EAO Good Night Talk (30)
September 1, 2016
Don Bosco Alumni: Prayer and Promise!
For download:
Prayer and Promise (EN).docx (ENGLISH)
EAO-SF 19 DBPP - Prayer and Promise TETUN.docx (TETUN: Timor Leste)
Don Bosco past pupils prayer VIET.docx (VIETNAMESE)
Dear friends and confreres,
Bosconians – Alumni – Salesians: there are different names for Don Bosco Past Pupils, who started from the annual celebration of Don Bosco’s Feast-day on June 24th.
Bosconians forever! The Don Bosco Alumni (Past Pupils) is the largest group among the 31 in the large Salesian Family. Although there are few millions of young people who received the Don Bosco education in our Oratories – Youth Centers, Schools or Parishes, the World President Mr. Michal Hort acknowledge about100.000 registered members.
It’s exciting to read the Alumni World Confederation 6 year flagship projects:
(1) Permanent secretariat: goal – collect 3 million of Alumni contact address; (2) Don Bosco Alumni Business Platform – to support DB mission; (3) Alumni Academy: to foster the formation of SDB delegates and Alumni leadership; (4) Alumni Voluntary Service: to involve the Alumni in youth ministry or missionary volunteer activity.
However I was more deeply struck by their newly approved Statutes, which contains a wonderfully courageous prayer – promise, suggested for all Alumni meetings:
PRAYER AND PROMISE of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco
GOD, OUR FATHER, through the mediation of your Son, Jesus, and through the intercession of Saint John Bosco give heed to the prayers of the Past Pupils all over the world.
WE THANK YOU for the invaluable gift of education which we have received, under the enlightened guidance of the Salesians, which have instilled our lives with the Salesian Spirituality.
WE ASK YOU WITH FAMILIAL TRUST - Give us strength and courage to live the human and Christian message, in the Society and in the Church. - Encourage us to become "good Christians and honest citizens”, - Help us to live together and promote solidarity in our Association and beyond it. - Strengthen our faith, hope and charity.
WE PROMISE YOU - to fight against injustice, blackmail, superficiality, indifference, - and to defend at all costs, the values inspired from Don Bosco’s teaching, especially life, freedom and truth with a spirit of social, political and financial commitment, - and to be, “the salt of the earth and light of the world” with a strong influence in the world and in the Church.
WE BEG YOU to watch over our Salesian Family, our dear ones and all of us. Amen.
(Statutes art 5.b)
I dream that all who are receiving Don Bosco education in our EAO countries may be invited to join one day the Don Bosco Past Pupils Association. Next October 4-8 our ITM Vice-province is hosting in Dili, Timor Leste the first Salesian family regional encounter: 11th EAO Regional Congress of Salesian Family Past Pupils. We congratulate and pray for many fruits of this event!
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
EAO Regional councillor
