12 June 2011
Solemnity of Pentecost

With hearts full of joy we offer all the confreres greetings of peace and joy!

In a special way we salute those Salesians engaged in the front line in telling the story of the Risen Jesus among young people of different cultures and religions in all the continents. We are convinced that your witness is the best image of Don Bosco today. As another fruit of the process of synergy for the Salesian Mission we have prepared together all the material for the 25th Salesian Mission Day (SMD) in 2012 – “Telling the story of Jesus” to the young people! For every Salesian it is an opportunity of growing in following in the footsteps of Don Bosco the Saint – educator, pastor, communicator and missionary.

Many Salesians ask us: What are the objectives we want to reach each year with SMD?
Above all we want to emphasise that those for whom first of all Salesian Mission Day is intended are ourselves the Salesians of Don Bosco. We are asked to make our own the conviction of Benedict XVI: ‘The first kind of poverty people suffer is not knowing Christ!’ We want to present four specific aims for SMD 2012:

1.    As disciples to put the Word of God at the centre of our lives

Like all disciples of Jesus we are called each day to listen to God who speaks to us in Jesus Christ, in the events of every day. Only the person who listens to God with all his heart succeeds in really listening  to the heart of the young, the world created and redeemed by Jesus.
Only the person who makes the effort to put Jesus each day at the centre of his life will be able to become the living Gospel for others. Among the signs of our times stands out the evangelising vivacity of some church groups (movements, dioceses, parishes, congregations) who are living intensely gathered around the Word of God, sharing in the community their personal experience of God. This fervour is not yet something familiar in all our communities. There is a long way to go to make Lectio divina, Bible sharing or Faith sharing or the Good night part of our daily life. To tell the story of Jesus to the young, we are first called to meet Him and to share Him in our communities. Only the person who listens to Jesus in real depth, who has a profound experience of God can tell the young about Him!

2.    As apostles to share the  experience of Jesus Christ with the young

Telling the story of Jesus to the young – we all agree on this! There are just some questions: How? When? Where? We know that from a heart full of Jesus there naturally flow words about our Master. Only the person who listens with all his heart to young people will be listened to by them. In this way Jesus will be able to enter into the lives of the young through our witness and our story-telling at both community and personal level.
As Sons of Don Bosco, we are called to communicate everywhere: in educational meetings with the young, in small Christian communities, through the radio, the TV, on the Internet, on social networks or through blogs, by means of the theatre or music. The creativity of the great missionaries such as   Fr Vincenzo Cimatti shows us all the typical Salesian  ways of communicating the faith to non-Christians. The young Churches of Asia, many of them with a life story of scarcely a few decades of first evangelisation inspire us with their dynamic approach in telling the story of Jesus. They can be a great inspiration to us in our faith journey.

3.    Make known the dynamics of the 1st Missionary Congress of Asia

Sometimes in Asia talk about the proclamation of the Gospel and about conversions, can provoke suspicion in other religions. However, if, as friends, we share the life of Jesus, many are interested in knowing more. In order to be listened to I have to be  a friend and listen very carefully to people near me. The insights of the Churches of Asia were gathered together in the Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II ‘Ecclesia in Asia’, fruit of the Synod of Bishops on Asia (1998). The conviction that talking about personal experiences with Jesus is the best way to proclaim the Gospel in Asia was chosen eight years later, as the basic theme for the first Missionary Congress of Asia in 2006. Among the 3000 taking part were also a dozen Salesians. The Congress aroused a great deal of enthusiasm in seeking new paths in which to share the Gospel with non-Christians. In consequence other National or Diocesan Missionary Congresses have already been organised. In the DVD for the SMD 2012 there are eight practical experiences of  Salesians in the Church of Asia. We can draw inspiration from the f different ways of Telling the story of Jesus, contained in the eight short videos available on the DVD of the SMD2012, also to be found on the Youtube-ANS Channel. The short films introduce us to different ways typically Asian of telling the story of Jesus to the young in India, Thailand  and the Philippines.
4.    Help some places on the frontiers in Asia
As in every year we want to provide financial help to fund a missionary project in Asia, in Orissa (the Province of India – Hyderabad). This frontier foundation is just  beginning. Each Province is invited to send the contributions raised during  the SMD 2012 campaign to the account: Fondazione Don Bosco nel Mondo, Roma-Italia, donbosconelmondo@sdb.org

Finally we thank all the confreres involved in preparing the material. As a sign of the close collaboration between the three sectors for the Salesian Mission, we thank above all the co-workers of the Department for Social Communication and Don Bosco Media – Eurofilm of Turin.

With best wishes, asking the assistance of Mary the Mother and Help of Christians for all Salesians, lay co-workers and the young who tell the story of Jesus to the young!

     Fr. Václav Klement                          
   Councillor for the Missions    

    Fr. Filiberto González

    Councillor for Social Communication