Salesian priorities

 I came across this beautiful description of the shift in our Salesian approach towards young people, in the last General Chapter GC 28, p. 38 (AGC 433): 

We do not doubt this truth of the young people themselves, a truth we recognised at the same time in the Chapter hall: “They ask us for time and we give them space; they ask us for relationships and we provide them with services; they ask us for fraternal life and we offer them structures; they ask us for friendship and we provide activities for them. All this commits us to rediscovering the riches and potential of the ‘family spirit’”.[CG28, Priority of the Salesian mission among today’s young people. First nucleus, no.5]

I think this para exactly sums up what we should be focusing on (spending time, building relationships, developing friendships...), rather than what we are presently engaged in (creating spaces where we Salesians are missing, offering services, structures, and activities). 

Return to Don Bosco

The work of the reformation is not to go back to where our predecessors were, but to persevere on to where they were going. 

We had a couple of General Chapters and other significant reflections around the slogan, 'Return to Don Bosco'. I don't claim to have read them all or understood all of the little that I read! However, I wonder if the above quote found in the introduction to the book of Paul Tillich, The Courage to be (p. xxviii-xxix) would mean something for us too. As Salesians we look up not just to Don Bosco, but to all those Salesians who have lived after him.  As citizens, we may recall to mind all our freedom fighters, leaders, early sages and wise men who made a dent in the passage of time. 

Our predecessors were not backward looking adventurers. They were looking to the future; daring to risk, relying on their present. They wanted to be where we are (hopefully, if we got them right!). If they were mere conformists or simple blokes trying to live the ordinary, we wouldn't be here, least of all have this discussion. They were guided more by faith, or intuition (in non-religious terms), than by pure reason or context. They felt the urge, the itch to do more than what was otherwise universally considered 'enough'. Their aim was to do, to be, better. Looking back to them we draw inspiration from them, seek their courage, place ourselves in their ready-to-journey boots; not merely do what they did, repeat their formulas, study them in isolation from their times, imitate them, …

What kind of a Salesian?

The forthcoming General Chapter has as its main theme, 'What kind of a Salesian do young people look up to?' or something similar.  The basic notion is to define or redefine the identity of the Salesian for the present times. 

At times I wonder if we will actually say anything new or different from what has already been said - if not in the distant past, at least in the past one or two chapters.  My feeling wells up from my own dilemma to formulate what kind of a person do I want to form (help form) as a formator?  Having lived here in the UK for almost two years now, I certainly need to have a totally different structure or format.  Thinking of the Indian context it is a different kind of perspective that I need to adopt.  To be blunt, a Salesian formed here in the UK will never really be able to live and work in the Indian context to the best of his abilities.  The same is true of one formed in India, out working here. While some basic information and historical origin remains the same, the way the Salesian lives out his vocation will be entirely different.

On second thought, perhaps it is not identity as such but the way the identity is lived or expressed will be different. So the actual working out of that expression is a task of the individual context, province, and ultimately of the individual.  The congregation as a whole cannot really define it for all across the globe!  What I do hope is that the Chapter will help us revise the consciousness of our core identity: as consecrated persons journeying towards the Kingdom, especially with the marginalised young.  It will be interesting to see if there is anything else or different that is enumerated about our core identity.  

GC 27 summed up at Chertsey

As part of his personal reflection on the GC 27 and the plan of the Rector Major for the present sessenium and in view of our community plan, Fr Marco came up with the following neat presentation.  

He put this up as the notice board just outside the community Chapel.  It basically sums up the three dimensions (mystics in the spirit, prophets of fraternity and servants of the young) of the GC 27 in the context of our Chertsey community. 

Chinks in our formation

The final document of our recently concluded General Chapter 27, speaks at different points about formation too.  Mostly it points to perhaps the greatest of lacunae in our formation paradigm:  disjoint between the formation process/procedure and the ground reality.  Now I believe it is not that the ground reality is correct and the formation procedure not living up to it.  But the fact is that the is some disconnect between the two.

So I ask myself, what is that which is missing?  Why isn't formation able to ignite the passion or atleast sustain the passion with which a youngster enters the congregation?  Why is it that confreres by the time they make their first renewal of vows or first year of Practical Training appear to be "arrived confreres" rather than formed confreres?

