DMA Magazine – WORDS AND GESTURES OF CLOSENESS (September – October 2014)

Editorial

Closeness The proposed reflection for this year’s magazine on the words ad gestures applied to Pope Francis brings out one of his characteristic traits that people of every faith and culture today catch immediately: closeness, that extraordinary capacity to make oneself felt at the side of every person. Countless persons see in Pope Francis a friendly presence, and consider him almost a member of their families.

They want to be near to him, hear him, and meet him even if only for a brief time, such as the Sunday appointment of the Angelus.

It is a profound experience that touches especially those who are simple, poor, and the people who come from the outskirts.

The General Chapter that will be celebrated soon invites the participants gathered in Rome, representing the whole Institute, to begin precisely from this dimension of human experience, a place of closeness and proximity. In the Working Document guiding the Chapter journey, one of the basic proposals begins with the focus: “Hope comes from the outskirts”. The outskirts are not a geographic place, but rather one that is existential, where one lives profound human experiences of suffering and injustice, ignorance and religious indifference, every form of limitation, even of thought. As in the experience of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, our communities also, in different and complementary ways, are inserted into the geographic and existential “outskirts”. There it is possible to listen to the cry and yearning for hope and joy, by being in the midst of the people, on the

playgrounds, and in the classrooms with the students, with the young people in cities or on the “highways of the digital world”, with young women wherever they are building evangelical citizenship (Cf nn 8.17). It will be the outskirts that become the privileged places of evangelization!

Taking up the significance of this insight the DMA dossier helps us to see that the marginalized, the useless, those who do not produce , but require attention, care, acceptance that are put aside-young and old, migrants and invalids, minorities and those in precarious situations-pay a price each day, the high price of the right to their own dignity. “They are the secret pillars of the world and of history!”

Which way will we know how to travel to be at the side of these, the least, and live closeness in our communities?

Which attitudes must we assume so as not to “reject” anyone, or to be indifferent even in our own settings?

Which journey shall we take so that our lives and those of our communities are a living Gospel?

We are always challenged to question ourselves on these questions, and especially, to measure our coherence and our witness in daily choices.

gteruggi@cgfma.org

DOSSIER Words and Gestures of Closeness Maria Antonia Chinello

Pope Francis has filled our life, that of the Church, and of the world with himself. He has been written about and spoken of. His message, simple yet demanding, subdued yet disruptive, has upset more than one parameter, has placed more than one conscience in discussion, and has unmasked more than one “rigid thinker who is always right or do- gooders”.

Pope Francis has published an Encyclical and an Apostolic Exhortation, sent letters, pronounced messages, held discourses, presided over liturgical celebrations.

Above all, day after day he has written an encyclical through his gestures, extended time with his audiences, with a new style of pastoral visits to the parishes, with blessings for invalids and the sick, listening to the immigrants, and hugging children, shaking hands, and embracing the poor, posing with young people in a selfie… The things that he does tell us what he is.

Words such as mercy and forgiveness are translated into gestures of tenderness and closeness.

Is it outdated to speak of it? Francis has revitalized a Church with tenderness, inviting all, without exception, to be witnesses of “God’s goodness”, and of His “love for mankind (Tt3, 4), to proclaim the disruptive newness of the Gospel in all

times and places. It is an austere lifestyle that bears the imprint of God’s hand, that is expressed through a relationship with others, in the joy of being together, in the warmth of ordinary, everyday gestures, in compassion, in patience, and especially in unconditional love because: “The joy of the Gospel is for all people; it cannot exclude anyone. Just as the angel proclaimed to the shepherds at Bethlehem: Fear not, I proclaim to you a great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2, 10), EG 23).

The first step to live the human experience of closeness, to speak words and gesture of proximity and of encounter, is that of placing oneself in discussion, more precisely, allowing self to be questions by events that happen, of words and gestures that one listens to and are observed, by persons whose paths cross. It means allowing self to be struck, eventually wounded; otherwise life would be simply a “growing old”, a shell and never allow for change. One needs to have availability, awareness of self and of others, not believing that one already knows everything, not presuming that one has the right idea about everything and/or has a solution for everything.

Building windmills Becoming sensitive to the least and those who are most distant, walking in their shoes, is not always easy. The risk we run is that of categorizing, of seeking criteria that can easily provide ways of escape, keys to an equation, and thus put in order ideas,

150 million children between the ages of 5-14 years of age drop out of school every year.

One in every three women in the world is a victim of violence at the hands of their partners or as victims of sexual violence by others.

perspectives, approaches, processes, and plans.

Life experiences, whether we are young or old, clearly tell us that “that’s the way it is” does not work. Life happens not in black and white, but in thousands of colorful shadings. Without diminishing its values, it is a time of merciful, patient accompaniment of the stages of growth in others. A small step in the midst of great human limitations could be more pleasing to God than a formally correct life, one that is flawless, that spends days without facing important difficulties, without handling relational gestures, without moving an inch from one’s opinions, without making an effort to “walk in the other person’s shoes”, and to be open to a conversation, without allowing space for surprise and wonder at what is new. A Chinese proverb says: “When the winds of change blow, some build walls; others build windmills”.

Further south than the South 16% of the world population does not know how to read or write.

There are 776 million illiterate people, 67 million of which are children, especially girls between the ages of 5-9 years.

58.8% of homicides happen at the hands of husbands, fiancés, or companions. In high income countries higher rates of female homicide are reported.

Every year hundreds of thousands of women and girls are bought and sold as prostitutes or are victims of sexual slavery.

Violence against minors is an invisible, unpunished phenomenon. There are 223 million victims of sexual abuse in the world, two-thirds of which are children and girls.

Every year between 133 and 175 million children witness violent behavior between their parents.

Thousands of girls and boys are recruited by government armed forces and rebel groups.

150 million children between the ages of 514 are employed in child labor.

Some of the conflicts that are being lived in today’s world in areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia reflect the attempt to give religious justification to violence.

Fundamentalism and terrorism contaminate religion to the point of considering it no longer to be a means of peace, but of death…

The list could go on and on. It is sufficient to Google a word to have the search engine begin to look for it, and in a few seconds thousands of pages present numbers of those who are far away, the least, the forgotten, the so-called “southern part of the world”.

We often stop here. It is more difficult to take a further step, beyond the visibility of social and political movements, of denouncements, of sensitization, which would otherwise run the risk of remaining on the sidelines of the talks and places of decision. How many of these “campaigns” urge us “to roll up our sleeves”, and to act in our own part of the world in defense of and for the advancement of the poor and the least? Might it not happen that seated at your computer you tweet , posting messages and responding, you feel that you are part of the larger world to which you relate, emphasize and reiterate the ideas that “are in the air”, but then everything ends there?

The “useless”, those more “south of the South”, who do not produce but require attention, care, acceptance, and closenesswhose numbers are growing dramatically, who are set asidethe rejected, young people and the elderly, migrants and invalids, minorities and those who are insecure- each day pay a steep price for the right to their own dignity. They are the secret pillars of the world and history, and not listening to them, not getting too close means “digging a grave in which to bury mankind’s questions, and God’s answers.”

These victims of “global indifference” or of the “culture of rejection” shake us up to re-think, practically, what must change in our personal and social life, to expose our lack of coherence, and acting so that words are something more than a

simple means of relating. Freire in speaking of action and reflection said: “There is no authentic word that does not show itself in practice.

Therefore, pronouncing an authentic word means transforming the world”.

As educators we are invited to re-think our language that is often closed, emphatic, rhetorical, self-referencing, which comes into play in self-defense, distances instead of drawing close, closes rather than opens, our gestures that rarely arrive at the practicality of caring for the other person, of being attentively close, even to the point of “picking them up”, of mixing with them, meeting, supporting, participating so as to transform moments into a real experience of fraternity…

Perhaps it is in this that we find the root of the struggle to “speak” of God today, “to be” credible signs of his love. Today we listen and immediately understand that which comes to warm our hearts, what attracts attention and opens awareness.

