The first is our religious comrnunity. The signs of the following of Christ must be evident and recogntzable in the

pri-macy we give

to

the religious

spirit

and the spiritual life.

These are manifested in calm, regular and participated prayer.

Nowadays, as we said earlier, convents and monasteries are

inviting Catholics and others to an experience of

prayer. It

was typical of Don Bosco and his Salesians to pray with the young and the ordinary people.

It

would be interesting

if

our prayer could be so educative that we could share it, in particu-lar circumstances, with anyone who wanted to join _in.

Consecration is also manifested in dedication to a

commu-nal work which is well ordered and prepared, and carefully carried out. I ^was struck when reading the Rule of a religious institute by the following points about

work: "It

is obedience and a prolongation of the Eucharist and of the Divine Office,

and the normal object of our offering; hence

it

is well pre-pared, cared for, and carried out with religious zeal""2.

Consecration is also shown in evangelical temperance. To-day there is a request in many places for a return to daily

aus-terity in the face of the spreading of consumerism, inequality and waste. Temperance embraces

all

the visible manifesta-tions of the vows. Consecration flourishes especially in unity of

spirit

and action;

it

is the sign that Jesus himself recom-mends to his disciples, the sign that Don Bosco most wanted to see in his communities.

The second area for offering the gifts of consecration is the educative and pastoral comrnunity, in which

it

leads to an emphasis on the primacy of spirituality as the principal source

" ^Little Family of the Annunciation, Docurnent ^10/25

of energy for the educator. We frequently say that the

preven-tive system is both spirituality and pedagogy, and that between

the two there is so close a connection that

it

is not possible to give effect to the second unless the first is realized. This

convic-tion corresponds to a statement of Don Bosco: "The practice of this system is wholly based on the words of St Paul who says:

Loue is patient artd ldrtd; loue bears all thhtgs, hopes all thhrys, endures

all

thirt,gs"'". The preventive system, said the GC24, has a religious soul'n.

It

is a pedagogy of the Spirit. The human and professional dimension must be exploited to the full, but all must be leavened by the orientation towards God and the faith.

The third area on which consecration can make itself felt, is the educative

environment.

Here much can be taken up

from what we have already said about prophecy. Through word and example young people can see in our life a critique and a pointer: criticism of the excesses of the transgressive mentality, the pursuit of material ^goods which can impoverish others, purposeless freedom; a proclamation of new and origi-nal ways in which the individual can achieve self-realization, the real goods proposed by the Beatitudes, and self-donation as the mainspring of life.

The clearest manifestation of our presence as consecrated persons in educative environments is their pastoral leavening.

From the outset the educator aims at revealing the love of

God to the ^young, whatever the starting point and the route to be followed. He does this through an opening up to the faith, preparing the young for a meeting with the iiving Christ and sustaining a process of growth through catechesis, the sacra-ments and participation

in

the Church. A neutral education or one without reference to Christ would have no meaning for

us.

Our consecration invites us therefore to rethink and real-ize euartgelizittg by educating.

*'' cf. Constitutions SDB (English ecltn.) p.248

-' _cf. GC24,100 and passim

46 ACTS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL

6. The guide of the consecrated community.

The development of the gifts of consecration and the

com-munication of

its

riches to the educative community and the young are entrusted to the shared responsibility of the

com-munity. The animation of the latter is also shared, but

it

has

in

the rector

its

point of reference and the one bearing the main responsibility. He is at one and the same time the reli-gious Superior, the director of the apostolic work, and the spiritual father of the community.

Much thought has been given to his figure and role, and

rightly so, on account of the evolution that has taken place in communities and in the arrangement of activities. Both figure and role matured in Don Bosco himself, who was a rector for a

long time and in the most creative phase of his

life.

Of our

Fa-ther is

remembered

in

particular his concern for spiritual

good, the kindness which inspired his relationships and the wise ^guidance given to individuals and ^groups: three points which characterized his fatherliness. They were expressed in many of his actions and attitudes.

Rightly does our text The Salesian Rector note

that

the first task of the rector is "to stir up in the individual members

the awareness of who they are; to bring

their

abilities and charisms to the fore; to help them to keep alive the spirit of the theological virtues.(...)

