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Provincial Circular
Dear Confreres,
Cordial greetings to each one of you in the Lord. We are going to celebrate the joyful Solemnity of Easter after an earnest preparation during this season of Lent. I wish that all of us may place ourselves in an attitude of pilgrimage towards the Fullness of life experienced by Jesus in his Death - Resurrection journey.
All Commissions & Departments Meeting
We had the All Commissions and Departments meeting on March 11 to evaluate the activities of the various Commissions and Departments of this year and to plan for the activities of the coming academic year. The central theme of the Youth Pastoral Plan for the coming academic year is: “Bringing the Gospel to the young”. The details of the Youth Pastoral Plan are sent along with this circular. May I request all the communities and Departments to keep in focus the Youth Pastoral Theme of the year and accordingly plan the activities for the youngsters at the local and departmental level.
The gift of new deacons
Our Province has been blessed with eleven deacons this year. While Cl. Arockia Selvakumar, Cl. Henry Dominic, Cl. John Kennedy Irudayam, Cl. Martin Joseph, Cl. Selva Durai and Cl. Simonraj Savarimuthu were ordained deacons on March 19 in Kristu Jyothi College, Bangalore, Cl. Barnabas John, Cl. Bernatsha Dominic, Cl. Florence Eugene, Cl. Jeyakumar Stanley and Cl. Savariarpitchai Jeyaseelan were ordained deacons on March 25 in Tiruchy. I thank the Rector and the Staff of Kristu Jyothi College, Bangalore and the Rector, and community of DB Kallukuzy, for organizing the diaconate ceremony beautifully. We are grateful to Archbishop Bernard Moras and Bishop Antony Devotta for ordaining our brothers to be deacons.
SPCSA Meeting
We willbe having the next meeting of SPCSA Council in Colombo from April 9 to 12. There will be a meeting among the Provincials and the Regional in the first two days and there will be animation by the Rector Major and his Vicar in the last two days. It is a nice occasion to pray for the confreres and the mission of the Vice-Province of Sri Lanka.
Annual Retreats
The finalized list of the participants of the annual retreats will be sent to you shortly. We have been invited to rediscover our basic vocation as the disciples of the Lord. The annual retreat is a period of grace to go deeper into our vocation as disciples to experience deeper intimacy, closeness and bonding with the Lord in order to be loving brothers in the community and committed apostles in our various apostolic services. Kindly make sure to participate in the Province retreat according to the indications already given.
Contribution for the Solidarity Fund
May I request the Leaders of the communities to send the money saved through the Lenten penance to the Provincial Economer by April 24, so that the amount could be sent at the earliest to the Rector Major’s Solidarity Fund.
For Community reflection:
CONSECRATED FOR NEW LIFE
I have chosen this theme for our reflection during this month due to a number of reasons. The Strenna of the year invites us to a deeper reflection on our basic vocation to be disciples and apostles. During the Leader’s meet, there was a proposal to facilitate a deeper reflection on the various aspects of our religious life during this year. The celebration of Easter during this month is an occasion to reflect on the newness of life brought by the Risen Christ. In the midst of our hectic work and varied apostolic commitments of educational, pastoral and social nature, we may forget the essential dimension of our life, namely, we are consecrated for radiating the new life of the Risen Christ. This theme can be analyzed under two aspects:
1. Consecrated for new life
At the root of our consecration, there is a firm belief that God enters into our life and takes possession of us. Vita Consecrata explains clearly the nature of consecration: “In the image of Jesus, the beloved Son whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, those whom God calls to follow him are also consecrated and sent into the world to imitate his example and continue his mission.” (n. 72) Fr. Juan Vecchi explicitates this idea by stating: “Consecration does not consist principally in a decree, a collection of external signs, a social state or separation from the world. It consists first and foremost in the fact that God has entered into the existence of a person and taken the first place there; he abides there and makes that person his partner, conversing with him.” (Called to be Shepherds, p. 31) This means that God has entered into the life of each one of us in a unique manner, creating in us an attraction or fascination for him, similar to the experience of Prophet Jeremiah: “You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced by you.” (Jer. 20, 7)
Art. 3 of our Constitutions stresses the Salesian dimension of consecration: “We live as the disciples of the Lord by the grace of the Father, who consecrates us through the gift of his Spirit and sends us out to be apostles of the young.” Consecration is an action of the Divine, which reveals the gift that God wants to make of himself to us as an expression of his special predilection for us. It is a covenantal love that embraces every aspect and moment of our life. The same article expresses this idea beautifully: “Our apostolic mission, our fraternal community and the practice of the evangelical counsels are the inseparable elements of our consecration which we live in a single movement of love towards God and towards our brothers.” In short, the Salesian religious consecration reveals the unity of our whole existence, namely, the various aspects of our life and our basic orientation.