We must not be afraid of tenderness, which is the very tenderness of God, His endless mercy, His going out to meet everyone. It is not weakness, but rather courage for the encounter, even when it is difficult, it requires attention and respect, true openness to the other person, and the capacity to look after him/her, as a “revolutionary strength”, that has its essence in drawing close to our neighbor, no matter what their condition, even if this complicates life and we run the risk of getting dirty from the mud of the road.

Madeleine Delbrêl asked herself: “My God, if you are everywhere, why am I often elsewhere?”

At Mornese and at Valdocco

At Mornese and Valdocco closeness and proximity were two words that were joined together and translated into daily life. Maria Domenica never wrote about tenderness, but she lived closeness and proximity intensely day after day. Giampiero Forcesi, Maria Pia Giudici and Mara Borsi wrote that at Mornese poverty was absolute. It was probably the cause of the excessive frailty of many of those who lived there, and therefore it happened that they were frequently ill and even died.

Actually, breakfast at the Collegio consisted of polenta and boiled chestnuts, milk and coffee were non-existent.

During a community discussion the Sisters were asked if it would not be the case to improve the meals and give everyone (Sisters, novices, postulants, and students) the possibility of having coffee and milk.

The decision they reached was a preemptory no. “Fr. Pestarino”, we read, “gave up, and persuaded Sr. Maria to wait.

But the strong, tender heart of this woman remained with those who lived there.”

Mother Enrichetta Sorbone tells us that one day “Upon leaving the chapel after Mass, that good fragrance of polenta, or pan cotto, or boiled chestnuts was a real temptation. […] Later, when we went to the dining room, especially if there were chestnuts, we felt almost a need to not eat them so as to mortify ourselves. When we managed to get away with it, sometimes we would leave in the same condition that we had gone in.

The vicar, however, had two good eyes…”

One morning she stopped Sr. Enrichetta.

“Richetta”, she asked her in a familiar way, “were the chestnuts good?” “Good and beautiful…” “Did you eat them?” “What a tasty prize for our little rascals…” “But you, I said you…did you eat them?” “No.” “Fine, since you are the most mischievous of all,

go back to the dining room and...have a good breakfast!” That’s how Sr. Maria was, she was austere and strong with herself, but had a lively and delicate motherliness for her daughters. It was this authenticity that stimulated around her a climate that was unequivocally evangelical.”

Motherliness and vigilance, care and custody, but without indulgence. Maria Domenica did not come to terms with those who would have wanted to adapt religious life to their own weaknesses.

“That’s the way it was. She understood that it was good to encourage others to be stronger, inspiring self-confidence, perhaps waiting for them to catch up,, and then going step by step…rather than pandering to attitudes that were less courageous and not too confident that would later impede one to give the best of self.”

Even at Valdocco closeness was present from the physical point of view…It is enough to look at the photos of Don Bosco in the midst of the boys of the band, while confessing, or posing…For proximity, the more the space was reduced, the more closeness was increased, i.e., the level of trust and empathy of the interaction. One can only imagine how the boys vied to have their picture taken as close as possible to Don Bosco.

While introducing the publication of the Lives of Young People by Giovanni Bosco, Aldo Giraudo analyzes some scenes in which personal conversations between Don Bosco and the protagonists were described in order to catch the characteristics of the educational relationship. Let us allow ourselves to be guided by the text.

For three boys, Domenico Savio, Michele Magone and Francesco Besucco, Don

Bosco proceeded by gradations: from awareness, the objective of the first encounter, to the description of a crisis, and finally, the overcoming of the critical time that resolved for the three young people into a passage of human and spiritual growth. At the solution of the crisis, in all three “lives” there is described the successive educational itinerary undertaken under the guidance of the educator.

Don Bosco adopts dialogue as a way to remain close to the boys and to accompany them in a formative program which, though marked by some differences given the diverse characters of Domenico, Michele, and Francesco, reveals a profound harmony : from the care of self to the attention toward others.

It is almost a closure of the formative process: education of self, allowing self to be educated, learning to educate others. In the same way it was a love of self, allowing self to be loved, and learning how to love.

In Don Bosco’s conversations with the boys there emerges a reciprocal openness and the confidence established between them.

After the curiosity of the first meeting, the conversation proceeds rapidly to the decision to accept the boys at the Oratory.

In Domenico’s case the hesitation on the part of the educator because of the delicate physical constitution of the boy was conquered by the openness of the boy to God’s grace. “Eh, it seems to be that there is good material here”, “Good material for what?” “To make a beautiful garment to give to the Lord”. “Okay, then I am the material, you are the tailor. Take me with you make this beautiful garment for the Lord” […] “Not knowing how to better express his contentment and gratitude”, said Don

Bosco, “he took my hand, squeezed it, kissed it and finally said: ’I hope to be able to behave in such a way that you will never have to complain about my conduct.’”

When Michele arrived at the Oratory he ran to meet Don Bosco: “Here I am”, he said “I am that Michele Magone whom you met at the train station in Carmagnola.” “I know everything, my boy. Have you come with good will?” Yes, yes...the good will is not missing”.

“If you have good will, I recommend that you don’t turn my house upside down!” “Oh, relax, I don’t want to displease you […] If a scoundrel…” having said this he bowed his head laughing. “Go ahead, what do you mean if a scoundrel…” “if a scoundrel could become good enough to become a priest, I would willingly do so”.

Gratitude, waiting and the desire to do well, and to do “good” : the meeting that comes “at the moment of becoming part of a community” writes Giraudo “presents the characteristics of an educational “contract”, in which the generous acceptance of the educator corresponds to the promise and commitment of the boy.”

It is a responsibility that will not fail, an attention that will not be disregarded, a glance that will not be lost. Don Bosco and other educators watched over their young people, kept their secrets of creative energy, that soon will reach summits of holiness.

God appears at the crossroads “Immersed as far as possible in the density of the world, not separated from this world by any rule, vote or habit, by any convent; poor but like people everywhere; pure, but similar to the people of any environment; obedient, but like the people of any country…Being missionaries-with or without a boat-that’s what this is all about.” In this

summary of Madeleine Delbrêl we find condensed the whole Christian message: Immerse yourself there where you are, inhabiting more deeply the Word of God pronounced on the world and for the world, God awaits us at the crossroads. It is there that we will find Him. The Gospel obliges us to an unconditional love toward every creature, to remaining in the river of daily life without avoiding any place, but maintaining that every place is suited for the encounter, because it is there that God’s will is manifested. Obedience to the events and encounters of daily life are verifiable, because it is expressed through concrete acts and not abstract concepts.

We have received from Don Bosco e Mother Mazzarello the inheritance of the “place” in which to live and manifest the faith: a community that educates and evangelizes, that “makes itself home” for young people and for anyone who needs a safe harbor. It is only in reference to others that we can question ourselves on our level of closeness and proximity, on gestures and words that mediate our “being gift” for one another. In the view of reciprocal gift the idea of profit is broken, and one turns toward having a person breathe deeply, inserting self into human communion at the height of his/her own desire.

What then, are the ways to live proximity in our communities? Which attitudes do we assume so as not to reject, not to be indifferent even in our own settings? Which way do we choose to travel so that our life

and that of our community may be a living Gospel?

A few selections from the discourse that Pope Francis held for the Brazilian bishops on the occasion of World Youth Day 2013 at Rio de Janeiro can help us to reflect, to change perspective, to once again take on the journey beginning from the “concreteness” and “awareness” of the place, of situations of the persons with whom we live.

“The difficult mystery of people that leave the Church [...] Perhaps the Church has appeared to be too weak, too far from their needs, too poor to respond to their concerns, too cold for them, too selfreferencing, prisoner of its own rigid language, perhaps the world seems to have made the Church a relic of the past, insufficient to answer the new questions.

Perhaps the Church had answers for the childhood of man, but not for the adult age”.

What are we to do before these situations?

We need a Church that is not afraid to take part in their struggle, their night. We need a Church that that able to meet them on their way. We need a Church able to take part in their conversation.

