Coming to know and imitate Don Bosco,
passion for the young
Video commentary on the  Rector Major’s Strenna for 2012 

He is to be called John
We are moving rapidly towards the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco!
An occasion which ought to find us ready and eager to re-enforce our charismatic identity.
Our task is to understand, re-interpret and preserve for the future the insights our founder, his pastoral choices and activities. His practical talents, his educational gifts and his spirituality are certainly three special features which distinguish him.
The first step is to know his life-history.
A knowledge which while availing of the methods of historical research must not forget Don Bosco’s great dedication to the young, and the presence of God and of His action in his life.

The Strenna which the Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, entrusts to the groups of the Salesian Family for  2012 is an invitation to become familiar with the life-history of Don Bosco in order to re-construct his image today, and to preserve for the future the mission entrusted to him: the education and the evangelisation of the young.
The re-construction of the image of Don Bosco and of his activities ought to throw light on the real situations in which the Salesian Family is working, which are characterised by a particular cultural environment, by the complexities of modern-day life, by globalisation, by a post-modern culture, by the difficulties facing pastoral work, by the reduction in the number of vocations and by the questions being asked regarding consecrated life.

Why get to know Don Bosco?
Don Bosco continues to be a very significant figure in the Church and in civil society. His is a complex personality which cannot be reduced to simple formulae. 
In the past, the way he was often presented, not without enthusiastic exaggerations, ran the risk of giving a distorted view of himself, his insights and his spirit.
Nowadays, hagiography takes account of well-founded historical interpretations and of a new theological interpretation of the spiritual experience of the saints. 
Don Bosco is a many-sided figure. He is a founder, a legislator, an educator, a master of the spiritual life.
To prevent what has been handed down to us being lost, it is urgently necessary to know him.
As the distance in time, place and culture increases between us and him, there could be the risk of losing the sense of that affectionate atmosphere and that sense of closeness which made him a familiar figure. 
If our special rapport with our common Father were to fade, with his spirit, his way of doing things, the criteria which inspired him, as the Salesian Family we would no longer have a claim to our place in the Church and in Society, because we would have lost our roots and our identity.
As well as the distance in time, place and culture, there are two other things to be considered.
For a spiritual movement, like the Salesian Family, it is important to keep alive the memory of its own history, to organise it and to make it accessible in order to facilitate the consolidation of the cultural background and so be ready to face historical, social and cultural changes. 
In this way, the Salesian Family will be able to continue to be the bearers of the original charism and alert and creative guardians of its tradition.
The reason for a  deeper knowledge of Don Bosco can also be found in the fact that many official documents of the groups of the Salesian Family refer to Don Bosco as the guide and model.

Which history?
The history of Don Bosco needs to be re-constructed and  interpreted with courage and authenticity.
As Pope Leo XIII said: the historian should never say anything untrue nor be silent about the truth. 
Recognising the imperfections of the saints has the three-fold merit of respecting historical accuracy, of emphasising the absolute nature of God and of showing the frailty of the human nature which all share.
It is also necessary to go beyond anecdotes and to bring the real Don Bosco alive today, at the dawn of the third millennium.
This is a knowledge which, while asking questions about the present and looking for answers from the past, helps the Salesian charism to become inculturated in the world of today.
It is necessary that the founding charism of a movement be re-interpreted in a vital manner so that it does not become a precious fossil.
Founders had an experience of the Holy Spirit in a specific historical context; for this reason it is essential to identify the contingent elements of the culture and the circumstances of that particular period. In this way it will be possible to determine the value of their activities and the significance of their responses to the challenges of the time.
Historical research into Don Bosco has to be capable of identifying what are transitory and what are permanent features of the charism; what in practice should be left to one side and what should be retained.
What is more, Don Bosco’s life-history is not only ours! 
It also belongs to the Church and to the human family, and should not be missing from their histories. 
Its exclusion from the cultural debate taking place in every country would also be an indication of  the historical insignificance of the Salesians, their social marginalisation, the absence of their contribution to education.
If we want to continue to have credibility we have to have the same professional approach, adopt the same language.

Salesian historiography
Salesian historical writing has made great strides. 
After the first modest biographies of Don Bosco there came the encomiastic biographies inspired by a theological, anecdotal and wonder-working interpretation. 
After the mid 1900s, the sense of unease about the  hagiographical literature of the past also reached the Salesians. 
The cultural climate of the seventies led, - through the use of assumptions, guidelines, methods, the means of enquiry, a sharing of the results of historical research – to a deepening of the awareness of the  patrimony inherited from Don Bosco.
For a correct interpretation of Salesian history, nowadays, three types of analysis are employed.
Philological analysis is made possible thanks to the availability of the published and unpublished works of Don Bosco. This valuable work of the Don Bosco Centre of Studies at the Salesian Pontifical University and of the Salesian Historical Institute has put at everyone’s disposal, in editions which are academically prepared and revised, thousands of pages written by Don Bosco.
This is followed by an historical-critical analysis which takes into account the contents of the sources in relation to the cultural and ecclesial categories of the time.
The third, and most important, is the living and contemporary analysis  which is able to re-express, re-think and re- present the contents of the sources.
An approach to Don Bosco, using the methods proper to historical research, has enabled us to measure his greatness, his practical talents, his gifts as an educator, his spirituality, his work, which can only be understood when fully rooted in the history of the society in which he lived. 
This is not to reject, out of hand, the valid and respected images of Don Bosco which generations of Salesians and members of the Salesian Family have had. 
However, we need a image of Don Bosco which is relevant today, which speaks to today’s world in a new language. 