In

other words to create an envi-ronment and conditions which

will

enable every Salesian, in submission to ^grace, to mature in his vocational identity and reach the fullness of 'union with God' so characteristic of Don Bosco. AII this presupposes a certain technical ability on the part of the one who must organize and direct the community, but animation is more than this:

it

is a spirit and even a spiri-tual art"t'.

Recent General Chapters have insisted on a "spiritual"

an-^-' Tlrc So,lesi.o,n. Rector, Rome 1986, n.105

imation, able to present once again in contextualized form the motives which are at the basis of our life, in order to foster an ever more conscious and complete response to the

Lord.

The present situation of our communities, their role in the new

op-erational setup, the need to animate a community of

conse-crated ^persons, the insistence on the local community as the place for ongoing formation,

all

require the Superior to give

priority to certain aspects of his service. They are set out well in our Manual, but

it

is well to read them also in the Synodal

text: "The one who presides over the community should be considered, first of all, a master of the spirit who, while

exer-cising a function or ministry of teaching, carries out a true spiritual direction of the community, an authoritative

teach-ing made in the name of Christ, with regard to the Institute's charisma. He serves God to the extent in which he promotes the authenticity of community life and serves the brethren by helping them to realize their vocation in truth"s".

We need to recognize ttre positive signs there are

in

the Congregation in this connection, such as the willingness to

ac-cept

the

responsibility

of

direction often

in

conditions of scarcity of personnel, the ongoing formation which

is

^going

ahead almost everywhere, the new care for the expression of brotherly unity, and interest in understanding possible meth-ods of spiritual direction.

Going back to the points developed in the first ^part of this letter, I feel

it

a duty to ask rectors to give animation to

conse-cration, reawakening in the confreres the happy experience of their calling, emphasizing the initiative of God in the life and action of the community, and putting forward the project once

again

in its

various aspects

with

a deepening of the

signifi-cance of profession.

There are some elements that must be preserved _so that

"" Consecrated Life and its rnission in the Church and in the world, htstt.utnen-tum laboris, 59

48 ^ACIS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL

no community is without the ^Word of God, prayer meetings, fellowship

in

the experience of consecration, and shared re-sponsibility in communal witness and action.

I recali the usefulness of the discernment which leads, in a

spirit of sincerity ^and conversion*?, to the seeking of the will of God

in

^questions which regard the apostolic project", the life of the community'", the gifts and abilities of confreres"",

voca-tional clarification"' ^and cultural opportunities.

The Constitutions tell us that

in

line with our traditions,

"communities are guided by a member who

is

a priest, and who by the grace of his priestly ministry and pastoral experi-ence sustains and directs the spirit and activity of his

broth-ers""2.

It

is not only a juridical requirement, but concerns the sub-stance, ways and means that are associated with the rector's service of authority. He is asked to dedicate to

it

all the gifts and energies of his priesthood and to animate specifically as ^a

priest and not just as an expert. For the community ^{and for} his educative environment he must be a sacramental media-tion of

Christ.

The religious community and educative envi-ronment are the field where the Lord calls him to reap the fruits of his priesthood.

,r**

Every day at the end of meditation we renew our entrust-ment to Our Blessed Lady, invoking her under two linked titles which sum up salesian history and spirituality: Mary Immacu-late and Mary Help of Christians.

It

is a practice we have con-tinued everywhere with affection and heartfelt devotion.

*' cf. C 91

". ^{cf. C 44} ''' cf. ^{C 66}

*'cf. _{C 69}

,,, cf. C 107 U' C I2I

At the end of these reflections

I

find myself spontaneously moved to join _you

in

spirit

in

reciting together this prayer of entrustment.

The Constitutions, following a spiritual tradition, see in this image of Mary the representation of our apostolic

conse-cration:

"Mary Immaculate, Help of Christians", they say,

"leads us to the fullness of our offering to the Lord and gives us courage for the service of our brethren""". The two aspects fuse together in a single movement of charity.

May she teach us to live in these days of ours the uncondi-tional following of Christ and the constant and devoted service of which she is the Mistress and example"a, and to communi-cate to the young the joy that is to be found in following Jesus.

J/ _{I lra{h}

.)

"'cf. VC,28

Nel documento of the General Council of the Salesian (pagine 44-49)