We need a Church that knows how to dialogue with those disciples who, running away from Jerusalem, not knowing where they were going, alone with their disillusion, with the delusion of a Christianity held to be sterile, infertile, unable to generate meaning […]

We need a Church capable of being a companion to us, going beyond simple listening; a Church that accompanies us along the way, placing itself on the journey with the people; a Church that is able to decipher the night contained in the flight of many brothers and sisters from Jerusalem; We need a Church capable of being a companion to us, going beyond simple listening, a Church that accompanies us along the way, placing itself on the journey with the people, a Church that is able to decipher the night contained in the flight of many brothers and sisters from Jerusalem Church that takes into account the reasons why there are people who distance themselves, but have in their hearts the reasons for a possible return, but realizes that it is necessary to look courageously at the whole picture […]

We need a Church that once again brings us warmth, and enflames hearts. We need a Church that is still capable of giving

citizenship to so many of its children who walk in exile”.

Prayer to Remain Awake (Madeleine Delbrêl) O Lord, you who continually urge us to be awake to scrutinize the dawn and to keep our shoes and slippers close at hand, grant that we do not grow drowsy in our armchairs, in the cradles in which we swing, in this piece of our world, but let us be always ready to perceive your whispering voice that continually moves through the branches of life, bringing freshness and newness.

Grant that our sleepiness does not become a couch of death, and-if necessary-give us a kick so that we may be alert, and always ready to leave anew. mac@cgfma.org

Missionary Spirituality

“When I am weak, it is then that I am strong!”

In the new world where the mission asked her to learn new languages, to face unknown worlds and cultures, even when there were bitter difficulties, Sr. Angela Vallese did not lose her composure, but succeeded in always being herself, in the unfaltering certainty that she was sustained by the love of the Father, and that she loved Him more than anything else in the world. This was the source of Sr. Angela Vallese’s “resilience”, and that of all the missionaries of the first hour!

“Resilience” is the capacity of resisting and of reacting in the face of difficulties, negative and painful events. It means knowing how to face crises, trauma, detachment, great adversities, transformations, ruptures, and challenges, and reprocessing situations within self. A resilient person is one who, after having faced a difficulty, succeeds in doing exactly as she had done before without losing her focus.

Being resilient does not mean being resistant, but it is rather counting on great inner resources, reacting positively before contradictions and apparent failure. When the situation becomes difficult, the resilient person always knows how to begin again.

with Christ for the salvation of young people” (C 22).

Sr. Angela Vallese did not know the word “resilience”, she had not studied it, but she lived it in daily life imbued with the love of God and the Gospel. It was “resilience” that led her to see the presence of God in everything, and for this reason it was impossible not to love Him in the actuality of every day, when all was lacking-even the essentials of life-because the certainty that Patagonia and the Tierra del Fuego were the “land promised to our fathers” was not lacking.

There nature and the events were the teachers of life: an arid land that did not allow for planting, which had no favorable season.

There one expected nothing more than the wind (which often blew in at 60 miles an hour), the cold, poverty and…all it consequences! In such a land, so far from everything, one needed all the patience in the world, so that life would awaken, buds would develop, branches would grow, flowers would be transformed into fruit and finally…the harvest.

“Resilience” in every season of life…

The world “resilient” does not appear in our Constitutions; they speak instead of sacrifice, asceticism, of a way of life that is sober and austere, of a family spirit that leads us to prefer the good of our sisters rather than our own, that makes us choose the most difficult part for ourselves. They speak of the mystery of the cross.

The poverty she experienced from childhood would help Angela to understand the needs of others and to overcome every trial. Often, in fact, she would have asked for help from the wealthier families of Lu, because the money she earned as a seamstress was insufficient to balance the meager budget of the house.

In the Constitutions of 1885, those which Sr. Angela Vallese professed, Don Bosco said that the FMA must be ready to ‘suffer heat, cold, thirst, hunger, fatigue, and contempt: i.e., she must be “ready to sacrifice everything in order to cooperate

When she decided to enter the Institute, she left Lu, Monferrato and walked to Borgo San Martino.

From there, accompanied by Sr. Felicina Mazzarello, she took the train to Serravalle. This was the first journey of her life. From the station to

Gavi, they traveled by horse-drawn coach. From Gavi, they went by foot until they reached Mornese.

When she left for America, she suffered detachment from her homeland, her family, from Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello. During the ocean voyage, not only Angela but all of the “inexperienced sailors” suffered seasickness.

Fr.Costamagna, who was in charge of the expedition, was always ready to give the missionaries courage and assurance. However, it was Sr. Angela’s “resilience” that would keep her on her feet to comfort her Sisters, and to continue to live on the “Savoia” that rhythm of work and prayer that they had at Mornese, dedicating particular care to the passengers from first to last class without distinction.

In her letters she would often repeat the exhortation to courage; writing to her family, Sr. Angela observed that in order to win Paradise “…the most beautiful means is that of bearing our crosses patiently, thinking that all that happens in this world is allowed by God for our good.”

Even the lethal epidemics of the indigenous people marked the life of Sr. Angela. She and the Sisters soon had to get used to burying those who were the reason for the missionary vocation ad gentes.

Toward the end of 1881, a violent typhoid epidemic saw them working in the frontline assisting the sick and dying. Sr. Angela was also forced to take to her bed because of very high fever, but as soon as she could stand, she hastened to care for the other patients, to help the Sisters and to carry out the work of the house.

In 1896 the mission of Candelaria (Cabo de Peñas), built with so much struggle and sacrifice, was destroyed by fire. Those who wanted to survive had to immediately begin to reconstruct that which had been destroyed.

So it was that everything had to be rebuilt! The cronaca tells us: “Now we find ourselves in the desert once again, without means to provide a livelihood, surrounded by a crowd of starving natives who ask us for bread and clothing, material bread and spiritual bread, and we are helpless to help them…If Providence does not come to our aid this winter, we will all die of hunger and cold”.

After the fire when they were asked if they wanted to return to Punta Arenas, the Sisters responded: “No. If God wants, we are ready to suffer any hardship rather than abandon our place.” So it was that they adapted themselves to sleeping on the ground in two little rooms that had been saved from the fire, but were half burned and had no roof.

Once autumn had passed, winter came. The Sisters were sleeping under a lean to that had been reduced in such a way that they could see the stars, and with a temperature that was 10-15 degrees (Centigrade) below zero. In the morning they would often find a thin layer of ice on their blankets. From Punta Arenas ,Sr. Angela aware of the situation, wrote a letter to her Sisters: “Have courage and faith! The Lord will never abandon us…Mary Help of Christians is our mother; let us increase our confidence in Her. Who knows how many miracles of grace she will grant us, if we but know how to be resigned, patient, and generous.”

Today she would say if we know how to be “resilient”.

maike@cgfma.org

Right and Law

Children Are Not to be Touched !! rosaria.elefante@virgilio.it When speaking of children everyone is ready to recognize every type of rights, even those non-existent, as long as human infants are protected and, yes, why not even spoiled!

However, we know that philosophizing is one thing, being consistent in daily life is something else!

The very delicate universe in which children live is in continual unstable balance, and it is enough for a breath to indelibly soil those blank pages that they entrust completely to us adults.

International Charters and Declarations, in short, documents more or less linked to the worldwide level, seek to protect and defend the rights of minors. Shared principles and values trumpet the protection and defense of minors from 0-16/18 years of age.

Reality and reports, however, show another side of the coin. Yet, international law is clear: children are not to be touched! Then what happens?

Unheard of violence, use and abuse of children multiply daily ending up on the front pages of newspapers of every country. The violent images of small, lifeless bodies dumped on the streets of war zones, rather than neighborhoods of ill repute, leave us breathless and with hearts filled with inconsolable pain. News of the sale of children for exploitation or pedophile tourism cannot but provoke

tears. Yes, tears. Disgust and anger! Can this really be happening! Not only is this indelible violence, it is one of many other forms of violence. More silent, perhaps, but not for this reason innocuous or insignificant. Along with physical violence, well- known since the time of Ancient Greece, there is verbal and psychological violence, capable of deviating and devastating forever those who undergo it, especially if it deals with children.

Psychological violence is certainly the most frequent form, but it is constantly underestimated despite the fact that it is so serious and dangerous for the safety of the minor because it is so subtle and dangerous to detect.

With respect to the other types of abuse the consequences on the structural aspects of the childhood psyche are deeper, and on the level of the normal process of evolution they are much more destructive. In the hidden corners of a society that is often ignorant of itself, or even bipolar between saying and doing, horrible acts are carried out to the detriment of our children.

