Rome (Italy). The Mother General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, opens Circular no. 1041 by recalling with gratitude the last two of the nine Seminars For a Generative Animation just concluded together with the General Councilors, during which she could “live important encounters of charismatic vitality and a deep communion with numerous Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from the five continents.” She was able to admire with astonishment “the generous and passionate dedication of the Sisters and the Educating Communities in the mission entrusted to them.”
Fatima: an event of grace for the Salesian Family
Mother then shares “the beautiful experience” lived in Fatima, Portugal, from August 29 to September 1, during the IX International Congress of Mary Help of Christians promoted and organized by ADMA, inspired by the theme, I will give you the Teacher.
The Congress had the objective of “making Mary known more and more as Mother and Teacher who accompanied, accompanies, and guides the whole Salesian Family towards Jesus and towards the neediest young people.” Starting from Don Bosco’s Dream at the 9 years of age, brings us back to the Oratorian dimension and is a strong call “to accept the mystery of life as vocation and mission, in a discernment that is often difficult but fruitful in the good.”
As well as being a great opportunity “to be grateful for the Marian-missionary animation lived in the local realities, and sharing with lay people and young people the richness of the Salesian charism”, together with the 60 FMA participants, Mother Chiara recalled “that the Marian identity of our Institute, together with the ADMA Association, offers to the Salesian Family the specifics of a spirituality that recognizes Mary’s presence and inspiring role from the very beginning.”
In fact, Mother continues, the Salesian mission, “is inexplicable in its birth and progressive development, without the inspiring and preventive initiative of Mary and without her constant active and maternal presence.”
The power of a look
Focusing again on the Dream of Johnny Bosco, she emphasizes the role of the “Teacher”, of an educator who leaves an indelible ‘mark’ on his life and on the “personality of those who have known and followed him”, and from which – as it happens when you meet a true teacher – he receives “an inheritance that commits him to incorporate two great values in his life: responsibility and gift.”
“I will give you the Teacher”, Johnny is told, and this Teacher is given today to us as well, with all the richness of her gift of grace.”
First of all, Mary teaches Don Bosco to “learn to look.” Mother Chiara observes, “She also educates us today to know how to ‘look’ with her own eyes as a Mother and an Educator. To look is much more than to see! Mary addresses this invitation to Johnny: ‘look!”
The look of Mary is the first Marian experience that “marks the soul of John Bosco”, a look “that radiates serenity and holiness, a look that watches, guards, and cares, that caresses without holding back” (…)
“Our eyes reveal on the outside what we are on the inside. Through them, people, situations, and the world enter into us and we enter in depth into what we see and experience. The look is the first evident sign of welcome of the reality around us with its story, its lights, its expectations, and its difficulties.”
There are looks, like that of Mary, which know how to light paths of hope. Learning from Her, Mother Chiara says, “Similar to Hers should be our gaze on our Sisters, on the young people, on the collaborators, on everyone. This is an urgent mission. It is the joy of evangelization in the folds of daily life.”
“Go through the city and look around”
This is the suggestion that Fr. Cafasso gives to Don Bosco to help him direct his educative mission among young people. Looking around the city of Turin, he crosses the streets and squares of Turin and especially observing the boys in the prisons, “Don Bosco recognizes them; they are those he saw in a dream, seventeen years ago. (…) They are wolves but, with Her by his side, Don Bosco already sees them as lambs. ‘If they could find a friend who would take care of them!’ An intuition. A call. A task”.
Mother says that the invitation to “Go through the city and look around’ is the same invitation that we hear resounding in our heart. “Today, we too wish to listen to the ever-changing reality of the culture, the signs of the times, and the educative challenges that we cannot ignore.”
Mother Chiara invites us to entrust ourselves to Mary, Help and Educator, “so that She may grant us a discerning eye in our community choices for fraternal life and mission; the strength of creativity. May She obtain for us the courage to dare, full and filial trust in Her presence that guides us in the youth mission.”
Before concluding the Circular, she reminds us of the course online entitled, “I will give you the Teacher” offered to the different groups of the Salesian Family around the world by the Salesian Family Sector, in collaboration with the Pontifical Faculty of Education Science “Auxilium”. The course in English will start on 27 September and it is still possible to register (registration form).