The Resurrection of Christ has brought new life to all his believers and in particular, to those who are called to follow him more intimately in consecrated life. The basis of new life is our unshakeable conviction that God loves us (cf. 1 Jn. 4:16) and has adopted us as his children in Christ and the Spirit. We have been given the right to cry out “Abba, Father” (cf. Gal. 4:4-7) through the Holy Spirit given to us by Jesus. Hence, our consecrated life is to live freely and joyfully in the knowledge that we are loved, protected and guided by our Heavenly Father. Through the gift of this Holy Spirit we are given the gift of communion in the Trinitarian love.
The fact of enjoying new life in Christ has its consequences for our life:
1. The meaning of our life is manifested by living His new life in us truly and heroically: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away behold all things become new." (2 Cor. 5:17); "I am crucified with Christ. I no longer live but Christ lives in me, the life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20). In short, our witnessing life has to be in a process of growing in the likeness of His Resurrection by shedding constantly our old nature. (cf. Rom. 6:5). Living the new life in Christ makes it demands: Our life has to become a total self-gift to God, without reserving anything for ourselves. Since our vocation is meant to respond to the love of God with the whole of our lives, we willingly embrace change, both ordinary and radical. It involves a letting go of the old manner of living, characterized by self-reliance, self-direction and selfishness and an embracing of a new way of life, distinguished by a serene and joyful reliance on God, openness to his will and generosity in service.
2. The new life in Christ draws us to a life of communion with all those who have been touched and transformed by the love of Christ. We can speak of ecclesial communion among all the believers in the Church, religious communion among those bound by a particular charism and secular communion among all those who search for God in their life. In other words, new life in Christ demands new quality in relationship among the followers and in a particular way among the consecrated persons as “brothers bound by fellowship’. It cannot be the old relationship marked by competition, putting down or outdoing the others etc.
3. The new life in Christ calls us to a life of happinessand joy (beatitude). St. Paul expresses it beautifully: “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: rejoice!” (Phil. 4: 4) It is a fruit of the abundant life that the Lord wants to give us and we manifest it by our generosity and faithfulness in service. It is also the expression of the holiness that we strive to live and witness it in the daily events of our life.
2. Consecrated to give new life
We are consecrated by God, not only to experience the new life of the Risen Christ in our lives, but also to communicate it to those who are in situations of ‘death and non-life’. In particular, we have been consecrated to give new life to the youngsters living on the margins of the society as non-entities, without recognition and without possibilities.
When we look at the world of the young, we realize that they are looking for a life of quality, a life that can give them meaning, purpose and fruitfulness. They want to build their lives based on self-esteem and positive acceptance. In short, the young are in a process of search for the meaning of life, a meaning that they would like to discover by themselves, using their own freedom, judgment and experience. It is in this context of confusion and search for meaning to their questions, the Emmaus episode remains a meaningful paradigm for Salesian youth ministry. The Risen Christ teaches us how to walk with the young, listen to their problems empathetically and attentively and enable them to discover meaning in their search for fuller life. Our youth ministry based on the model of the Risen Christ must give life, love and hopeto the youngsters in our settings and in the neighbourhood. We are consecrated for this and the celebration of Easter gives us this special impetus in our ministry to the poor youngsters.
1. We are called to give life:
Life generates life. The new life given by the Risen Christ must generate life and newness in life. Our own ministry must aim at the non-life situations of the young and generate life where there is apparently no life. This new life must create enthusiasm in the youngsters to have a new outlook or perspective on their life. This gradually must lead to a greater bonding and fellowship to experience and share life. It must lead to a creation of a movement in favour of life and against non-life situations of injustice, enslavement, selfishness etc.
2. We are called to give love:
Love is experienced in concrete by sharing. “Come and have breakfast” (Jn. 21:12) is an invitation of the Risen Christ. It was an expression of his love and concern. Love is concretely expressed by sharing and this in turn, leads to communion. According to our Founder’s teaching, we are called to love what the young love. This is a Salesian way of living the new life of the Risen Christ and leading the young in the path of love.
3. We are called to give hope:
Another aspect of the new life of the Risen Christ is his assurance: “Do not be afraid” (Mt. 28:5), “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20). The Resurrection of Christ gives us the confidence that we can hope against hope in any situation of life, even if it is humanly impossible. Discouragement or despair is a sign of death or death-situation. On the contrary, to hope and give hope is a sign of our unshakeable faith in the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst. Our Founder used to say: “In time of fatigue and suffering do not forget that we have a great reward prepared for us in heaven.” We need to look at the young with hope and not with an attitude of lamentation and give hope in their growth process for a meaningful life and future.
As I conclude, let me wish each and every one of you a Happy Feast of Easter! May the celebration of the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday enable all of us to deepen our Christ experience, so that we can communicate to the young a personal and lived experience. This will enable the young to look at their life from the perspective of the new life ushered in by the Resurrection of Christ.
Assuring you of my fraternal and prayerful remembrance,