The family, scholastic, and youth center contexts are places where this can happen.

Knowing about certain situations and keeping quiet is synonymous to being part of them.

Unloading one’s neurosis on children or using them as punching bags, even to strike out at a partner, seems to be a constant tendency, one that sadly will determine the life not only of the couple, but also of the child involved. Psychological mistreatment of children, often also happens on the part of educators, teachers, or instructors. It is that terrifying behavior having the aim of humiliating, devaluing, and subjecting to cruelty in a continual and lasting way in time, through words or behavior.

Threatening, isolating, disparaging, ignoring,blackmailing, terrorizing, insulting or oppressing are all weapons capable of torturing children who are incapable of standing up against dissatisfied adults, and who, in reality, should refrain from having any contact with these little ones who run the risk of being branded for life. Moreover, international law now recognizes that most of the problems of our society from crime to drug addiction have their origin in the violent

behavior suffered in childhood, to the indifference of all.

But this is not all. There is egoism as another face of violence.

The same parental pretense of the “over sixties” is to be condemned for reasons that have nothing to do with ethics or the sacredness of life, but simply because those poor children who will be born will never be the children of those mothers and fathers who are elderly and incapable of procreating, but will belong to unknown parents who have donated gametes, that were later fertilized in vitro, and finally transferred to the uterus of aspiring mothers/grandmothers, who are nothing more than incubators. All in the name of “maternal rights”! There is no doubt about the quality and quantity of affection that these parents can give, but the rights of this poor, spurious son or daughter should be recognized and especially protected first by the parents, but this is not possible from the hereafter

Ecological Education Listening to Creation

“The world is not a desert land, where man, in order to survive, carves out a customized space , but a music to be listened to that invites to joy and to the dance” This saying of the greatest spiritual figure of Polish Judaism of the 1700’s opportunely illustrates the attitude that must characterize the person in relation to Creation. It deals with a positive glance that helps one to discover and to listen to the symphony of creation, and as a consequence to commit one’s self so that it will be a place of joy and full life for all.

Indeed, the person is not only called to listen to the creation, but is invited to become a voice for nature, to be part of the choir of other creatures to join harmoniously in the praise of the common Creator and Lord (cf Ko Ha Fong Maria, Il creato dono d’amore: approccio biblico, 1).

Creation, God’s footprint Along the same line the Social Doctrine of the Church reiterates that the attitude particular to “the person in the face of creation is essentially that of gratitude and appreciation. The world, in fact, directs us back the mystery of God who created it and sustains it. If one places the relationship with God between parenthesis, they empty nature of its profound significance, impoverishing it. If, instead, one arrives at rediscovering nature in the dimension of creature, it will be possible to establish with it a communicative relationship, catch its evocative and symbolic meaning, thus penetrae the horizon of mystery, which opens the way toward God, Creator of the heavens and the earth. “The world offers

itself to the person’s gaze as God’s footprint, the place in which His creative, provident, and redeeming power is revealed” (DSC n. 487). Nature, therefore, becomes a gospel that speak to us of God. For this reason the believer cannot remain indifferent to the wounds of the earth; it is necessary to listen also to the cries of creation.

Listening to the cries of creation Today we are aware of the suffering of our planet from every corner of the world. All human beings share in the causes of the ecological crises and we are deeply questioned on the choice of adequate strategies directed toward the protection of the environment. With greater reason, the believer who professes his/her faith in God the Father, “Creator of heaven and earth”, cannot ignore the reality of the generalized pollution of the earth, the impoverishment of water and energy resources, the progressive extinction of entire species from the animal and vegetable world and many other aspects of the ecological question, a source of preoccupation for the future of the world and of humanity. It is no longer possible that we continue to live as though we were the last generation on planet earth.

Listening to the cries of creation and responding to them is not only a problem of ecological balance, but also an ethical and spiritual problem. It is necessary to assume our responsibility and dare to take innovation in daily life and in our choice of strategic policies.

Daring innovation

Doing our own part

Listening to creation as God’s footprint on the one hand, and on the other being aware that the disfigurement of His face in our actual ecological disaster urges us to seek alternative solutions to insure a better future for coming generations.

There are interesting initiatives in this regard particularly in some religious congregations(Franciscans, Jesuits, Benedictines, etc) and in civil society. For example, the gentle and agro-ecological revolution of Pierre Rabhi bears eloquent witness.

An African legend based on Rabhi’s hummingbird movement narrates that one day there was an immense fire in the forest.

All the animals, terrorized, and in dismayed, helplessly watched the disaster. Only the little hummingbird took action, and went to look for some drop of water, carrying it in his beak to cast upon the fire. After a time, the lion, irritated at his irrelevant movements, said: “Hummingbird, are you insane? Do you really think that with a few drops of water you can put out the fire?” “I know”, said the hummingbird, “but I am doing my part.” The lesson is efficacious, an the legend invites us to assume our duty of bringing our drop to the ecological education so necessary for the survival of our planet.

The gentle and agro-ecological revolution of Pierre Rabhi Pierre Rabhi, a French farmer of Algerian origin, is one of the pioneers of ecological agriculture in France.

An international expert in the struggle against desertification, but also a writer and thinker, not only professes the need to change the development model, but also offers practical solutions, creates associations and movements, and, above all, applies the principles seeking to defend the world in which he lives through daily commitment.

His ecological conversion came precisely from his experienced as a skilled worker in an agricultural company. We can say that he represents a typical example of someone who lives listening to creation. His witness invites each of us to bring our own drop to safeguard the symphony of creation.

To Reflect and Act As a Salesian educator what is your contribution to respond to present day ecological challenges ?

What does educating ourselves and others imply in our listening to creation ? mseide@yahoo.com

Arianna’s Line Who Still Dreams?

Maria Rossi

Once upon a time, it was fairly easy to hear that someone was telling about strange, enigmatic, at times anguishing or even amusing events lived in a dream. There followed attempted interpretations on the part of others, who, not completely naïve in dream language, tried to highlight its significance.

Today with difficulty do we hear one speak of dreams. When questioned in this regard, others frequently respond that they do not dream or don’t remember dreams. Dreams are not taken into consideration in today’s rationalistic and supertechnological culture. Faced with the discussion some force a wry smile leading the listener to understand that such things do not concern them.

One travels with a smartphone in hand, a cell phone around the neck and a personal computer in one’s bag. Some people, especially when faced with the elderly who do not have these means of communication, use them with ridiculous ostentation. However, access to the Internet and social networks are not to be demonized. If they are used adequately, they can be a help to young people and the elderly. There is the possibility of being informed about what is happening in the world, and also in the Institute, of cultivating cultural and professional interests, of communicating with relatives and friends, but also of allowing one to be taken up by the thousands of interesting things one can find online.

What is preoccupying is that the overemphasis given to rationality and technology and the underestimation of affectivity can suffocate life or diminish its expansion. It is rational interest in controlling, creating, a bureaurocracy of schedules, stifling emotional life; so too the exploitation of nature through an indiscriminate production of

waste, plastic, and pollutants poisons the land and exterminates life forms.

Different laws of reason Dreaming is part of the subconscious human mind, of affectivity. It follows laws that are different from those of rationality. It escapes controls. It is expressed in myths and symbols that come from the depth of one’s being, symbols that call forth, demonstrate and at the same time hide and escape. It never lies. The proclaiming Angels move free in its horizons The subconscious universe is an important dimension of life, but an exaggerated development of rationality and lack of consideration, can impede it from manifesting itself and communicating through dream symbols. There is a certain affinity between the world of the human subconscious and that of nature.

Nature is extremely good and humble. When faced with contempt and brutality, it timidly retires and prepares to disappear, like the shy panda bears facing rapid extinction in some areas of the earth.

Something similar happens to the human subconscious. If it is suffocated and ignored, it withdraws, and ino longer expresses itself. It lives apart, detached from the rest of existence, at times causing more or less evident problems. The absolute silence of the subconscious is mutism.

Immense oceans, clear, starry skies, horizons without frontiers, not having been allowed to express themselves, remain mute.

