finally after the resurrection, she devotes herself to prayer with the disciples awaiting the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1, 14). This then is our model of the disciple and of the apostle of the Word.

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don Bosco inspired the start of a vast movement of person who in different ways work for the benefit of the young. He himself founded not only the Society of St.

Francis de Sales (Salesians of Don Bosco) but also the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) and the Association of Salesian Cooperators.

Including these and others that originated in different parts of the world, the Salesian Family today consists of 28 officially recognized groups that have a total of 402,500 members. It is the largest missionary movement in the world.

These groups live in communion with each other, share the same spirit and, with specifically distinct vocations, continue the mission he began.Don Bosco’s charism continues to inspire people of good will. There are currently 30 more groups that are seeking membership within the Salesian Family.

The Salesian

Family

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27 MEMBER GROUPS OF THE SALESIAN FAMILY TODAYSalesians of Don Bosco: (with novices and bishops) * 16,092

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians ** 14,655

Salesian Co-operators * 24,196

Past Pupils of Don Bosco * 97,357

Past Pupils of the FMA 130,000

Women Volunteers of Don Bosco 1,308

Daughters of Sacred Heart ** 378

Salesian Oblates of the Sacred Heart ** 221

Apostles of the Holy Family ** 69

Caritas Sisters of Jesus ** 1068

Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians ** 1011

Daughters of the Divine Saviour 109

Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary 109

Sisters of Jesus the Adolescent 43

Association Damas Salesianas 3,000

Association of Mary Help of Christians 35,000

Catechists Sisters of Mary Immaculate Help of Christians 500

Daughters of the Queenship of Mary Immaculate 57

Volunteers with Don Bosco 62

Witnesses of the Risen Lord TR 2000 650

Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel ** 357

Congregation of Sisters of the Resurrection 50

Sisters Announcers of the Lord 23

The Disciples - Secular Institute ** 400

Friends of “Canção Nova”

Sisters of St Michael the Archangel (Michaelites) ** 261

Sisters of Maria Auxiliatrix ** 110

Community of the Mission of Don Bosco (CMB)

The Salesian

Family

11

Salesians of Don bosco

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each one of us is called by God to one Salesian vocation. Yet not all of us are called to the same state in which this

vocation is lived out. Some are called to be ‘Salesian Clerics’ others are called to be ‘ Lay Salesians’ (or Salesian Brothers).

Salesian Clerics are those who dedicate themselves to the service of the young through their sacramental ministry either as permanent Deacons or as Priests (The term ‘clerics’ includes those who prepare themselves for the diaconate or priestly ordination).

Salesian Laymen are those who dedicate themselves to the same vocation of serving the

young while remaining in the lay state as brothers among brothers.

Each of us is responsible for the common mission, and participates in it with the richness of his own personal gifts and with the lay and priestly characteristics of the one Salesian vocation.

The Salesian brother brings to every field of education and pastoral activity the specific qualities of his lay

status, which make him in a particular way a witness to God’s Kingdom in the world,

close as he is to the young and to the realities of working life.

The Salesian priest or deacon brings to the common work of promoting

human development and of educating in the faith the specific quality of his ministry, which

makes him a sign of Christ the Good Shepherd, especially by preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments. The significant and complementary presence of clerical

and lay Salesians in the community constitutes an essential element of its

make-up and of its apostolic completeness.

sdbsdb

The Salesian Coadjutor

The Salesian Priest

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the Salesian Sisters are

consecrated women in

the Church, who live in

community and while interacting

with others they express their

radical love for Christ and

service to the young in joyful

simplicity. They nourish missionary

outreach that gives an apostolic

dimension to their everyday lives.

The Salesian Sisters believe that

today their missionary passion

is expressed in a conscious

option for education as the way

to Gospel citizenship. They are

called to be present to, and in

solidarity with the young and the

poor. They are challenged to

courageously serve the cause of

justice and peace and to bring

about a more humane society,

one that respects the dignity of

each person.

