7. Persons

A word to individual confreres: "Attende tibi"

The mystique of work appears as one of our characteristics: everywhere to some extent our availability and enterprise are admired. We must thank the Lord for this capacity of total dedication that the Spirit formed in Don Bosco and which we see every day in so many confreres. It is not an impediment to growth but is in fact one of the fruitful traits of our spirituality. But it needs those adaptations which today apply to work, in which manual dexterity and physical force are only a minor aspect. Sometimes the lifestyle we adopt and our rhythm of activity can wear down our spiritual experience, confuse our image in the minds of the young and adults, and undermine our capacity for influencing because of dispersion and multiplicity of work.

In our Founder we admire his constant balance between dedication and depth, between the multiplicity of initiatives and unity of life. Don Bosco was physically drained but he cultivated that wise vision, that understanding of things in the light of the Spirit, that union with God, which gave an original profile – we call it salesian holiness – to his personal experience.

As I think of the diversity of the situations and conditions of life of each one and recalling some statements of Vita Consecrata with regard to the significance and value of our vocation, I venture to put to each one some questions for reflection: Do we give ourselves time to consider at ever greater depth our life in the Spirit? Do we nourish the taste for a broader knowledge of what concerns the Christian mystery and the questions which refer to man? With regard to cultural enrichment, in the sense given to it in these pages, what is our program with regard to areas, objectives and time? How do we express in ourselves the ‘for you I study’ of Don Bosco?

There can be the risk of forming a certain habit according to which work and reflection seem to be in competition, especially when a ruthless rhythm prods us in the direction of what is urgent and seems to leave no time for anything else. The conviction can even gain ground that personal culture, such as reflection on reality in the light of faith, can have little to do with charitable work for the benefit of poor youngsters.

When the GC23 said that interior apostolic conviction is a blend of pastoral charity with pedagogical ability, it was an invitation to us to combine creativity with competence, action with reflection, since both are necessary to the salesian life.

Our Rule of Life strings together in rapid succession a series of suggestions from which we have to arrive at a single objective. It speaks of the Salesian as one who "responds to the ever new demands arising from the situation of the young and the poor"; he seeks opportunities for "learning to carry out his work with greater competence"; he cultivates "the ability to learn from life’s experiences" especially in relationship to the young and popular environments and exploits the formative efficacy of various situations and possibilities. "Through personal and community initiatives" he nurtures his salesian spiritual life, provides for his own theological updating and maintains his professional competence and pastoral creativity. Each confrere, say the Regulations, "should develop his capacity for communication and dialogue; he should form in himself an open and discerning mentality and a spirit of initiative, and in this way conveniently renew his own plan of life. Each one should cultivate the habit of reading and the study of those branches of knowledge proper to his mission". He should "study with his superiors his field of further qualification…, preserve the availability which is characteristic of our spirit, and be ready for periodic requalification". And all this adds up to telling us that there is a gift we have to cultivate with patience so as to keep it full and fresh. And in it the ascetical program: work and temperance functions always, which means giving limited attention to what is less important and even useless and distracting, and giving oneself with enthusiasm to what is essential.

In recent years initiatives have multiplied for qualification, re-qualification and updating. In several Provinces there are well planned and structured examples. It is up to each one to draw from them the maximum profit.

But a daily personal commitment is also needed. The common mentality, newspapers, examples from advertising could well constitute a school which communicates a culture foreign to us, one which is frequently contrary to our own "culture of reference". Unless we frequent an alternative school (meditation, revision of life, reading, information, study, sharing, discernment, etc.), we shall be insensibly oriented towards a vision of life and a plan of existence which no longer tallies with the one we have professed. We must always ask ourselves by what channels our thoughts and sensitivity are fed; how we construct and illustrate in ourselves the relationship between faith and culture, between pastoral sense and emerging questions.

We must give ourselves time for cultivating our plan of life, for savouring the experience of being consecrated persons, for verifying our process of growth, for preventing wear and tear and for controlling anxiety, for bearing witness to and sharing the deep source of all our activity.

We must give ourselves time also for enabling ourselves to carry out our work with greater competence, be it work of educators, animators or pastors. Accompanying individuals and giving direction to communities is a demanding task which is far from easy. There are certain environments which in the present cultural and religious context evince particular difficulties and importance, as for example: the ethical and moral field, problems of life, spiritual and sacramental pedagogy, themes connected with the relationship between faith and culture, the social dimension and solidarity.

This need to find time for ourselves will constitute a message for the laity and a stimulus for young people who feel themselves called to the salesian life. Today to the image of the religious as a worker and person of enterprise, socially useful, must be added the prophetic aspect of one who makes a personal experience the source of meaning, guided by the wisdom of the Gospel.