One evident reason is that formation is considered as another education, one of the many forms of education - or 'study' - doled out in our country (wrongly though). There is no owning up of the formation process, much less taking up of responsibility for ones own vocation.  This need not be the case merely among formees, it could be among formators themselves!

Another reason could be that under the name of religious discipline we tend to make the formees comply to our words rather than encourage independent, out of the box, or creative thinking.  This, in the long run, leads us to produce SDBs who are formed merely to run our institutions, not necessarily men capable of carrying out a mission, with a keen eye on the changing signs of the times and circumstances - much less, adapt according to them.  

Anyone better than me?

I took up the General Chapter 27 document for reading this morning.  I took my own time to read it well.  Right in the first section itself something that struck me was the 'concern' about symptoms of self-referentiality whereby we do not go out of ourselves to be open to the demands of God and go out to encounter others.  This can be seen in our lack of updating, reference to a stable spiritual director and 'do it yourself' spirituality.

Now that's something!  Perhaps it is the other extreme of the mean called independence and self-mastery.  So I did a simple exercise on myself.  I asked myself this question: Who is better than me, around here? Frankly speaking it was a mere act of accessing my degree of humility, but all the same if I said to myself, if I can speak of somebody as inspirational and can even have the courage to tell that person that you inspire me for this and this, then I think I'm still on the right track. But if I have a great difficulty in recognizing the virtues that surround me, here and now, then I would be like a peacock strutting myself around, foolishly convinced that I'm the best.  This would also explain why I would not approach anyone to be my regular spiritual director. 

Radical Witness

Now that the GC 27 is over, I can this: perhaps the theme of radical witness was eclipsed by the elections. However, I have nothing against that, for as I said long time ago, radical living is not something done as a result of a meeting or Chapter but a personal conviction that I am willing to live out.  The meeting or Chapter at the most can facilitate it or act as a trigger.  So therefore, I'm still willing to give the Chapter a chance (after all, I've not really read the content, but merely followed 'news').

So when I read the homily of Fr Bregolin to the South Asian group, about what truly the word 'radical' means, I was quite happy.  He said that radical could refer to the origin or the root (in a static sense) or mean a point of departure, arising from the original and deep motivation - the ground - that drives a person to make appropriate choices here and now (that's the dynamic sense). He or she knows the motivation for doing something, and it is a motivation that has been purified of contradictory, less pure, especially self-referential, inclinations.  One is convinced, drawn to and provoked by it.  It is something embraced with all ones' heart, mind and strength.  Whoever is radical would harmonize both the static (one's identity) and the dynamic (what one does) as well!

[Original text found here]

Radical Witness

Did Jesus purposely meddle with the social order of the day?  In other words, did He have an option - and perhaps not utilize it - wherein He could speak of the Kingdom without upsetting the prevalent state of affairs?  Or is it that He just had to?  He could have been very 'Churchy' about His way of going about and thereby not stirred any nest, leave alone the hornet's nest!  He could have very well sung a beautiful sober melody, without stirring any chords... just a soft lullaby.  Or was His aim, only spiritual renewal and the ensuing social disorder a 'collateral damage'?

I don't think so.  I believe His message was a whole package and not some neatly decorated gift to one aspect of life.  It was a stinger!  What then is the power of my message - if at all, I have one?

We Salesians are beginning our 27th General Chapter soon in Rome and I hope at that level we make some policy decisions which will promote a culture of radical gospel witness. I really don't expect the Congregation to be radical... only individuals can. The rest, as they say, will follow suit. 

Gospel, preaching and life

Last night I purposely stayed at home rather than attend the Easter Vigil service which I knew would only be prolonged unnecessarily by a long winding sermon with no head or tail but a string of words.  Most of the preachers try to impress rather than effect a change for good.  Rather than lead one to take stock of things and take upon oneself the onus of change, most often the preaching is aimed at 'instant conversion from all things evil' - something that is barely possible and even if it does happen, does not last long.

Secondly I earnestly pray that we shift our sermons outside the Church... live it rather than blast it! In this connection I sincerely look forward to the newly announced General Chapter of the Salesians (GC 27) which has its theme: A radical Gospel-informed lifestyle.