Founded by Don Bosco and of

Mary Domenica Mazzarello they

dedicate themselves to young

people who are poorest, that is,

to those who for various reasons

have less possibilities of success

and are therefore exposed to

danger.

For Don Bosco, foresight in

preventing, meant to educate,

to develop ones ability to

give meaning to life through

positive experiences and to act

coherently with decisions taken.

Foresight is to create educative

relationships that would stimulate

and sustain the interior strength

of the young person and to

guide him/her towards new

stages of maturity, towards new

experiences in the light of their

Christian calling.

Their style of educating is

evident in the way Mary

Domenica Mazzarello lived out

her educative mission by her

example. Although this style of

educating is not documented

by her, it can be learned in the

evidence of who she was and

did.

One of the most important

educational criteria was, for

Mother Mazzarello, the priority

that is to be given to the person:

for it was through her fidelity to

God’s plan, that she focused

on drawing young people to a

personal and unique encounter

with Jesus. Her educative mission

is realistic and concrete in the

belief that work and education

would lead to productivity.

In the footsteps of Don Bosco

and Mother Mazzarello, the

Salesian Sisters have a mission

to educate by the total giving

of self in loving and joyful

serenity that is contagious and

consequently developing into a

pedagogy of joy that reaches

out to collaborate with others.

FMAFMA14

“salesian Cooperators are the essential lay component of the Salesian Family. It is a personal response to the call of the Holy Spirit to live their Christian life the Salesian way. They are apostles in the normal

daily life they live as parents, teachers, students, youth workers, volunteers, etc. sharing their God-given gifts and abilities with the young and others in need. They are signs and bearers of God’s love in the world expressing their deep spirituality through active charity. Their vocation is to serve God’s Church and they respond to the needs of others as their life circumstances allow. “Cooperators go through an initial period of instruction and formation before being formally inducted, but continue to be involved in ongoing formation to nourish their Spirituality, their vocation, their way of life, and in order to carry out the Salesian apostolic mission in all its depth and richness.”

Salesian

Cooperator

15

Oratory

don Bosco’s Oratory, which took its name from an already existing ‘institution’, was different from those which had gone before or those contemporaneous

with it. It is the changes brought about by Don Bosco himself which still demonstrate even today the special features of oratorian pastoral ministry. These changes are basically six in number.

L From providing a “service” of catechism to a presence, participation in the life of the young person with his needs and problems.

L From “part time” to “full time” filling the whole of Sunday and extending into the week days through personal con-tacts and activities.

L From a catechetical limited program to a potentially inte-grated educational and pastoral program of games, other forms of youthful expression such as theatre, music and song, school groups…are some of the elements of these programs.

L From an institution based on adults to a community of youth centered on participation of youth, being together, open to all.

L From the centrality of the program to the centrality of the individuals and inter-personal relationships.

L From a parochial character to a missionary outlook, open to young people who did not even know what parish they belonged to, and who did not see in the parish a refer-ence point either for their religious life or for their human problems.

SchoolsThe salesian school originated in the Valdocco Oratory in response to the needs of the young people of that time and became part of an overall plan for the education and evangelization of youth especially those most in need.

The school field has developed greatly in the Congregation in response to the needs of the young people themselves, of society and of the church until it has become a movement of well qualified educators on the educational front.

We consider the school as the preferred cultural medium of education in which one can give a systematic response to the needs of those growing up; as a determining institution

Youth Center,

Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs,

Oratories

16

in the formation of personality, because it transmits a view of the world, of humankind and of history; and as one of the most important ways of fostering human development and the prevention of marginalization.

We recognize the fundamental value of the school as a setting where the gospel throws light on culture and provides an effective integration of the educational process and the process of evangelization. This integration makes it an important educative alternative in today’s pluralistic society.

We involve ourselves in education and evangelize through the school, bringing the pedagogical patrimony handed on by Don Bosco and developed by subsequent tradition.

In this task, the current social, political and cultural situation, the new directives regarding scholastic reform in different countries and the current situation within the schools themselves, with the interaction of many and sometimes opposing legal, financial, working and didactic aspects, present new complex difficulties and challenges to which we try to respond with a higher quality of educational, professional and specific expertise, faithful to our charismatic identity.

