2024 - Two hundred years of Don Bosco childhood dream
“The perennial significance of the foundational dream of
St John Bosco and contemporary resonances in the teaching of
Pope Francis especially as directed to the young.”
Fr Francis Preston, SDB
Preston Fr F DISSERTATION [Final Draft].docx
THE PERENNIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL DREAM OF ST JOHN BOSCO
The year 2024 is of particular significance for the worldwide Salesian Family, a spiritual family made up of religious priests, Sisters and Brothers, and lay people which, inspired by the enduring charism of St John Bosco, is committed to furthering his mission on behalf of today’s young people. The year 2024 marks the bicentenary of the dream that John had at the age of nine and that had a profound and lasting impact on his own vocational journey and on the spirituality of the 32 Religious Groups which today make up the Salesian Family. It is the aim of this dissertation to explore the perennial significance of the ‘foundational dream’ of St John Bosco for the Salesian Family and the Church at large.
The dissertation has four chapters. The chapter 1 first examines some significant events in the early life of John Bosco and then those events leading to the founding and subsequent world-wide expansion of the Salesian Congregation and the Salesian Family. The chapter 2 presents the background to John’s foundational dream and then explores in some detail its contents and their implication for his future ministry as a priest. The chapter 3 examines in greater detail three key elements identified in the dream: [1] the sacramental nature of ‘Salesian presence’, [2] the crucial role of loving kindness in building confidence in relationships with the young, [3] play and recreation as tools of youthful spiritual formation. The chapter 4 explores the role of dreams in the journey of young people to spiritual maturity with particular reference to the teaching of Pope Francis, especially in his Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Christus Vivit’, and the implications of his call to the young to ‘dream big’.
The dissertation will conclude by briefly evaluating the extent to which the foundational dream of St John Bosco remains perennially significant in the context of the Salesian mission.