Sending Forth the 153rd Salesian Missionary Expedition
(ANS – Turin – September 26, 2022) – On Sunday, September 25, at the basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime presided over the Mass with the missionary sending off ceremony of 19 Salesians of Don Bosco and 9 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Six Salesian missionaries did not receive their visas in time. For the Salesians, it was the 153rd missionary expedition, while for the FMAs it was the 145th missionary expedition.
The Rector Major was
joined by his vicar, Fr. Stefano Martoglio, the general councilor for the missions,
Fr. Alfred Maravilla, the general councilor for formation, Fr. Ivo Coelho, the general
councilor for youth ministry, Fr. Miguel Angel Garcia Morcuende, and 20 provincials;
many other presbyters concelebrated.
In his homily, Fr. Fernandez
reiterated that it is thanks to the missionaries that today the Salesian
charism is spread all over the world; without them, Salesians would be few and
present only in Italy. “Our way of living together from all parts of the world
is a prophetic word,” he explained, noting then how the circumstance of the
missionary sending was a propitious occasion to say thanks to the Lord for the
missionary call of these religious, a particular call within the common
Salesian vocation that is able to transmit enthusiasm to young people in the
name of the Lord, with a Salesian heart.
Don Bosco’s 10th successor
resumed the dialog he had the night before with the new SDB and FMA missionaries:
“Today the outlook, the approach, cannot be the same as in Don Bosco's time; we
do not go to teach those who do not know. Instead, we go to share life,
offering what we are, and surely to receive much more than what we offer.”
Commenting on the
Word of God, the Rector Major pointed out that the Gospel of the day was
crystal clear: there is a very rich man, whose name is not known because his
heart is so hard that he has lost himself, and a poor man named Lazarus. The
problem is not wealth, but a dead heart, unable to see anything beyond the
self, unable to feel compassion and mercy. “Let us not forget that we were born
for the poorest kids, not to do who knows what, but to meet them there where
the neediest are in every part of the world.” Sometimes it is not about material
poverty but the great emptiness in the meaning of life and extreme loneliness,
sometimes nothing is missing, but everything is missing. “Take care of
yourselves, but give your best, give life every day. So many are waiting for us
without knowing us!” urged the Rector Major.
Following the
profession of faith, the solemn commissioning and distribution of the
missionary crosses at the hands of the Rector Major took place. On behalf of
Mother Chiara Cazzuola of the FMAs, who was unable to attend, it was Sister
Ruth del Pilar Mora, general councilor for the missions, who handed over the
missionary cross to the FMA missionaries.
“Dear brothers and
sisters, may Mary, Mother and Teacher, accompany and protect you. In the name
of Don Bosco and in the memory of the First Missionary Expedition [of 1875], go
and announce to the young and the poor of the world the joy of the risen
Christ,” were the sending words of Fr. Fernandez Artime.
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