ParishDon Bosco’s apostolic concern, which is always alive in salesian hearts, the renewed idea of the parish as the presence of the Church in a particular neighborhood, and the pastoral needs of local Church, have led the Salesians to a much greater involvement in parish ministry. In the Salesian Rule the parish is explicitly included among the works in which our mission is realized, “responding to the pastoral needs of the particular Churches in those areas which offer us adequate scope for service to the young and to the poor”. The salesian commitment in the parish sector is expressed through the parishes entrusted to the Salesians and through the missionary parishes.

The Salesians with its charism for the young and the poor brings to the local Church its own charismatic

style for the direction and animation of a parish. The Salesian rule concentrate this contribution in some specific traits which distinguish a parish entrusted to the Congregation:

L for the attention it gives to young people, espe-cially the poorest. This preferential choice is linked with an attitude rather than a project, and is a dynamic option in all expressions of the parish community;

L it is sited in a working-class area with an adequate field of service ;

L it is animated by a community committed to the building of a Christian community which is closely united, welcoming, available, and open to human and Christian growth;

L it has a pastoral project with the characteristic style of evangelizing by educating and educating by evangelizing, in line

K with a particular spirituality and pedagogical method (the preventive system) and hence works at integrating evangelization and human development;

K with a pastoral commitment which considers the Oratory and Youth Center as an essential part of the pastoral plan;

K with emphasis on systematic catechesis for all;

K with a concentration on the development of each one’s vocation;

K with a missionary outreach towards those lapsed, especially the most needy young people in their own environment and in places where they gather.

Retreat and Spiritual-

ity Centers

A Salesian retreat center is a center of popular spirituality which can be of considerable importance in evangelization and in the process of education to the faith of the people and also of the young.

Many of the centers of spirituality in our care are significant centers for the development and experience of salesian spirituality: centers for the spreading of Marian devotion, like the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians at Turin and very many others all over the world; places of communication

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and sharing of the salesian spirit through the figure of Don Bosco; centers of revitalization of Christian life through the liturgy, the Eucharist, the sacrament of Reconciliation, and prayer; reference points and places of pilgrimage for individuals and groups, large and small.

This means that we must see to it that the work of retreats and spiritual renewal is of high quality and based on a pastoral project which is strongly motivated and effective for the evangelization of people in general and of youth groups in particular. The following are important components of a center of renewal and spirituality:

L the quality of the welcome given, which gives to those who are estranged from religion the possibility that they will be listened to, understood, and encouraged to develop the seed of faith which has led them to the retreat center;

L a strong proposal of evangeliza-tion, which opens visitors to a meeting with Jesus Christ and his Gospel through an experi-ence of conversion; for this, time and possibility for prayer and the sacraments, especially reconciliation;

L opportunity for dialogue and serious spiritual follow-up; the retreat become an important means for the Christian matur-ing of many youngsters in their vocational search;

L A dynamic and creative synthe-sis between evangelical quality and the language and sensitivity of popular devotion; between religious practice and the preoc-cupations, hopes and needs of the family and of the communal and social lives of the people.

don Bosco based his approach to prayer on St Francis de Sales’ vision of a loving and saving God. He modeled his prayer in a down to earth, loving-kindness for the young,

which reflected his deep faith in God’ presence. Six words capture this style.

Moving

Salesian prayer engages the heart as well as the head. It also moves a person towards change and to see things differently.

Youthful

There is an energy and joy about Salesian prayer that renews and challenges life and leads to hope in the future. It is active and practical.

Simple

Salesian prayer avoids long and complicated words and prayers in favor of genuine heart to heart conversation with God as Father.

Trusting

At the heart of Salesian prayer is an awareness of God’s presence as a dependable mystery at the centre of each person and their relationships. Touching and trusting that presence is the purpose of Salesian prayer.

