Don Bosco: The Founder

Published another of Fr Lens' works on Lulu today.
Don Bosco: The Founder

Fr Lens' b'day is fast approaching (October 5) and he is excited and frightened too... why wouldn't he, after all it is his 89th b'day!!!

Long live Fr Lens! Long live Don Bosco!!

Passion and determination

The liturgical significance of the day is an interesting one. On the one hand today is the feast of St Jerome, the one who made the Bible available to a wider group and on the other hand, the first reading of the day we see Nehemiah asking his king to provide him with whatever necessary for him to rebuild the city of his ancestors. Just compare these two instances and you see that they both did what they felt was a great need of the times with the little they had. Jerome had his dark cave and candlelight... no electricity, computer, printer, internet, press and all that we today demand to get something ready! Nehemiah only had his desire and the good will of his king. And with that he set out to do what was closest to his heart.

Good lesson in making good use of what is at hand than craving and demanding for more... what is basically needed is the passion to get going and the determination to see it done!

Deepening oneself and reaching out

The two days I spent in Kurnool with the candidates of the 7 congregations who gathered there for a two day animation programme were good. It was a good experience for me to get back some of my communication methodologies and techniques. It was also a good challenge for me to give them something. Only when I began that I remembered that it was the 'Joy of giving week' and it was good to get the 50 girls to commit themselves to help out someone for each day of the week, as a start. That was my contribution to commence my week!

Furthermore, for once I felt that maybe when you challenge people to go beyond themselves in order to reach out to others, we naturally deepen our own selves. I was so far convinced that only when we deepen ourselves can we reach out to others. Today I feel, perhaps, it is a simultaneous process - deepening oneself and reaching out.

Terms of life...

Lesson for today:
The happiest people are not those who live on their own terms, but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love.

Sensitivity and openness in prayer

Yesterday evening on my way from Wyra back to the Provincial house I happened to notice that the young girl sitting in the front row of the bus would occasionally pull out a notebook and keep writing the name 'Sri Ram' over and over again. Apparently she was a Hindu and doing this exercise, for some special favour. I said to myself, if only she had better sense, she would have spent that time and energy doing some good rather than writing and rewriting the same word. I felt it so odd that she was doing the same act - which for all purposes was a useless one - over and over again, apparently for some selfish gain!

I forgot all about this till a while later when I began reciting my rosary. Just when I was half way through the second decade, my eyes fell on the girl's notebook and I was so struck I could not utter another word. Having said all that about the girl and her act, here I was doing a similar deed - repeating the 'Hail Mary' over and over again! How was my act different from hers? I was so ashamed of myself that I was not able to be sensitive to another persons' prayer; I hardly had enough peace of mind to complete my rosary!

So much for finding real meaning and being sensible enough to see the same in others words and deeds.

Living what we aspire for

A thought from Fr MC George's goodnight:
Live as though we already have that what we want most in life.
We really want vocations, we live and work as though we have lots of them.
We desperately need success in our endeavours, live as though we are already successful.
Want to be respected, give and live a respected life.
Need money badly, live as though you have it already.

Well, that's some thought... to live what we aspire for even before we have it!!

Sharing and enlarging the family

One of the main problems why we Salesians find it difficult to find collaborators for our efforts is perhaps our 'me-and-MY JOB' attitude. We hardly make known to others, especially and specifically to our beneficiaries, our works. We run a school but hardly do any of our children or their parents know that we also work for children on the street, the juveniles, the school drop-outs, ... Our Parishioners only get good and holy sermons about the 'Kingdom of heaven', not much about how it is already being unfolded in our boardings, youth centres, technical schools, street children homes, counselling centres... !

Conclusion, we slog today, tomorrow and here after - all by ourselves! Worse still, when students pass out of our institutions, they have little or no sense of social responsibility, even though we taught them, we paid their fees, we bought their uniforms, we provided them with the best of education!! But imagine if we were to involve all those whom we interact with in our daily mission, introduce them to OUR work (not merely my work)... Some ideas that cropped up in my mind today as I listened to Fr MC George I put down here:

• take boys/parishioners to our other Salesian centres for a day of outing.
• while preparing souvenirs, brochures and booklets, include a small note about the other works we do.
• invite young people for a retreat or day of recollection in our formation houses (when the formees are there, not when they are gone for holidays!).
• get our own friends to speak to our aspirants - anything!
  
• get street children into our 'mainstream' schools.
  
• involve high school children in organising camps for the less-privileged children.

I need to speak about my family - after all, the one working in the boarding or parish or street children centre, or the mission station is my brother, my confrere! And if my extended family starts working together (each one in their own way), ah... now that's going to be something grand! I won't have to carry Don Bosco or Christ alone!!

"Return" to Don Bosco

I'm just back from a community where boys after their first semester of Salesiana were given a test/quiz. Here are some of their answers ...

• Castelnuovo: Capital of Turin.
• Dominic Savio's prayer: Strike me dead if I am about sin.
• Dominic Savio: a good man
• Oratory: place where they dives divides into sodalities.
• Oratory: they used to change places from one place to another place.
• Penance of Dominic Savio: by putting stones in his shoes under the bed.
• When did Fr Alasonatti join Don Bosco? A year ago.
• St Martin of Mills: Place requested by Don Bosco as cemetry for his boys.
• Pinardi Shed: It was rented by the Philippi Brothers.
• Rosimini House: It was a place of St Peter Chains.
• Condition in the oratory: not so active or enthusiastic due to various reasons
• Convitto Ecclesiastico: where Don Bosco did his secondary schooling.

With such answers, there sure is no return to Don Bosco!!!
However, boys will be boys!! I'm sure Don Bosco himself is laughing away!

Faith, Hope and Charity: Vehicle recovered!

Exactly 10 days ago, our four-wheeler was stolen. People kept asking me if there was any news about the vehicle ever since. I really had no hopes, whatsoever. I was only striving for the insurance money! Today evening the Police called me to say that they secured the vehicle. Of course, in their own shady style, no one was apprehended! But it was a good experience spending 7 hrs in the police station, listening to their vague description of how they traced the stolen vehicle - in fact they never told me anything worthwhile! Even otherwise it was worth an experience chatting with them, listening to their interrogation style, their sharp lookout for the DCP (who happened to arrive just as we reached for an inspection), their "respect" for the higher ups, their documentation procedures and of course, when there was no one else in the room, there were the mice running all along the walls of the narrow rooms. Goes without saying that I had to grease their palms too. In Maliekal's language it would be: They ask without asking! Well at the end of the day (now it is already morning), the vehicle is back in our garage: perfectly intact except for the number plates and the side stickers!

Ultimately today it was a triumph of Venkat's (our driver) faith, my hope that they would release the vehicle today and perfect "charity" for the policemen! Praise be to God!

Being 'rich'

I've always felt embarrassed when known people approach me for money. Besides the facts that I do not feel at ease dealing with money - that too not mine - and that such 'charity' always mars one's relationship, I feel there is something more important to this act. People in need - of anything - will naturally approach those whom they feel will surely help them or are capable of helping them with what they cannot manage by themselves. So if I am in need of money, I will surely not approach someone who is more miserable than me. When I need some advice regarding a job or task at hand, I will contact someone in that line, not anyone! Keeping this in mind, it is good to sit back, reflect and see why and who approach me for help - and for what sort of help. Besides their trust in me, I also feel, they look at me as one who has/is that one who would help them. I got to be 'rich' in that field to give them what they ask for. May be this is the reason, why people approach us religious and Priests for monetary help, more often than for spiritual help... perhaps they see us 'rich' in finance than in spiritual wares.