Existence becomes cold, rationalistic, utilitarian, dissatisfied; spiritual life becomes a byproduct of superficial reasoning, without deep roots.

Night dreams

A strong formation

In the biblical world nocturnal visions were considered a privileged way of communication with God. It is enough to think of Abraham, Jacob, and especially Joseph. In Ancient Greece, in Rome and also in Israel, there were places where, at particular times of life, one went to be able to dream dreams that would give indications. The young Solomon, recently elected, went to the sanctuary on the heights of Gabon to have a dream that would enlighten him regarding his mission. It was there, after having offered sacrifice and prayer, that during the night he had a dream he did not immediately understand, but one that would guide him in life (cf 1Kings 3, 4-15). This is the way it was that the young Francis of Assisi discovered his mission guided by the gradual understanding of a few night dreams. The life and mission of Don Bosco, in addition to being marked by that which he had at nine years of age, was punctuated by dreams or revealing visions on his spirituality, his educational mission, and even of his preoccupations, such as that of the ten diamonds, proposed this year for the meditation of the whole Salesian Family.

This dream is still present. It offers very important indications for those who undertake the following of religious life, for those who are living it, for those who are going toward the goal and for those who form the young people for the religious life and also forthe married life, At one time it was thought that only those who became priests and Sisters would need a spiritual, ascetic formation. Structures with times and formation programs were drawn up for them; today, perhaps this must be re-thought.

Actually, observing the facility with which families fall apart, with sad repercussions on the weakest members, shows the need of a strong formation for all.

Of particular importance for the spirituality and the educational mission is the dream of the rose arbor.

Pope Francis in the ceremony of thanksgiving and farewell of Cardinal Bertone, referring to the tradition and Salesian spirituality, recalled this dream, emphasizing how, during the time of his mandate as Secretary of State, the thorns and contradictions that Cardinal Bertone had to face were many, but were overcome with the aid of Mary Help of Christians.

Don Bosco suggests the dream of the rose arbor to his collaborators to show the difficulties of consecrated life and how to overcome them. In the Oratory environment joy and cheerfulness reign.

Those who frequent the Oratory remain enchanted with Don Bosco’s serenity and the explosive happiness of the young people (the beautiful roses). Those who want to follow him must take into account that beauty, harmony, cheerfulness are attractive goals, but also the fruit of difficulty, lacerations (thorns) that can be overcome with asceticism and the aid of Mary Help of Christians.

A poorly understood psychology and pedagogy of prevention infiltrated above all in western culture, disregarding the value of sacrifice, hiding the difficulties and trying to satisfy everyone, does not lead to a complete formation of the person. It creates adults who are vulnerable and incapable of reacting positively to the inevitable difficulties of life.

The dream of the rose arbor, then, suggests that formation not only to consecrated life, but to life it is necessary to trust in the energies of the person who is growing, not removing the obstacles or hiding them with unnecessary pity , but calling them by name (thorns are thorns), becoming accustomed to consider the difficulties for what they are without exaggerating or playing them down, stimulating toward a healthy asceticism and a solid spirituality that strengthens human resources, helping by a tender, strong closeness to overcome trials and then to enjoy together the satisfaction and the joy of the results achieved (the beauty of the roses).A serious and serene asceticism, i.e., the training to the renunciation of one’s selfishness and comfort, to accept and respect diversity, truth, freedom, and the rhythms of the other person, the training to overcome the opposition and inconveniences of each day, and to humbly accept one’s limitations and the help of others, joined to a robust spirituality (the openness and entrustment to the One on high), are indispensible to reach the joy of a consecrated life or that of a marriage that is faithful and fruitful, for an efficacious educational mission, for the support of a social work and/or a company in time of crisis, to obtain a victory in the world of

sports, and high praise. They are also indispensible for going toward the “existential peripheries” of the marginalized and elderly to bring help, hope, joy as well as for becoming aware of the “existential peripheries” even in our communities.

Important communications Not all dreams have the same importance. Some are symbolic images or dream expression, or at times simply express preoccupations, fears, unexpressed or repressed desires. At other times they offer important communications, but are not of immediate understanding. Dreams can be desired, like that of Solomon, prophetic, enlightened, premonitions of danger, dreams of action, dreams that are lucid and more. The dream that Joseph had after Mary revealed to him that she was pregnant (Matt 1, 20-21) had different aspects: “In a dream an Angel of the Lord said to him: Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your spouse” (consolation, action). “Because it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her” (illumination). “She will bring forth a son and you will name him Jesus. He will save his people from sin” (prophecy). Don Bosco’s dreams were usually clear and easy to interpret,

because the images were related also to the meaning.

Forming ourselves to listen If, in addition to being a treasure of the spiritual and educational inheritance that Don Bosco dreams express, we would also succeed in accepting them with humility and discretion into our dream world, accustoming ourselves to listening to their messages and those of the Angels which move in them, we could give greater depth to our personality, integrate and harmonize reason and affectivity, overcome that ambition for efficiency and mere utilitarianism that at times suffocates and open ourselves to unthought of horizons of freedom and tenderness where joy, cheerfulness, and fraternity (roses)are at home. We could thus “infect” our “sons” and “daughters” so that they could dream of future projects laden with evangelical values, and we could, together, give our little contribution so that humanity could become more like that in which God, creating it, dreamed.

rossi_maria@libero.it

SYS-Education Radicality and Resposability Mara Borsi Don Bosco made his life program practical: “Give me souls; take away the rest” by work and temperance. These were the basic characteristics of his way of witnessing to the radicality of the Gospel.

Mysticism and asceticism are expressed in a visible way by the lives of educators with the dedication to apostolic work, and with their capacity of renunciation.

Those who live Salesian spirituality can never forget that the witness that attracts is a life lived according to the Gospel.

On December 31, 1863 in greeting the New Year, Don Bosco entrusted to the Oratory community at Valdocco this “strenna”: “The program of this house is that written on the wall of my room: Da mini animas,cetera tolle. I do not ask anything but your souls; I do not desire anything but your spiritual good […]. I promise you and will give you all that I am and what I have. It is for you that I study, for you that I work, for you that I live and am ready to even give my life” (MB VII, 585). .

For the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians the motto is identical. Article 6 of the Constitutions tells us: In fact, “the ‘da mihi animas cetera tolle’ that led Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello to make of themselves a gift for the little and the poor is the soul of our educational mission”.

All of this leads directly to the spiritual source of the educational-pastoral work of the Salesian family members: the desire to bring all persons, great and small, to God,

to see young people happy, to give them the Lord Jesus as friend, brother, teacher, and father.

The motto Da mihi animas cetera tolle can be understood in many ways. It is a life program, a declaration of principles, an insistent prayer, an invitation to share the desires of God, a request for rigorous asceticism that knows how to distinguish the essential from the superfluous, a manifesto of apostolic life…The fact is, however we want to hear it, without this spirit we do not understand anything that is done in a Salesian house because the active substance, the salt and the leaven of the educational-pastoral work will be missing.

Without this, we run the risk of doing many things, but without the spirit that must characterize every Salesian reality worthy of this name.

The commitment to education The ever increasing gap between wealth do poverty challenges the Salesian Family to give a response especially through education. Wherever young people are more marked by exclusion, marginalization, and hardship, wherever those who allow themselves to be guided by Salesian spirituality, that’s where are called to be and to go. The educational task today is a key mission; without education there is no cultural change, and only through education will the proclamation of the Gospel take place.

The priority today is to prepare young people to be capable of transforming society

according to the Gospel as agents of justice and peace, and to live at the service of the Church. Overcoming situations of poverty requires a change in present cultural models. This will only happen with longterm strategies, such as those of education: education to human rights and to active citizenship, formation to leadership, professional qualifications, proposed by the Gospel and growth in faith. What we need for this is self formation and the formation of educators who are at the level of knowing how to educate and proclaim Christ to a generation that is in continual change.

The vocations to marriage and to special consecration are developed beginning from the awareness that it is only by giving one’s life that fullness can be found. For this reason the Salesian Family creatively involves young people in the experience of service and free giving in education, volunteering, mission, and in catechesis. It requires the experiences of prayer and community life. It invites them to be mystics in the Holy Spirit, prophets of brotherhood, and to make themselves servants of the young people who are their peers.