Integrated

Salesian prayer is not an escape from life. Salesian prayer sifts life experience for God’s presence and celebrates it in personal prayer, in scripture and in sacraments. Prayer opens up an awareness of God in ordinary life and joins the inner and outer life into one story of love.

Cheerful

Salesian prayer focuses on the good and helps it grow. It does not dwell too long on sadness or failure but sees these as stepping-stones to greater trust. Salesian prayer does not stop at the cross but moves though it to resurrection and celebration.

Our Prayer18

SALESIAN YOUTH

SPIRITUALITYthe secret to the

outcome of Don Bosco the edu-

cator is his intense spirituality, or that inner energy which united in him insepa-rably the love of God and neighbor such that it set up a synthesis between evangelization and education.

Therefore Salesian Youth Spirituality, the concrete expression of this pastoral charity, constitutes a fundamental element of Salesian pastoral action; it is its source of gospel vitality, its principle of inspiration and identity, the criterion from which it takes its bearings.

Salesian Youth Spirituality takes its measure from the young, especially the poorest of them, and which knows how to discover the action of the Spirit in their heart and to collaborate in its development.

“Salesian” does not imply here the distinctive mark of a certain group; it indicates, rather, the charismatic source linked with the spiritual current of the humanism of St Francis de Sales, reinterpreted by Don Bosco in the experience of the Oratory in Valdocco.

At Valdocco there was ample opportunity for the young to exercise leadership among their companions in every facet of life, even to the extent that the young people were called by Don Bosco to be with him “founders” of a new Congregation.

On their side they helped him to begin, in the

context of everyday experience, a new style of holiness tailored to the typical requirements of a boy’s development. In this way they were to some extent both disciples and teachers at the same time.

In all salesian communities today, as happened yesterday in Don Bosco’s Oratory, spiritual commitment is born of a meeting that breeds friendship. This leads on to a continuous point of reference and group situation in which the implications of the baptismal vocation can be more deeply understood and the journey begun to maturity of faith.

SPIRITUALITY OF ORDINARY DAILY LIFE.

Therefore, Salesian Youth Spirituality is a daily spirituality that proposes ordinary life as the meeting place with God. Daily life inspired by Jesus of Nazareth (cf. C 12) is the setting in which the youngster recognizes the presence of God who is at work, and lives out his personal realization of the fact.

SPIRITUALITY OF JOY AND OPTIMISM.

It is an ‘Easter’ spirituality of joy in action that develops a positive attitude of hope in both the natural and supernatural resources of the person, and presents Christian life as a path to happiness.

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Daily life is lived in joy and optimism, without prejudice to commitment and responsibility.

SPIRITUALITY OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS

It is a spirituality of friendship and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, known and visited through prayer, the Eucharist, the Word. Daily life is recreated by the Risen Christ who gives reasons for hope and leads to a life that finds its fullest sense in Him.

SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNION IN THE CHURCH

It is a spirituality of communion lived in groups and above all in the educative community, and which unites young people and their educators in familial surroundings around a project of the integral education of the young. Daily life is experienced as a faith community—in the Church , as the natural setting for growth in faith through the sacraments.

It is a spirituality of responsible service that encourages in young people and in adults a renewed apostolic commitment which becomes a vocational call to the Christian transformation of their world.

A MARIAN SPIRITUALITY

It is a Marian spirituality where one entrusts oneself simply and trustingly to the maternal help of the Madonna. In the Church we find Mary who goes in front, accompanies and inspires.

SPIRITUALITY OF RESPONSIBLE SERVICE.

This spirituality helps to discern and to confront the challenges of the world. It creates unity amongst those who participate and collaborate in the mission and calls on them to become good Christians and good citizens. Daily life is thus presented to the young as a setting for service, both ordinary and extraordinary.