Don Bosco today
In his commentary on the Strenna, Fr Chávez indicates and analyses some of Don Bosco’s experiences, and the choices he made:
* the evolution of his works and his understanding of who would be the ones for whom he worked; 
* what he meant by “abandoned youth”;
* how he responded to the needs of the young; 
* how he responded with flexibility to these needs;
* his insistence on poverty of life and untiring work. 
Starting from an historical examination of his approach, ways of assessing it are suggested so as to be able to reconstruct an image of Don Bosco faithfully and not merely repetitive.
It is a process which needs to involve all the groups of the Salesian Family so as to arrive at a shared view of Don Bosco which is educated, professional, profound and in this way to appreciate the historical, pedagogical, spiritual patrimony; in a  process which while assisting a knowledge of the youth situation, clarifies the profile of a Christian in society. 
In other words, it is a question of examining again institutions and structures for bringing people together and for education, looking at the Preventive System and its relevance today, and presenting to the World and to the Church the particular style of the Salesian educator.

Practical suggestions
Following the tradition started by Don Bosco himself the Strenna is a real spiritual and pastoral programme enabling individuals and communities to study, reflect, pray and act  together.
For the groups of the Salesian Family and their coordinating bodies – such as the local and national consultative committees – Fr Chávez indicates some fundamental points and  points of reference and practical commitments.
The pastoral charity, which was the defining  feature of the whole of the life-story of Don Bosco. and which was at the heart of his many undertakings, has to be the trademark and the reason for the credibility of the Salesian Famiiy among the young.
Don Bosco – who supported so many sufferings, sacrifices and deprivations for his boys – teaches us that Salesian pastoral  activity requires conformity to the heart of the Good Shepherd and a good practice of asceticism.
The minutes of the founding of the Salesian Congregation and the historical development of Don Bosco’s work demonstrate that the main purpose of the Salesian Family is the salvation of the young  who, following his own example, need to become co-involved, given responsibility and accompanied in becoming  apostles of their peers.
The young, the priority field of work for the  Salesian apostolate, need to be encountered in those places and situations, and on those frontiers, where they are to be found. The initiatives and the institutions which are created for them are insufficient without the exercise of assistance and a presence among them.
The response Don Bosco gave to the needs of his boys can throw light on those which nowadays the Salesian Family has to recognise in order to fight indifference, moral relativism, the false ideologies and  the consumerism which destroy the value of things and of experiences.
The questions which guided Don Bosco ought to accompany the Salesian Family as it listens to the cry of the young offering a response to their most pressing and deepest needs, practical and spiritual needs.
The Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis of Sales, written at the explicit request of Pius IX, are an essential  point of reference for coming to know Don Bosco's spiritual and pastoral journey. Described also as “memories of the future” they contain the motivations behind the choices Don Bosco made.
I invite each group of the Salesian Family, the local and  national committees – through study and reflection - to take up the message of the Strenna for 2012.
May pastoral activity, where possible jointly undertaken, be inspired by the life-story of our Father and Founder so that his dream and the mandate received from God may still continue today.

Don Bosco offers us a simple, but at the same time prophetic presentation of his spirit and his mission: the dream at nine years of age. 
In these pages with an autobiographical flavour  the field of work being entrusted to him was pointed out: the young; 
the aim of his apostolate was indicated: to make them grow as individuals through education; 
a method of education which would be effective was offered him: the Preventive System; 
the context in which all that he did, and today all that we do was presented: the marvellous plan of God who loves the young. 
The boy of the dream
We can say that he lived in order to change this dream into reality.
We are called to do what our dear Father did: to make the young our  programme of life, the reason for our living, spending on their behalf all our energies to our last breath.
Don Bosco never lets his boys down.
To held you reflect on this I’ll tell you a little story.

And our music continues
Imagine the courtyard of a prison in an 18th century European colony. It is dawn and while the sun begins to fill the eastern sky with golden colours a prisoner is brought out into the yard to be executed. He is a priest, condemned to death for his opposition to the cruelty with which the natives in the colony were being treated. He is  standing against a wall and gazes at the firing squad, his fellow countrymen. Before blindfolding him the officer asks him the traditional question about his final wishes. The reply surprises everyone: he asks to be able to play his flute for one last time. The soldiers are put “at ease” while they wait for the prisoner to play. When the notes begin to fill the silent morning air the whole prison is flooded with music which, sweet and enchanting, fills with peace that place a daily witness to violence and sadness. The officer is worried because the longer the music lasts, the more absurd his task seems to be. He therefore orders the soldiers to open fire. The priest dies instantly, but to the amazement of all present the music continues its dance of life; death outfaced.
In a society totally committed to silencing Christ’s message, I think it is our vocation to be among those who continue to make the music of Life heard. 
In a world doing everything it can to prevent the young hearing the insistent invitation of Christ to “come and see,” it is our privilege to have been drawn to Don Bosco and to have been encouraged  to play the music of the heart, to bear witness to the transcendent, to exercise a spiritual fatherhood,  to lead youngsters in a direction which corresponds to their dignity and to their most genuine desires.
My dear brothers, sisters, all the members of the Salesian Family, friends of Don Bosco, all young people, I wish you all a happy New Year for 2012 full of God’s blessings and with a renewed commitment to continuing to make the music heard, our music, which fills the lives of the young with meaning, and makes them discover the source of joy.
Coming to know and imitate Don Bosco, let us make the young our life’s mission.