A network for the education of young people As in

students the Spirituality course of the FMA Institute we have had many opportunities to study the meaning of evangelical radicality in the lives of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.

We are clearly aware that today we do not need to duplicate in a material way the experience of Valdocco and Mornese, but to revive the spirit with which our Founders acted during their time.

The Salesian charism has been present in Brazil for 130 years. Throughout this history SDB and FMA have sought to respond to the needs and demands of the poorest and have been committed to live the words of Jesus: “Whatever you have done for one of these little ones you have done for me”.

In the second part of the 1900s the SDB and FMA Salesian schools in Brazil organized themselves and built the Network of Salesian Schools, which is presently the most numerous national Catholic network on the American continent. It unites 5000 educators, 85 thousand students and more than 100 scholastic institutes. The initiatives and projects are many, and among the latest we note that carried out in Haiti.

In July 2013 a group of physical education teachers of the Network of Salesian Schools carried out the project of Teachers Without Frontiers that promoted integral education through sports. The initiative was directed toward children and adolescents between 518 years of age and was an opportunity for encounter and exchange in solidarity among persons of different cultures.

We believe that evangelical radicality is the result of an authentic attitude of openness and love in meeting God and in the needs of our world. Josefa De Lira, Ana Clébia Lima Palheta, Francisca Rosa da Silva, Brasile

Pastoral-ly In the heart of the Word Emilia Di Massimo The young people of our modern times have various gathering places, different from the traditional youth centers, social centers, libraries, and oratories, and these new places are no longer dedicated simply to cultural or recreational activities.

There are a number of non-places that have become gathering centers for young people, and the socialization is becoming more and more frequent in virtual spaces (such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace), always in an indirect way through interactive means. For young people, and those not so young the Internet has become a great plaza where they can meet, attend, and make friendships, see love blossom, or exchange opinions, advice, or where to serenely meet others without reservation, uneasiness or fear. Many words, but a greater solitude, notwithstanding the fact that the ultimate aim is avoiding solitude. Multiple surveys on the virtual environment of the web show, in summary, the following result: young people use the Internet network to get to know one another, meet, and socialize…Yet, many young people live in virtual isolation before the flickering blue light of a flat screen. One of these boys tells us: “But if I have 600 friends on Facebook, what am I doing on Saturday evening alone before a computer?” Some educational trends argue that one can overcome the solitude of young people when adults will be able to get them to open their eyes to the beauty of an actual meeting with another, when they will know how to speak words of life to them

A Word that communicates Each day many words, at times misleading and conditioning, invade our hearing and create a need for silence and solitude, but there is a word that is expressed when we become silent and empty, because it gives of itself. It is the Word of God, read not in order to find ready responses, but so that it may raise questions. First in line are the believers, people who are still seeking. The young people ask questions about life and happiness for an authentic quality of existence. Youth ministry does not consider religious experience merely as one of the many that cross the life of a person and challenges the common practice of limiting attitudes and behavior that is formally religious, but it also evaluates the index of significance with which they have lived or desire to live. Rather than starting from the religiosity of young people, to reach life, we could reverse the perspective of proceeding from the religious aspect of life, also because it is always difficult to construct the figure of a young believer as a point of static arrival at a commitment, it would be better to attempt to trace a journey.

It is typical of young people to set out on a journey, to interpret what they have lived, to set a high goal for themselves, to listen to the Word, in order to get to know Jesus.

The encounter with the Risen Lord frees the heart and transforms it, making it emerge as a wanderer of love.

The Spirit, by making contact with the gift of God’s love, outlines the contours of the humanity of Jesus in us and gives strength and references for building the new structure of a new personality that has as its founding, determining element the person of Jesus, His way of living, of being, His thoughts, tastes, His attitudes. We cannot

entrust to the spontaneity of occasions or to religious socialization the task of offering the basis for new reasons of life and motives for hope, nor can we be satisfied with remaining in an indefinite piety, to survive.

It is necessary to choose, with courage and humility, even some minimal means to reinforce the new spirituality, for example, prayer, a spiritual guide, a lifestyle that gradually assumed the teachings of the Gospel.

The experience of community life The word of God, to be truly heard, needs a community context. It offers the possibility of experiencing the common life for youth groups, for a limited time and in the continuity of scholastic or work commitments: a “monastery� for this time, modeled according to an established educational project that is not improvised.

The need for radicality and the question for the essential fact of faith leads to convergence in an educational process, part of which is the experience of living a shared life.

This experience may be configured as a spiritual exercise, the symbolic model of Christian life. The community opportunity, to be calibrated according to different cases, bringing to maturity the question of identity in the exercise of the mission, and that of the future in terms of responsibility. Perhaps today also a renewed common life can be a formidable educational means, an expression of freedom, and help against contemporary confusion.

Freedom and communion open to the mystery, the desire for community, has been seen by some authors as an alternative to the growth of freedom. Zygmunt Bauman holds that to the glories of the new global era there is the contrast of the solitude of the person.

Society is uncertain, confused and out of focus. Coexistence, not only for youth, manifests itself in sporadic, spectacular explosions, runs out and then falls back on self. To halt this process we need to find the space in which public and private connect, we need to find the ancient places in which individual freedom can become collective commitment.. For this reason it is necessary that there be a community, one that can be a source of safety, a fundamental element for a happy life.

In a world of non-places, beyond the many virtual spaces, perhaps it is necessary to have new homes for welcoming, community spaces that will give young people a physical and relational place, in which the experience of humanity reveals the beauty of the man Jesus and His divinity.

emiliadimassimo@libero.it

A Glance at the World

Ñande Roga. Our House Anna Rita Cristaino The Chaco Paraguagio is a region that occupies approximately half of Paraguay. It had 80,000 inhabitants of the 6 million present in the entire nation. Here the FMA have communities in Ñu Apu’a, Fuerte Olimpo, Carmelo Peralta, Puerto la Victoria and they work with the indigenous people of the Maskoy, Ayorei and Chamacoco tribes.The region is crossed by the Paraguay river that forms the border with Brazil. Since the river has no dams, it is navigable, and at times the only way to reach determined areas of the Chaco.Here, in fact, the land is clay-like and the rains transform it into mud, making the roads impassible.

Visiting the Chaco means having a strong missionary experience. The FMA care for entire villages, providing assistance and support for the women, families, and children. There is no FMA community at Riacho Mosquito, but a few Sisters who live in Puerto Casado (Puerto la Victoria), provide pastoral service in this little village of the Maskoy. Here there is a nursery that welcomes all the children of the village, giving the mothers the possibility to do some work. Here they play, learn something and each day a hot meal is served. The work of the FMA is that of accompaniment, listening to the needs of these people, helping them to be aware of their rights and to conserve their cultural identity.Access to the instruction and health services continue to be a serious problem,

as is the lack of political representation of the indigenous people of Paraguay. Some Maskoy continue to work under precarious conditions and without guarantees with cattle and livestock, others survive by hunting, fishing, and harvesting, but access to the land is controlled by wealthy landowners. This is what Ejdio Martines Voron, a Maskoy tells us: “I was looking for work for a long time, but this is difficult for the indigenous people, very difficult. Not everyone trusts us. I went to look for work outside the village, and I found it on an estancia (ranch) 400 km distant, but the work was hard and dangerous. I had to be a night watchman, and then, I was paid very little.

All indigenous people are underpaid.”During recent years the FMA at Porto Casado have supported the indigenous people in reclaiming their land, marching with them for days and obtaining partial restitution, only 30,000 hectares of land of the 600,000 acquired by the Moon sect were returned to them. At Porto Casado also, our Sisters dedicate themselves also to the activities to the oratory, catechesis, and to parish work.

The work with the young people of the city is primarily formative. They educate them to the faith and promote their human growth. There they help them to become aware of how much they can do for the good of their country.

Sr. Rosanna Tomasella, a nurse, has worked in the Chaco for 32 years, and during her time at Porto Casado she has taught many people of the place how to care for those who are sick. The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians here have learned to listen, to meet the needs for food, health, land rights and many other things.

