austraLasia
1450
RM to young
Salesians at Salesian House of Studies: meditation on
mission
HONG KONG: 16th February 2006
-- On February 14th, Fr Chávez met with young Salesians at the Salesian
House of Studies. He was welcomed by a student, Albert, now a deacon, who
commented on the 75 years of existence of this study centre, "one of the ten
missionary formation centres seen by Don Bosco in his dreams". That is
bound to send students in a host of other centres scurrying to their libraries
to discover the other nine, while not doubting at all Albert's claim for the
tenth! In addition to those in initial formation, a further ten young
missionaries were part of the encounter.
The occasion was
a 'magisterial' one, enabling the Rector Major to develop some thinking on
mission in the current context, the context of 'the Asian Millennium' (JP II),
and the challenge of enriching ancient cultures with the leaven of the
Gospel. "We are not here to convert 1.5 billion Chinese", he said, and
repeated a little later, "we are not the saviours of China. We are , like
Benedict XVI, but humble servants".
"We are here for the
young, especially for the poor, abandoned, at risk, but", he asked "what does
this mean in order to avoid being rhetoric alone?" "We are here to do what
Don Bosco did in Valdocco, to make the life of young people happy. Happiness
means love, to have a dream, to have a project. First of all to bring them
to Christ and to bring Christ to them". He came back to motivation - if
you have your 'why', you can face any 'how'. He then drew on the icon
chosen by JPII for the Synod on consecrated life in 1994 - the Transfiguration,
which is, at base, a very strong experience of God. As in Philippians
Chapter 3, Paul shares his personal experience, his vision of the world where
Christ has overturned his value system so that everything else is rubbish.
The RM coined a word here...transvaluation!
We need to be
able to share our experience of God - and Fr Chávez shared a little of his, from
his 'Jerusalem' period, studying at the Hebrew University. He would go
regularly into the grotto in Bethlehem, grubby as it is (some tourists take one
look and go). There he would sit and ponder - what changes human history?
On Fridays he would pray at the Holy Sepulchre, and prayed with a small cross he
had bought there and still wears today. "Nobody loves me more than Jesus.
Nobody has given his life for me other than Jesus"!
From
the experience of God we move to an experience of humanity, and a passion for
it. If we don't love people as they are, how can we love God who is
invisible? (John's First Letter). And still with John, the Samaritan woman -
she'd had five husbands, but in a sense only met the right one when she met
Jesus, at which point she became an apostle, a missionary to her own village,
telling her own experience.
The Rector Major invited his
listeners to go to Philippians 2 and meditate on the 'kenosis', the basis of
missionary spirituality. He invited them to take the Cross as their way of
life and to never ever lose the sense of being sent. At this point strong
applause.
Question and answer, the questions focusing on
the future in their present context. His answer focused on the idea of St.
Francis Xavier whose anniversary is being celebrated this year: "I am like the
light near the tabernacle". Be a light shining now, in Hong Kong, in
Macau, wherever.
Following this, the Rector Major met with
some of the Salesian elders, Fr Bernard Tohill amongst
them.
_____________________
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