Hong Kong 29~30 January 2015
by Kiko
Thank our good Lord for the good days. On the occasion before Don Bosco’s Feast day in the Bicentenary year, all the primary and secondary schools joined together to organize and participate in the DB200 Joint School Games Day. It was our honour to have Fr. Vaclav Klement, Regional Councillor of East – Aaia – Oceania as our special guest and shared with us the joyful experience. It was like the Oratory in Don Bosco’s time.
We declared:
“We want to play, cheer and celebrate with Don Bosco joyfully to express our desire, hope and trust in life as we know that God is with us.”
We promised to:
“Learn diligently, enrich ourselves, nurture virtues, serve our families, schools and society, develop sincere relationship and deep friendship with Jesus Christ.”
The students tried to express the above declaration and promise in the games.
Fr. Klement invited us to reflect: During these games day we were very happy. But, how about after the games? How do we attain true happiness? Apart from the happiness of winning in the games, is there anything deeper, eternal and more profound? True happiness is to share with others. Listen to our friends about what they need and try to help each other to be happy.
Besides happy faces and joyfully cheers, we can feel that there was loving kindness too. Salesian confreres shared the joy with the young by their presence, playing with them and showed how they loved the young. Different schools joined together not only on the playground, but they also showed one heart and one mind. Participants cared for each other in the games. There offered a helping hand whenever they could. This friendship what Don Bosco expects every youth to possess, that is, offer help to those who in need. Peer support could be expressed by carrying an injured teammate to a safe place. Peer support could also be a strong bond among the young to avoid committing sin.
This large scale activity allow the young to enjoy themselves in a joyful atmosphere and shared the feeling of one family. Apart from the students, this activity also created a strong sense of belonging and bonding between principals and teaching staff. After the end of this big event, many who were present showed their good feelings towards each other by sending appreciation messages. After 200 years, Don Bosco is in our midst.