Sr. Rosanna tells us” “I feel at home in the Chaco because the people are simple, and generous like their river. I learned many things from them…and I learned above all that it is possible to live simply, that happiness does not consist in having many things or many conveniences. They live with the essential, and know how to enjoy the little they have, they know how to share that little with

others. It is something they have taught me…to be more generous ”. The other FMA community is that of Carmelo Peralta where they work with the Ayorei indigenous people. One FMA of the community teaches in the school, and an Ayoreo has studied and is also a teacher in the school. This is the aim that the missionaries seek: to make the people of the place protagonists of their own future.

Here there is a great sense of family, one of the patriarchal type.

All is placed in common, and life is carried out in the open, before the huts, that only serve as shelter when it rains. In the Paraguayan Chaco , the indigenous people-in general- have only settled for 50 years, and have not changed their lifestyle. They are still basically

gatherers and hunters and do not have any concept of the life of ranchers or farmers.

For this reason they cultivate only small pieces of land, enough to survive, and they sell a large part of the crop to the whites.

Here at Carmelo Peralta, where the indigenous presence is a minority, the women are helped to form work associations so as to put together what they produce in gardens so as to be able to sell it at a better price.

“For these people the river is the source of life. It is everything. The water is the only possibility of life that they have, and for this reason they always establish their villages on its shores. Then, it is generous. From the river they receive fish and other resources to life. For me it is something very great. It is a sign of God’s presence in our life, something that is constant, permanent, generous and gives life, a life that will never end”.

At Forte Olimpo the FMA work with a lively community. When the Sisters pass by their dwellings, all come out to greet them. The visits are simple and are made up of information on the daily struggle for life: children, health, work, weather conditions.

Thinking back over her missionary life, Sr. Rosanna says: “After many years here I have understood more what it means to be a missionary. I believe that the missionary must be a brother or sister who walks with others, seeking to communicate the richness of the faith”.

The people have small fruit tree orchards, and some have even tried raising sheep. In the center of the village there is a circular chapel where all feel welcome. Life in the village is “communitarian”. The FMA have words of hope for each person, but also extend practical help. Here all are busy.

They use their artisanal ability to weave hats, fans and baskets. The women work with caraguata a fiber from a plant with which they make typical bags, bracelets, or brooms.

Nature is respected. They wait for it to be benevolent and bear abundant fruit. They hope that the river can once again be good and productive as it once was, so they may have what they need to live. Sr. Rosanna tells us:

After having visited it, you become aware that the Chaco is the land of three colors: blue of the sky and the water, green of the immense plains, red of the earth. The contact with nature, with its rhythms, with its laws, helps one to understand that we cannot always control everything. That we need to learn also to entrust ourselves to events, to know how to listen to the circumstances, not having all the answers, to handle our insecurities and weaknesses.

This is what the Chaco teaches us: before the vast immensity of nature, one feels very small, but it is precisely in knowing how to manage our littleness that we become strong.

arcristaino@cgfma.org

Walk the Talk Hospitality

Patrizia Bertagnini welcome with other considerations .

Practiced as one of the oldest forms of social virtue and founded on the obligation of reciprocal help, hospitality recalls us to the need to make a place for those who-temporarily- sojourn with us.

For every Christian hospitality is an action that finds its meaning at the root of its identity. They are called to recognize in themselves the icon of the stranger who is a traveler, Abraham who was by nature, a stranger, and who could live only if welcomed by others. Like the patriarch from whom we learn faithful obedience, Christians cannot but ask hospitality (from God) and to offer closeness (to brothers and sisters), making their own the attitude of Abraham at Oaks of Mamre.

In this episode there are hidden the typical characteristics that they must cultivate if they want to make of hospitality the ciphers of an existence devoted to a communication and authentic evangelization. They can take into consideration at least three: not asking guests for their general information, making a place for them in one’s own house, treating them with generosity.

Communicating is extending hospitality The first characteristic is an unselfish approach to the one who stands before you.

It is immediately projected beyond ethnicity, group, or social network membership and belonging, and avoids the contamination of

The second allows one to overcome the theories of communication which, while talking about participation, of relationships of mutual exchange, tend to focus on the capacity of the person to communicate.

Making room for others means allowing them to feel at home, and to correct the excessive speed and lack of reflection of certain communications dynamics in order to meet them, listen to them, understand if they need time, to slow down, or silence.

The third, finally, forces one to make themselves accessible, to draw closer, losing the defenses and distances that often develop when communication is biased or self-promoting. Being generous means-in this sense- giving the other the best of self, and accepting the new conversation with them as a life-giving opportunity.

Extending hospitality is evangelizing Hospitality requires much more than a simple allowing the existence of the other person; it does not consist in merely allowing the person to exist in their otherness and diversity “next” to one’s self.

Making a place for others and giving access to one’s home is like the same relationship that God wants to establish with humanity in Jesus His Son. He who stands at the door and knocks, enters into the house and remains only where there is someone who

hears his voice and opens (cfr Ap 3, 20).

Thus, if relating to God is in the first place.

Welcoming Him, making a place for Him, the same attitude is required also in dealing with others, along with the ability to recognize in them a certain divinity.

Welcoming someone means welcoming God; not extending hospitality to whoever knocks at your door (especially if they are poor) is equal to rejecting God Himself, as Pope Francis reminds the whole Church in Evangelii Gaudium.

When the poor person is loved, “…he/she is considered to be of great worth”, and this differentiates the authentic option for the poor from every other ideology, from any intention to use the poor to serve personal or political interests. Only by beginning from this real, cordial closeness can we adequately accompany them on their journey of freedom. Only then will this make possible that “the poor will feel at home in every Christian community”. Is not this style the greatest, most efficacious presentation of the Good News of the Kingdom?” Without the preferential option for the poorest among us, “the proclamation of the Gospel, which is the first charity, runs the risk of being misunderstood or drowning in that sea of words to which today’s communication society exposes us. (EG, 199)

suorpa@gmail.com

Women in the Context

A Life at the Service of Others

The lives of the least, the marginalized, the forgotten and excluded, like those of the lepers in biblical accounts, is still a reality today. In many parts of the world there are leper colonies where the inhabitants live separate from the rest of the population.

This is the reality of a leprosarium in the little city of Tura, in the hills of Garo in the State of Meghalaya. It was created in about 1950 and what separates them from the central population is a stream that passes at the foot of the hill and serves as a boundary line. Approximately 80 families live on this hill in scattered houses of bamboo and wood. It is in this lost, unknown place, far from the eyes of the world that Sr. Guadalupe Velasco spends her life.

From Spain to India Guadalupe Velasco was born in Villafranca – Navarra (Spain) on February 15, 1924.

She is a member of the Missionaries of Christ Congregation, and came as a missionary to northeast India in 1948 when she was only twenty-four years of age.

Those who knew her then say that she was young, lively, and beautiful, and had blue eyes.

Two years after her arrival, she landed in a section of the country that she would consider the homeland of her heart, Tura. She was assigned to care for the young people of the resident school.

Numerous generations of women assisted by her today hold responsible positions in society. However, from the very first years, while the young people were in class, Sr. Guadalupe and other Sisters of her community daily walked the mile distance

under torrential rains or a blazing sun to reach the leper colony. Sixty-four years have passed since the Missionaries of Christ began this mission.

Today the aspect of the leprosarium has been visibly transformed, leprosy has been eradicated, even though its victims still bear visible signs of the sickness on their bodies. In collaboration with the SDBs, the Congregation has also provided for the children of the lepers, bringing about an effective socio-economic and cultural change in the families. Presently, 200 healthy children of the lepers have been qualified and competent in various disciplines and employed as teacher, professors, and there is even a doctor among them. Sr. Guadalupe was ninety years of age on February 15, 2014.

Notwithstanding her age and the wear and tear of a hard life in an area of high malaria, her spirit does not know how to slow down.

One of her Sisters, Sr. Marline Pinto, tells us that a few years ago when she went back to Spain for a brief visit, Sr. Guadalupe discovered a tumor in her armpit, but she did not tell anyone because she feared that they would keep her in Spain, and she would not be allowed to return to India.

