Don Bosco, A Man Moved by Hope

A REFLECTION ON THE STRENNA

Don Bosco, Strenna 2021 a man moved by hope

By Fr. Eli Cruz, SDB

The Rector Major’s Strenna “Moved by Hope” is moving enough for further commentary. And so this article simply strikes snippets of the Strenna and the experiences of Don Bosco as a man moved by hope... a man whose access to the future was the hope that – as assured to him in his dream at nine – “in due time you will understand.” It was on the second day of the celebrations for the consecration of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Rome in 1887, towards the end of his life, when Don Bosco duly understood everything after “62 years of hardships, sacri ces, and struggles have passed by.”

1DON BOSCO AS MYSTIC OF THE

SPIRIT: “Amidst life’s toughest challenges, it takes great faith in God to go through.”

“This harsh reality of pain and sickness the world is going through today seems to drive people more to scandal and protest than to faith; to doubt rather than to trusting abandonment. But just the same, faced with this human cry or along with it there is always, for us believers,

“Gone is the time for the belief that we can do everything with our own resources, on our own, like ‘giants of vanity’ for whom nothing is impossible... The others are ‘me’ declined as ‘we,’ much more dependent on the richness of humanity in its values of beauty and

shared life.”(Strenna 2021, no. 5)

We gaze upon Don Bosco: “My entire life came into being, grew and developed in intimate contact with the supernatural. If the world has been my testing ground, faith has been my response as a believer. I have been accustomed to saying: ‘Amidst life’s toughest challenges, it takes great faith in God to go through.’” (Pascual Chavez, SDB, Getting to

Know Don Bosco: His Spirituality, p. 3)

“In all this time, it may seem to many that this discretion of God, who intervenes only with the silent call of his love, is unbearable. And yet this is the authentic reality of God who shows solidarity in accompanying us, making himself close; far from the image of the God of power who intervenes to change things ‘magically’.” (Strenna 2021, no. 3)

We hear Don Bosco telling us: “I allowed myself to be guided by a phrase from my mother’s lips: ‘We are in the Lord’s hands, and he is the best of fathers who constantly watches over us for our good and knows what is and what

is not best for us.” (Pascual Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Spirituality, p. 4)

2DON BOSCO AS PROPHET OF

ENCOUNTER: “I always needed everyone... I lived asking and thanking.”

“There are certainly many people who, as citizens and from a civilian perspective, with a clear awareness of our humanity and without any faith perspective, are attempting to tackle this situation and this crisis. But among these there is also us... the witness of us who have found the meaning of our lives in the encounter with Christ.” (Strenna 2021, no. 3)

We gaze upon Don Bosco: “I was born poor, and yet through my hands have passed incredible sums, to which I never attached my heart. For me being poor means being free... free, not fettered! Poor as I was, I knew and frequented many ‘well o .’ I had a conviction that was not always understood, indeed, raised a hornet’s nest of

criticism, tedious and su ocating.” (Pascual Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Pedagogy, p. 25)

“Gone is the time for the belief that we can do everything with our own resources, on our own, like ‘giants of vanity’ for whom nothing is impossible... The others are ‘me’ declined as ‘we,’ much more dependent on the richness of humanity in its values of beauty and shared life.” (Strenna 2021,

no. 5)

We hear Don Bosco telling us: “I have written thousands of letters, the majority of them to solicit grants from public bodies and from benefactors. In all, though, there is always a ‘thank you’, a word of sincere gratitude... To thank was always considered a strict duty of justice.” (Pascual

Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Pedagogy, p. 26) our presence, and as a testimony, the joy that comes from our faith that hopes... And this especially for the young who we cannot leave on their own – more so now than ever – they are waiting for us with open arms so that we can once again inhabit their lives, with the strength of a love capable of conquering everything, because in all this, only love can triumph!” (Strenna 2021, no. 5)

We gaze upon Don Bosco: “We were entering the Industrial Age. I had to adapt to new times, new trends... I wanted to build a better world by o ering many young people a bread earned honestly by a worthy work as free people and not like slaves to be exploited... I had the certainty that ‘he who has God has everything.’” (Pascual Chavez,

3DON BOSCO AS SERVANT-LEADER OF

THE YOUNG: “I have struggled for a lifetime to give back to many young people the joy of living.”

“More than ever, presence and witness are needed –

SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Pedagogy, p. 31)

“We must once again dream the dream of the young. We must put ourselves in that situation which enables us to overcome what fear has prevented from becoming reality... Each of our works must allow itself to be ooded by the living, generous and revitalizing heart of each young person who transforms homes with walls of silence into spaces of life of young people. We want that life! That is the life that saves us!” (Strenna 2021, no. 5)

We hear Don Bosco telling us: “I have struggled for a lifetime to give back to many young people the joy of living, by clothing them with a dignity too often trampled upon... But despite the inevitable mistakes that always accompany human action, I have been aware of my part. I opened new ways to educate, love, and serve youth. My

dreams have left a mark.” (Pascual Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Pedagogy, pp. 33-34)

TO END

“Christian hope makes faith tenacious, able to withstand the shocks of life... While we recognize our poverty and fragility, God gives us his heart.” (Strenna 2021, no. 6)

We hear Don Bosco telling us: “’I can’t carry on.’ Yes, those are my words, and I wrote them in a letter in 1853 addressed to Canon de Gaudenzi, a real friend, the complete priest, later Bishop of Vigevano... Don’t think, however, that I am beaten; just tired... Believe me, however, I wasn’t just playing victim, but just stating the

fact, pure and simple.” (Pascual Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Spirituality, pp. 48)

We gaze upon Don Bosco: “Don’t forget that at Valdocco word had got around that the greater were the problems and the heavier the tribulations, the more the Salesians – and rst the boys – saw me calmer than usual. They guessed the conclusion: ‘Don Bosco must be really in di culties today if he looks so happy and smiling’.” (Pascual

Chavez, SDB, Getting to Know Don Bosco: His Spirituality, pp. 49)

“So then, aware of our fragility and how di cult the task is today of educating and forming people, more than ever we need to be sowers of hope, provocateurs of true hope, whisperers of this same hope.” (Strenna 2021, no. 6)