austraLasia #2898
 
An extraordinary personal testimony

SEOUL: 2 August 2011 -- From 3-6 August, at Czestochova, Poland, an event will take place which is drawing people from all around the world, including from our Region: the 6th International Congress for the Mary Help of Christians Association (ADMA, as it tends to be called, based on the initials from the Italian term for this group). The Rector Major and his Vicar will be there as well. For those who are not so familiar with the group, it was amongst the groups founded by Don Bosco, when he first requested permission to establish it in the archdiocese of Turin in 1869.
    While what follows is not directly connected to ADMA as such - the group is only in its initial stages of growth in Korea, the testimony below comes from the pen of Fr John lee, who died at the beginning of 2010 and whose name has been featured a number of times in this newsletter. With the Congress now about to begin it just seems to be the right moment to offer this - it comes from a homily he gave, and not all the homily is included here, obviously:

"In Korea devotion to Mary Help of Christians is not as strong as devotion to her under other titles: Mary Queen of Peace, or Our Lady of Mercies. This is why, before I became a Salesian, I had neither heard of nor ever said the invocation: “Mary Help of Christians pray for us" that we Salesians would say at least three times a day.
    [Given the passage form the Wedding feast at Cana which we have just read] I could not but recall a brief story of my own vocation.   
   At the time I had come to understand the Lord was calling me, I had a wonderful experience of Mary Help of Christians. When I decided, with much joy, to set out on the path to becoming a Salesian, I suffered some anxiety about the fact that I needed to tell my mother about it! Since my father had died when I was 10, my mother had to struggle a lot so I could go and study medicine. Thanks to her many sacrifices, I was able to become a doctor. It was at that point that I could begin to help my mother and pay her back for the many sacrifices she had made without asking anything of me in return. this made it very difficult for me to tell her about my decision. In fact it was almost impossible for me to do so. I made many attempts but never succeeded because every time I looked at her, I lost courage. I also tried to tell one of my sisters to whom I was very close and could talk about many things with ease. But I couldn't even tell her! Three months went by without me saying anything.
    One wonderful day, when I went to see my sister, I stood there astounded, mouth open. My sister had already found out about my decision through a dream she had had the previous evening. (I would love to tell you that dream but I should not do so without talking to the Bishop first). However, my sister then told my mother about my decision by telling her of the dream. All my problems were resolved at that moment.
    However I had not worked out at that time that this was Mary Help of Christians at work until I heard, for the first time from my novice director that the vocation of every Salesian is tied to Mary Help of Christians.
   I had not asked Mary for her help. But Mary was aware of my problem and quietly helped me. This was the first experience I had had of Mary's help. It was such an important experience for me because through it I gained such a real image of Mary as the Lady who loved me very much. This enabled me to understand Mary as “Help of Christians” and I learned to adopt the attitude we must have when we help others: be attentive to their needs and ready to give them all necessary help. From then on I was able to speak with certainty to young people about the presence of Mary Help of Christians...
   Mary is not a special privilege just for Salesians. She is the Help of all Christians. But we Salesians are very grateful and sensitive to Mary as Helper. With this sensitivity Don Bosco chose Mary Most Holy as his inspiration, Mother and Teacher of his Congregation..."
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