Upon her return, she went for an exam and then underwent a surgical intervention in the city of Shillong, eight hours from Tura. Here too, as soon as she was able she was not in peace until she could return to Tura, and especially to the leprosarium. I spoke to her and despite her age she said: “As long as I have a breath, in me I will never leave going to the leprosarium.

I will go until I

die…because it is my home”.

The least are those with whom she feels at home!

Three names by which she is known Various names are attributed to her by the people who know her. They call her “the apostle of the lepers”, “the angel of the leprosarium”, and “the Mother Teresa of Tura”. These are not names given her by chance…they eloquently indicate her authentic life witness.

She is an “apostle” because hers is a continual proclamation of the Gospel to the poor and underprivileged. It was not a natural fact for Sr. Guadalupe to be able to approach the lepers with the same ease that she does now.

Speaking of the beginnings she tells us: “I was impressed at seeing so many people with wounded bodies, disfigured, missing limbs…etc. We made use of the medicines and food furnished by the government to heal them in body, soul, and spirit”. Sr. Guadalupe is elusive when speaking of herself, and one does not succeed in having her speak much, but looking at her with her rosary in hand, and hearing her whisper the prayers, one perceives the profound communion with God who is the motivating force behind her tenacious choice of being on the side of the least. She is considered to be the “angel of the leprosarium”, a definition that corresponds well to her appearance that is as delicate as it is tender. In the 90’s I accompanied her to the leprosarium on one of her daily trips there. She was treating a man with an indescribable wound, and tears

ran down her cheeks, but the man never made a sound. Under her gentle hands he succeeded in smiling through his tears, which, however he could not hold back because of the pain she felt. Her gentle hands were capable of soothing the most acute pain!

Others have dubbed Sr.Guadalupe “the Mother Teresa of Tura”, indicating her radical embrace of the least, just like Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her choice was not only to be with them, but like them.

In fact, she was uncomfortable before the media spotlight, preferring to remain behind the scenes, hidden and unknown. She felt more natural, instead, when she was embracing one of her patients or sitting with them on the floor of their huts.

A life that inspires One could sum up the life of Sr. Guadalupe in three words: woman, disciple, missionary. A woman for all seasons, who at the age of 90 lives her feminine fecundity in unconditional giving of self. A disciple whose fidelity does not know half measures, but one of total radicality. A missionary who for more than sixty years has put into practice the words of Pope Francis: We need to say without too many words that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. Let us never leave them alone” (EG, n. 48).

Sr.Guadalupe’s life is one that inspires and fascinates because it comes from the transparent reflection of Christ’s Gospel.

Let us realize that only in the measure in which we allow ourselves to be drawn by this fascination will we be capable of going toward the least, toward those who are the “refuse” of our educating communities. sangmabs@gmail.com

potential to be developed at the center of the educational action, and on the other the theater pursues the same objective through activities that stimulate creativity and communication.

Music and Theater Educational Theater and Salesian Tradition The Editorial Staff The theater is an excellent means to speak to adolescents and young people, it is an interesting means to “re-read” one’s person, and “get back on the road”.

Those for whom the theater is an educational means, theatrical representations are only the tip of an iceberg, the most visible part, the part of greater impact. But what is most important is what lies behind, it is often a laboratory, an educational journey that leads the “actors” who go on stage not only to interpret the roles, but to speak of themselves, their lives, the struggle to live, and the desire to find profound meaning in what is happening around and within themselves.

There are at least two good reasons to choose to educate with the theater.

-Because with theater one works with the emotions and with the capacity of entering into communication with self and others; -Because the theater can be used with every age and in every educational setting.

Theater and education are two realities that possess common goals: on the one side pedagogy places the person with his/her

Theater is an efficacious means of education because of the fact that it involves the entire individual, body and soul, with his/her sentiments and thoughts, but also with profound humanity, with its conscience and values, with a more immediate and spontaneous sociability.

Theatrical education leads individuals to form themselves through personal experience and self-discovery, of one’s possibilities and limitations, with the goal of expressing and communicating self. It is necessary, therefore, to have a global awareness of one’s own body; on the motor level, of one’s means of movement. On the affective level, of the way of expressing sentiments.

Theater encounters education at the moment in which it places man and woman at the center, and gives them voice; in the moment in which every single individual meets his/her own personality and expressiveness and brings it to growth through an individual journey which is, however, inserted into a group dialogue.

One of the basic principles of this theory is the formation of the actor-person. The main objective is the development of creativity and fantasy through work conducted on a scientific basis, by the actor-person on self, through the laboratory method, therefore through research.

Theatrical activity becomes an educational process in the moment in which it implicates an individual’s work on self, that leads to the discovery of being a human person.

Theatrical education develops the process in a laboratory where personal research is encouraged.

On the basis of the method utilized in the laboratory, there are behaviors that favor this research: avoiding the standard attitudes, helping to discover the individual and his/her capacity, abstaining from expressing personal evaluations, accepting every point of view, appreciating all languages, modifying the tendency to passivity, avoiding every process of imitation.

Theatrical experience comes about through relationships. It is an opportunity for selfconquest, but also a place for the building of meaningful relationships aimed at reinforcing group identity and stimulating a reciprocal awareness, sharing, cooperation, appreciating the heterogeneous. It is both an individual journey and in group work.

Don Bosco had understood the educational power of the theater. The typically Salesian experience of educational theater is popular. Its intention is to celebrate and represent life.

Beginning from life (in particular that lived by young people) and after the experience of staging returning to life with an extra dream, hope,

and opportunity. It is a theater for and by young people. Educational theater sees young people as protagonists, designers of their education and growth, not passive users. It is directed toward the young people so that together they can share it with others, creating community. They grow by placing themselves at the service of others.

Furthermore, the youth group is a place par excellence in the education and growth of young people. In the educational group no absolute protagonists emerge for what they know how to do, but there is at the center the person and his/her value, and the persons who are called to assume a role in a performance are not chosen for what they know how to do, but in function of the educational objective to reach for that person or at least having the two instances interact.

Being protagonists young people choose for themselves those arts, expressive forms close to their language “love what the young people love so that they in turn will love what you love� (Don Bosco).

Camilla

Advice Freely Given That we Sisters are born with a baggage of virtue in all respects is something undeniable. The Holy Spirit fills us to overflowing with his richness, and among these gifts there stands out “counsel”, i.e., the deep attitude of giving out advice left and right, opportune and inopportune, as St.Paul recommended. If we think about it, offering the contribution of our precious advice is a true and proper art, one that is to be cultivated in a timely manner to avoid interpreting ourselves to be common nosey bodies, if not actually calloused gossips.

For this reason I thought many would be pleased to receive a little guide of the good adviser, and in this way not forget good, wise habits.

Rule 1: It is recommended that one study attentively all circumstances, gather information, keep updated on all the news in circulation, discreetly dig into the life, activities, problems and aspirations of people, otherwise one runs the risk of giving the wrong information. When, instead, we enjoy respect for the accuracy of our investigations.

Rule 2: It would be opportune to dedicate much time (even at the cost of sacrificing that which we employ for our usual tasks) to reflection on the information we have gathered, to the patient attempt to obtain solutions, and even to the free flight of our imagination necessary to hatch all possible scenarios, in order to identify proposals to

be presented as enlightened enlightening perspectives.

and

Rule 3: It is necessary to approach the person on whom we want to bestow our opinions with a certain prudence, showing ourselves to be respectful of her life, convincing her that if we dare to offer a word for her consideration, it is only for her own good, so that she may enjoy unselfish support…This moment must be prepared for down to the most minute details, to avoid that in the person who has need of us (because, evidently, our speaking is dictated by an act of pure Christian charity…) there will arise the doubt that we have a double intention or that we are exposing ourself out of presumption or vanity…

Rule 4: It is indispensible, when we have decided to make a gift of our precious point of view on things and persons, to use a hushed tone, sedate expressions and friendly gestures, to reinforce in the person hearing our intervention and the conviction that we have nothing more than their good at heart.

Oh, yes, dear friends, at times very little is needed to bring a smile back, and if after a scrupulous commitment the hoped-for result does not come,…Oh, well, what can we say... maybe it is the Spirit who has made a mistake !

Camilla’s words