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50 years ago on December 18 1859, Don Bosco met with 16 young people whom he had invited to join him in forming the Salesian Society. The

eldest was 22 and the youngest only 16. Don Bosco was 44. They made religious vows as a community dedicated to youth ministry. Just 18 years earlier as a newly ordained priest John Bosco began his work for the poor youth of Turin in Italy. In 1872 Don Bosco together with Maria Mazzarello founded the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) and in 1876 Don Bosco founded the third member of the Salesian Family the Salesian Cooperators To commemorate this important celebration Fr. Sieger Koeder, a retired priest of the diocese of Rothenberg-Stuttgart painted the extraordinary painting featured to the left. Don Bosco Puppeteer. Historically we know that Don Bosco was not a puppeteer. Fr. Koeder as an artist wanted to capture the character and genius of St. John Bosco, the apostle of youth. John Bosco was born to poor tenant farmers Francis and Margaret Bosco. Francis died when John was only 2 years old, leaving Mama Margaret to raise three boys by herself. From an early age John understood that God was calling him to the priesthood. As a boy on nine he would gather the children of the village and entertain them with stories, slight of hand magic tricks, acrobatic feats and tightrope walking. Each entertainment included moments of prayer, catechism lesions and vivid stories of the saints. So while John Bosco never used puppets he knew how to capture the attention of the children. As a young priest he would gather young people in vacant lots, Church plazas, where ever he could bring them. He often got kicked out of places because of the noise of a few hundred children would make as he joined them in their games.”Don Bosco” is how the children addressed John and that is how St. John Bosco is known today (in Italy priests are referred to as Don thus Don Bosco). The Setting for Fr Koeder’s, Don Bosco Puppeteer is a field on a beautiful Spring day. In the distance

Salesians Celebrate 150 Years

Salesians

Celebrate

150 Years

21

is the city of Turin, Italy, where Don Bosco began him ministry in 1841. Don Bosco is presenting a puppet show, telling the story from the Gospel of Luke about the forgiving father and his two sons. Don Bosco’s whole mission was to evangelize youth, bringing them to Christ.

Don Bosco stands behind a make-shift theater featuring an old blanket. He has gotten to the point in the story where the son who had run away from home with half his fathers estate has returned with the intention of asking his father for forgiveness. For Don Bosco, the educator and youth minister ,the best way to a young person’s heart is loving kindness and gentleness The best punishment is forgiveness.

At the puppeteer’s feet rests the Other Son puppet who Jesus explains refuses to forgive his wayward brother. With a bit of his own magic, Fr. Koeder shows Don Bosco on both sides of the curtain: Don Bosco the engaging teacher/entertainer and Don Bosco the father caring for the children.

While one child enjoys a cookie apparently a gift from Don Bosco another young man who seems frightened by what he sees and is comforted by his gentle but strong hand. At the same time a young lady looks on with happy astonishment at the prospect of forgiveness.Seemingly out of place is this round-faced aboriginal child from the Salesian mission in the of plains of Argentina where Don Bosco sent the first Salesian Missionaries in 1878.

Today the Salesians of Don Bosco number over 15,900 and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians number over 14,600 and the Salesian Cooperators number 24,100. The Salesian Family today incorporates serve in 130 countries. Like Don Bosco our approach to ministry and evangelization is passionate and creative.

As authentic disciples and zealous apostles we bring the Gospel to the young.

22

i first met Sean Devereux in May 1982. I was working in Liberia and during a short

holiday I visited Salesian College, Farnborough, to talk to the sixth grade. I must have spoken well, because at the end of my talk, Sean, who was the student body president, said he was planning a year off before heading off to university, and he would like to join me in Liberia. My advice was that he should get some qualification and experience first.

After studying at Birmingham and Exeter Universities, and teaching at our Salesian School in Chertsey, he volunteered again in 1988. Once he was accepted, he asked if he could possibly go up to the interior mission in Tappita, where he thought there was more need. I remember him as being the life and soul of the party, joining in the fun and games, especially where children were involved. His energy was boundless. “He had a great love of children and was in the forefront of organizing games for those he was helping,” remarked Tim Jones, correspondent for ‘The Times’ newspaper. He liked to dress up in top hat and tails and do a crazy conjuring trick, much to the delight of the African children, who gathered around like moths to a flame. Mike Emery, his no nonsense Australian friend who he met in Monrovia in 1990, recalls how a four-year-old and six-year-old used to walk for miles and cross six check-points just to hang out with him, then trek back home again at the end of the day. As Mark Thomas, UNICEF spokesman said, “The children loved him very much, he

Fruit of Don Bosco’s Mission

was a real friend in Somalia.”

Who, but Sean, would have thought of converting a fleet of United Nations food trucks into mobile Christmas grottos? In his own words, “With my workmates, we were clad in our silly Father Christmas uniforms, whirling around the city, bringing presents and food to the various hospitals and orphanages. One has to keep sane!” One time he was thrown in jail by one of the

warlords. He was trying to obtain the release of a child soldier. He loved to tell how the jailer asked him why he had been put there. Sean replied, “I don’t know.” But the jailer insisted, “I’ve got to put something down, otherwise they will shoot me.” So Sean said, “Just put pending.” He overheard another soldier ask the jailer what the newcomer was in jail for, to which the jailer replied, “Oh, it must be something very serious. He’s been pending.” The boy

sean devereux

23

was eventually released through Sean’s persistence, but only after two more weeks.

Compassion was something second nature to Sean. Not only could he not bear seeing people suffer, but if there was a way of helping anyone, he would try whatever was possible. He liked to see smiles on people’s faces. I remember, as he was about to leave Liberia, he wanted to fulfill one duty he had been unable to carry out earlier. There were three places where he had buried the remains of some of the innocent people killed in the civil war. He was upset that the families of these people had not been able to be there to pay respect to their relatives, who had needlessly died. He enlisted the help of his friend Mike Emery, and a group of young boys who had been child-soldiers; they put up notices, and asked me to pray that these tragedies to civilians would never happen again.

Courage was something that seemed to come naturally to Sean. This, it was obvious, had been instilled in him from his earliest years. “If there’s something wrong,” his father had said, “you must have the courage to say so.” He was in tears on one occasion, finding out that some of his former pupils had been killed in the Liberian war, voicing his outrage with the words, “To use children as warriors, that’s really evil.” It is estimated that during the Liberian civil war 15,000 children were warriors. While in Somalia, he organized a football tournament, which attracted 2000 fighters who lay down their arms for its

duration. He publicly condemned the warlords in Somalia, but he was not blind to those who had armed them, condemning the production and delivery of weapons to that country. I wonder what Sean would be saying if he were alive today, when UK arms sales to Africa have risen fourfold since 1999, an estimated £200,000 for this year. Moreover the UK gives £760 million of export subsidies to the arms trade, which would provide 100 schools or 10 hospitals in this country, let alone Africa.

It takes courage to stand up to anyone cheating or taking unfair advantage over others. He was expelled from one county in Guinea, where he was a Food Monitor with Liberian refugees. In his own words, “Human beings have an enormous capacity for evil. I caught the chief of customs stealing refugee rice and decided to ask why.” This was in reference to what he had witnessed when 6500 refugees from Liberia arrived in Guinea. They had travelled for nine days and were made to wait for a further four days without food and water. He saw soldiers and police on top of containers passing tap water in 10 liter bottles in exchange for US $10. “Their desperation was deliberately exploited to the full,” he commented. “I hate it, I suppress my anger, then I do everything legally possible to change it, and I find ways of beating the system.”

Service to others is embodied in his now well-known motto, “While my heart beats, I have to do what I think I can do, and that is to help

those who are less fortunate.”

The editorial in ‘The Inquirer’ newspaper in Liberia, a couple of days after Sean Devereux was killed in Somalia in 1993, had this to say: “Africa, it seems, has a way of biting the hand that feeds it. Sean Devereux had to fight his way through rebel checkpoints to get relief food to the people of Zwedru; he endeared himself to the youth of Monrovia when he organized the ‘Peace and Unity Race’ for about 10,000 people in early 1992. He was the organizer of the Special Emergency Life Food program for 750,000 people in Monrovia. So we can see that he was not a behind-the-desk relief worker. He served humanity by putting life into whatever he did. He accomplished his aims by building monuments into the hearts of those he served. Some day a monument will be built to all those who struggled to revive sanity in our society, and the names of the five Nuns who were killed and Sean Devereux will top the list.”

How appropriate the words of the former UN Secretary General, Dr Boutrus-Boutrus-Ghali: “In adverse and often dangerous circumstances, Sean showed complete dedication to his work. His colleagues admired his energy, his courage and his compassion. Sean was an exemplary staff member and gave his life serving others, in the true spirit of the United Nations. Sean was a real soldier of peace.”

What a vocation!

By Fr. Joe Brown SDB

Salesians of Don Bosco UK

24

This coming

September, Don

Bosco comes

to California!

September 12-13 San Francisco

September 14 Richmond

September 14-15 Watsonville

September 15-16 Los Angeles

September 16-17 Rosemead

September 17-18 Bellflower

For more information go to www.donbosco2010.org

Pilgrimage ScheduleIn the tradition of pilgrimage, the relics of St. John Bosco are being carried into the towns and villages, neighborhoods and centers where the Gospel is announced among the young today. This pilgrimage journey through 130 nations has begun on January 31, 2009 and prepares for the 200th anniversary of Don Bosco’s birth on August 16, 2015.

Don Bosco

Traveling With

the Young

of California

DON BOSCO RELIC

25

http://www.salesianlaymissioners.org

The Salesian Lay Missioner (SLM) program traces its roots back to 1981, when Fr. Dominic DeBlase, SDB asked Fr. A. Joseph Louis, SDB to study the feasibility of beginning a lay volunteer program to help the Salesians in their various works throughout the world. The idea was to have lay people work alongside Salesians teaching in their schools, oratories, youth centers, and orphanages. Several international site visits, various interviews, and two years later, Fr. Louis sent out the first SLM to Colombia to work with the street children.

Since that time, more than 350 men and women have been sent to over 20 countries to work on projects ranging from youth ministry to agriculture and nursing.

Each year the SLM program expands to serve more of the world’s underprivileged youth. As times change, so do the needs and the site placements. We are asked by Salesian communities on a yearly basis to send volunteers to places all over the world: from the jungles of Papua New Guinea to the frozen lands of Mongolia.

And each year we carefully look at the sites to see where the most needs are.

26

Roc

k Yo

uth

Pov

ert

yPoverty, hardship and hunger are nothing new, not least for young people. As we continue in this new millennium, there are still so many young people in poverty, both material and spiritual, even in the United States, but especially in other parts of the world – those largely untouched by the progress we know in our continent. It is the privilege of the Salesians founded by Don Bosco to continue his work for young people who are poor, wherever they may be. Today, over a billion people struggle to survive on less than one dollar a day. Every three seconds somewhere a child dies of preventable causes. Almost 30,000 children are lost each day to the effects of poverty. The health of our world community is threatened by HIV/AIDS, malaria and maternal and child mortality. The future of world community depends on access to good education for all of our children. The time has come for us to bring the full weight of our moral convictions to bear on behalf of the poor and the voiceless. The needless suffering of one billion of our brothers and sisters—at a time when a few others are enjoying the benefits of unprecedented levels of prosperity—is an affront to our core beliefs.

Through the intercession of St. John Bosco, let us, as one vast movement of people—a new generation of youth advocates—commit ourselves to end youth poverty in our world!

Join us as we ROCK OUT YOUTH POVERTY!

SAVE THE DATE

When:

Sunday January 30, 2011

Where:

St. Joseph Salesian Youth Re-

newal Center

8301 Arroyo Drive, Rosemead CA

Más de 200 millones de jóvenes en todo el mundo viven con menos de un dólar al día, 130 millones son analfabetos, 88 millones están desempleados y más de diez millones son portadores del VIH.

Unete en solidaridad contra la pobreza juvenil!

Cuando:

Domingo, 31 enero 2011

Donde:

St. Joseph Salesian Youth Re-

newal Center

8301 Arroyo Drive, Rosemead CA

Rock Youth Poverty

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Roc

k Y

ou

th

Pov

ert

y